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!

Halloween Came Early in South Riding

After several years of conflicts with soccer, Samantha was finally able to march in the Halloween Parade with the dance school. Heather decided that the Jr. Elite company would dance to "Werewolves in London" while the Sr. Company would dance to "Ghostbusters." So after searching the internet, and buying a "mullet wig" and monster hands at Target, and cutting up an old pair of Samantha's jeans and an old T-shirt of mine, we came up with a pretty creative costume for Samantha - I thought she was the best werewolf in the group!

Back to the parade - although I think calling it a parade is an overstatement - it is a massive throng of people walking down the street from the sales center in South Riding to the Town Green. The parade was headed up by the fire trucks from the Arcola Fire Department, followed by the dance school and then the neighborhood's first marching band - the marching band from the new Freedom High School. Perhaps the worst part was the weather - it was 45 degrees with 15 mile per hour winds, which put the wind chill at freezing - and boy was it ever. I think Emma was the only one sufficiently dressed. After the parade reached the Town Green, we quickly retreated to the warmth of the van and headed home for showers and on to the next event of the day - Samantha's soccer game!

Emma FINALLY cut a tooth!!

After fussing and drooling for months, and being especially uncomfortable for the past week or so, Emma FINALLY cut her first tooth - at 8 months and 1 week old. We can't really see it yet (yeah, like she lets us into her mouth that easily!), but we can clearly feel it when we feel her gums. Its her bottom left tooth. Hopefully her bottom right one will come in soon and they will give her a break from all of the discomfort she has CLEARLY HAD while these teeth were trying to come in!!

Happy Birthday Emma!!

Emma had her 8th month birthday on Sunday. Hard to believe its been so long - we have all commented that this one has gone much faster than the others. At a Drs appointment about a week ago, she weighed in at 21 1/2 pounds - whew. And that is solid and dense - so she is a HANDFUL to carry. She sits well on her own - when we place her there - but if she falls, she's stuck. She pushes up onto her hands really well when on her tummy, and yesterday got up onto her knees. But she is showing signs of imitating Samantha and crawling BACKWARDS before forwards. I'm appreciating the "non-mobile" phase as long as possible because it won't be long before I'll have to empty the coffee table of magazines and pull out the baby gates to contain her!!

Cox Farm!

We made our annual trek to Cox Farm on Sunday. At least it wasn't raining!! But because it had been raining the week before, the place was PACKED - even first thing in the morning. The kids had a great time on the hayride, and the slides. Michael even went and fed a goat!! We went with family friends the Fryes, Mary Ann, Savannah, and Allie. Its always a nice way to "work out some energy" having them run around in the field for a while, and everyone took nice long naps when we got home!!

New York State of Mind!

We had an eventful weekend, as Nancy and Samantha headed to NYC for the weekend. It had been raining at home in VA for a couple of days, and was still raining at 6am on Saturday morning when we drove to the Amtrak station in DC - boy that was a tough drive. We took the 7:35am train to Penn Station - Samantha had a good time and bugged me the entire time to go to the Cafe Car.


When we arrived in NYC, we immediately headed to Samantha's highlight of the trip - a day at the American Girl Place. This is an entire store dedicated to the American Girls. These are dolls that each have a story behind them set in a historical time of American History. Samantha's first doll, Samantha (given to her by her Great Aunt Linda when she was born), is based in 1904 North of NYC. Samantha now has her second doll - Felicity - who lived in Williamsburg, VA in 1774. The store was CRAZY but we had a great time. Samantha had her Samantha doll's hair styled into a fancy new doo, we saw a theater show put on by "the American Girls", and had lunch in the American Girl cafe, where Samantha and Felicity (the dolls) were able to join us at the table with little doll sized high chairs!! We also added a couple of "historically based" outfits to the wardrobe of both of the dolls!!

After spending most of the day at the American Girl cafe, we headed to the hotel. This was quite a challenge, as it was POURING down raining. So, not only were all of the tourists in the city using taxis (remember, it was Columbus day weekend), but so were the residents. And, trust me, a woman with a child, a suitcase, and a huge shopping bag were NOT an attractive fare to pick up. But finally, after getting completely DRENCHED, and about losing our shopping bag that was coming apart because it was soaked, we got a cab to our hotel, which was at 6th Ave and 57th street.




Our hotel was a converted studio apartment building. We had a nice room with a little kitchenette with a refrigerator. We checked in and then Samantha wanted to go to dinner, so we headed to the restaurant where I planned to eat dinner - the Jekyll and Hyde club. It ended up being right around the corner, basically part of the same huge building. It was a "haunted restaurant" where the entire restaurant is decorated like a big "Halloween" party. There were lots of kids there, so I figured I made a good choice. After dinner, we tried to go to the Empire State Building, but because of the rain and the clouds, we weren't able to see anything from the top of the building, so we didn't bother to go up. We then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep since we were up at 5:30am



On Sunday morning, we headed to Battery Park to take a Ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty. It was drizzly, wet, and cold. Didn't make for a great ferry ride, but Lady Liberty was as beautiful as I expected. We walked around the island for a while, and then headed back to the ferry for a trip to Ellis Island. The immigration building was quite interesting, and I tried to imagine what it was like to be one of those immigrants, standing in line with just the bags in my hands. After riding back to Battery Park, we got a cab back to the hotel. This cab driver was nice, and drove through the streets of town and pointed out many of the notable sights, including the WTC site. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant right up from the hotel that had GREAT pizza. Afterwards, we walked the 1 1/2 blocks north to Central Park and we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park. Afterwards, we walked around Midtown Manhattan, and just looked around at some of the buildings, including Carnegie Hall and Trump Tower.

Sunday evening included dinner at the new Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. After dinner and looking around at all of the lights and sights of Times Square, we walked a few blocks up Broadway to see our Broadway play - Beauty and the Beast. It was GREAT!!

Monday morning was quiet, as we wanted to make sure we made the train on time. We ate breakfast at a little corner shop called Get a Bagel. Granny would have LOVED it. They had every possible thing you could imagine putting on a bagel, and then some you probably never imagined. Afterwards, we walked down to Rockefeller Center, saw the ice rink, and even saw where they were filming the Today Show. It was a bit crazy because there was a concert on Monday, but we got to peek through the screens in the building and saw the indoor set. Pretty cool.

We took a cab back down to Penn Station - what I thought would take longer only took about 15 minutes. We had some time to kill at Penn Station and spent it sitting in the large hall in front of the departures board. Penn Station is a little nuts. They don't post the track that you will be departing on until they are ready to board the train, so everyone stands in front of the departure board waiting to see the track number, and then there is a MAD DASH to the gate so everyone can board - all about 15 minutes before the train is due to depart.

After an uneventful train ride home, I was looking forward to driving home and relaxing, but to no avail. The car wouldn't start (a side effect of an elusive electrical short we have in the car that rears its head from time to time). I had trouble getting it jump-started because of a smart-mouthed Amtrak police officer who told me to "call AAA" because they would have to push the car out in order to jump it. Finally the Amtrak police came around and jump-started the car and we were FINALLY able to head home.

A quite exhausting but fun trip!

Had a great weekend!!

We had a great family weekend this weekend. It was busy but good. Michael and Samantha both had games. Michael did a great job in tball - he's getting better every week and maybe one of these days he'll go an entire inning without kicking dirt. Samantha is also doing great in soccer - I think she has scored a goal every game this season.

We finished out the weekend with a Nationals Game. It was great to end their season with them. Weather was perfect and had the game not been almost 4 hours, we wouldn't have had the sun on our seats at all - as it was we had some sun for the last inning, but we moved into the shade for that. Emma had a great time and loved "riding" in her new front carrier.

Photos to come soon!!

Welcome

Welcome to the Stopper Family site. We'll share what's going on with all of the Stoppers, as well as some photos of our adventures out and about. We invite you to come back often and check us out!