The month of May....

I knew this would happen...the month of May would FLY by! We have been so busy this month and I can't believe June is just a week away. We have celebrated birthdays (mine and my dad's--along with other close friends), anniversaries (ours and my parents), Mother's Day, my mom's retirement from 37 years of teaching, graduations, and a wedding. Emily and I have been to Indiana twice this month already and we'll be going back a third time this weekend. On May 1, we had an opportunity to travel with Beth Coppedge to a women's tea in Indianapolis. Emily was a trooper for the 8 hour round trip (and speaking/tea time in between) and we were blessed by a sweet time of fellowship. Viktor finished his finals last week and is enjoying some down time before starting 3 summer classes in 2 weeks. Last weekend Emily and I went "home" to celebrate my mom's retirement. We'll update on our trip this weekend when we return! ;) Did you follow all of that?!?!

It is hard to believe Emily will be 10 months old in just 5 days. We sure are enjoying our sweet girl! She is standing on her own now, occasionally attempting a step by herself, she mimics our words frequently, loves to wave bye-bye and clap, and just this past week or so she has started dancing (bopping) to music. It is so adorable! She brings us so much joy every day! Here are some pictures of the past few weeks...

Emily brushing her teeth...she now has 5!

Emily loves to watch the school bus drive by (5x a day)...though she has a little bit more growing to do before she can watch on her own...haha

Emily and me on my birthday.

Every morning (literally), Emily crawls to the fridge and takes off the same prayer card (Tim and Sharon Hawk). She proceeds to carry them (the card) around all morning as she goes from room to room. God is using Emily to help us remember to pray for our missionaries around the world!

Mother's Day! I am so blessed to be Emily's mom!

And, she loves spaghetti!

Having lunch with Grandma Carolyn in Bloomington.

Emily was overdue for her hand and footprints at my dad's paint-your-own pottery studio, so we had to stop in while we were in town. She didn't mind it at first....

But, by the time we got to her 4th print, she was DONE!

Happy girl...showing off her teeth (and drool, haha)

Already playing dress-up! Our good friend, Natalie (who has supplied us with all kinds of fun for Emily) sent us this little tu-tu dress. I hope to get better pictures outside this week, but this one will have to do for now, Nat! :)

Peek-a-boo

Emily loves to play peek-a-boo. Last week I started to play with the curtain while she ate dinner. I didn't realize how quickly she would pick up on the new concept of using the curtain until one morning she sat and played peek-a-boo for about 10 minutes. Initially my mind went to the fact that I needed to correct her not to play with the curtain; I then reminded myself that I was the one who taught her how. HA!

Cruising...

Emily has been pulling herself up and cruising for about 2-3 weeks...here is the fun in action...

Teething biscuits...

Let me start off by saying, I am not a fan of teething biscuits! They are the messiest food item known to man! In fact, I have only given one to Emily on one other occasion. However, today, out of desperation, she enjoyed her second round with a teething biscuit! Emily has been teething for the past few days. Her 3rd tooth is coming in and it is causing much more pain than her first two ever did (and they came in at the same time!). She didn't sleep very well last night and only slept 30 minutes today (compared to her usual 2+ hrs/day). She has been very clingy and fussy (not typical at all). Poor girl! So, after alternating tylenol, motrin, teething tablets, cold rags, toys, etc, etc, I decided to bust out another teething biscuit. Actually, Viktor mentioned it about halfway through the day. I have been trying to avoid them due to the mess. You will notice that I stripped her down to her diaper, which helped with the cleanup. Despite the mess, Emily was one happy camper and the pain from teething was relieved for a good 30 minutes while she chomped away on the biscuit. Oh, and the tooth is almost through her gums. I'm hoping it will be here by morning! I hate that she is so bothered by the pain.

Emily's 1st Easter

We were able to get a few pictures of Emily on Easter. However, she had missed her morning nap due to church and so she was a little tired by this point in the day. We had a good day celebrating and relaxing with our friends. Enjoy the pics.

Ahhhh....spring!

Louisiana!

It was Reading Week last week at the Seminary, so Viktor took off work at UPS and we decided to hop in the car with our good friends, Missy and Bevil, for a (long) road trip to Louisiana! We had such a blast and were blessed to spend time with all of Missy's family. We miss them already! Emily did great on the 14 hour car ride; I was actually very surprised. She fussed for maybe 5 minutes on the way down there...I couldn't believe it! We had a lot of fun watching Bonanza with Missy's dad, taking walks, relaxing, visiting with Missy's Mimi and Pawpaw, playing Settler's of Catan, spending time with Daisy, Louisa, Elizabeth, and Jeremy (Missy's brother and family), eating, eating, oh, and more eating. Well, I'll let the pictures explain some more of our trip. Thank you to all of our sweet friends in Louisiana for your wonderful hospitality. We hope to visit again someday!

4:30am--time to hit the road. Emily isn't quite sure what we are all doing up at this hour. Viktor had just gotten off from work and so we were all ready to go!

Bevil drove the entire way--in a rented HHR (or something like that--it was nice and cozy, that's all I remember, hehe).

Viktor and Emily stretching during our first pit stop.

How many more toys do you think she can pile in her lap...and don't forget the tub of cheerios!

We stopped at a rest area for a picnic. Emily was excited to crawl all around.

I love this photo of Missy and Bevil.

This was about the last stop before we arrived at Missy's parent's house. I took Emily out to change her diaper and she tried to crawl into the front seat...she was ready to be rescued from the car.

Missy's parents...a wonderful couple!

Bevil reading the Bible to Emily on Palm Sunday.

Emily playing with Daisy (right) and Louisa (left) (Missy's sweet, sweet nieces).

I love Missy's dad's homemade version of the Ergo!

Jeremy, Elizabeth, Louisa, and Daisy

Not sure what Emily and daddy were up to in this picture, but apparently they were making faces together...trouble, trouble!

Louisa and Emily out to eat at Shane's (crawfish)

We even taught Missy's parents how to play Settlers...I'm sure they can't wait to play again!

Somehow I don't have pictures of the beautiful brunch at Mimi and Pawpaw's house or our visit to the Tea Room for lunch, but we enjoyed both of those times as well!