My Front Porch Lookin' In: May 2014

After an awesome weekend down south, we continued to celebrate Taylor and Emmett's birthday up here! We decided to go to Cat Haven, a nonprofit organization that intended to help rebuild the population of endangered cats. There we got to see many types of cats: cheetah, leopard, Amur tiger, bengal tiger, lion and snow leopard, among our favorites. We learned that a "panther" is just a name for a black large cat, which I found quite interesting.

Emmett and dad waiting for the tour to start.

Cheetah: their cat ambassador
Did you know cheetah's can't climb trees because they don't have retracting claws?

Leopard
Did you know the difference between the jaguar and the leopard is their rosette? (A rosette is their spotted marking) The leopard has an open rosette and a jaguar has a closed rosette with a central dot.

Madison and Mom in front of the lion enclosure

During our tour at Cat Haven we were able to see a bengal tiger. She was young and loved to swim. However upon swimming in her lagoon she found a fun playmate (a frog), unfortunately nobody had told her she was stronger than she looked because she accidentally disemboweled her toy. She was quite disappointed, she continued to swat and throw the frog as if to say "Why aren't you playing?". Poor thing.

Although we enjoyed the Cat Haven, Emmett was too enthusiastic so we had to banish him to the back carrier. He didn't appreciate it as much as we did though.

April 16th was Emmett's 2nd birthday! I can't believe how much this boy has grown! Well, I guess he's always been a BIG boy. He will always be my first baby. I'm so grateful for my little man and the strong person that he is. He is such a blessing. I just adore his sweet personality and I love it that he's so smart and inquisitive. His energy radiates throughout the room. He loves to give hugs and kisses, but he's also very dangerous. He loves sword fighting and being thrown on the bed by his daddy. As always, he still believes I try to manipulate him. (Most of the time he's right too!) Right now he adores dinosaurs. Oftentimes he runs around the house roaring at things. It kind of freaks the dogs out a little. He he.

Emmett when he was first born.

For Emmett's birthday we decided to have a parade. We started by going to the Zoo, which he loved! He loves being able to run around and do as he pleases. It kept dad in shape too trying to keep up with him. This time we let him decide where he wanted to go. Aside from briefly stopping at the elephant enclosure, Emmett practically headed straight for the dinosaur dig. If we let him, he could spend all day digging in the sand.

Heading to the zoo!

I'm running straight dad, see if you can keep up!

Look I juked you! Goin' right...

We made it to the dinosaur dig!

So maybe my son isn't as sweet as we thought... Some kid tried to come up and take his shovel, but Emmett wasn't going to let him get away with that and totally knocked him over. Although we had to talk about not being physical with our confrontation, I'm glad my son stands up for himself.

My little archaeologist.

Emmett also likes to run around this grassy area in the zoo. He tries to chase his mommy behind the trees and then she pops out and scares him. A couple times I even got him so good he landed on his heiny. What a goofy kid!

Cutie pie!

I love my boy!

The best thing about the zoo for us parents is that it wears our kid out and he takes a nice nap for us.

Emmett got to eat his favorite meal for his birthday, mommy's homemade beef strogonoff! Yummmm....

Then we finish up with a little of daddy's favorite...Mississippi mud pie.

Emmett got to open presents from mommy and daddy...what did he get?

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

Although I forgot my camera, Emmett got to end his birthday week with a special birthday playgroup. We celebrated with the Fishers, the Phillips, and the Rowleys at the park. We ate cupcakes, played with bubbles, and played on the playground. It was a special day.

So mommy made a whoops and didn't check her calendar and accidentally celebrated Easter a week early. *Whooops!* We hid eggs all around the house and had Emmett go find the eggs. It was absolutely hilarious to watch him open the eggs and find a Hersey's kiss inside. In attempt to clean up the house a little, I tried to put the eggs in a bag for him, but apparently that was the worst thing I could possibly do. Emmett threw the biggest tantrum over it, it was tempting just to put the eggs in the bag just to taunt him. We just decided to let him do what he wanted with the eggs since it was his hunt.

What could be inside the egg?

Chocolate!!! YAY!

Yum! Chocolate!

The Easter bunny may have to do a better job at hiding the eggs next year, this kid's a pro! Emmett decided to show me his spoils so long as I didn't try to put it in the "bag". HAHA!

Lining up his chocolate...can anyone say this kid's a little odd?

My little Easter delight...I just love this girl!

So as if my kid couldn't get any weirder, he constantly proves me wrong. My child thinks it's fun to run around on all fours, barking and panting like a dog. (And who can blame him, his only siblings thus far had been dogs) But my little Mowgli thought he would take it a step further and beg like my dogs. He cracks me up.

Little did I know that they would become the example for my child...

Lizzy won't give up her prime position for treats!

Emmett surprised Dylan with a back hug.

Emmett begging like the rest of them...on all fours

Yay Emmett got a treat for speaking too!

We are not a family that likes to hang out in the house all day. Oftentimes we go outside to participate in activities. This time Emmett was allowed to explored the front yard. We brought out the bubble machine and swords and just had a grand time!

Emmett picked a flower for his momma, what a sweet boy!

Madison was very excited about the bubble machine, her feet acted as rudders and were going a mile a minute. However, she wasn't a fan of being hit with the bubbles.

Emmett wanted to take his sister for a stroll. He didn't get very far before he got distracted.

I think it's so weird that Lizzy found a lizard in this corner around 6 or 7 months ago and almost everyday she has to go outside and check to see if it's still there. Good thing the lizard is smart enough to not be there, but it does say something about my strange dog that will sit for hours with her nose against this corner waiting for it to change it's mind and come out.

Dylan enjoys being outside, mostly just to dig and gnaw on a pine cone.

Emmett loves to chase mommy around the tree.

Going outside wears my kid out, this particular time I scored and it put him to sleep. I had to capture this rare and fading occasion.

We not only like to explore the great outdoors, but we LOVE swimming in the pool! Emmett has become quite a master at it! He kicks his legs, but we are still working on getting him to swim with his arms also! Sometimes he gets overly excited and kicks both feet at the same time to give himself a boost. Oftentimes it ends with his face in the water, which is really funny. He also likes to blow bubbles and splash in the water. I'm pretty sure if my kid plays a sport it will probably be water related.

Swimming like a pro!

Madison isn't as convinced as her brother that the water is that great. Each time I dip her feet in the water she freaks out and starts to cry. What a diva....

Testing out the water for the first time...

I like it better out of the water mom...

Since I goofed and celebrated Easter the wrong day, we decided to have another egg hunt with Emmett, but this time with no bag. This one went much better, and instead of eating the M&M's he wanted to separate and organize them.

Collecting the chocolate from the egg.

Finding more eggs.

Organizing the chocolate.

Although I wanted to get a cute Easter picture of both my kids, Emmett didn't want to cooperate, so I got a cute picture of Madison for her 1st Easter! Love this babydoll! She's just so happy. Plus this is one of my favorite outfits for her!

Madison's first Easter!

Every chance they get my kids love to be with each other. Emmett loves to hold his sister's hands whether it is in the stroller or on the floor while she is suppose to be having "tummy-time". I can tell these two are going to be partners in crime when they get older.

She thinks her brother is AMAZING!

He thinks his sister is GREAT!

She cracks up when he does this! So cute! I love my kids!

Madison is getting better and better at tummy time! She is really pulling herself up and getting some height! She also is starting to get her two bottom teeth, which is much needed since she started solids. So during church on Sunday, I was trying to attend to Emmett's needs while holding Madison in my lap and a cracker in my hand. To my surprise Madison lunged as hard as she could for that cracker. She grabbed it before I could do anything and shoved it in her mouth. Good thing they dissolve so easily, because that wouldn't have been my first choice in the food she got. But she hung onto that cracker for dear life, so I let her finish it off. She was so impressed with herself as was I. This incident convinced me she was ready for Gerber puffs, with a little supervision of course. She cracks me up trying to chase them across her tray desperately trying to pick them up. What a big girl!

Not so happy about tummy time.

Much happier about being on her back! Look how flexible! If only this chub wasn't in the way she could get her foot in her mouth!

Mommy decided to get Emmett an indoor activity. He likes to eat crayons, playdough, and colored pencils. So I decided to see how he would do with paints....I think we hit the jackpot! Emmett loves painting! He thought it was so awesome that he could dip his brush in different colors and put them on the paper.