Too...Much...Excitement...

There are so many presents under my tree... I can't take it anymore.... I want to open all of them. But Mommy says I have to wait. Check back soon for pictures of when Santa comes. I've been very good this year.

Leusby Family Christmas

Uncle Andy, Ashley, Lori, Uncle Josh, Grandpa, Mommy, Me, and Daddy.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas with Grama Jan up north

Winter Wonderland

Mommy Lesson of the Week

Jekyll and Hyde
Apparently, Emily is a totally different kid at daycare. She eats everything and anything put in front of her. If I make the same meal at home, she won't touch it and throw a fit. She also plays the "baby card" there, if that make sense. She is so grown up at home, but at daycare she wants everyone to do things for her and treat her like a baby. At home she wants to use the potty all the time, at daycare, hasn't even used the word "potty".

I would love to hear your stories of how your child has different personalities with different surroundings.

Terrible Twos are here....

NEED I SAY MORE??!!?

Endless fun

Emily's new favorite thing to do is Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Luckily Lily plays the song and she can play with Emily. Mommy and Daddy get tired, that's how often Emily wants to play this game.

Meet Nolan

Emily's Best bud Zak has a new brother. Nolan Philip Kukuk was born October 11. He came a month early and is in perfect health. Emily loves to give him hugs and kisses. She is very good with babies.

Taking after Aunt Kristin

Saturday was our first Toddler trip to Urgent Care. We decided to have some fun on Saturday and take Emily to Bounce House. She was having a great time going from each bouncy activity. While alone in a bigger jumper a few older kids joined her. One wasn't paying attention and bounced into Em and knocked her down falling on her. She cried, but not too bad. It was getting to be nap time anyway, so we went home. Once we got home, Emily went down for her nap. Waking up an hour later, she wouldn't put any weight on her right leg/foot. She kept telling us "Oww, Oww". After our own self exam, James and I decided to take her in to get it x-rayed. Nothing was broken that they could see. But we need to keep on eye on it in case she injured a growth plate. She seems to be fine, she is favoring the foot and toes, but it doesn't stop her from getting around.

Happy Halloween!!!

Friday night Mommy and Daddy took me on a weird adventrure. I had to get all dressed up, get lots of pictures taken and then go around asking people for candy. It was actually quite fun. Mommy would take me up to a door, I would say "teetteet" and they put candy in my bucket. Then I politely said "tank-oo".
Mom's note: Emily did awesome... she did exactly as she said above, but once we stepped off the porch she would take out that piece of candy and carry it to the next house. Once her bucket was too heavy, she dragged it. She wouldn't let us touch the bucket, it was all hers. Or as she says "Miiine!" After awhile we had to distract her to get some of the candy out and stuff my coat pockets, just so she could carry her bucket again. She had a great time, next year will be even better when she can actually keep up with Jillian and Julia.

Riding through the neighborhood

Emily was given a bike from some friends of ours. She hasn't figured out the pedals yet, so dad pushes her through the neighborhood.

A Star is Born

Pumpkin Carving

Pre-Halloween festivities

Mommy Lesson of the Week

Not really a lesson this week...more of a "What the heck!"

Becuase Dad is at his football games on Thursday nights, Emily and I eat out. This Thursday it was McDonalds. I place Em's order of a cheeseburger Happy Meal with fries and a chocolate milk. My turn, I'll have the #10 value meal with a Coke, please. Sorry ma'am ...we are temporarily out of Coke today.

WHAT THE HECK!!!! OUT OF COKE! Good thing it wasn't a Sunday morning for all those hung over people who need their McDonald's fountain Coke to cure that hangover. I was so disturbed for the rest of the evening, how could McDonald's be out of Coke??

Watching game tape with Dad

Our trip to the Cider Mill

Today is my Daddy's birthday!

Putting words together...

Emily said her first sentence today...
Every morning we do the same routine. After we get dressed, we come to kitchen and get our cup of milk to take in the car on the way to daycare. Well, this morning, she threw me a curve. I handed her the cup of milk and she said "no, juice, please". I was so thrown back that I said "You don't want your milk?", she replied again, "no, juice, please". So I filled a different cup with some apple juice, handed it to her, and go the best response ever, "Thank you". I was so excited...it was like having a real conversation.

Mommy Lesson of the Week

This weeks subject: Toe Fuzzies
Emily has discovered the fuzz between her toes when she takes her socks off. For those of you who know Emily...she doesn't sit still. She will sit for twenty minutes searching and examining every toe she has.

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors

I had my 18 month check up, and Dr. B says I am perfect. I weigh 20lbs. 6oz. and am 31 inches tall. And I only had to have one shot, the flu shot. So now I don't need to go back until I am 2!

I also saw the plastic surgeon for one of my nose treatments. We were at the hospital a long time. They accidently went out of order, so instead of being first, I was last. Daddy was very impatient which made me impatient. But it all turned out OK in the end. They only did lasers this time. So my nose is a little bruised and swollen, but my hemangioma is not growing. Now the doctors will just keep checking up on me every couple months to see how I am doing. But he doesn't think I will need any reconstructive surgery. YEAH!!!!

Mommy Lesson of the Week

Since so many new things happen every day with Emily, I'm going to try and make this a weekly entry.

First entry:
Emily will eat anything...with ketchup!

I haven't been able to get Emily to eat chicken or eggs, ironically...the two foods I could not eat while pregnant. This week, I got Emily to eat at least a few bites of chicken with a big blog of ketchup to dip it in.

So are the days of our lives….

Mom and I have been spending a lot of time together. It’s FOOTBALL season. Dad is a football coach, if some of you didn’t know. So every night he has practice and Thursday and Friday are game nights. (Emily’s new favorite word is football). I went to go watch daddy coach, but we didn’t stay long. Apparently daughters aren’t allowed on the field during the game, so Mom made us leave after my constant attempts to get on the field. (She was like a crazed teen trying to get on the stage at a NKOTB concert. Hehe)

Some good news…. I have a new cousin. Lucas Lee Leusby was born September 5. Because Lucas lives in Alabama with my Uncle Ryan and Jasmine, I haven’t met him yet, nor have we seen any pictures. (Ryan just bought a new digital camera and is trying to upload them to a computer for all of us) Daddy says if they don’t come to Michigan for Christmas, we will go see them on his Spring Break from school. I guess that means no Cancun for me this year, still too young for that. My Grama Jan is leaving October 5 to go visit them, but not before spending a little bit of time with me. She is going to babysit while Mom takes Dad out for his birthday. The big 32!!!! That’s a lot more candles than I had at my party.

Next week I turn 18 months. WOW does time fly, it seems like yesterday I was floating around in my nice warm waterbed in Mommy’s belly. I go to the doctor on Thursday for my checkup. I sure hope they don’t give me any shots. (They will.) And I will get to see how much weight I’ve gained. My next nose surgery is October 1. It hasn’t grown since my last treatment, so this time they will probably just do the lasers. (Then they will decide if she needs reconstructive surgery or not.)

Our trip to the zoo

Mom and Grama Jan took me to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of our day.

Country Girl

Emily loves corn on the cob.

Potty Time

Well... we couldn't hold back. Emily likes to sit on her potty. We'll spare you the actual peepee shot.

Smarty Pants

Meeting the Thompson side of the family

It has been awhile but we were finally able to get together with the Thompson side of the family. Here Emily is with Great Aunt Gayle and Great Aunt Sharon. Mom is in there too.

Updated Photos

Sorry we haven't updated our photos in a while..

Water park fun






Climbing trees with dad


Helping in the garden


Watering Grama's flowers


Emily and Aunt Sue

Weekend of Fun

Mommy and I went to Brighton to visit Grandma. We also went to my Aunt Kristin's house. She lives on a lake. It was so much fun. I got to go swimming and take my first boat ride. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Pig Tails!

Sweet Sixteen!

Sixteen months, that is!
Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz.— -5%-tile (not a typo, Emily has lost weight due to her high activity)
Height: 30-3/4 inches — 50%-tile
Teeth: only 7
New obsessions: Kittys. Baby dolls. And did I mention Kittys... Emily loves to play with her "baby", she gives baby a bottle and makes sure her socks are on and even puts her "night-night" on the blanket (that must be perfectly spread out on the floor, and she gets upset if she can't do it herself). If she is not playing with Baby she is loving on "May-May" (Maiden). "meow, meow, meow" is a word we hear constantly. Emily is definitely from our genes, she loves to be outside.
New words: Too many to list.
"I Can't Believe It": Emily tells us when she has gone potty. I never thought I'd hear the word "poopoo" at 16 months old. And in case you were wondering...NO I am not going to start potty-training.
Hemangioma update: On June 30, we had another treatment, they did steroids and lasers this time. Her nose is looking so much better.. We hope it stops growing soon. The average age is 18 months for it to stop. We have another treatment scheduled for October 1.
Picture taken by Mary Kukuk.

On a hot day...

...too hot!

Fireworks!!!

Mommy and Dad took me to see the Mt. Clemens fireworks. It was great. I was so good and sat and watched them. (Mom's note: notice in the pics that she is in different spots for the 15 minutes of fireworks..my child can not sit still even if she is entertained.)