The Wilke Report

My dad gave me these pictures that he took during our trip to Orange Beach a while ago, but I did not get them posted when I posted the ones I took.

Emma and Daddy, August 26, 2008

Mommy, August 26, 2008

Grandma and Emma, August 26, 2008

Grandpa and Emma, August 26, 2008

Uncle Chris and Aunt Lani got a condo near ours for the same week.  We met them for a boat ride on August 27, 2008.  Other than Emma thinking it was a little loud we had a great time.  The highlight was the little beach Uncle Chris found for us to play on.

Emma being silly, August 27, 2008

On August 28 we went over to Chris and Lani’s condo for a visit and dinner.  Emma had a great time on Lani’s raft.

She also had a blast on their beach.

We then enjoyed a nice dinner together.

We are at home as of late last night.  Sarah is still sleeping really well, lets hope she keeps keeps it up.   Susan is doing well.  She is tired, but that is to be expected.  Other than being slow getting in and out of bed, she is moving around great.  I will be home with the family this week, and then it will be time to return to work.  I will update with more pictures as I get the chance.  I have some older pictures that need posting as well, and will get to those as time permits.  Thanks to everybody who has wished us well since Friday.  We really appreciate it.

The nursery was nice enough to call us and tell us when they were giving Sarah her first bath.  This was after we had a chance to have her in our room with us for a while, and Susan had a chance to try to nurse.  They even brought Sarah into the recovery room so Susan could try to nurse pretty quickly after the birth.  They were much slower bringing Emma out.

Sarah’s first time getting her hair washed.

Mamere and Nannie came to visit on Friday, May 1.  Mamere went in to work early so that she could get off early and come visit.  Mamere holding Sarah

Nannie holding Sarah.

This seems to be Sarah’s favorite passtime right now.  She wakes up to eat, but doesn’t stay up long before she is out again.  May 1, 2009

Grandma and Grandpa have been bringing Emma over twice a day.  Emma always wants a turn to hold Sarah.  These two are from Emma’s second visit.  May 1, 2009.

Mommy kissing Sarah, May 1, 2009

Emma snuggling with Mommy and Sarah, May 3, 2009

We headed to Joan and Neil’s place in Frankston, TX for Hurricane Gustav.  Another evacuation that was more like a vacation.  I guess a hurrication?  When we arrived,  Joan and Neil and their family were there for Labor Day.  Joan and Neil were nice enough to let us use their room, and they returned to Dallas to be with their son, daughter-in-law, and their new baby, who were evacuating from the New Orleans area as well.  The rest of their clan stayed though, and we had a great time.  Emma had a blast having other children to play with.

This first bunch of pictures was taken by Joan and Neil’s grandson Miles.  I only managed to take a few, but he got a bunch of great pictures.  They were all taken August 31, 2008.

This is Sydnie

Casey, Shelley, Jenni and a turtle

Miles also took a bunch pictures of us in the pool.  Emma was doing a great job diving in and swimming.  If only she remembered to keep swimming when she came up for a breath.

First she wanted to be caught, so she didn’t go under the water all the way.

The girls had some sticks that they were diving for.  Emma had a blast throwing them — even when the girls were done fetching.

Here is one of her fabulous dives.

Her legs are kicking before she ever hits the water.

It always made me a little nervous when she went under water because it took a second for her to pop back up.

She always came up swimming though.  Even if it wasn’t pretty.

Another great dive!  The arms are already going.

A little assist climbing out from  Mommy.

Mommy trying to show her a real dive.  She is sitting on the edge of the pool.  Susan is trying to get her to hold her hands together, and then just tip into the pool.  The swim teacher had commented that this is the way they begin teaching children to dive.  It worked — she went straight to the bottom!  I pulled her up quickly.

Here are a couple that I took.  September 1, 2008

The girls showed Emma that she could pick beauty berries.  You can kind of see the bunches of tiny purple berries in the background.  Emma had a great time picking handfuls, and then throwing them over the fence.

I am making and freezing a bunch of food so we have some easy meals once the baby is here.  Just made a huge pot of grillades.  We will be having some over grits for dinner.  If you want some, here’s my recipe:

Hal’s Grillades

4 lbs. Chuck Roast

Cajun Seasoning

Flour

Olive Oil

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Large Onion, chopped

2-3 Stalks Celery, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic, chopped

3-4 Cups Beef Broth

3 Bay Leeves

¼ teaspoon Thyme

worchestershire

1 can Stewed tomatoes

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

Slice the Chuck Roast into ½” – ¾” thick slices, and cut into two or three pieces. Season with Cajun Seasoning and then dredge in flour. Brown in Olive Oil and remove from pan. Make a medium to dark roux in the remaining oil. If there isn’t sufficient oil, add more. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic ans tomatoes to the pot, and cook till softened. Return meat back to the pot, along with any collected juices. Add worchestershire, beef broth and thyme. Cook for about two hours. Until the meat falls apart and the gravy has thickened. Add the chopped Parsley shortly before removing from heat.

We went to Orange Beach for vacation this year with Grandma and Grandpa.  We stayed in the same condo as last year, and had a great time.

These were taken on the balcony of our condo.  Emma and Grandma were playing with the ball.  August 25, 2008

Lunchtime after a morning swim.  Emma said she saw her reflection in the camera lens; so Susan leaned in to look.   August 25, 2008

Playing on the sofa with Grandpa!  August 26, 2008

A snuggle with Grandma, August 26, 2008

Smile!  August 26, 2008

Emma practicing her headstand.  August 26, 2008

We had a great time swimming in the Gulf.  We got this life jacket for Emma and it’s very comfortable.  She had a great time swimming by herself in it.  She had four weeks of swimming lessons before we went, but it wasn’t quite enough for her to actually be swimming by herself .  We will do more this summer before vacation, and we think she’ll get it.  (If she would keep swimming when she takes a breath, she would have it.  Instead she stops swimming and sinks.)  August 27, 2008

She was swimming back and forth between us.

What fun!!

Today we went to Hammond to see a specialist for a more diagnostic ultrasound.  Susan’s doctor recommended it because she is 38.  One of the risks at her age is for Down’s Syndrome.  They were able to get a good look at the heart which frequently has defects in a Down’s Syndrome child, and said that everything looked good.  The ultrasound was very clear and easy to see, and both the ultrasound technician and the doctor were very informative and kind.  Unfortunately, they did not have the capability to record the ultrasound to dvd, so all we got were a few pictures.  Here are the two best.

She was pretty active through the ultrasound, so we saw her hand moving quite a lot.  The tech caught this picture when her hand was right in front of her face.

In this one, it looks like she is touching her nose.  You can also see the slightly darker grey area in the middle of her body which is her heart beating.  We saw some really excellent views of the heart today.  The ultrasound tech pointed out the four chambers, as well as the arteries leaving the heart.  It was very cool.

Sometimes I wish I was recording everything Emma says.  Tonight was one of those nights.  Here is an exchange that happened right before bed.

Susan was carrying Emma, and Emma was talking about the baby growing inside Susan.  Emma said, “I’m sitting on the baby.”  Susan said that the baby would kick her if Emma was bothering her, but that the baby was well padded, and ok.  After a few moments, Emma said  “Right now, if the baby wants to talk, the only way it has to talk is by kicking.”

Susan’s Auntie Sharon visited in June, the 7th – 14th.  She sent me some pictures that she had taken, and I had intended on incorporating them in my June posting, but forgot.  Here they are:

When she was in town they went to visit Susan’s mom’s friend Earlynn.  Her niece Perry was there with her two children, Lauren and Sidney.

Here is Earlynn holding Lauren.

Perry holding Sidney

Emma got a turn too.  She loves to hold babies.

I guess she takes after Susan.

Emma, Lauren, Perry and Sidney

Emma and Susan had some time in the little pool and Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Emma is wearing her power swimmer, to help her stay afloat.  As well as she was doing by the end of our evacuation, I have a feeling she won’t be needing it by the end of next summer.

On August 10, 2008, we went to the Pennington Balloon Championship in Baton Rouge, LA.  We had a really good time.  There was a children’s area with inflatable slides and such and a petting zoo.  We had expected to see a mass balloon launching, but we were there on the last day, and most of the competitors had packed up and gone home.  There were six that stayed for Sunday evening, but only a couple that took off.  They were still pretty impresive, too bad we didn’t get to see 30-40 go off at once.

The little duckling was trying with all it’s might to get out of Susan’s hands.  It was cute.

The little chick was much calmer.

As usual Susan found the rock wall.

The few balloons that we did see were gorgeous.

We went to my friend Pearce’s daughter birthday party on August 9, 2008.  Here are a couple of pictures.

This is Hershey.  Pearce’s old chocolate lab.  He is a very sweet dog, as you can see.  Also very patient.

Emma and Susan are signing a card that Christy had created for everyone to sign.  Sort of like a guest book.

This is the second time Susan has ordered painted lady butterfly larva this year.  It is a lot of fun to watch them grow, form their chrysalides, and emerge as butterflies.  This first picture is from a few days before we released them.  We were in our kitchen, July 12, 2008.

On July 15, 2008, Emma and I took them outside and released them.  Emma is trying to get one to crawl on her hand so she can help it out of the habitat.

One of them landed on her shirt.

She did get one to stay on her hand for a little bit.

She doesn’t always add sound effects for her train, but this was one of those times.  Too cute!  July 26, 2008

We went to the Insectarium on July 27, 2008.  We had a good time, but there is too much looking and not enough doing for someone Emma’s age.  A lot of the bugs are behind glass, and there is no way to interact with them.  Emma did get to taste some wax worms in their kitchen though.  She thought the stirfry was pretty good.  She also tried a cricket on a rice crispie treat.

Here she is petting a giant cockroach, I don’t remember the actual name though.  Not local.

We saw this moth in the butterfly and moth exhibit.

Here are some shots of Emma playing outside, August 8, 2008

Here she is taking a drive in her car; she’s probably heading to Barnes and Noble.  That’s where she usually goes.

I’m not sure what she sees, but I thought her expression was great.

We took a walk down to a neighbor’s house to visit with their cats.  They have three: Pepper, Kiki, and Thunder.  They are very friendly, and Pepper will usually run out to the street if he hears us coming.

This is Thunder.

This is Kiki.

On August 17, 2008, we went to Susan’s Aunt B and Uncle Keith’s house for a visit.  Susan’s Aunt Jo was in town from Colorado.  Somehow I did not get a picture of her…oops.  I tend to focus on Emma.  Here she is giving Hooch a kiss.  He is a really sweet dog.

This is going to be a little bit of a catch up post with some stuff that I have missed in my last post.

These were taken at my brother’s house on May 3, 2008.  It was still a little too cold to go swimming, so we didn’t pack swimming suits.  One of my brother’s friends was kind enough to lend me a suit and Emma swam in her undies.

Grandma went to gymnastics on May 20, 2008, and took these pictures.  Here is Emma after jumping into the pit.

And this is Emma and Susan doing the Hokie Pokie.

We finally took Emma’s Christmas Portrait this weekend.  Here is the official one that will be going out in our Christmas cards this year:

And here are the rest of the ones we liked:

The pop-up gingerbread man is an ornament.  Susan has gotten a little pop-up ornament for Emma the last three years.  She has a bear from two years ago, a Tigger from last year, and the gingerbread man from this year.

This fabulous rocking chair was a gift from Aunt Lani and Uncle Chris a couple of years ago.  It was Lani’s Grandfather’s.

We pulled a couple more ornaments off of the tree to entertain Emma while we were taking the pictures since it is kind of a long process.   When you push the bottom of this little bear, he falls over.  He’s always good for a laugh.

Emma kept having to put the zebra back in it’s train car.  She put it in a car whose middle tips, so it can dump whatever it is carrying.  When she went around the circle quickly, it dumped the zebra.

Susan and Emma tried playing catch with the moose.  If Emma could keep her eyes open when she is trying to catch, she might do a little better.

When I was little, my Dad had a “Big Loader” that came out at Christmas time.  We bought one a couple of years ago, and brought it out this year for the first time.  It has a little car that picks up three different bodies as it goes around the track.  And there are some “stones” that it scoops and dumps.  She is fascinated by it.

Today we went to Susan’s doctor and she had an ultrasound done.  We’re having another girl!  Yeah!  Everything looks good so far.  Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound, and if anybody wants to see it, the video.  The video is about 11 minutes long.

Here is a profile shot of our new little one.

Ultrasounds don’t make the prettiest portraits, but this is looking down a little from above and in front of the head.

Susan wanted to share the this.  She thought it was a cute picture of the hand.

It took a little bit of work to be able to see that she was a she.  When we first tried to look her feet were in the way.  Then right before she moved her feet she reached her hand down and covered her girl parts.  This picture is looking up at her, like she was sitting in a chair above us.  We just thought it was a cute story.  At least she cooperated the first day we tried.  We had to try a couple of different days before Emma cooperated.

Here is the whole video from the ultrasound.  It is about 11 minutes long.

After much deliberation, Susan and I decided we wanted to try for another child, and here it is.  This is from the first ultrasound on October 1, 2008.  The baby is about an inch long, which is right on schedule at this point.  We even got to see it move it’s legs during the ultrasound, which was very cool!  We also got to see the heartbeat.  The doctor says it is due May 10, 2008.  We think it is more like May 8.

Ok… So I’m trying to play catch up.  Here are some pictures from Mid April to July 4th.

On April 19th, we got to go sailing with Pearce and Christy on their Columbia 50 named Grace.  We had a fantastic time.  Emma and Susan have gotten to come out twice now, and it has been great to see Emma enjoying herself.  Hopefully, I can get her addicted young.

Here are Pearce and their daughter Kate.

Christy and their daughter Norah.

Emma and Susan sitting in the shade under the main.

Emma and Daddy.  As always, Emma is wearing her life jacket.  Susan did not have one on since we were drifting.  I think we went half a mile in about and hour.  Normally, Susan wears a life jacket as well; so she can jump in after Emma if she falls overboard.

This is the first time that Susan ordered Painted Lady butterfly larvae for us to watch grow.  They show up in a little jar with food in the bottom.  Once they formed their chrysalides, we moved them to this little net container.  When they come out, we get to watch them fly around for a few days before we release them.  It is always a great experience.

Emma, Susan and the butterflies, April 27, 2008

This fabulous outfit came from Emma’s two grandmothers.  Mamere gave Emma the galoshes for her birthday, and Grandma got the coat and umbrella when she was visiting Grant Auntie Sharon in Greensboro, NC.  We took these pictures on April 27, 2008.  I think we went out in the rain after we took these pictures, but it’s been a while.  It could have just been a fashion show.

Mommy teaching Emma a bridge.  She can do it by herself now.  May 6, 2008

Emma putting clips in her doll’s hair.  May 23, 2008

Look how strong she is.  She is holding her arms straight to hold herself up.  May 24, 2008

Emma on Daddy’s shoulders.  June 1, 2008

Emma got some goggles to wear during her swimming lessons.  They spent some days in the tub with us.  June 19, 2008

Emma took four weeks of swimming lessons this summer.  These are pictures from the second week.  She did a great job, and learned a whole lot.  She can swim on her own for 5-10 feet.  Depending on how long she is willing to hold her breath.  Once she tries to take a breath, she lifts her head up, stops trying to swim, and sinks.  She’ll have it figured out soon.  We will have to get some more time swimming in Uncle Chris’ pool while it’s still warm out.  June 23, 2008

On July 4th we went to the Mandeville Seafood Festival to see the fireworks.  Emma found them to be a little loud. She isn’t a fan of loud noises, but other than that, she had a great time.  Here are some pictures of Emma on the rock wall.  They don’t make them quite small enough for her, but she gave it a great try.

At long last…..

What a nice cuddle.  March 8, 2008

Emma and Daddy reading before bed, March 17, 2008

Emma enjoying a few of her Mardi Gras beads, March 19, 2008

Emma had her hair cut on March 20, 2008.  Grandpa was nice enough to take some pictures.  Here is Diana cutting Emma’s hair.

After Emma’s hair cut, it was Mommy’s turn.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Emma went outside to play.  They got to play with Diana’s dog Monty.

Awww… How Sweet

We had our Easter at Mamere’s on Saturday March 22, 2008.

Easter Egg Hunt!

Emma and Nannie on Nannie’s Swing

Emma and Mamere on Mamere’s back porch

After our Easter at Mamere’s, we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to visit with Susan’s cousin Stephanie, her husband Brewer, and their son Eian.

DInner time

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa’s, March 23, 2008

What’s in the basket?

Emma and Grandma

Look!!  There is an egg.

hmmm…  What’s that I see?

A new sandbox!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

Stephanie and crew stayed for Easter morning. We had a wonderful visit, and Emma enjoyed watching Eian play.  She asked to hold him, and Stephanie said, “Sure!”.

Here is Eian crawling to Stephanie.  What a cutie!

Eian in bunny ears.

Susan with Bunny Ears!

Emma playing with her purse and cell phone.

This year we decided to get a membership to the Audubon Zoo.  We have had a blast going.  I think we went three weekends in a row at one point.  Here are some pictures from February 23 & March 2.

As always, we have to stop at the Flamingos when we first get to the zoo.

Susan is great at pointing out all of the wonderful things there are to see at the zoo.

I think the turtles were having a nice time sunning themselves.

I had trouble getting a decent picture of the zebra.

So that’s what a wildebeest looks like.

Climbing the web up to the top of Monkey Hill.

Lion statues at the top of Monkey Hill

Time to feed the giraffes

This strange looking bird is a Kori Bustard.

These guys seem to spend most of their time relaxing.

The otters were a blast to watch.  They were very active.  And very curious.

This is a maned wolf.

This red fox picked up his head just in time for a picture, and promptly buried his nose in his fur again.

This was very cute.  We watched the male stork picking up sticks, and bringing them back to build the nest.

And the cutest subject of all!

This is a guanaco – a wild llama.

This rhea walked under us while we were standing on the boardwalk.

On May 2nd, Pearce, Christy, Kate & Norah met us at the zoo.  You can almost see Emma in the blue and Magenta.  Kate and Emma never did slide at the same time.

And of course we had to take a ride on the carousel before we left.  The first one of Emma and I is from February 23.

These two of Emma and I and Kate and Christy are from March 2, 2008.

These two of Susan climbing the Rock Wall are from February 23.  She really enjoys the challenge.

Here are a couple of pictures from Mardi Gras day.  (I know, just a few months late.) February 5, 2008

Bath Time, February 6, 2008

Puddle Stomping, February 12, 2008

She wanted us to take a picture after her nap, February 22, 2008

The next morning she wanted us to take a picture before she got out of bed.  She was awake, just pretending to sleep.   February 23, 2008

It doesn’t happen often, but with this post I am all caught up! Enjoy!

January 20, 2008

We made some pizza for dinner, and Emma was a great help.

January 27, 2008

I layed down on the bed while she was playing in our room, and she joined me.

February 4, 2008

I was giving Emma a bath when she picked her cup up and dumped. I ran for the camera, and asked if she would do it again so I could take a picture. She probably did it ten more times. What a blast!

I told Susan that I wanted to have a ‘Word of the Day’ post, and that the word should be ‘incessant’. She thought we should have some recordings to go with it. Emma has been repeating a couple of things quite incessantly lately.

Here is her saying ‘good old noodle’ and ‘Eeney, meeny, miny, moe’. These have been the two favorites. In this recording she only says them once. When I was washing dishes, and she was supposedly eating snack, she repeated ‘good old noodle’ about 15 or 20 times without a break.

eeny, meeny, miny, mo

‘Good old noodle’, was something Emma started saying quite a lot since Susan laughed when Emma accidently said ‘noodle’ instead of ‘good old’ while singing ‘Up on the Housetop.’ once she realizes that it makes us laugh, it becomes worth doing again. Here is ‘Up on the Housetop’, with her leaving out ‘Good old’ in an effort to not say ‘noodle’.

Up on the Housetop

Once we started we decided to do a few favorites. Here’s the ‘ABC’ song:

ABC song

‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’ which is one that she doesn’t know very well, but sings along with us before bed.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Here is a portion of ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. After she finished the verse she started with she starts over again, and then realizes that she should have stopped. Makes for a funny little pause.  She sings ‘White Sheep’ because Susan learned that as a second verse from another teacher at Cedarwood.

Baa Baa White Sheep

PS… Thanks again to everybody who contributed to my BIG Christmas present, these recording were made with my Nokia N800, and I also wrote the post from it.

Emma turned three on January 12, 2008.  We had a Birthday party for her at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  We had a good turnout, including two of Emma’s friends, Kate and Shelby Marie.  She was so excited to have some of her friends there.  This is the first year it was not a party just for grown ups.  It is also the first year she has been really old enough to understand holidays.  She woke up early for both Christmas and her birthday.

Pearce and Norah came.

 Here is Kate in the ball tent.  (Pearce and Christy’s older daughter)

 We gave Emma a trampoline for her Birthday, and brought it to the party.  We thought it would be something the girls would enjoy.

 Emma having a turn in the ball tent.

 One of the activities that Susan put together was giraffe painting.  She cut out a giraffe shape, and taped it down to another piece of paper.  Then she had the children paint bubble wrap, and use it as a stamp.  (or just paint however they wanted)  It really doesn’t matter, because when the giraffe is pulled off you have two finished pieces, the giraffe, and the silhouette.

 Christy, Norah and Grandee watching everybody get ready to paint.

Shelby Marie painting

All three girls.  That’s Kate facing us, with Pearce helping her.

Shelby Marie is making sure all of her dots have paint on them before she stamps.

Kate had a blast with the paints.

 Kate taking a turn on the trampoline.

Susan and Emma made an oatmeal raisin cookie cake for the party.   Emma really enjoys oatmeal raisin cookies.

Time to blow out the candles.

 One down!

Time for presents!  Emma got this dollhouse from Grandma and Grandpa.

A very tired Emma opening presents.  It was a long day.

MaMere got Emma a great pair of Ladybug Galoshes.  She has been wearing them around the house.  Jumping on her trampoline in them, etc.

 Uncle Chris and Aunt Lani gave Emma her very own table and chair set.

What a cool new tricycle!

We realized that we hadn’t gotten a picture of Emma driving her car. Here she is.

We got Emma a trampoline for her birthday. We gave it to her a day early so she could play with it a little before we took it to Grandma and Grandpa’s for her birthday party on the 12th. I have some good jumping pictures from the party.