Living in a cardboard box.

Our washing machine finally washed it's last load... unfortunately, before it was finished rinsing and draining. Ugh.
The bad news, I had to hand rinse & ring out all the JEANS AND SWEATSHIRTS that were in the washer, which was FULL of water! That was fun.
The good news, this gave us good reason to buy a new washer/dryer set!! WOO HOO!

And what do you do with a huge cardboard box when you have an 18 month old? Well, duh! What do you think!?

She L-O-V-E-S it! Thousands of dollars worth of toys, and she likes the cardboard box the most. Of course.

Little Miss 18 Months

Little Miss Emily is 18 months old today! My, how time has flown!

Here's a cute video of her from this afternoon:

Is it just me, or is she DAMN cute!? :)

(NOTE: The box from our new washer has doubled as a play-house for Emily... she L-O-V-E-S it! It may not be pretty, but if a gigantic cardboard box in the middle of my living room is what makes my little girl happy, then bring on the cardboard!!)

Halloween

See a difference?


Emily was Abby Caddaby for Halloween... her favorite character on Sesame Street. For all you old-schoolers, she's a fairly new character... get it, fairly? She's a fairy!! Her mommy is THE Tooth Fairy! Which is crazy, because so is Emily's!!! Well, at least I will be in a few years!

Emily only went "trick-or-treating" to our neighbor's houses, but she had a great time! She got lots of candy (for mommy and daddy to eat), a cupcake, and two apples! Guess what she liked the most?


THE APPLES, OF COURSE! She LOVED them!

Her tiny teeth did quite the number on the poor honey crisp! She didn't want to give it up... she wanted to take it to bed!!! That's my girl!!!

------------------------------------


On a differet note, today was not exactly a "happy" Halloween. It is with great sadness that I type this... my best friend's sister... my very good friend, and basically my sister, Brynn Rae Thornburgh passed away this morning. After an almost 5 year battle with auto immune Hepatitis (liver failure), the great Lord took sweet Brynn into his loving arms. The world lost a wonderful person today, but Heaven gained another angel.

I love you, Brynnica! I will miss you more than I could ever express!

Skeletons and Corn

Little Miss Skeleton Jammies

Such a poser...

Giggle muchkin

Lounging on the couch...

On Sunday, we took Emily to a local farm to get some pumpkins. She didn't take long to find the box 'o corn!

With Daddy!

She loved all the different pumpkins and gourds. Of course, everything round was "ball."

I picked this up to show Toby... and Emily ran up to me, pointed at the gourd and said "Dadda" -- I died laughing!

O.C.D.

Emily is O.C.D.

Example #1
Gramma Nancy (who watches Emily while I'm at work) just called me... Here is the conversation:

GN: I hope you don't have any plans for Emily to be a brain surgeon...

Me: Why...?

GN: I was in the kitchen when I heard her grunting... I came around the corner to find her on the floor, under the school desk with her dolly's blanket... SCRUBBING THE FLOOR!

Me: Not again!

So I was only joking when I said "not again" -- but every time Emily can get her hands on something towel-esque, she starts wiping things down! The window sill, the floor, the table... the couch! The girl loves to clean!

Example #2
A few days ago, Emily and I were reading books. As we'd finish one book, I'd set it aside. After a few books, we had a small stack of them. We finished a forth book, and I went to fill up her milk. When I came back, she had stacked that book underneath the top two books... so that the four books were stacked BY SIZE!!

Oh how cute, my little O.C.D. child is!

Acorns

Emily went for a walk with Gramma Nancy and brought me something back...
This is the first "gift" Emily has given me... and I'm sure, the first of many!



Thank you, Emily! I love them!

Recent Pix

At WalCo Fair 2010, rockin' her first Lake 961 Staff shirt!

At WalCo Fair 2010... with Mommy and Auntie Jo!

Chillin' at Great Uncle Jamie's

Bath Face

16 Months and Counting...

Little Miss Monkey is 16 months old today. She has grown SO MUCH since the last time I blogged... that it'd be impossible to cover everything! So here are just a few things:

She loves cleaning. She'll go over to the basket her diapers, etc are kept in... get a wipe or two out of the dispenser... then walk around and wipe things down. The table, the windows, the floor, her toys... you name it, she'll try and clean it.

She loves brushing her teeth. Anything brush-esque, she'll try to put in her mouth and brush her teeth!!

She loves animal sounds. Monkey, sheep, elephant, cow, dog, cat, mouse, snake, horse, pig, and more! She does them all! (The best is the pig... she kind of snorts, but it sounds more like she's trying to clear her sinuses).

She loves food. We have not found a single food that she won't eat. Hope she stays that way.

She is Miss Independence! She wants to do everything by herself! Eat... walk... cross the road... climb up the stairs... brush her teeth... walk down the stairs... it won't be long before she insists on picking her outfits!

So that's just a quick update on a few of Emily's latest "ism's"... she is such a little character! I absolutely love her litte personality... and even her attitude! Every day I am amazed at just how much she's grown up. She's honestly like a little person. She's not a baby anymore, that's for sure!

I will try and post a few pics and video very soon! Cheers!

MONKEY MINUTE: What does a monkey say?

This is really a Monkey TWO Minute... to make up for my lack of posting recently.
Enjoy!

14 months of fun!

Sorry for not updating this more often. I've been crazy busy chasing Emily around! She's walking, running, climbing, jumping... you name it, she can do it! She'll be 14 months old on Thursday! Wow.

She now has EIGHT teeth, so she's constantly chewing on her finger... or anything else she can get ahold of!

She's talking up a storm! She's mastered Mama, Daddy, Bahdee (Bailey), Kittie, Bah (bath)... as well as many other sounds. She can make a monkey sound (ee ee, ee ee), a sheep sound (baaaaaa), a pig sound (snort), a dog sound (woo woo), and a few others. But monkey is her fave!!

She's great at pointing out items in her books... she'll bring certain items to you shen you ask her... and she loves dancing! Any tune, she'll bust a move! If you say the word dance, she'll throw her hands up in the air and shake her butt!

Here are a few recent pics. For more, just visit http://www.tobyanderin.com/ and click on Photo Album.

so studious

her future is so bright

No, I don't have anything in my mouth...

Let's get this party started!

The Monkey Minute: Laundry

The Monkey Minute: Walking

Mac & Cheese Mask

Apparently she heard that mac & cheese is good for the skin... Who knew!?

(Love the devil-ish smirk!)

The Monkey Minute

Here's a new addition to Monkey-ing Around... The Monkey Minute!

These minute-long videos will feature your's truly, Emily "Monkey" Simpson!

Monkey Minute #1: Emily's first pool

(Side note: This video is proof of how far we have come from the little girl that went through a phase of screaming bloody murder every time she even SAW the bathtub, even while walking past it to get to her bedroom... she HATED the water!)

Boat Life

We went out on Aunt Sandy & Uncle Buddy's boat... and Emily loved all the geese lying on the shore... she especially loved the swans with their four new babies! She kept waving at them.


Then she was reaching for them and was getting frustrated that we wouldn't get closer and let her touch them... little does she know those beautiful swans can get very mean!


Mommy & Daddy swan have lived on our lake for quite some time now... and they've raised many babies in that time! And it's great to see yet another set of babies!!


Driving with Uncle Buddy


EVERY TIME Little Miss Monkey hears music, she dances! And it's so funny when she puts one hand in the air!! (This video is crappy quality, but you get the idea...)


Her first ATV ride!


Emily sandwich!

Emily's 1st Birthday... and Baptism!

Emily turned one on Saturday... and was baptized on Sunday. Then, Sunday afternoon, we had a big party to celebrate both milestones. Grandad Jim and Davina even flew across the pond to share in the special moments!