Memorial Day at Smith Mountain Lake

(I set the date back on this post so that the next few posts show up on the approximate date they occured)

In our family, traditions often just happen. Once we do things once or twice, they all of a sudden have become a "tradition". One of our traditions is to go to Nancy's parents house at Smith Mountain Lake over Memorial Day. We don't make it as often as we like because its a 4 hour drive from home; so the extended Memorial Day weekend makes it easier. Its also right after Michael's birthday so we frequently use that weekend to celebrate Michael's birthday with Granny and Granddaddy. This weekend was no different.

Granny and Grandaddy gave Michael his first set of REAL Golf Clubs. To date, he has had toy and plastic golf clubs; but these are real clubs, just kid's sized. Michael spent a good part of the next days in the yard hitting "wiffle ball" golf balls. With a little practice and instruction, I think he will become QUITE GOOD. But then again, Michael seems to excel at most sports he plays.

Another favorite activity is going out on Granddaddy's boat. Emma got to enjoy this for the first time this year. And there was no turning back. Emma LOVED going out on the boat and didn't want anybody messing with her experience. She stood at the front of the boat with her hands on the railing and watched the water and let the air blow in her face. She really had a great time.


The kids also enjoy going in the water at the lake. Nancy didn't think it was going to be warm enough for swimming, but it turned out to be quite warm. Samantha was fortunate to be able to borrow a suit from some girls whose parents have a house two doors down; Michael, however, had to be convinced that it was ok to swim in his shorts (like a bathing suit is really any different). They had a great time swimming and playing in the water!!

We came home late Sunday night to avoid the traffic coming home on Monday. The kids enjoyed playing outside on this last day of the weekend. Emma LOVES to swing while Samantha and Michael are playing. It was still hot at our house on Monday, so we pulled out the sprinkler and let them run through it to cool off!!


It was a nice relaxing weekend!

Dance competition

This past weekend, Samantha's dance classes competed in the Starbound Dance Competition in Salisbury, MD. After her soccer game on Saturday, we packed up the car and drove 3 hours to Salisbury, checked into the hotel, and relaxed a little before heading over to the Salisbury Civic Center for the competition.

Their first dance was their ballet dance. It was called "Fool" and they earned a "Gold" score for their performance.



Their next dance was their jazz dance. The costumes for this dance were really great and the black jazz shoes (spray painted at the last minute the night before) fit the costume beautifully. The jazz dance was performed to Body Language and their earned a "Gold" score for their performance.



Their last dance was their tap dance, performed to "Ring My Bell". They earned High Gold for their performance and 5th place in the junior level overall for the entire competition - all performances from groups 12 and under. These costumes are neat because the girls were paired off by color and there were multiple colors on the floor!



After the competition was over and all of the awards were presented, we went back to the hotel. And then, in the small world category, I met a man at the hotel pool who happens to coach the Lacrosse team at a college in my hometown. His family lives not far from my parents. And, to top it off, his daughter takes dance from Lynn Hampton at the Ardell Stone School of Dance, where I studied dance for 11 years with her mother, Ardell Stone. I attended High School with Lynn. And, this man's wife was a former French teacher at Cave Spring High School, my alma mater, and chaperoned the French Club's Quebec trip I went on my Senior Year. She remembered me as soon as her husband mentioned my name - very small world.

The long wait is FINALLY over!!

We picked up our new car today. We have been waiting anxiously since the beginning of March when we decided that it was time to sell our 12-year-old Acura Legend and buy a new car. We decided on the Hybrid Camry due to the stop-and-go traffic Mike sits in to working - thinking that we can at least save on gas!!

When we decided to buy a Camry Hybrid, the cars hadn't even started rolling off the production line yet. They finally have, and after a couple of "false starts" on the delivery date, it finally arrived this morning.

We are quite excited - its been 5 years since we bought a new vehicle (the Town and Country minivan) and 12 years since a new sedan - so this is quite nice!!

Emma is too smart for her own good!

For a little background - Emma spends a lot of time in her playyard. It takes up about 1/3 of our family room, but its contained and has all of her toys so I don't have to worry about her getting hurt or roaming the house, and she loves to play in her yard.

Anyway, we have two books of puzzles. She has managed to pull most of the pieces out of the books. Just this morning, I cleaned up her yard and took all of the puzzle pieces and the books and put them on the coffee table.

I put Emma in her yard after picking up Michael from school. As I am on the phone, I look over to watch her pushing the wall of her yard and walking towards the coffee table - she has figured out if she pushes hard enough, she can actually move her yard around the room - she has now moved it close enough to the coffee table to pick up the pieces of puzzle and throw them back into her yard.

Like I said - too smart for her own good!

Emma's favorite words!

There are three words that are sure to bring a smile to Emma's face every time she hears them. Her face lights up and she gets a big smile on her face and giggles:

- Samantha

- Michael

- Lunch!!

Piano and Party! That was our weekend!

We had a crazy weekend. It consisted of the kids piano recital on Friday night, a t-ball and a soccer game on Saturday (with t-ball team pictures squeezed in-between) and a birthday party for Michael in the afternoon.




The piano recital was nice. If you take out the uncomfortable church pews and the freezing cold temperature, it was really great. Samantha and Michael both did a great job. Each child went up when it was their turn and introduced themselves, told how long they had been playing and then introduced their songs. Everyone, that is, except Michael. Michael got shy when it was his turn to announce his name and songs, so finally the teacher announced it for him. He got flustered one time during his song, but recouped and then they were both perfect. Both of Samantha's songs were perfect too and she looked very beautiful in her new dress.




This is a photo of Samantha and Michael with their piano teacher, Miss Madeline!!









Then on Saturday we had Michael's birthday party. His actual birthday isn't until this coming weekend, but since we have an out-of-town dance competition, we celebrated with his friends this weekend. We rented a "jungle themed" moon bounce and had kids over for bouncing, hot dogs and cake!! It was quite rowdy with all of the kids bouncing in the moon bounce. They had a great time and we had perfect weather for the party!!

The curses of Spring!

I love Spring. Winter makes me depressed, so the warm weather, bright sun, green grass and trees, beautiful flowers - they all just wake me up and give me energy. But with all those wonderful things come the curses - the allergies. I can just LOOK at a bloom on a tree and my sinus pressure will increase. I have no idea what I'm allergic too - and a trip to the allergist last season was less than enlightening. But, the allergies have gotten me nontheless. I am on day 2 of the sinus headache that won't go away. Despite the antihistamine, decongestant, and pain killers. Nothing is working - even sleep didn't take it away. UGH!!

Is it too early to wish for summer and 90 degree weather - just so I don't have to suffer allergies!

How can we teach these girls to play soccer aggressively?

That's the question we ask ourselves each week watching Samantha's team play soccer. These are the nicest girls - they wouldn't possibly want to take a ball away from a friend, now would they?

Anyway, its funny to watch girls play soccer at the age when they are afraid of the ball.








Samantha's game today was great. They won 4-3 and it was a hard fought win. Samantha scored a goal and then had a penalty kick where she scored another goal!! So she contributed two goals to the team win. Its tough, though. Samantha would often get the ball and start taking it down the field, only to find that there is no one to pass the ball to, and several defenders from the other team coming at her. But she hung in there and the Screaming Eagles won their game!!

Emma's communication skills are growing

For a couple of months now, Emma has told us that she's tired by picking up her blanket and "handing" it to us so that we will take her to her bed. This morning, she was standing up in her play yard with blankie in hand and paci in mouth. I asked her if she was ready to go "night night" and she actually NODDED her head up and down telling me YES, she was most definitely ready to go take her nap. And she must really have been tired because I haven't heard a peep from her in the 20 minutes she's been up there. I wonder what she does all night to make her so tired in the morning?

The car is closer!!

I started making some calls today to Toyota dealerships to get an updated status report on the arrival on the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Since my initial "data gathering" resulted in dates ranging from April to October, I figured I would receive the same variety of answers this round. The good news: I called a dealership out of town who says they expect the new Hybrid Camrys to come in NEXT WEEK. And, because its not in Northern Virginia, there aren't nearly as many people waiting for the car and we can possibly get one almost immediately!!

We are quite excited - we will be ready to drop almost everything to drive down there and purchase our new car. Can't wait!!

Opening Day!!

An event I remember fondly from many years of my childhood - Little League opening day. Michael started playing T-ball in the fall, but this is his first Spring season, so we were looking forward to his first official "Opening Day". As the team mom, I even painted a team banner for the team to display at games and at opening day (not the one here - I'll share photos of the banner later this week!)


















Prior to Opening Day, Michael had his first T-ball game of the season. His team is the New York Mets. Michael had a great time. He hits the ball really hard and runs hard to the bases. Fielding is a bit different as I believe he would rather socialize with his friends on the field instead of watching the other team bat. But, he's only 5 so we'll give him that.

The girl in this photo who is running to third base is actually his friend Lauryn from last year's preschool. He was very upset when he first learned he was playing her team - he didn't want to play his best friend's team!!




Saturday approaches and we look forward to Opening Day. But, it rained. It rained a lot. Not enough to cancel Opening Day, so Mike and Michael headed out to the festivities. Michael was only 1 of 2 kids from his team who came because of the rain - and not even the coach showed up. So, we were a litle disappointed that Opening Day festivities were soggy - Michael only stayed a little while before Mike decided it was time to leave. But, the season will continue with two games a week through the beginning of June!!

I have lost control!!

I am no longer in charge in this household. Its important for me to be in charge of schedules because they are quite busy and there is so much to do. But, apparantly, I am no longer in charge.

Emma has been in her bed for at least 45 minutes. She should be asleep. I have already done the obligatory "go back in and lay her down" that she has worked into her routine. Alas, its been another 15 minutes and I still hear her talking and laughing.

Guess what happens when Emma doesn't go to sleep during nap time - the rest of the day is nuts. She will either a) go to sleep and the sleep so long that that bedtime is messed up; or b) not go to sleep, resulting in a very tired baby about 5pm.

So, I go upstairs again to tell Emma that I am in charge and I command her to go to sleep!! Think it'll work?

I had to edit and add to this post - as I pushed the "Publish" button, I hear her actually KNOCKING on her wall because she knows I can hear it - is she 14 months or 14 years old?

Live and In Color!!

More proof that the internet has increased in power, and made it easier for the "layman" to do things. I can now host video for displaying here. Don't know how long it will stay hosted on the internet, so this will be a good experiment.

Here are Michael and Emma playing!!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

We had a nice Easter in the Stopper household this weekend.

We colored our eggs on Saturday afternoon, so that they would be ready for the Easter Bunny!! We had to make a quick trip to Target in the morning because I looked at the box of Paas that I actually remembered to purchase earlier in the week, only to discover that it only had THREE colors - who colors eggs with only 3 colors?

The Easter Bunny did indeed visit overnight. The kids each had an Easter basket full of candy, toys, and eggs. Each one got a DVD - Samantha got Narnia, Michael got Chicken Little and Emma got Wallace and Grommit. The kids then headed outside to look for the Easter eggs hidden by the Easter Bunny. They looked high and low and found eggs filled with jelly beans (and even a few had quarters inside!).

Easter morning was a little busier this year than in past years. We have begun visiting a new church and I wanted to make sure that the kids made it to Sunday School and church. Its a nice small Baptist church, currently meeting in an office park, but planning to build in the middle of South Riding. The church has about 25 members in the choir that presented a beautiful concert during the service.

After church, we went to a favorite destination - the Hyatt at Fair Lakes - for Easter brunch. It was done nicely with many stations and lots of food (and desserts) to choose from. We had a great meal and took some nice photos of the kids afterwards (but, alas, were unable to get a family shot).

We ended our day relaxing after such a huge meal and a busy weekend. Kids were ready to hit the sack and be ready to return to school on Monday!!

14 months old!

Today, Emma turned 14 months old. The past two months, since her first birthday, have been exciting. She's not yet walking - which isn't unusual since Samantha didn't walk until around 16 months. But she is doing many things deliberately and is already showing how smart she is. For instance, we had chicken and Lipton noodles the other night. Emma had finished eating all of her noodles and still had some chicken left - yet she pointed her finger to the spot in the plate where her noodles were and asked for more!! Now let's be clear - in Emma speak - asking means screeching at the top of her lungs until she gets everyone's attention. She can also tell us when she's tired. She will be playing in her yard and she'll stand up and pick up her blanket to hand it to me - she's ready to go to bed!!

She's also testing her boundaries - she intentionally throws her pacifier out of her car seat and then yells for someone to get it. We are now telling her that she isn't getting it back because she did it on purpose - and she actually pouts! She knows a lot of words - but we know only a few. She can clearly say Mama and Dada, and we have interpreted her saying "Michael" and "Samantha". But there are other times that a string of sounds comes out of her mouth - and we know that she knows EXACTLY what she is saying - but we don't. We look forward to the time that we learn her language, or she learns ours.

This photo was taken today after Easter Brunch. I will share more about that tomorrow. Thanks to Aunt Emily for buying the pink dress with the beautiful pink smocking on the front from Brazil. We love it!!

Equal time

For no particular reason, I seem to have more to report on Samantha and Emma than I do for Michael. I'm sure its because Emma is a baby and things that happen are often "firsts". And I'm sure its because Samantha is involved with more things because she's older. And I'm sure its because things with Michael are normal right now, and we are very happy about that.





Michael is almost 6. One thing we learned about Michael when he was about 2 is that he is going to be good at sports. He has played soccer and is currently playing T-ball. He is quite good at both. He also can hit a golf ball so far that it travels the width of our backyard and often lands in the neighbor's yard. He can also throw a pretty good spiral with a football. With all of that talent, its tough to know which way to direct him to use that energy.

But his talent isn't limited to sports. He already reads very well and is becoming a great piano player. It seems that whatever he tries, he does it well!

And they keep on comin'

I was looking at Emma today and realized she has cut TWO MORE teeth - the two other incisors on the top. So, now she has SIX top teeth - and two bottom teeth. No wonder she's been fussy all week!! Who knew!

So that's what he did!

So Michael was arguing with me. I told him to go outside and he gave me a thousand reasons why he didn't want to. Its Spring Break and I want the kids to get as much outside time as they can, weather permitting. So, finally I said, "I don't care if you sit there and look at the sky - you are going outside".

So that's what he did.

I looked outside the window 10 minutes later and there was Michael, sitting on the bench on the deck, looking at the sky!!

Emma has molars!

Emma's teeth have come in in the most unusual way. She got her first two close together - both on the bottom. Then, after lots of tears and lots of pain, she cut her first upper one. It was quite a while before her second front upper tooth came up - it still isn't all that far out. So, that's FOUR.

But, she was especially fussy yesterday and so I figured I'd feel around to see if she had any teeth coming in - and her two 12 month molars on the top have BOTH come in. So, her fifth and sixth teeth AREN'T her other bottom front teeth, like most NORMAL children. They weren't her remaining two upper front teeth, again like most normal children - but her upper molars (not even her lower molars)

I don't have photos because trust me, she's not letting a camera get anywhere near that part of her mouth - you just have to take my word for it.

Its a ZOO in there!!

The 3rd grade at Samantha's school had their animal fair this week. Each student:

• Chose an animal
• Researched the animal and wrote a research paper
• Drew a food chain
• Wrote a poem about their animal
• Colored a map indicating where their animal lives
• Built a habitat out of a shoebox
• Made a clay statue of their animal; and
• Constructed a display board presenting all of this information.

Samantha chose the Koala. She researched her animal using her newly learned research techniques and wrote a compelling paper on the Koala. We constructed a habitat from a shoebox, covering it in blue and green paper and building trees out of pipecleaners - we even gave her clay Koala some friends made out of punched hearts. She put together her display board from all of the components she wrote at school and punched out and glued on die cuts to resemble a eucalyptus tree - the natural habitat of a Koala.

On the day of the Animal Fair, the 3rd grade presented 7 songs about animals, with dancing and speaking by some of the students. Then, all of the students presented their display boards and habitats in the cafeteria for all the parents to see.

Samantha was very proud of her board and her habitat. She received very high marks for all of her work.

This just isn't right

We had sod laid yesterday. 5 strips to replace what was dug up in February for Verizon to lay their high speed fiber lines. I'm sure they expected that by April 4th, it would actually BE Spring.

So, we get a note on our door that says to make sure that we water it significantly over the next 3-4 days (I'm presuming so that it will take root before it dies). And, because of the location of the 5 strips of sod, it actually take 5 different sessions where I have to move the sprinkler each time.

This would be no problem - if it weren't 45 degress outside with 10-15 mile per hour gusting winds. I actually have to stand with my back to the wind in order to place the sprinkler so that I don't get soaked - and cold soaked at that. And, do you know how difficult it is to determine where the sprinkler is actually going to water when the wind is blowing the water stream.

That's just not right!

Poor Michael

Michael hasn't been feeling well. It started mid-day on Sunday, but Samantha had had a little fever on Sat and was feeling better, so I thought he had a little 24-hour thing. Well, 2 1/2 days later, he is no better. He has been running a fever of 102 (before Advil) and 100 (after Advil). When his fever is down, he acts as though he feels ok. When his fever is up, he is outright miserable. He has coughed until he is absolutely hoarse.

Took him to the Doctor today who did two things: 1) confirm that he didn't have strep (kinda wish he did because at least we could give him an antibiotic and get better) and 2) tell us to come back on Thurs if he isn't any better. Well, here we are Tuesday night and he isn't any better. Tomorrow will be his 3rd day out of school - not that I mind much - its only Kindergarten - but I feel so bad that he feels bad. He really is miserable when he doesn't feel good.

Note to Self: Don't let Emma take "Little People" to bed

All of my kids have loved playing with "Little People". Emma likes to put the Little People in the Little People bus, and then open the back door and dump them out - just to do it again.

She took a Little People up to nap with her. 20 minutes later, I hear her talking and laughing with her Little People - when she should be sleeping. So, of course, I have to be the "mean mommy" and take the Little People away.

My finger is a bit shorter!

I have a bandaid on my finger. I have a bandaid on my finger because, in my attempt to make some nicer meals for my family, I sliced a big hunk off my finger while trying to slide potatoes using my Pampered Chef slicing tool.

Boy it hurts. Not a candidate for stitches - I think I'll just have a hole there.

Do you think I can sue?!

Emma is "ready" to walk - but not quite yet

However, the skill that she has now mastered is "standing freely". She can actually stand herself up, sometimes using something to help her stand up, and then she will let go. And she just stands there. I just watched her stand up using a box of blocks as a prop. She then let go and just stood there looking at me!!

Walking is not far behind, I'm sure!

And its all downhill from there!!

I was attempting to "force feed" Emma some applesauce today. She used to love it but now she fights me when I try to feed it to her. But, I was going to "force" her to eat it because - well - her bowel challenges could use some help. So, I had given her some applesauce before I even gave her any of the ham I intended her to have for lunch because I knew at that point, she would only eat the ham. So, I gave her the ham, but then continued to try to feed her applesauce. Feeding her applesauce involves getting the applesauce on the spoon with one hand, and then grabbing and holding both of her hands with my other hand while I feed her the applesauce - all while she is trying to wave her hands "no" and shake her head violently "no" at me.

I was doing pretty well - until one time when she still had a piece of ham in her hand. I had applesauce on the spoon and was headed towards her mouth - she got a hand free and was waving it no, and then, the piece of ham went flying out of her hand onto the floor beside her. Well, that's fine - except then she turned her head to look for the ham, and where did the applesauce go - but in her HAIR!! And, then of course, she doesn't like applesauce because its in her hair - and its all downhill from there!!

Samantha is a busy girl!!

Its quite easy to brag on the baby - it seems like they do something new and cute every day. Its harder to remember to brag on the older kids.

One thing that I'm pretty proud of with Samantha is that she sticks with things. I really like that she's willing and interested in continuing with activities, when there are so many that just bounce around and never stick with an activity to see what they can really do with it, or the other kids who just don't really get into activities.

She started dancing right after she turned 4 - she is now in her 6th year of dance, is a charter member of her dance studio, and earned her 5 year trophy last year. She is in a competition group - by choice - and continues to try out for it each season


She also plays soccer. In the league of 27 girls, she has the 3rd highest years of experience with 6 seasons.

Each year I ask her if she wants to drop either and she wants to keep doing both.



This is in addition to her being in her second year of piano lessons. She is doing very well with her new teacher and we are looking forward to her next piano recital in May.

The world exists in "bite-sized" pieces

At least that is how it feels when you live with an infant / toddler. Everything has to be cut into really little pieces for Emma because she can't yet discern how much to chew before swallowing, much less chew very well with her 3 little teeth.

Imagine turkey and cheese cut into little, teeny bite-sized pieces. And a Nutri-Grain bar.

But I have decided that the most valuable utensil in the kitchen right now is my Pampered Chef Pizza Cutter - it can cut anything!!

Emma can dance to almost anything!

Emma loves to hear music. She has a "radio" in her playyard that will play a song each time she pushes the blue button - she pushes the blue button a lot. Then she shakes her body - and her booty - to the music. She loves to dance.

But today took the cake - she was dancing to Michael's scales on the piano. It was really funny to watch but she was having the best time!!

This place is a ZOO!!

Literally. We went to the zoo last week on what was possibly the coldest and windiest day I had felt in a LONG time. It had been 85 degrees a mere 2 days earlier; yet the day we planned to go the zoo, we woke up to a chilly 35 degrees with 30 mile per hour winds.

We wanted to see the baby Panda. The baby panda was born in July and I had been wanting to find a chance to go. Having Emily come into town with Marshall and Morgan for their Spring Break gave us a perfect opportunity. So, the kids stayed home from school on Wednesday and we trekked into Washington, DC to the National Zoo.

The Pandas did not disappoint. Both Momma and Daddy panda were in their yard, chomping on delicious bamboo. The baby had precariously perched herself on the branch of a tree that looked much smaller than the baby - and she was asleep up there!! She moved a few times as she settled in and got comfortable. Momma was never too far away from keeping an eye on her little one. So many times I have been there and the pandas weren't available for viewing, so this was a wonderful treat.

After seeing the pandas, we took the loop of the zoo. We saw the elephants put on a show during their bath, and saw a variety of small mammals (I think my favorite). We spent some time in the reptile house (a favorite of the boys, but not for
Emily and me). After a nice lunch at the restaurant at the BOTTOM of the hill, we check out the lions and tigers. The lioness put on quite a vocal show for us - the Tigers just slept right through it.


Then, on the way back up we checked out the beavers (who had made their own dam) and otters (who swam and put on a show under the water for us). Then we got a chance to see the majestic bald eagle (this photo was taken by Emily).

All in all we had a great, albeit cold, time. We took the long way back out of the city so that Emily and the boys could see a few of the sights, and then headed home!

And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't share this very cute photo of Emma all bundled up for the trip!!

Something the human vacuum cleaner won't eat - Jello

For Emma's snack yesterday, I thought I'd give her some jello. Thought she would like it. And, she fell in love with Teddy Grahams last week and has had them for snack almost every day, so I wanted to give her some variety. She did ok for the first few bites, but then I think she actually realized what she was eating. After struggling to feed her the next couple of bites - she actually cried - real tears, out loud, mouth open, crying about the jello. She pulled it out of her mouth and threw it on the floor. AND she would not take another bite.

So the baby who will eat almost anything won't eat Jello!

The car we WANT to get

So our poor Acura Legend is on its last legs (or wheels). It has been a good car. We bought it in September of 1994, not too long after we got married. It was a LOT of money for a car - but we wanted to know that we wouldn't be looking for a new car the minute we finished paying the car off. We wanted to know that it would be reliable. It has been reliable - we have driven 120K miles in that vehicle. It was our road vehicle for a long time until we bought our minivan - it was then relegated to commuter and errand status. Now, it goes to and from the office with Mike, but otherwise, it sits quietly in the garage for fear of parts beginning to fall off while driving down the road.

We know what we want to get to replace the Legend - we try not to discuss it too loud around the Legend for fear she become jealous.

Yesterday, a dealership in Maryland received their first 2007 Toyota Camry. We drove to the dealership in order to drive this vehicle. It has beautiful lines and its a pretty comfortable ride. The vehicle that we drove is not the car we ultimately want.

What we want is the 2007 Camry Hybrid.

Through my numerous phone calls to dealerships throughout the area, (the benefit of living in the suburbs of a large city) I have received predictions from March to October for delivery of the Camry Hybrid (I honestly think when I ask the question, they shake their Magic 8 ball and receive the answer du jour from it). Toyota doesn't know when they are going to release the Hybrid Camry - but we seem to be honing in on the late Spring, early Summer.

That would be good timing because we will HAVE to put the Legend out to pasture before then.

Emma is a French Fry Fiend!!

We can no longer eat French Fries in the presence of Emma.

Her favorite food right now is Ravioli - and the good news is Gerber Graduates has a TON of varieties. She will eat it as fast as I can cut it in half and put it in her plate.

But, she had her favorite ravioli at lunch today and what did she scream about - that I was eating French Fries in front of her and she didn't have any. So, I had to feed her four or five french fries, broken into small pieces, to keep the noise level down long enough for me to eat.

So, we can no longer eat french fries in front of her without making sure she has her own!!

Grandfathers

My kids are lucky to have 4 grandparents. Well, not completely fortunate because Mike's mother died when he was young, but his dad has married a wonderful person and she is a wonderful grandmother, or Oma, to the kids.

But, the bad thing is that the grandparents don't live close - one set lives 4 hours in one direction and the other set lives 4 hours in the other direction. So, we see them as much as we can, but it isn't often that we see them all at the same time.

We had the opportunity to see all four grandparents for Emma's first birthday! It was a nice day and we celebrated her birthday with cake and presents and we had a nice dinner together.

Between myself and Heidi (Oma), we took a good number of pictures that day. One of my favorites is one that Oma captured of Emma before she went to bed. Its not a great one of Emma because you see mostly her back, and not even a great one of my father, but you get to see Emma with both of her grandfathers. That doesn't happen very ofen!

Baby Fish Mouth

If you ask Mike and me to pick one movie as our favorite (together), it would be "When Harry Met Sally". Not sure why, but we both love this movie and love to watch it together whenever it is on.

There is a scene in this movie where the Sally character (Meg Ryan) is drawing pictures for a "pictionary" game. It is supposed to be a "phrase" and she is drawing what is "supposed" to be "Baby Talk". Well, in the series of guesses, someone says "Baby Fish Mouth" - and everyone looks at him. What is Baby Fish Mouth, they ask? Well, now I can show you.

This is Baby Fish Mouth!!

Is she asleep?

Of course not!!!!

At this point, I give up - if she goes to sleep now, its a waste because I have to get her up in 30 minutes to get Michael from school. And, from the squeeking I'm hearing from her room, I doubt she's even close!!

Willful at One!!

We have driven Mike to work the past 3 mornings due to car trouble (I'll elaborate later in another post). Emma has always been quiet (and a little tired) on the drive back home because we typically hear her talking in her bed about 6am each morning. Well, this morning she actually fell asleep in the car on the way home. Of course, when I drive into the garage and open the car door, she wakes up. I took her immediately to her bed and laid her down to go to sleep (this was an entire hour ago). Of course, has she gone back to sleep - NO. I just went into her room and she was laying in the bed playing with stuffed animals. I looked at her, gave her her blanket, and told her to go to sleep.

She laughed at me and shook her head NO! (a new trick of hers)

Boy do I have my work cut out for me in the future!

Oh, what a beautiful morning!!

It's snowing here. They were saying "a little precipitation may blow through" but there is a good 1 1/2" on the grass. It isn't sticking on the road, and its coming down nice and slowly so its a very beautiful scene this morning.

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!

Emma celebrated her first birthday on Thursday. Thursday was a low-key day because we had been sick in the house most of the week, and its not like Emma knew it was her birthday, but we did. I completed the "Year with the Bear" photos to show her growth - I'll put up a photo of the 12 monthly shots a little bit later, but this is Emma with her Birthday Bear!

This weekend, Emma got to celebrate her birthday with BOTH sets of Grandparents. Granny and Granddaddy Gwaltney came up from Roanoke and Oma and Opa came down from Williamsport with an extra special gift - Great Gram. What a nice way to spend your birthday. Emma had birthday cake - and she started out eating it very carefully, with her finger, but then decided that fist fulls would be a bit better. She definitely enjoyed it though, which is all that mattered.


Granny and Granddaddy gave her a little baby doll - she reached into the little bag and pulled out that baby and talked to that baby for a LONG time - she really liked it. Then, Oma and Opa gave her an elephant shaped pillow, which she liked well enough, but then she saw that they gave her some BOOKS!! Yay Books!! She has been "reading" the two books they gave her over and over ever since!!

Mommy and Daddy gave Emma some Spring clothes that we can hardly wait for her to enjoy in warmer weather - although she paid more attention to the tags on the clothes than the clothes themselves.

Where has the time gone?

This has multiple meanings for me at this moment.

Why haven't I posted recently. I don't know - I'm trying to figure out where ALL of the time between Samantha's birthday and Emma's birthday WENT - all of a sudden, its February 18th. That period of time last year I a) went on bedrest and started 2 pregnancy appointments a week; b) went into the hospital for 4 days - got out of the hospital; and then c) went to the hospital EVERY DAY for testing until we all decided that d) Emma was ready to be born on February 16th.

Which is my second "Where has the time gone?" My baby is one year old. She turned one year old on February 16th. I'll post a picture and a post tomorrow, but I'm trying to figure out where this year went. Do you think it went faster because we know she is our last one? Do you cherish things more when you know its the last time you'll see a first smile? first laugh? first hug? First crawl? Emma's first year has flown by - I just don't know where the days, hours, and minutes have gone. My 6 lb, 12 ounce bundle of cuddle is now a 24 pound strong baby with equally strong lungs and a dozen different looks for you at any one time!

Go hug your kids!

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

I have been calling Emma "little monkey" recently because when she stands up and holds onto the railing, she actually bounces up and down on the crib mattress. I guess she thinks that if she pulls hard enough on the railing she'll get out of the bed. But, last week, Emma was standing up in her bed with her hands on the railing - shaking it thinking she can get out of the bed. I went in to get her out, and when I put the rail down, she did a full-gainer front flip over the railing and landed smack on her back on the floor. She wasn't hurt - and was only scared for a second. She was more excited to be out of the bed. She LOVES to get out of the bed and always has the biggest smile on her face as I carry her downstairs.

So, for the past week or so, she has started "Cruising" the crib. Either she's looking for a part of the railing that may be "weak" and she can escape, or she's trying to get away from that "mean railing" that made her flip out of the bed.

Either way, the minute I put the railing down, she grabs my shirt and arm like there is NO TOMORROW - there is no way she's flipping out of the bed again.

But, until I put down the railing - its "One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed" and hopefully NOT "One fell off and cracked her head!"