Brr-ing

Are you brr-ing where you are, yet?  We aren't here for the most part.  A few mornings and evenings have been down right chilly, but mid-day is still in the 70s.

Emma, however, acts as if we live in Antarctica...  She isn't a bit dramatic, and I don't EVER use sarcasm.

I have to admit, though, it is pretty cute to hear her say, "Mama, I'm brr-ing! Are you?"  She has heard me say ''Brr... Are you freezing?" when I get her out of the tub.  And from that she has coined the word 'brr-ing.'

In the picture above, we were at Disney's Hollywood Studios waiting on Fantasmic to begin.  Though it had been 80 degrees all day, the temperature dropped once the sun went down.  Being the great mama that I am, neither of my kids were dressed for cold weather, nor did I have anything in their bags.

Thanks to Aunt Jenn for being prepared!  She had extra clothes for Laila that Emma borrowed. And I was able to wrap Jack in his blanket to keep him warm.  Emma took one of the blankets and had Aunt Jenn create a coat for her.  She thought she was hot stuff... Emma, not, Jenn! Well, Jenn may have, but she kept it to herself and didn't strut around like Emma did.

Anyway, Emma was brr-ing that night... Along with the rest of us.  And, honestly, 'brr-ing' is about the only word I know that sums it up.

If You Give a Girl a Pig...

If you give a girl a pig, she will love it forever.  

If you give a girl a pig, she will kiss it and pet it and feed it milk from her sippy cup.  

If you give a girl a pig, you will see what unconditional, child-like love is.

If you give a girl a pig, she will carry it around as her pride and joy;

she will share it with her friends, 

and talk to it whenever she thinks it is sad.

If you give a girl a pig, even if it is not real, she will give it all the love in her heart,

just because that is what girls do...

If you give a girl a pig.

Coxsackie Virus

Emma came home from school with a note today... A note about a confirmed case of coxsackie virus within her school.  It completely freaked me out to begin with because I wasn't exactly sure what in the heck this is.  But, after a little research, I have come to the conclusion that it is basically Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.  Correct me if I am wrong because the internet does provide misinformation.

We have been exposed to this before, and survived it without too much grief.  But, I am hoping to avoid it this time.  I seriously don't think I can handle it.  I really need Emma to stay well right now.  It would really help me survive these tough weeks of morning sickness.

And, another thing, this note informed me that there was a confirmed case at her school, but not whether or not it was in her class.  So, I'm not really sure how direct her exposure to it has been.  Not that it would make that big of a difference to have these details, but I just like knowing.

I guess, now, we will just hurry up and wait to see if it will strike our household.  I worry that it might because we are all exhausted from this past weekend, Emma especially.  It was fun, but busy, which means that bedtimes sometimes got forgotten.

It's too late now to fret over lack of sleep, though, so the only thing on my side is a prayer that we will be spared from illness.  Hope that you and yours are all well and good!

A Sticky Situation

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to all!  I hope that you didn't have to do too much labor today!  Thank goodness I didn't!

We have had a pretty good day around here.  We had a leisurely morning that included an awesome nap for me and Emma.  Then Chuck, Emma, our dogs and I went to Buckhaven...our lake house that we are in the process of building with our good friends, the R's,  that is so far in the backside of no where you literally have to know the GPS coordinates to get there!  It is so awesome, though, to be in the middle of no where.

Chuck did a little work while we were there... it isn't completed yet, but really close!  And Emma and I colored and wandered around outside.  She walked directly to the water, and would have gone in after our lab, Maci, but she sunk in the mud.  And, in true Emma fashion, when she realized that she was ankle deep in mud, she stiffened up completely and screamed.  Then, she proceeded to scream until I got her back to the house and cleaned up.

I let her go back out on the front porch without her shoes which was a set-up for disaster.  Meiko, our Yorkie, would run from her and she couldn't get off the porch to chase him.  She stood at the edge screaming, "Meiko. Back!"

When we did go back in, Meiko followed and it didn't take Emma long to figure out a way to his heart... She was eating Cheetos and found that Meiko really, really likes them!  So, Emma and Meiko sat in the floor eating Cheetos.

As much as I don't like for her to feed him people food, they were both loving it so much that I couldn't put a stop to it.  Not to mention that Emma would giggle like crazy and I love to hear that.  And, though they have always loved each other, I think they took their relationship to another level today.  Which makes me super happy!

They say...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  If that's true, then a motion picture, or movie must be worth so much more.  Right?  Well, it probably would be if it was actually captured and saved.

Emma and I were at the park strolling this afternoon and I decided to take her to the edge of the lake to look at the ducks.  We stroll out there a lot and she sees the ducks from a distance, but we hadn't gotten up close until today.

After our stroll today, I asked Emma if she would like to go see the ducks.  Of course she did, and was so enthusiastic about it!  We packed up our stroller and I let her walk beside me.  She reached up for my hand and I honestly almost cried!  How sweet was that!

Anyway, as we walked along the path to the water's edge, Emma kept saying, "Ready.  (L)Et's go!  See ducks!  Cack, cack (Quack, quack)!  I had my phone and decided to call Chuck so that he could hear how excited she was.  Of course, he didn't answer, and when he called back, Emma wouldn't say a word.  But he suggested that I record her if she started again.

And, wouldn't you know it, the second I hang up, she starts chattering away again.  So, I fidgeted with my phone until I got the video app pulled up and ready.  I started videoing and she put on quite the show.

Emma talked and said ducks until they came over to where we were standing.  She was thrilled with the idea that the ducks were so close, but stomped her feet when the started to swim away.  I quickly grabbed her cup full of 'whale' crackers and threw some in the water.  The ducks immediately turned around and came back.

I kept tossing crackers in the water, much to Emma's dismay, but it kept the ducks around... All of a sudden, this one duck decided to get out of the water and come close to us.  We seriously could have touched it!  And, as great as that was, I was also thinking that it probably wasn't the safest idea.

Emma was enthralled with this duck that came close to her.  But seriously, all I could think was, "Do ducks bite? Do they have teeth?  What if it pecks her?  What kind of disease do ducks carry?"

Really, though, Emma was hopping up and down screaming and eating her whales and this duck was maybe two feet from her.  It would watch her grab crackers out of her cup, and if she dropped one, it was all over it... Even risking getting stepped on!

Finally, I had endured all that I could and started tossing crackers in the water so the duck would go away.  I scooped Emma up and got ready to head back to the car.  As we were leaving, Emma waved at the ducks and shouted, "Bye, see you later!"  Then she chattered some more, but all I could make out was ducks, swimming, and bye.

Through all of this I was recording, and was so excited to send it to Chuck and share it here with all of you.  However, when I tried to pull it up, I found that it wasn't there.  Some how I managed to delete the entire video!  Are you kidding me!?!?!?  I was so upset that I managed to do this.  But, what can I do.

Maybe we'll have another moment like that with the ducks and I will be able to actually capture it and SAVE it!

Until next time...

Masterpiece

                                            
 

The Hair Bow Game

                                     

                                           

A night like that

You know those nights when you have reached your breaking point?  When you ask yourself, Is this really MY life?  We have all been there.  I suppose it is just the way life is, but that doesn't make it any more bearable.  

Well, I can say that I was so there yesterday.  I wasn't feeling well, but couldn't pinpoint what felt bad...  I almost fainted at one point and I don't really know why...  Emma woke up from her afternoon nap screaming and proceeded to scream for another 15-20 minutes for a still undetermined reason.  And then Chuck came home wanting to do something.  What?  I still am not sure, but he was obviously disappointed that I wasn't feeling the same enthusiasm for life that he was feeling.  

Being the sweet husband and Daddy that he is, he offered to take Emma to his parents' for a little while and let me just relax.  So, he took her to visit and came back to check on me.  Though he wanted really to do something, he could tell that I wasn't feeling up to it.  So, he sat on the couch with me and we just talked... No t.v., no Emma, no distractions.  It was wonderful!  And though it was just for an hour, it did me a world of good.  

When he went back to pick up Emma, he was going to swing by the grocery store and grab some fish to grill for supper.  After he left and before making it in the grocery store, he realized that he had forgotten his wallet. So, he brought Emma home and set back out to the grocery... I think he was afraid to try to tackle the grocery store with Emma and tow and intentionally forgot his wallet.  But shhh!  Don't tell him!

Anyway, back to the store he went.  While he was gone, I began working on my Basil Pesto sauce for the pasta that was to go with our fish.  Then, not surprisingly, I get a text... What did you need me to get?  I texted back Pasta.  A few minutes later, though, my phone rings.  It's Chuck.  I swear he can't go pick up the ingredients for what he is cooking without calling me about it!  Oh well... 

I answered and he went into this long spill about how great the fresh shrimp look and he wanted to cook those instead of fish.  I was totally okay with it, and after another forever on the phone discussing groceries...oh, yes, this is a regular occurrence if he goes to the store... we finally hang up.

Luckily, I am a great multi-tasker and had completed my pasta sauce.  Next, I open the pantry to get out the potatoes for our shrimp boil.  Somehow, though, I never actually got to them, but Emma did.  I looked up from filling pots of water to boil to see her rolling the potatoes across the kitchen floor and giggling, saying apple the whole time.  I couldn't help but laugh, and notice that my mood had begun to lighten.

Once Chuck got home from the store, he unloaded the groceries... shrimp, corn, garlic, fish, and beer...lots of beer...three or four different varieties of beer.  I just cracked up.  Who needs that much beer?  Anyway, he said he was just trying some different varieties of lower calorie beer.  Okay, whatever.

We both get busy working on supper and simultaneously keeping an eye on Emma.  All is well until it's time to put the apples in the pot to boil.  That led to a melt-down, that luckily was short lived.  She quickly found something else to entertain herself.  

Finally, everything was ready... music was playing, beer was cold, shrimp were spicy... and we sat down to eat.  Emma wouldn't touch the pasta, potatoes, or corn, but loved the spiders, aka shrimp.  So, we all sat down at the table, blessed the food and began to eat.  I'm not sure what song came on, but Emma began to chair dance, you know... dancing while still sitting in your chair.  Chuck and I laughed and joined in which only led to her dancing more.  We had finished up supper and I took Emma to the tub.  

Once clean and jammied, we went back into the kitchen to get a cup of milk.  She was drinking her milk when a Madonna song came on and Chuck busted out in song and dance.  This led to Emma busting out a dance of her own.  

She and Chuck danced while I scrambled to find my video camera... It is moments like this that I live for capturing!  I finally found it and videoed as they danced away to Madonna and then Michael Jackson.  It was fun times for all... I even got in on the action while videoing! 

We danced in the kitchen for the better part of an hour before putting Emma to bed.  It was a blast!  And, it was as I laid her in her bed, with Chuck by my side, that I realized that no matter how rotten I feel, or how terrible my day has been, it is all worth it for nights like this.  And, though I knew it before, I was reminded just exactly why I love my life as it is and wouldn't change a thing!

Here's a little piece of the action... Enjoy!

Bye! See You Later!

The infamous 'Red Room'

I can't believe that as I am sitting here typing this post that it is only noon.  I have had quite the long night and morning.  I swear that we have other rooms in our house other than the infamous 'red room,' but it seems that all the blog-worthy events happen there.  Even though that in reality, we are hardly ever in there.

So, anyway, back to the long night and morning... After an eventful weekend, I decided to go to bed at a decent hour.  That was all great and wonderful until around midnight.  Emma woke up and couldn't seem to get herself back to sleep.  After a little while I went to her room and began to rock her.  I noticed that she didn't have her paci, so I went to get it out of her bed.  Only, it wasn't in her bed... None of the 6 that are usually in her bed were there.  So, with her in tow, I began searching the floor in the dark for a paci.  Finally, I found one and we started rocking again.  It wasn't long before I had rocked myself to sleep, but not Emma.  I woke up to her staring at me; at that point, I decided that we would spend the rest of the night in the 'red room.'  It was the usual long, restless night with little sleep for me and even less room on the bed for me.

I was a trooper, though, and when it was time to get up, I did and began my day.  Things were going smoothly, until Meiko,our Yorkie,  decided to play with the tennis ball that Emma took from Macie, our lab.  Emma saw Meiko pawing at the ball and had a melt down.  I encouraged her to throw the ball for Meiko, and that worked for a little while.  I finally decided to get another tennis ball out so they each would have one.  Much to my dismay, that didn't solve the dilemma.  No matter which ball they had, they both wanted the other one.  And, when I would swap the balls, they still wanted the other.

I went rounds with them trying to resolve the issue.  But, no matter what, Emma nor Meiko could be satisfied.  I couldn't help but laugh, though, because Emma would scream and babble at Meiko, telling him what she thought of him.  I would have loved to know what she was saying because she was letting him have it.  And, as soon as I would get the ball away from Meiko and give it back to Emma, he would paw at her hands until she dropped the ball... sending her into another melt down.  Finally, I put both tennis balls away and put Emma down for a much needed nap.

Though she didn't nap long, she was in a good mood when I got her up.  We played and packed to go to Granna and Pop's for the night.  Then I fed her spaghetti for lunch.  She was beginning to get whiny and I was trying to hurry to get our things packed and us ready to get on the road.  I was working on getting Emma dressed when I made the fateful decision.

Emma has had a terrible diaper rash, so I have let her go without a diaper for a few minutes here and there.  I should have known better with the way my morning had been going, but I didn't.

Honestly, she hadn't been without a diaper for 2 minutes.  I walked into the 'red room,' the carpeted  'red room,' to look for something in the closet.  Emma followed.  As I was digging in the closet, I smelled a familiar smell.  I looked down and Emma was standing in a pile of poop. BRIGHT RED POOP (she had eaten spaghetti).  All I could do was scream 'NO!'  Which made Emma cry.  She tried to sit down, but before she could, I yanked her up and rushed into the bathroom.  This caused Emma to get hysterical, which only made matters worse.  I put her in the sink to begin washing her off.  That would be when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the Tasmanian Devil that Meiko had become.  He was in the 'red room' rolling in the poop!  I screamed at him, but it was too late.  He was already covered.

Because Emma was still screaming and crying uncontrollably and still covered in poop, I just had to let him roll.  Then, I went to put Emma in the tub so I could finish cleaning her up.  I thought that maybe, finally, I had the situation under control... Nope.  I heard a loud splat.  I turned to look and see what it could possibly be and I saw it.  More poop.  This time it was running down the bathroom wall and had hit the floor.  I guess that went I swung Emma around from the sink to the tub it came off of her, or maybe she wasn't finished yet.  Either way, I sat down on the edge of the tub.  Though she was still wet and covered in poop, Emma hugged me, and I hugged her back.  I began to cry with her, then laugh.

And, I laughed until she started to laugh.  And, everything was okay again, even if it was still a little stinky.

Where's Emma?

Where's Emma?

Where's Emma?

WHERE'S EMMA?

There She Is!!!

Routinely Unroutine

I like to think that we have a routine around our house.  For Emma, at least... Supper at 5:30 followed by a bath, jammies, a cup of milk while we rock and then I put her to bed.  She then takes a few minutes to make her 'nest' and off to sleep she goes until 6:00 am.

I am starting to think, though, our routine is becoming our unroutine... Which isn't wasn't a word until now, because I needed a word to describe our, well, unroutine.

Our unroutine starts like our routine, but somewhere, somehow, it veers off course and leaves me wondering what happened?

Like tonight, we were cruising along, business as usual, I put Emma down for bed and left her room.  I went about cleaning up the kitchen and then headed back to my bedroom for something.  When I returned, I couldn't find Chuck, but I couldn't hear Emma crying, so I thought that she was still asleep and he stepped outside.  I was trying to sneak into her room and get her laundry when I found Chuck.  I opened the door and found Chuck trying to console her and get her back to bed.

Of course, Emma saw me and was not going down without a fight and another rocking session with me.  So, I took her and we rocked.  I sang to her and watch her eyes close and flutter back open, close and flutter back open continuously for about 15 minutes.  Finally, when I heard her breathing change and felt her body relax, I eased up out of the chair, careful not to use my upper body and therefore disturb Emma, and made my way to the crib.  I leaned over into it and was about to lay her down when her eyelids popped open and she looked at me with pleading eyes.  I knew it was coming, but I continued laying her down and covering her up.  I didn't even get my back turned before she was wailing again.

So, I thought, "Here we go... Another long night."  I picked Emma up, settled back into the rocking chair, and began rocking and singing again.  After a few unproductive minutes of that, I decided to take her into the "Red" room (A guest bedroom that is painted a beautiful shade of red, thus the name).  I laid her on the bed, laid down beside her, and within two minutes she was out.

We continued to lay there partly because I was afraid of waking her when I moved, but mostly because deep down I love nights like tonight when I lay down with her and she scoots up as close as she can to me.

I can't help but wonder, though, why some nights she goes along with her routine and goes right to sleep on her own but, then other nights, like tonight, she needs me to be right there with her.

I have noticed that on days that I am away from her, she is much more likely to have a night like this.  And, of course, when she isn't feeling well.  But over the past month, she has been having more and more nights like tonight and I can't pinpoint a reason.  It drives me insane when I rack my brain trying to connect the dots and solve our little mystery yet still come up short.

Did she have a bad dream?  Is she scared?  Does she miss me?  Is she just being demanding?  All of these questions swim in my head without answers.

Finally, though, after pondering question after unanswered question, I realized something...  The nights like these are going to end far sooner that I want.  The nights that she wants and needs me that close to her will soon be gone and will be replaced with nights that she can't get far enough away from me.  And, as much as I want to believe those nights aren't coming, I was a teen aged girl once. And, if the saying "Paying for your raising" is true, I'll be unwanted more nights than I can even bear to imagine.

So, tonight, with that thought in mind,  I gave up my search for answers and just lay there with her.  Held her.  Traced the curves of her precious face.  Smelled her sweet baby smell.  Listened to her breathe.  Watched her eyelids flutter in the moonlight.  And thanked God for the opportunity to have routinely unroutine nights.

                                    

Ear Aches and Heartbreaks

27 days, 3 different antibiotics, 2 different ear drops, 5 doctor appointments, 3 doctors later, a million tears and a broken heart later...

Emma has been battling an ear infection for almost a month now and my heart is breaking for her.  She has been miserable and there really isn't much I can do.  As a Mama, I want to make it better.  Her doctors have been trying everything they can to treat her, but nothing seems to be working.

Today, I decided to take her back to the doctor to see if the latest antibiotic has helped any.  Unfortunately, it hasn't and we had to take the next step.  Emma had to get a shot of Rocephin today (see her band aid) and will have to go back tomorrow and Saturday for shots each day.  Her sweet nurse came in apologizing for what she had to do to help her feel better.  She told me that Rocephin shots are pretty painful.

Of course, Emma screamed and cried and it just broke my heart.  She doesn't understand that I have to let them 'hurt' her to help her.  She cried most of the 45 minute drive home.  Hearing her crying and knowing that it is her "pain" cry just makes me sick to my stomach.  There was nothing I could do to make her feel better.  And, I have to endure it alone again tomorrow!  Chuck is out of town and will be back tomorrow, but not in time for our appointment.

I am so dreading it!  I know I have family that I can call, but honestly I don't want anyone other than myself or Chuck to touch her!  I go into SUPER OVERLY PROTECTIVE mode when it comes to my baby... especially if she doesn't feel good!

You have heard people talk about how protective a mama bear is... Let me just tell you, you would rather mess with a mama bear than with me when I get in this mode!

It's hard to keep myself from screaming at the doctors and nurses that are helping her.  I just want to protect her from ANY type of hurt.

So, say a prayer for us that these shots work.  We are also being referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.  I don't want her to have to have tubes, but then again, I know how much they help.  And, I know it is a pretty 'routine' procedure.  It is just scary knowing that my baby may have to have surgery!

Under the Table and Dreaming...

So, it's been a few days...

A few BUSY days! Emma started crawling Wednesday and life is dramatically different! She is everywhere, but still doesn't truly realize her new found freedom... thank goodness!

Anyway, with her crawling, I am constantly trying to keep my floors clean and household hazards out of reach.

First of all, I am a clean person, but now that I am truly 'inspecting' my floor for anything she could eat, I realize that I am not as clean as I thought. Seriously, where does all this stuff come from??? I swiffer at least twice a day and it is still not enough!

And, what really gets me is that we were gone all day Thursday... more details on that excursion later... but when we got home, my floors needed sweeping. Hello, when did dirt fairies move into my house?

So, in the midst of all my sweeping, Emma has found a new favorite place. I lost her the other day and panicked. I knew she wasn't far from her play mat, but it was still unnerving. I found her though... Can you guess where?

Yep, under the table!

And, seemingly, day dreaming! She loves it under there. She gets so tickled when you peek at her.

Wouldn't you just love to know what she is thinking?

Wagon Wheels, Yogurt Melts and Elmer's Glue

Emma was sitting in her high chair today feeding herself while I prepared her bottle. Being just shy of eight months old, she is still learning the art of getting pieces of food to her mouth. And, this truth has not at all been lost on our Yorkie, Meiko.

When he hears the high chair being adjusted and containers opening, Meiko comes to find his place directly underneath the chair waiting on whatever may fall. Today, however, he got more than he bargained for. Emma was eating yogurt melts and after mouthing one and getting it nice and gooey, drops it to the floor.

Instead of being his usual finicky self, Meiko dives right in and picks it up. However, he wasn't prepared for the sticky texture of the yogurt melt. As soon as he picks it up, he tries to drop it, but it stuck to his tongue! I couldn't help but watch and giggle as he pawed at the goo and shook his head trying to get it out of his mouth. Bless his heart, it finally, as the name suggests, melted away and he went to hide under the bed.

Then, after Emma finished her snack, I was trying to wipe the sticky off of her and found myself in a similar predicament as Meiko. No matter how much I wiped the sticky residue of the wagon wheels and yogurt melts, I couldn't get rid of it. Just when I thought I had her clean, I would find a chunk of goo on the back of her leg, in her hair, and even in her diaper!

All I could think about was "Can you imagine if Elmer's Glue was this strong?" Random, I know, but being "Back to School" time and all, it is what came to mind. Don't ask me why!

But really, think of parents' reactions when they came to pick up their kids from school and every thing and everyone in the classroom was stuck together! That's what I felt like, though... Everything that Emma and I touched stuck to us... napkins, cloth diapers, wipes, spoons, toys, everything! So much so, that it went past aggravating and became comical! Well, at least Emma thought it was pretty funny. It was then I realized that my laughing at Meiko's predicament had caught up with me!

However, as I finished 'cleaning' her up, Emma took her still sticky little hands and pressed them into my cheeks and she leaned her gooey face into mine. And it was at that point, that I, like the yogurt melts, melted!