Just an update...

I have been on a mission since Saturday to find a new sunscreen for Emory. I researched all different brands and went to four different stores. Drumroll please... The winner is California Baby! No surprise, really, we've been using the fragrance free body wash and lotion for quite some time now. Emory barely even fussed when I put it on her, and she can't stand to have someone mess with her face. After spending 45 minutes at the pool (at noon) she doesn't even have a tan line in sight! I even got some sun with my SPF 30, which I wear religiously.
There are several good brands out there, I just happened to find this one in a nearby store first. They even sell it at our home away from home.
Sorry, I've been bad about taking pictures the past couple of days, I'll post some good ones soon.

Yummy!

Emory has started to feed herself! We have a lot of fun at meals now... Some of her favorites include peaches, pasta (but she picks out the peas) and cheese toast.

She also never cared much for teething rings or pacifiers, her favorite soother is an ice cube in a mesh feeder. I recommend this trick to any other parent of a teething baby...

My little Waterbaby...

It appears that my little waterbaby is allergic to Waterbabies sunscreen. Last weekend I put some on Emory for a trip to the park and she broke out in the car on the way. I didn't connect it to the sunscreen (because we've been using it for several months) until today at the pool. The poor thing was miserable! She kept rubbing her eyes, which just made it worse. Of course, the wonderful, waterproof sunscreen that it is, wouldn't come off. I guess that means we're switching to the chemical free sunscreen that we should have been using in the first place.

I took this picture just before church last Sunday.

Earth Day Confessions

Something new comes out everyday about dangerous chemicals or how we aren't being good stewards of the environment. I have to remind myself that I can do a lot but that I can NOT do it all. We use compact flourescent light bulbs and set the thermostat to 78 (even though most people around here do 80). Emory wears hand-me-downs or consignment clothes. We are even going to a park cleanup this afternoon. However, here is my list of confessions.

1. Eric & I eat A LOT of packaged food. I could (and sometimes do) eat a Lean Cuisine pizza everyday. However, Emory's food is about 90% homemade and locally grown organic.

2. We still use disposable diapers. I'm trying cloth, but haven't fully transitioned and might not ever. (It still takes a lot of water and energy to wash them.)

3. I drive a Jeep and I love it.

4. We still use "bad" plastics with Emory. I'm just more careful about heating them and will buy BPA free as they need to be replaced.

5. I switched to chemical free baby skin care products, except sunscreen. Waterbabies is SPF 50 and we live in the desert.

6. I only remember my reusable shopping bags about 50% of the time.

7. The worst... We don't recycle. There isn't a recycling center for our part of town that I can find.

Hairbows

Many of you have commented and/or asked about Emory's Hairbows. They have become necessary for this little girl. Her hair is long enough to get in her eyes, and I refuse to cute it yet. Without a hairbow she looks like a ragamuffin.

Most of them come from my Mom. Whenever we need a specific color, style or size I call Momma. Emory has graduated to the bigger bows because she likes to eat the little ones (can we say choking hazard). She knows how cute they are and really hams it up for strangers.

I think I'm going to start making some. I'll let you know how that goes...

TGIF, a few days late

Friday couldn't come fast enough this past week! Eric had been in Texas for EIGHT days. Needless to say I have never been happier to see him! Emory wore me out, not to mention the fact that I was sick on Tuesday. So sick in fact, that Eric's AMAZING Uncle Bill came over to take care of Emory.

We have had a very nice weekend, however. Friday night we went to the Diamondbacks game and had a blast! Emory loved it, there were so many things going on, not to mention the fact that everyone around us paid attention to her. Of course, the only time she wasn't smiling was when I got the camera out...

Emory showed off for Eric all day on Saturday. She showed him that nothing is out of reach on the coffee table and that it is a lot of fun to hit the TV screen. She also gave us a peek into the future of temper tantrums. It make her MAD when she can't play with the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Today we went to the new member orientation at church and plan to officially join next week. Otherwise, we haven't done much else. I guess we'll see what a new week will bring...

Busy Body

Wow! Emory is like the Energizer Bunny! She has been on the move nonstop since she was born. The child rolled over for the first time when she was only two weeks old! She has been crawling for a few weeks now and started pulling up to stand about two weeks ago. Now all she wants to do is go! She is just beginning to cruise on the furniture a little bit (when she really wants the remote control) so I thought it would be fun to try the push toy. Emory wasn't sure what to think about it.

We went to the park on Monday and Emory got to go down the slide for the first time. One of the many parks near us has a "tot lot" for crawlers and early walkers. Emory had so much fun, we will definitely be going back to this park! There was a lot of shade AND plenty of baby swings, the two most important things to look for in a park.

This afternoon was spent in her splash pool. What a fun toy! Emory has always been a water baby. She started going to the pool at 3 months and she gets so excited when I turn on the faucet for bath time. This week it has finally been warm enough to play in our pool at home. Even though it's about 86 degrees today, her little lips started to shiver after 30 minutes. It was a little breezy and we have zero humidity.

Sunny Sunday

Today was our first day to hit 90 degrees!Therefore, I have been in a very good mood. We woke up early and went to the gym. Emory apparently got quite a workout in the childcare center because when we got home she actually napped long enough for me to make a little progress on the yard.

I now know what tumbleweeds come from. In the late winter/early spring weeds come up from out of nowhere. I looked out one day and all of a sudden the backyard was green (weird because it is typically just rock)! Now all the weeds are dying and tumbleweeds will develop any day, unless I get to them first. I have to clear everything out to make room for Emory's pool.

Pictures of my Desert Baby

So this is our "Desert Baby"... aka Emory. I decided to finally join the rest of the world and start a blog. For now I will mostly just post pictures because Little Bit is cuter than any story that I can come up with. Please forgive the lack of creativity with my layout, I'll figure it all out sooner or later.

We go to the driving range with Eric so that this little DB can play in the grass. That's right, to everyone that has tulips blooming right now, we don't have grass in our yard. It's all rock (blah).

Good Morning! Who isn't happy when they wake up to this every morning?

I think she found her first hiding place. Emory followed Boomer under the bed!

Here Momma, I'll look that phone number up for you.