Exciting news!

What do I have in common with British Royalty, American Royalty, and Reality TV Royalty?

You guessed it!

Lucas and I are beyond excited to announce the upcoming arrival of another little Takala baby!  We are due August 16, just three days before Emily's second birthday.  However, due to my C-Section with Emily, we are planning for an August 9 arrival!  We are just a couple days shy of twelve weeks along and everything looks perfect.  I've been blessed with an easy and healthy pregnancy so far.  Please pray for us that the rest of the pregnancy continues the same way!

Seventeen Months

Every month just gets better than the last.  Well, most months.  We've had a few off ones, including an off week this month, but there's just nothing more fun than watching our girl grow.  This month has been amazing.  Her vocabulary and comprehension really just exploded over the past couple of weeks.  Each day she learns something new and impresses us more than the day before.  A few milestones from this month:

• Running:  Although she would run from time to time before, this month she has really taken off...literally.  
• Speech/Communication:  She knows so many words now!  I know I won't be able to list them all, but here are as many as I can remember: hi, bye, Mama, Dada, Mimi, Papa, Bailey (BB or Bay,) Maggie (Me,) Emmy (says Emmy when you ask her name,) Midnight, please (peese,) puppy, crackers, cookie, apple (all fruits are apples,) airplane (eh-bee,) go, no, nods her head for yes and says "hm," more, baby, iPad (ah-peh,) bubble, shoes, car, ball, choo choo, keys, sky, and several animal sounds- cow, horse, dog, cat, sheep, duck, and elephant (which she does while raising her arm like a trunk-SO CUTE.)  She also understands so much of what we tell her to do.  If we ask her a question, she can usually answer pretty well by saying yes/no or showing us.
• School:  Emily started mother's day out preschool this month!  She goes on Thursdays and is doing great!  It gives her time to be with kids her age and gives her Mama some peace and quiet as well. 
• Christmas:  She had her second Christmas and got some really fun toys!
• Trip to Ohio:  Emily took her second airplane trip to Ohio.  She did AWESOME on the plane, thanks to the fact that we got lucky and had an extra seat for her both ways.

Here are a few pictures from this past month:

Getting ready for that cold Ohio weather with her new puppy hat

A little breakfast time reading

Superstar!

Blowing bubbles with Grandma Takala

Her "I don't know" reaction.  Usually both hands turned upwards while shaking her head

First day of school with a photo-bombing weenie dog

I can do it all by myself, Mama!

Santa visit

Like last year, we took Emily to see Santa at Bass Pro.  Unlike last year, she wasn't quite as compliant when we put her on Santa's lap. 

But, a crying Santa picture is almost a rite of passage, and we certainly achieved it!  Once we took her off Santa's lap, she was quite a bit happier!

Smiling with her cute daddy

Best Friends Forever

Big girl on the carousel