Mommy's Little Helper

Neighborhood Chilli Cookoff

Our super fun neighborhood held its first annual chilli cookoff Saturday evening. What a great turnout! We had 11 entries (all of which were delicious) and at least 30 attendees. I totally copied my sister and Brian in organizing the event, which worked out perfectly. Everything went off without a hitch. A big thanks to Nate and Stephanie Manning for hosting the party at their house.
The hosts with the most!

Neighborhood gals beginning to taste test.

Ashley and Jordan (Ashley and her hubby, Chris, placed 2nd!)

St. Paddy's themed desserts and decorations.

Love the Guinness in the vase.

Playdate with Sterling Ragsdale

My good friend, Ashley Ragsdale, gave birth to a precious little baby girl six weeks after Emery's arrival. Ashley and I were so excited to both have girls so close in age. We know that they will grow up to be BFFs. We got the girls together for a playdate on Friday, despite the awful storm. Ashley hosted us at her house so Sterling's big brothers, Duke and Smith Jackson, could join the fun.
Emery admires Sterling's super cute footwear.

Ashley and Sterling Ragsdale

Thanks, Ash! Next time we can play at my house.

Giddyup!

Emery and I had such a fun weekend in Atlanta celebrating the 2nd birthday of Miss Avery Calvert! Avery's parents (my good friends, Clint and Sarah) really went above and beyond to make sure all of Avery's guests had an unforgettable experience. And Mother Nature cooperated beautifully. Avery loves animals and her party had a cowboy/cowgirl theme. In addition to pony rides, several little bunnies also made the trek to the Calvert home. Avery's gift from her parents is a fabulous swingset/slide combo which provided hours of entertainment for the little ones waiting for their turn on the ponies. Alison and I made sure Hayes and Emery were decked out in the finest western gear Horsetown had to offer for babies. If I do say so myself, they were pretty cute! Thanks, Clint and Sarah! Happy birthday, Avery!
Maggie and Wade diggin' in to the yummy pizza and fruit salad lunch.

Emery swinging with the help of Grandpa (that's right....my parents crashed the party for a bit because they wanted to see their grandbabies' first experience with horses).

The birthday girl!

The adorable table setting (before the kiddos invaded)

Cowboy Hayes!

Emery and her favorite pony

Emmy liked petting the ponies but I wouldn't say she had a blast riding them.

Hayes and Alison

Rear view of Emery's super cute cowgirl outfit.

My precious little cowgirl!

Steamboat

Emery experienced her first trip to Steamboat last week. Ben's parents recently bought into a new condo development called One Steamboat Place and we stayed there for the first time this trip. All I can say is "wow!!!" This place is incredible. Everything is brand new and top of the line....and the staff spoiled us rotten. What a great trip....our nephew, Austin, skiied for the first time (he's not even 2 and a half!) and Ben and I had built-in babysitters for Emery so that we could ski, go out to dinner, shower.....heaven!
Grandpa and Grandma took Emery and Austin on their first gondola ride. There they go.....

Eskimo Bobbles. Emery was such a good baby the entire trip. She didn't care what we did with her as long as she was part of the action.

The Slagel me in one of the hot tubs. Ahh......I wish we had one of these in our own backyard.

Emery and Mommy in the heated outdoor pool. Emery is such a water baby. She loves pools, her bathtub, the dog's water dishes.....anything with H2O is fun for her.

Our one snag in the trip was that our flight from Atlanta to Steamboat had some issues with weather. We flew directly from Atlanta to Steamboat and then had to circle due to fog. After about 40 minutes, the captain announced that we were running low on fuel and would have to go to Denver, refuel, and try again. Once we got to Denver, the fog in Steamboat worsened, which meant we had to hang out ON THE PLANE for an additional hour and a half at DIA. We never deplaned. Thankfully, we were upgraded to first class, which meant we had roomy seats, lunch and booze. ;-) Also, Emery was a perfect angel and thought first class was super fun (as do Ben and I). We finally made it to Steamboat and everything was smooth sailing from them on.

The Stephens Brothers' Annual Chili Cook-Off

One of my favorite events of the year was held this weekend....Brian and Tony Stephens hosted their chili cook-off! I never miss this party! As usual, plenty of delicious recipes were entered. Alison (my sister) had taken first prize the last two years, but was unseated this year and had to settle for second. I have a feeling she'll be testing recipes for the next 363 days, give or take a few.

What a difference a year makes! Last year, no babies were at the chili party. This year, five little rugrats were crawling, toddling and wheeling around. A few adjustments were made (the party started two hours earlier than usual and ended much earlier), but the babies made the party even more special. It's such a rare treat to get so many of my dear friends and their children together. Emery doesn't know it yet, but these tykes are going to be her lifelong friends. Thanks, Tony, Brian, Alyson and Alison for a wonderful evening.

The entries (numbered confidentially)
Adult and baby beverages were on hand

The man cave had a new visitor this year....little McKenna Calvo!

Brian and Tony getting ready to announce the big winner!

Mallory and Debbie watching over the little ones....and Simba

Emery is 7 months!

So far January has been pretty typical....Ben went skiing in Steamboat for six days, Emery had her first cold, the weather has been freezing (until the past two days) and we've basically been recovering from the craziness of Christmas. Emery continues to thrive and brightens our days in countless ways. The past four weeks have been especially fun with her. Now that she sits unassisted, it's a whole new world! Her toys are more fun since she no longer has to play with them laying down and I've learned that her attention span is much longer sitting up. I actually get stuff done around the house! On that note, I've started Emery's "First Year of Life" scrapbook and I am having so much fun. I was so frazzled her first few weeks with us that I didn't take the time to soak it all in. Going back through all her pictures and reports from the pediatrician make me realize just how quickly she changes! Teething is in full bloom and Emery seems to be handling it pretty well. She has two teeth on the bottom and is about to get two more down there (hopefully the middle two so she no longer looks like a vampire, albeit a cute vampire) as well as some top chompers. I was a little worried about the order in which her bottom teeth broke through, but Dr. Beau has assured me that baby teeth have nothing to do with adult teeth and she'll be just fine. But even the pediatrician was shocked when he looked in her mouth with the tongue depresser (I took her in when she had her cold to make sure it wasn't an ear infection). He exclaimed, "well that's weird!" Um, not what you say to a first time mom!! Below are some pictures taken the past week.

Peek a boo!

Downward dog!

Emery is very close to crawling. In the meantime, she strengthens her core by doing yoga poses such as "the plank." Cracks me up!