Emma can FINALLY sit herself up!

Twice today, once in the morning and again after her morning nap, I was greeted by Emma in her bed in the following way:



Its fun to see her when she wakes up this way, and even better because she had become SO frustrated that she couldn't get up when she falls down while sitting - so now she can!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving Dinner at home this year. We got much of the dinner pre-made from Giant, simply needing reheating, and then added some of our favorite family goodies to the menu. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, had a nice dinner, and then just relaxed the day away - its not very often that we get to do that!! Emma got to enjoy her first tastes of some real food - she wasn't quite sure what to make of Turkey and Mashed Potatoes!

All in all we had a nice time and look forward to our upcoming vacation!

Happy 9 months Emma!

Happy Birthday Emma. You had your 9 month birthday. It feels outside a lot like the day you were born - its getting cold outside. That is about the only thing the same between then and now. You are certainly a lot larger, weighing in at 22 pounds and 29 1/2" long (off the charts tall). The Doctor was quite impressed with your "Buddha Belly", as he called it! You are into everything now - I can't keep my basket of diapers under the table, nor magazines on the table because even though you can't crawl, you sure can "scooch" and "roll" and get close to where you want to be. The crawling will come soon enough - too soon for me. I'll have to get back out the baby gates and put everything in the family room away. You have much more hair than you did 9 months ago - and its forming a little curl on the top of your head. We also love the way you interact with your world. You have figured out that if you cover your face with your blanket, and then pull it down, we will laugh and smile - and that makes you smile - and do it again!! And, you certainly love your brother and sister a lot. 9 months is a very fun age!!



And, of course, I couldn't resist sharing this great photo of you and your brother!

How to cook a Thanksgiving Turkey?

subtitle: My child is the smartest kid in class!!

In Michael's Kindergarten class, each child had to write how they thought a Thanksgiving Turkey was prepared. All of the "recipes" were sent home in our own special "cookbook", with favorite recipes of the kids in the class and teachers at school.

Some of the kids wrote, as part of their instructions for cooking a turkey:
- Put it in the oven 60 or 90 seconds
- Shove it in the oven for 2 hours
- You put it in the oven for 80 seconds on hot
- Cook the turkey for 5 minutes
- Cook it for one hour at 50 degrees

But, my insightful son wrote:
"I would cook it until the timer goes off"

I think he's the smartest kid in the class!

Emma's update is coming

Yes, I'm a little behind. Emma's birthday was Wednesday. Haven't been able to get her birthday picture yet this month because it has been an absolutely CRAZY week.

But, I wanted to share her newest game: "Where's Emma?" (well, the rest of the world calls it Peek-a-Boo but "Where's Emma?" elicits the result we want)

Emma takes both hands (always both hands) and picks her blanket up over her head. We say "Where's Emma?" and she brings the blanket down and smiles, looking for who asked where she was. We laugh and smile because its funny and because it shows that she is clearly interacting with her environment. She LOVES the attention of the laughter and does it again. A self-fulfilling game

I'll get her birthday photos tomorrow and HOPEFULLY some action shots of "Where's Emma?" to share.

How I will possibly make it to Christmas, I'll never know.

Halloween

I realized that I never shared the kids Halloween costumes with all of you. I had it easy this year - Samantha was a "go-go 70s dancer", wearing last year's dance costume. Michael was a baseball player wearing his T-ball uniform and Emma was a clown, which each of my children has been their first Halloween.

Enjoy!!

Baby Smiles!!

Possibly the best thing in the world - Baby Smiles. They light up a room and they light you up. Whether its the first smile or the hundredth one, they still have that effect. Emma smiles every time I go get her out of her bed. As soon as I walk in the room, she gets a HUGE smile on her face and starts kicking with excitement. As soon as I pick her up, she gets this huge smile on her face that stays there the entire trip down the stairs. She is always SO happy after a nap!! And, so patient. Often she will be playing in her bed and talking after she wakes up, which is nice if there is something I'm trying to finish up before I get her (you know, like going to the bathroom!). Today I found her playing with a small pair of her shoes - how she got those, I don't know. But still, the cheek to cheek grin came out as soon as I picked her up and she was very ready to come spend some time with the rest of the world.

Baby Smiles!!

Soccer season is finally over!

Soccer is a funny season. I'm always happy when its over. But, the girls always seem to get so much better in the last 2 or 3 games that you almost wish the season were a little longer so they could really ENJOY playing like they do in the last few games. Today's game was exciting - the girls were playing tight and after 3 quarters it was 1 to 1. Samantha had two VERY CLOSE shots on goal - one was from a beautiful pass that just missed right. The other was grabbed by the goalie. The team, however, in the last quarter, really broke out. Our defenders were doing a GREAT JOB of clearing the ball when it came close to the goal, and our offense was passing from side to center - we scored 4 goals in the last quarter. And none of them were "lucky goals" either - they were intentional and planned. Its fun and exciting to watch when its like that.

And, true to form, the weather during this season was wonky. I have photos of Emma last week at the game in her winter coat, winter hat, and 3 blankets. Today she was wearing a hand-me-down 18 month old spring outfit with short sleeves and was sweating. I never understand the weather. The weatherman says you can't call it "Indian Summer" until you have had an official frost, and since there has been no official frost in DC, they just call it "unseasonably warm". Call it what you want - I can't change out the seasons of the kids clothes until the weather settles in. So please, weather, give me a break and make up your mind.

Kids are off from school on Monday or Tuesday - it can stay nice until then so that I can "kick them out of the house" as much as possible. I dread when its too, too cold in winter and I can't send the kids outside. Cabin fever sets in pretty bad.

Election Day is on Tuesday. We have some rather contentious races in our area - the VA Governor's race is in a dead heat, and the Republican and Democratic candidates for House of Delegates race in our district is very tight - the Republican beat out the incumbent Republican in the primary back in May, and we are typically a Republican district, but I think that maybe the Democratic candidate might win. He's one of the more moderate Democrats I've seen in the area in a while, and his daughter works at the elementary school my kids attend. Tuesday night will be interesting TV.

Samantha is a great student!!

I just returned from Samantha's Parent-Teacher Conference for 3rd grade. I met with both of her teachers and they both say that she is a great student. She is reading above grade level and comprehending what she reads. She is developing good writing skills. She is well above grade level in her math skills and is continuing to be challenged by her 4th grade math lessons. Her reading / social studies teacher even told me she got a "1" (highest grade) on her government test, which was REALLY HARD (which is great considering I forgot her test was this past Monday so we forgot to review). She said the only advice she would offer me is to enjoy her and give her lots of praise - that she needs no pushing to do her work - she has great work habits and love school.

I'm quite proud!!

Happy Birthday Granny!

a

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday Dear Granny --
Happy Birthday to You!

Have Fun in Houston - we miss you!!

~Samantha, Michael, and Emma!