Perfect 10

We are in the double digits, folks! Soon we will have a 1 year old! Yikes!

Likes:
Chewing on drawstrings and buttons
Eating real food
Peeking over furniture
Following me around the house
Dancing
The sound of the salad spinner (she gets into giggling fits over it)
Raspberries on her belly
Opening and closing things
Riding in shopping carts
Going to the store
 
Dislikes:
Mommy leaving the room
Taking something away that she thinks shouldn't be taken away
The word "No"
Being in her car seat too long
Not being picked up and held when she feels she should

Eats:
About 30 oz a day
For a little while all she just wanted to eat Cheerios. She had gotten over that and will eat just about anything we put in front of her: cheese, breakfast sausage, scrambled egg, pork roast, ground beef... If we eat it and she can eat it, she will eat it.
 
Doctor's Report:  
She had a cold for a while and I took her in to get her ears checked. She is now 20 lbs!

Emilia's Milestones:
Clapping (She now uses this to get our attention like when she wants more food)

Standing without support for longer periods of time
First Cold
First taste of a lemon
First Christmas
First New Year

Parents' Milestones:  

Not much to report...sleeplessness, exhaustion, the usual

Hair Watch:
It is growing, still unsure if it will be curly or not

Eye Watch:
Brown near the pupil, but blue on the outside

Teeth Watch:

She has eight teeth! Four on the bottom and four on the top. She is showing signs that she is working on more.

For her pictures I was going for a tea party feel, because she turned 10 months on Downton Abbey premiere night. 

Um...that zero is the wrong way.

Lalalala

What is this?

Cheese!!

God's Blessings,

Joshua, Stefani, and Emilia

2013 January through April

First, let's stop pretending that one day Joshua will write a blog post. We all know who the blogger is on Team Ketelsen.  

January
As you can imagine we looked forward to the New Year. 2012 was not kind to us. We headed to Ohio and rang in the new year with the Ketelsens. We had champagne and toasted to a less stinky year ahead. We were also able to visit with Joshua's family from western New York and San Fransisco who made the trek to Ohio, too.

I hit my very first deer in January. I was driving Joshua to his physical. (He had to fast. Hungry Joshua + driving a long distance = Stefani drives to appointment.) On the way a silly deer ran out and thump he/she went. The car did a 180 and into a frozen marsh. A salt truck stopped and called the police and tow truck for us. The tow truck got us out of the marsh and back on the road. Needless to say, we did not make it to the doctor. We went to breakfast instead. 

February
I made a trip to St. Louis. I was able to visit with family and friends. I met my "niece", Emily, for the first time. 

Isn't she adorable? Sleeping beauty!

Emily and I. Her Aunt Carolyn (my BFF) took this picture.
 
While I was there I also went to my "niece", Alyssa's 6th birthday party. I am not old enough for her to be this old!

What a little lady!

February was the beginning of Lent. Which is always busy. This year seemed to go much smoother and Joshua was way less stressed. It was a combination of experience and a well written Lenten series he purchased. 

March
Joshua turned 31 this year. I made him a minion cake (from Despicable Me).

On March 9th I began the epic journey to my 30th Birthday. My parents sent me a box with 30 gifts and I was instructed to open one per day until my birthday. I posted every present I received on Instagram (pwsak) and Facebook. It was so much fun and made turning the dreaded 3-0 not so terrible.

Then there was Easter. The Super Bowl of the Church Year. We glided through Holy Week and Easter without too many hitches.

April
On April 1st, Joshua had his wisdom teeth removed. The operation went smoothly and he recovered nicely. For the most part, he is back to eating normally.

During his recovery, I spearheaded the remodeling of his office at church. A fresh coat of paint was put on the walls. I had some Confirmation students help with the painting. The old carpet was removed and new carpet laid down. We had previously purchased new reception room chairs to replace the rocker and metal folding chair. Along with a new lamp. It looks more inviting and professional. Next order of business is a new shelving system for his books. (A pastor with books, what?!)

New carpet and fresh paint on the walls.

It has been a busy year with no signs of slowing down. 

God's Blessings, 

Joshua and Stefani