My first wagon

Emily got to open a few more presents when we got home from Christmas in Ash Flat. I was determined that she would have a 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kid this year and by golly she got one. I had a specific one picked out, and those things were are hard commodity to come by. Everyone was buying one! This one has her color hair and blue eyes. I wanted her to look like her. We got her cousin Isabella one for Christmas that is wearing the same outfit, but has brown hair and brown eyes. I wanted them to be able to share that experience of their first Cabbage Patch! They smell just as I remember when I was little. (I'm 26 you know......)

Emily had to do a taste test as usual. She loves her baby so much! I put her away for now, because she was starting to pull her pig tails out...I bring her out from time to time, but as much as I went through to get her that doll, I don't want her to ruin it overnight!!!!

As promised, here are a few pics of Emily and her wagon. We asked for some garage organizers for Christmas, and were busy cleaning out the garage that day. Emily was so content to just sit in her wagon and play!

Since the temp was so beautiful outside and it being the end of December only, we knew we wouldn't get an opportunity like this again for awhile. We took advantage of it and took Emily for a spin in her new wheels, sunglasses and all. She loved the wind blowing on her face and looking at all the people and animals in our neighborhood.

hey mom!!

Here we go!
I forgot to post this pic earlier. It was of us on Christmas Day after church.



Emily is growing so fast. She turned 7 months old a week ago and is cruising right along. She now eats 3 meals a day and has had tried a lot of different types of food. I would have to say that her favorite thing right now is peaches. The girl goes crazy for some peaches! Even her teachers at school made comments about how excited she gets! She is working on her sippy cup, but doesn't quite care for it completely. I am in no rush. She can sit herself up completely now, from a full laying position up. She really enjoys being able to do that. She wants to stand as much as possible now and has started pulling up. She will stand by herself for a minute or two before she plops or something grabs her attention that she leans to grab...that is usually what happens. She isn't crawling yet, but she does get on all fours and rock back and forth and will sit up on her knees like she's standing. She gets VERY frustrated when she can't do something she is trying to do...like reach something or open something. She doesn't have an appointment with the dr for another 2 months, so I am not current on her stats. I just know, that she has managed to out grow her 6-9 month jeans, so we had to go out and buy all new ones that are long enough. The problem is, is that when she stands, they start to fall off because they are so big in the waist! I can't wait until she can start wearing the adjustable waist jeans. Just a little longer... Another big thing, is that she now sits in the cart by herself at the store...it sounds stupid, but it was a big milestone for us. She loves watching all the people that walk by...she is such a flirt. Especially with the kids. She just loves them. I wonder how babies can tell the difference? Anyway, that's my update on Emily. Rich has been in training at work for his new position. He is catching on really fast and enjoying the new experiences. I have been working so hard that my head is spinning..I haven't been able to catch my breath...I have been working on a few projects at work to change some methods. My big one, has been to find an alternate way to confirm Salmonella out using chromogenic agar. I think it is going to work. I submitted my data to the statisticians and am anxiously awaiting their response. This change will have an effect on all of Tyson's confirmations, nationwide. I just finished all my paperwork for my promotion in Feb, and I am excited about the outcome.

All is well here at the Starkey house.

We hope you all had a great 2008 and we wish you and yours a great 2009.

Happy New Year!!