Belly Buttons and Belly Laughs

The Skinny on Getting Skinny

2012-01-23T21:41:00.005-05:00

I need to rant, sorry.

I keep seeing women talk about losing weight.
Which is wonderful, but the way they talk about it irks me.

"You guys gotta keep me motivated." ~ YOU are the only one who can make yourself take the action to lose the weight, honey.

"The kids ate pizza, but I was good and only had a salad... even though I really wanted some pizza." ~ You're setting yourself up for failure if you're depriving yourself. Moderation is KEY. How about you all eat one slice of pizza and have a big salad on the side? Now there's a novel idea.

While we're on that subject... add some COLOR to your diet, people!
"I'm making chicken, mac and cheese, corn, and biscuits for dinner." Really?

And you're trying to lose weight?

"I'm taking this supplement and/or drinking this shake." ~ You really truly don't need these to lose weight.

"I need to work out x amount of hours at the gym, and then meet up with my personal trainer so he/she can kick my butt... but we're not sure where our next paycheck is coming from." ~ I understand your health is important, but shelling out money for a gym and personal trainer isn't a necessity.

There's more, but I'm sure you're getting the idea.

Now, who am I to be one to talk?

I'm not really.
But I DO know something about losing weight.

Says the chicky-doo who has lost 60 lbs in under a year.

(Yeah, that'd be me!)

I don't go to a gym.
I don't have a personal trainer.
I don't depend on others for motivation.
I eat good food.
But I also don't deprive myself.

Hell, I had a Whopper with cheese and fries last week.
With a Dr. Pepper!!

I use my body. As in, my body is my gym. My body is my equipment.
No treadmill, elliptical... nothin' fancy.
Just me and my body.

Lunges, squats, crunches... etc, etc, etc.
Those damn burpees.
The only thing I need for them is my body.

I use food.
Food is fuel.
If you burn calories, you need to replenish your body.

What?!

It's called a post-workout munchie.
I flip-flop between two -- I either eat an egg after workout or I have a glass of chocolate milk.

Yeah, you totally read that right.
Mmm mmm mmm chocolate milk.

And I'm losing weight.
And toning up.
And still drinking chocolate milk.
Google it.

There's also a pre-workout munchie, but really, I'm not a follower of that.
I'd vomit if I ate before doing some of my exercises.

I don't do the whole fat-free thing.
But I'm smart.
I read labels.

I like fiber.
And protein.

Sugars, not so much. (But I also have low blood sugar... sooo yeah)

Low fat, high protein, high fiber.
Meats, dairy, fruits and veggies.

And peanut butter!!

Don't forget my peanut butter!

Everyone knows the difference between good fats and bad fats. It's just up to you to decide which you're going to consume.

And then there's water. Lots of ice, cold water.
Mmmmm!!!

It's really not hard. I promise you don't have to kill yourself.
A little here, a little there.
A little more mindful of what you're putting in your body.

I promise you, when you start to notice the little changes in your body...
When you realize that this move or that move is easier to do than it was last week...
When that first person comes up to you and asks if you've lost weight...
When you slip into that pair of pants that was once too tight and now are baggy...

It'll be worth it.
It'll be more motivation for you than being dependent upon others for your weight loss journey.

One pound at a time.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2012-01-10T18:07:00.004-05:00

I LOVE this stuff. Love. It's not the healthiest, but once that first bite passes my lips, I really don't care how unhealthy this yummy dip is. The wonderful thing about this is it isn't too spicy, so my little Em is able to enjoy it as well.

Buffalo Chicken Dip ::
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese
2 c. shredded colby jack cheese
1/2 c. ranch dressing
1/2 c. blue cheese dressing
1/4 c. hot sauce
1/4 c. buffalo wing sauce

Honestly, I just dump it all into a saucepan and heat until melted, and serve it with tortilla chips. Yum!

Meet Denny

2012-01-09T18:18:00.007-05:00

Em recently had a birthday, and we just celebrated with family at our house. My brother and stepdad walked through the door, each carrying one end of a ginormous present.

Ummm... I didn't tell them she wanted anything ginormous for her birthday. What in the world??

So I asked my brother what it was. He told me it was a dollhouse.

WHAT?!?! Where am I gonna put ANOTHER ginormous dollhouse?! We already HAVE a ginormous dollhouse!!

His response was to oh-so nonchalantly say, "You'll find a place."

So then Em begins to open said ginormous dollhouse.

Only... wait, that's not a ginormous dollhouse Em is opening.

It's a cage. A freaking CAGE!!

WHAT did you guys get her?!?!?!

Lots of laughing.

Me still trying to figure out what creature I now get to care for.

Turns out, it's this little guy ::

Meet Denny

Turns out, I was totally set up.

One night before Christmas, I get a random text from my brother telling me his roommate had decided he wanted a dog for their apartment when they went back for second semester of the school year. He said he was trying to talk him into something smaller than a dog. Then asked if I was getting Em a guinea pig for Christmas because I had mentioned the idea earlier in the year. I told him I wasn't because I couldn't afford one. Okay? Couldn't afford one lol.

Then another day, he asked if I was off work any the week before Christmas. I told him I was off the Friday before then mentioned I was gonna ask to see if he wanted to spend some quality time with his favorite niece that day while I finished up some last minute stocking stuffer buying. Turns out, he was asking because "he wanted to take her to a pet store to buy Christmas gifts for the dogs my mom and dad have."

Notice those quotation marks?

Yeah.

While there, he took her to look at the guinea pigs. Had her pick out which one was her favorite. Then they bought the toys for the dogs.

Then he took her to Zip and Sip and bought her a LARGE marshmallow iced tea.

Then he ran home and told my mom which one Em picked out. My mom then headed to the pet store to get the little guy.

Meanwhile I came back to my mom's house... to an eerily empty house. My brother came out of the bathroom brushing his teeth and choked when he saw me lol. Apparently my arriving before my mom was not a part of their evil plan.

So I'm sitting on the couch and in walks my mom, holding a little box. And in that box was the guinea pig.

She took the box downstairs, where in my brother's room they had guinea pig heaven set up -- cage, food, treats, litter, toys ... it was aaaaalllll already bought.

And I was completely clueless.

Moral of the story?

Don't ever trust your brother when he volunteers to spend quality time with your daughter. Ever.

Em at first wanted to name the guy Princess lol... but since he was a boy, I vetoed it. She can't say guinea, instead says denny pig, so that's how we arrived at Denny our "denny pig."

Oh... and he HATES us.
Boo.

Birthday Interview

2012-01-02T12:35:00.003-05:00

In the words of Em, now 5 (but thinks she's 3 -- and I'm ok with that!)

1. Favorite color -- green
2. Favorite toy -- a squishy koosh ball worm she received at Christmas
3. Favorite fruit -- apples
4. Favorite TV show -- um... I don't know (we really don't watch a lot)
5. Favorite thing to eat for lunch -- grilled cheese sandwich
6. Favorite outfit -- my 'Punzel' one (Rapunzel tee and jeans)
7. Favorite game -- Word Wacker (on her vReader)
8. Favorite snack -- Gerber puffs (yes, I still buy them even though she's 5 lol)
9. Favorite animal -- 'denny' pig (denny = guinea)
10. Favorite song -- Taylor Smiff songs (Taylor Swift)
11. Favorite book -- Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
12. Best Friend -- Kobe and Lexi
13. Favorite Cereal -- the kind with the marshmallows (Lucky Charms)
14. Favorite thing to do outside -- dig in the dirt with my shovel
15. Favorite drink -- lemonade
16. Favorite holiday -- um... spring
17. What do you sleep with at night? -- my dog, jaguar, and Pikachu
18. Favorite breakfast food -- toast
19. What do you want to be when you grow up -- a grown up

Taco Dip

2011-12-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

I have been craving tacos like crazy lately. While this dip helped curb those craving a wee bit, we're still having tacos later in the week!

This dip isn't pretty, but it is tasty. It has earned me the "Really Good Cooker" title from Em, and that's the best title ever.

Taco Dip ::

1 lb. hamburger
black pepper
garlic powder
1 pkt. taco seasoning
3/4 c. water
16 oz. can crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 lb. processed cheese loaf, cubed
10 dashes hot sauce

Place ground beef in pan to brown. Season generously with black pepper and garlic powder. Fry over medium heat until browned. Drain well.

Add taco seasoning and water. Mix well.

Add remaining ingredients. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.

Serve with tortilla chips!

Banana Oat Pancakes

2011-12-11T12:53:00.004-05:00

I was once again blessed with a large amount of bananas from a coworker. Last time this happened, I made lots of my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. However, this time it's right smack in the middle of the holidays, and we've got enough sugary baked goods going into our bodies. Soo I decided to go a little healthier and made a couple batches of these pancakes, some for now and most frozen for later.

Banana Oat Pancakes ::

1-3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. uncooked quick cooking oats
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. milk
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 banana, mashed
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients in bowl; set aside.

Whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened.

Heat a greased griddle over medium-high heat.

Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry.
Flip, and cook until browned on the other side.

Just a note, make sure your griddle is very-well greased because this batter is sticky!! But these pancakes are ooooh-so yummy!!

My Girl is Growing Up!

2011-10-25T14:39:00.001-04:00

Em was sent home from daycare yesterday morning with a 102 degree temperature.

She's had a cough for a couple weeks now, but that's normal for her during this time of year due to her allergies. However, when her fever kept returning when the Tylenol wore off, I figured it was time to get her to her doctor to make sure her cough hadn't developed into anything more.

Her doctor thought she had nothing more than a virus, and her lungs sounded good, so that was good.

She encouraged me to go ahead and get her a flu shot, even though she was sick during this visit. But I figured she knew best and went ahead and agreed to it. We couldn't do the mist up the nose due to her wheezing she gets with her allergies, so she had to get a shot.

I explained to her what was going to happen when the nurse came back in, and Em started crying and begging me not to make her get one. I told her it was so that she would stay healthy and wouldn't get more sick than she already was. She calmed down by the time the nurse came in, thankfully.

The nurse let her choose where she wanted her shot -- in her arm or her leg. She's never gotten a shot in her arm, but she chose it this time like a big girl. She did cry a bit, but she did really really good with it!

She got to pick out a huge teddy bear for being such a big girl, in addition to the usual sucker and sticker. She picked a pink one out with turtles on it.

She also got weighed and measured at this appointment, which she hasn't been in a while. I was shocked when I heard the numbers -- She is 46 inches tall and weighs 47 lbs. It's crazy how fast and how much she grows! I mean, she's not even 5 yet!

Movie Night

2011-09-30T14:28:00.001-04:00

I surprised Em by taking her to see Lion King 3D at a movie theater in a nearby town.
She loves going to movies -- plus she thinks it's neat when she gets popcorn and Diet Coke for dinner!!

Lion King is one of her favorite movies. Basically, any Disney movie is.

I had the pleasure of being serenaded the whole way home by Hakuna Matata.
Not the real song, but Em's special version -- singing the same two words over and over again...

"Haaaakuuuunaaaa Maaaataaaataaaa"

Over and over and over again, like she was singing a heartwrenching ballad.

Girl cracks me up!

Car Fest

2011-09-18T14:02:00.001-04:00

My dad had a mid-life crisis earlier this year and purchased a pretty little car. He decided to take it to the Cruiz-In and park it along the route -- you know, to show it off.

Em and Elle with the new car before the parade started.

Now, during the parade, people throw candy. My dad didn't take into account that his car might get NAILED with candy, being parked along the parade route.

Let me tell ya, hearing hard suckers bounce off the car was almost as bad as hearing nails on a chalkboard.

He didn't seem too fazed by it. If it were my car, I'd have been crying!

We tried to keep a good distance between the car and the girls so that people would aim for them and miss the car. It didn't always work though.

Em and Elle digging into their candy.

After the parade, a boy -- and I mean boy, maybe 11 -- walked by and complimented the car, knew the make, model, and year of it. We were pretty impressed. Then he walked by a couple minutes later and asked how fast it went. My dad's answer? 55 lol

A Visit with Great Grandma

2011-08-21T21:16:00.000-04:00

My brother, sister, and I met up at my grandma's house for a visit yesterday. She had been giving me guilt trips about not seeing us or the girls as much as she would like. She went so far as to bring up her health and that she guesses her heart was ticking alright for the time being. My uncle quickly chimed in to say she was just told she was quite healthy. Gotta love the grandma guilt lol.

Em and Elle playing with a vintage farm set while their great grandma watches .

Em giving Elle a ride, while saying "Neiiiigh!!"

I Want My Grandpa Back

2011-08-20T18:40:00.003-04:00

"He'd be there peelin' peaches if it was 20 years ago
And what I wouldn't give
To ride around in that old truck with him"

Ugh. That part always gets me.

Em and I were having a play date with my best friend and her son at our local McDonald's this afternoon. As Em and I went to leave, we saw a family member on my dad's side that I swear I haven't seen since my grandma on my dad's side passed away in 2008.

We said hi to each other. Then he said "I thought that was you. Boy I'd recognize those eyes anywhere." It's always the eyes hahaha

Then he said something about seeing a picture of my grandpa on my Facebook and told me he downloaded it onto his computer. Said "It sure was good seeing his face, I don't have any pictures of him."

Okay, I'm gonna cry while I write this blog.

I told him that I have more pictures of my grandpa, that I would upload them to my Facebook so he can get them.

Then he said there weren't many pictures of any of the family from back then, that when his mom died the pictures kinda went with her. I immediately thought about the albums and albums of pictures we have from my dad's side of the family and told him we've got "some" pictures, that I would upload those as well.

He said he had a videotape that he and my grandpa made. Said it wasn't very good quality but that he would make me a copy so I would have it. God I hope he follows through on that.

All of a sudden, the guy sitting across the table from him exclaimed "I just now figured out who you're talking about. Frank!" Turns out I was related to that man too.

Stories were told. Things my grandpa said or did, the way they said things while impersonating him -- it was dead on. My grandpa liked expletives lol.

They talked about how Em didn't get my grandpa's dimples, that he had really deep ones. She didn't... but I think I know another little girl who did... and my sister.

They talked about how I got his eyes... well, eye. If you look at my left one, I have a chunk of brown in it. So did my grandpa except I think it's been brought up that his was the opposite eye? I'm not sure.

They talked about how the N---- family men have a gorgeous head of white hair once they hit 60 and how they wished they had gotten that. I laughed bc I think that's what my brother has inherited from my grandpa

I could have sat there and talked for hours to them but Em was tired and ready to go. Turns out they meet there every day at a certain time for coffee. They told me to come back and join them. I am... and I'm bringing some other people and two little girls who need to know these men bc our grandpa was the greatest man. He would have LOVED these two little girls and it kills me that he didn't get to meet them.

Yeah, I'm practically bawling right now.

Those 3 lines at the top? Why do they get to me?

Peaches. It's one of my favorite, simplest memories of him. Eating a bowl of peaches with milk, drizzled with honey. We did that together all the time when I was growing up. I've made it for Em a couple times, each time I'm fighting back tears as she talks about how good it is.

The driving in that truck with him -- his green little truck. Going to the library with him... to Williams Brothers Pharmacy for grilled cheese, pickles, and banana cream pie.

When I was younger, he and my grandma had a camper. I loved that thing. I went camping all over the place with them.

They had a regular card night with their friends named Dot and Chick. I still remember how the popcorn smelled when they would take me with them.

I want Em to have those kinds of memories about the men in her life. I want her to have MORE men in her life to have those kinds of memories about.

I hated leaving Mcdonald's. But I needed to go to my dad's anyways so I raced over there to tell him about my little chat with them. Turns out it was him we saw drive by when we were on our play date. It was him going into work so he unfortunately wasn't home.

We stayed at my dad's for a bit so Em could play and I got myself pulled together bc I was an emotional basketcase. We headed home finally and in the middle of town on the main highway to our house, Em says "MMMM somebody's CAMPING!!" And she was freaking right.... it smelled like a campfire.

And guess what memories flooded my mind.

Hey, Ferb!!

2011-08-19T21:26:00.001-04:00

Em loves the show Phineas and Ferb, and I do too. It's one of the few cartoons out now that I could sit through episode after episode and never get tired of.

One day, I decided to surprise her by putting together this little sandwich for dinner ::

It really was super easy to do. I used thinly slice baby carrots for the hair, and swiss cheese and black olives for the eyes.

She did not know what to think when she sat down and saw Phineas on her plate. It was great!!

Funny story about this sandwich -- I uploaded the picture of my sandwich to my Facebook account with the note that said "Hey, Ferb!! I know what we're gonna do today!!" My amazing friends on there began comment with "Where's Perry?" Love them!!

P.S. I'm SO doing a Perry sandwich next!

Fed Up

2011-08-17T21:09:00.002-04:00

I used to work at the daycare Em attends up until I had her way back when. I love the owner, she's was like family to me at that point in my life. I loved the workers back then.

The workers now? Not so much.
Ok. Not at all.

It's to the point of where if I could do it, I would remove Em from the daycare.

She's gotten hurt I don't know how many times there this summer. Did anyone inform me of her getting hurt or how she got hurt? Maybe twice the entire summer. It's hard getting the facts from a 4 year old.

One day last week, my sister asked me if daycare had called me that morning.
Um... no?
She then asked if somebody had talked to me when I picked Em up.
Nooo... whyyy?

Turns out, when she was dropping off Elle at daycare one of the workers told her that Em had come up to her earlier complaining her toe really hurt. When they checked it out it was really red and really swollen. They asked my sister if she knew of anything happening to Em. Of course she didn't BUT she also reminded them that Em is really allergic to bee stings and if there was any chance that was what happened they needed to get ahold of me asap.

Did they?
No.

Did they do anything for Em?
No.

Did anyone inform me of the incident?
No.

So I called Em over to me to check it out. Mind you it was after 6 pm by this point in time.

And guess what? Her toe was still red and still swollen.
Thank you daycare.

Grrrrrr....

So then this Monday I walk in the door to pick Em up and I am told "She had an accident today and didn't have any shorts or underwear in her cubby. The underwear she's wearing is daycare's and the shorts are Roo's so you need to make sure to bring them back asap."

Um... excuse me?

Where are the TWO pairs of shorts and TWO pairs of underwear I supplied y'all with?? The ones that were clearly marked with Em's 3 initials just like everything else I have ever brought in.

They're gone.
They don't know where.
You sure she didn't wear them home after having an accident another time.

I'm sure, but since you're so adamant I'm wrong, I'll check when I go home.

Guess what! They're not home.
And neither are the 5 pairs of extra socks I've provided for her over the course of the past 3 years that they've lost or given to other kids to "borrow" and were never returned.

Really?

I wish that was it.
But of course it isn't.

Monday, my kid pees her pants as I just discussed. We talked about when and why it happened once we got home. Turns out, she was playing outside and didn't bother going in to pee.

Okay, understandable. It happens.

We talked about how she needs to go inside to use the restroom no matter how much fun she's having outside. That she can go back to having fun after she's used the potty.

Tuesday, I pick her up.
Her pants are wet.
Same scenario.
Only the daycare workers weren't very observant and as a result my kid had been wearing wet pants for god knows how long because she sure wasn't gonna speak up and get in trouble by me later.

Well, she did. Get in trouble that is.
We had a much stronger discussion about how she needs to use the restroom and stop peeing her pants because she's a big girl. I also told her if she kept doing it, I would have to start putting her in diapers once again -- the ultimate blow to a big girl, right?

Wrong because she did it again today.
And again, no one noticed.
She reeked of pee. It wasn't a little accident.

Tomorrow she wears a pull up to daycare as punishment.
And yes, I also spanked her because 3 days of not going inside to pee because you don't want to stop playing is bullshit. And she knows better.
I know this because she LIED to me when I asked her if she peed her pants after having discovered she had.
Lied not once but TWICE about it.
Hence the spanking.

I'm so fed up.

And I know once they start doing preschool this year it's just going to get worse.
I taught preschool there.
You're supposed to HELP the kids write and count and explain how to do the work one-on-one if they don't understand the directions when you tell them as a group.
The number of times Em has come home with blank papers in the last year is absolutely ridiculous.
Absolutely.

I'm taking that into my own hands. She and I will be doing preschool together at night and on weekends.

The peeing her pants and them not noticing... and their losing her clothes... and their not informing me when something happens to her?

That has me pissed off.

Em's Interview

2011-06-17T19:57:00.002-04:00

What is your name?
Em (She really said her real name lol)

How old are you?
"Mm" while holding up 4 fingers hahaha

What is your favorite color?
Pink

When is your birthday?
On Christmas

What is your favorite number?
9

What is Momma's name?
Mom

What is Daddy's name?
** I soooo didn't even go there with this question

Where were you born?
I don't know

What size clothes do you wear?
Mmm I don't know

What is your favorite outfit?
Jamas

What color is your hair?
Brown (after a loooong pause haha)

What color are your eyes?
Blue

What time do you like to get up in the morning?
When it's mornin' time

What time do you go to bed?
When it's dark time

Do you like wearing shoes?
Yeeeaaah

What size shoes do you wear?
I don't know what number I wear

Where do you go to school?
At daycare

Who is your best friend?
"Elle"

What do you love best?
Flowers

What is your favorite food?
Chicken

If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you like to go?
Um... to... the train station

Have you ever been skydiving?
Noooo

What do you like to play with the most?
The bubbles

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mmm... Tinkerbell. How do you spell Tinkerbell

If you could be an animal, what animal would you like to be?
A lion that has sharp teeth

Do you like going places?
Yeah

Where is your favorite place to go?
Mamaw's house

What do you want for your birthday?
People for my Christmas house (She freakin found a Christmas present of hers about a month ago lol)

Where do you live?
In Andyanna (hahahahahahahahahahahaha)

What is your favorite room in your house?
Your room

What is your favorite holiday?
Um Christmas

Do you like to buy things?
yes

If you had money to buy anything in the world, what would you buy?
I would buy a house. A toy house. For Elle. Another dollhouse for my cousin Elle.

If you could have anything you wanted for breakfast, what would you eat?
A pancake (More like 4)

Do you like to read books?
Yes

What is your favorite book to read?
Dora

What is your favorite song?
duh duh duh duh Dora. The tune that goes to Dora

If you could have any pet, what would you like?
A little baby cat that meows and is scared

Do you like to watch television?
Yeah

What is your favorite show on television?
Ballerina movies (???)

If you want something you can't have, what do you do?
You have to say please

Do people call you anything other than Em?
No

What other names do people call you?
I don't know

Ham and Beans My Way

2010-12-05T16:57:00.006-05:00

Growing up, I hated ham and beans. Hated. With a passion. The only way I could choke them down was to add an ungodly amount of ketchup to my bowl. Then when I got older, I would add raw onion to my bowl as well... but I still had to choke them down.

I'm poor, and ham and beans is such an economical meal. I had to suck it up and face the fact that ham and beans were gonna be a part of my life. So I tinkered with it, fixed it up a bit and came up with a dish that Em and I both love... as long as I don't burn it.

You see, we moved about 5 months ago to a new home -- a new stove. A new stove that is a whole lot hotter than any stove I've ever cooked on. I can boil foods on LOW, people. So it's taken some trial and error to cook our favorite meals. Last time I attempted ham and beans, the water cooked down a lot faster than I had anticipated and burned the ham and beans.

I share that story because yesterday, when I told Em I was going to be fixing beans for tonight's dinner, her reply was "Okay, I guess I will eat them, just not if you burn them this time." Gotta love her honesty!

And I'm very happy to say I did not burn them this time!

:: Ham and Beans My Way ::

1 lb. dry beans (I use either great northern or pinto beans.)
water
3 chicken bouillon cubes (I use low-sodium.)
3 stalks celery -- leaves included, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 ham hock (You can also use leftover ham.)
1/2 tsp. pepper

You need to plan ahead and soak the beans in water overnight. I don't measure how much water I put in, just dump the beans into the pot and fill it up with water. The next day, drain the water from the beans and fill the pot with water again. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Let simmer all day long, adding water as needed throughout the day until you're ready to serve dinner. Take out ham hock (or leftover ham) and shred or chop the meat and return to pot.

This ended up being the perfect meal for today, as we've been in the 20s for most of it -- brrrrr!

Christmas Fun

2010-12-04T23:22:00.002-05:00

We had a busy morning today. First pictures with Santa, and then Miss Mouse at the Courthouse. I wasn't sure we would be able to pull any of it off though, with Em having Surgery yesterday. But she was excited, so we attempted it.

I snuck a picture of Em with Santa before the photographer came in ::

Santa didn't mind, but I don't think the photographer was too happy. Oh well. He should've been at his post! She doesn't look too healthy here, and the picture the photographer took didn't turn out too well. She was excited to see Santa, but not excited to turn on her charm for the camera. It's kind of sad... last year, she gave them such an amazing photo that it's been used for this year's advertising of pictures with Santa -- two weeks of Em in the local newspaper almost every single night. Too cool. I don't think this year's picture will accomplish the same, but that's okay.

We then went to Miss Mouse at the Courthouse. I gotta say, it was a disaster. We waited in line for forever to get Em's picture taken with the mouse. Forever. Rumor was they were having issues with a memory card, and that was the hold up. Okay, that's understandable -- technology doesn't always cooperate. But then we waited almost an hour for her picture to be printed before I gave up and left without it. Ridiculous. I kept being told it would take 10 more minutes to get it done. 10 minutes later, and I was being told the same thing. My sister took Elle later in the day and they ran out of ink while printing out her picture, and she also had to wait for forever. I don't know. I'll have to really consider going again next year because I didn't feel I got my money's worth out of it this year. Em did enjoy decorating a cookie with icing, M&Ms, and sprinkles though.

Em enjoying her cookie she decorated all by herself ::

I think it was just too much for Em, being the day after surgery. I felt sooo bad when we got home and this was what happened ::

But isn't that just an awesome Christmas picture? Christmas shirt, snowflake blankie, and "Santa Bear" that the hospital gave her the day before.

Family Fun Night

2010-11-12T21:42:00.001-05:00

My employer is... um... experiencing financial difficulty. As a result, everybody's hours have been cut. Some weeks I have a drastic cut in hours, and others I'm almost working the usual 40 hours. On days I don't work, I give Em the option to stay home with me, but she always declines and says she wants to go to daycare to see her friends.

One of these days off I was trying to come up with something special for Em and I to do together. I decided to make it a Family Fun Night. Just she and I hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

Then I got the idea to do fondue for dinner. She had never had it before, and I figured she'd really like it. I made a basic cheese fondue and cut up broccoli, cauliflower, celery stalks, apples, pears, and a loaf of toasted french bread. It was messy but really fun, and Em absolutely loved it! Her favorite thing to eat with the cheese were the apples. I thought the pears were really good, and of course loved the bread cubes because I'm such a carb lover!

Em dipping veggies in the fondue ::

After we finished dinner, I cleaned up the mess and we changed into our jammies. Then I pulled out Em's favorite game to play right now -- Hi Ho Cherry O! We played a couple rounds of the game before bed.

Em concentrating on the spinner ::

I am so glad I did this for her. She kept telling me how it was the best night ever and was talking about it for the next week. It really doesn't take much to make kids feel so special, and I'm very thankful I have the opportunity to do so. I love this little girl so very much!!!

Blanket Hog

2010-11-11T22:53:00.000-05:00

The other night, I was awoken about 3 a.m. by Em screaming for me. It absolutely terrified me! I ran in to her room.

Me: "What is wrong???!!!!"

Em: "Big Baby take-ded all my blankets and won't give them back!!!!!"

Seriously? You caused my heart to stop beating for a few seconds because your baby doll took your blankets???

Me: *Deep breath* "There is NO reason to be screaming like that over Big Baby taking the blankets. If she does it again, just take them back from her."

Em: "Her won't give them back to meeeee!!!!"

Me: " Well, you know what? Since she won't share the blankets, she just doesn't get to use them anymore tonight," I said, as I was covering Em back up.

Em: "But then she'll be coooold!!!"

I can't win.

Shake Your Groove Thang

2010-11-10T21:28:00.002-05:00

I have had the pleasure of watching Elle for an hour or two during the week. The girls just love it, even though they're together for about 8 hours every day at daycare. One day while I had Elle, I popped in a Halloween cd -- one that has Thriller, the Scooby Doo and Addams Family theme songs, Monster Mash -- just a really fun cd. The following pictures are what followed ::

Another one, just because ::

Jammie Day

2010-11-09T21:23:00.001-05:00

Showing off her bird jammies she chose to wear for pajama day :)

Pumpkin Carving... Part One

2010-11-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

Em was super excited to carve her pumpkin she picked out. I had a couple faces drawn out and she chose which one she wanted to use, then we got started.

I cut off the top and she began picking the seeds off it.
Everything was going great.

Then we started in on the pumpkin guts, and this is where things got iffy.

"I not like it!!!"

"I NOT gonna do it NO MORE!!!!!!"

But she got over it after a little break and dug right in again.

Showing off her pumpkin -- look at how proud she is of it!

While I was cleaning up the kitchen afterward, Em went into the living room to play. Things got really quiet, so I went to check in on her. This is what I found ::

Turns out, little Em was running a fever. Poor girl.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-05T23:39:00.000-04:00

Em's daycare took a field trip to Dorney's pumpkin patch in Illinois recently. Em loved it and came back with the pumpkin she's holding in the above picture. That poor little pumpkin has been through sooo much since it's been brought into our house. Em's not a dainty little girl!

I thought it was odd the daycare wasn't taking them to Lark's, but didn't question it. Afterward, they stuck a flier in Em's cubby from the pumpkin patch. It sounds really similar to Lark's, but cheaper. And from all the cute pictures I've seen of the kids there, it's a really neat place. Now I just have to keep this place in mind when Halloween rolls around next year.

I'm a Barbie Girl

2010-11-04T23:16:00.001-04:00

I've been growing Em's hair out, and we're at a transition stage of where it's just the right length that it gets in her mouth if the sides aren't pulled up. Em hates it. She's gone so far as to ask me to just cut her hair "here and here," pointing to each side of her face. I've told her that if I cut it on the sides, I'm gonna have to cut it all the way around... and she objects to that, saying she doesn't want to look like a boy!

My brother says I should give in and give her what she's really asking for -- a mullet.

Brothers, I swear.

I've started doing side ponies on her, just to do something a little different. The first time I put one in, she looked at herself in the mirror and started smiling and batting her eyes. Then she said, "Oh thank you Mama for giving me Barbie hair. It's soooo boo-ful!!"

This, coming from the little girl who doesn't own a single Barbie yet. I was hoping to put off the Barbie phase for a little while, but because of her too cute comment, she's now getting SIX Barbies for the Christmas/Birthday bash -- and those are the ones I know of!

Miss Em, eating apple slices for a snack while sporting "Barbie hair" ::

Picking Pumpkins

2010-11-03T23:01:00.001-04:00

I usually take Em to the pumpkin patch in Loogootee to pick out pumpkins for carving, making a day of it with all the activities they have there. But this fall just hasn't been the best. Em's been sick so much lately, it just wasn't a good idea to get her out there. And since daycare took her to a pumpkin patch in Illinois for a little field trip, I didn't feel too guilty about just running out to Etienne's for pumpkin picking.

I made a big fuss about it, talked it up. Em was super excited and said she wanted a huge "punkin." I was seeing myself having to put down an ungodly amount of money on a gigantic pumpkin I'd have to roll into the house to get it carved!

But she really surprised me. Apparently Em and I don't see eye to eye when it comes to "huge."

Pointing out the pumpkin she wants ::

Showing off her pumpkin that's the perfect size for her ::

Wishing Well

2010-11-02T22:55:00.002-04:00

There's a fountain at Holiday World that people throw coins into. I gave Em a penny the day we were there, told her to make a wish and throw it in the water.

Em (clasping the coin in her hand, eyes squeezed shut): "I wish, I wish with all my might..."
Then she threw it.

Me: "What did you wish for?"

Em: "Water."

Hugs for HoHo

2010-11-01T21:32:00.009-04:00

As I previously mentioned, I took Em to Holiday World during the park's last weekend of the season. One of the highlights for Em is getting to see her HoHo, whether he be in statue form or a real life person.

We entered the park and right away she asked to go see the big HoHo. I told her she could head over to it. She gave it a big ol' hug when she reached it.

And then she got to see the real HoHo just a little further into the park.

He asked her if she's been a good girl, which she has and she said so. Then he asked what she would be asking him to bring her for Christmas. I listened carefully, waiting to get a clue as to what her little heart desires and that little stinker did nothing but smile and shrug her shoulders!

She loves her HoHo, as she should since she is a Christmas baby. Well... almost ;-)

Snapping

2010-10-28T00:33:00.002-04:00

Snapping has become quite the big deal around here lately. My niece Elle has discovered how to snap her fingers and is so absolutely proud of that ability that she's been showing it off to everyone every chance she gets. The excitement and pride on her face is extremely cute.

There's another little girl though, my Miss Em. Em has not figured out the whole snapping of fingers deal, and she's quite upset by this. I keep telling her to keep practicing, and she'll get it eventually. Not good enough for her though. She has this perfection issue that I fear is gonna cause us some problems down the road -- if she can't do it right the first try, she throws an absolute fit. I sit down with her each night and help her practice for a few minutes -- putting the right fingers together, putting them together correctly, etc. She gets so frustrated so easily though.

Tonight was a little... um, different.

I just finished putting Em in her jammies, and she sat down on my lap facing me. Arms around my neck, she looked up at me and said, "Mama, guess what I can do!" her eyes lit up. She then went on to say she can snap her toes.

Toes.

And asked if I wanted to see. Um, yeah. So she scooted back a bit and wiggled her big toe against her second on her right foot, and they snapped. I lost it. She is so proud of herself. And she was even more proud when I told her she had just done something I cannot.

So yes. My daughter can snap. Her toes, that is. We're still working on the fingers.

Pure Joy

2010-10-23T23:45:00.009-04:00

I recently took Em to Holiday World on the last weekend of their 2010 season. Once again, she absolutely loved it! This was her 4th time visiting the park in her 3 short years, so she knows what to expect. And she certainly knows which rides she absolutely has to ride before we're allowed to leave the park! One of those rides is the antique cars. I push the pedal, and she "drives." The look on her face while she does this is one of absolute joy:

I love this little girl!

Poor Man's Garlic Toast

2010-10-18T22:18:00.004-04:00

Growing up, I thought it was a real treat when my dad would make this garlic toast for us. I could sit there all night, munching slice after slice, if my parents would have let me. It's so simple and soooo yummy. I made some the other night for Em and I on a whim to serve with our spaghetti. I had been planning on making a grocery run that day but Em was under the weather, so those plans went out the window. Em loves garlic bread, so I figured this would be a hit with her... and I was right!

Poor Man's Garlic Toast

sandwich bread

butter, margarine, or any other buttery-ish substitute you wish to use (I ain't picky)
garlic powder

Butter your slices of bread. Don't be stingy, smother those puppies! Next, sprinkle garlic powder on the slices. For Em, I didn't use too much and now know that I can use more on hers in the future since she liked it so much. For me, I use quite a bit -- and it's totally NOT overwhelming. Play around with amounts to see what your preferences are. Plop your slices onto a baking sheet and broil 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on them because once they begin to turn, things happen very quickly, and before you know it you'll have burnt toast.... Not that I would know anything about that???

Em was Mmm-mmming all during our dinner that night and even told me I was the bestest -- high praise from a 3-year-old!

This post was linked to Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale.

Skype

2010-10-16T21:15:00.006-04:00

My 2-year-old niece Elle recently had surgery to remove some severely infected lymph nodes from her neck area and has essentially been quarantined at her home since then, until her little body can build its immunity back up.

That means Miss Em and Elle have been unable to see each other, when they normally get to see each other almost daily.

So we've got some little girls missing one another. Badly. And neither one can really understand just why they can't see each other. Poor things.

Then my techie brother came up with the brilliant idea to set up Skype on all our computers so that the girls could see and talk to each other. Brilliant, I tell ya!

The girls absolutely loved it! Elle was showing Em all the get well goodies she's received, and Em just sat there giggling at her bestest friend. It was so sweet!

Race Cars

2010-10-09T19:13:00.004-04:00

Em and I were on our way home the other evening, stopped at a red light. A little lime green and purple sporty-looking car caught her eye.

"A RACE car, Mama!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, that does look kind of like a race car, Em" I chuckled.

"I not know how that race car got out of the TV...." she said, very confused.

Em's Nightstand

2010-10-07T20:27:00.005-04:00

A couple months ago, I was in a consignment store when I happened upon this ::

And some crazy part of me thought, "That's the PERFECT nightstand for Em's new bedroom!!!"
The dresser was a mess.
There were globs of I-don't-know-what in random places, the wood was cracked here and there.
It took a LONG time.
And a lot of elbow grease!

I sanded it by hand, taking my time.
I then primed and painted and protective coated it.

And finally, months after buying it, it was done.

I'm rather proud of myself for turning it into this beauty ::

And now I'm working on a very girly lamp to sit atop that nightstand in Em's room.

Nipples

2010-10-06T22:58:00.004-04:00

Oh my.

That was my reaction.

My kid completely blind-sided me last night.

Completely.

Totally.

Yeah.

I was pulling her jammies out of her dresser, doing the bedtime thing. I hear "Mama, what ARE these???" I turn to see my precious baby girl poking her nipples.

What did I do? What else could I do?

I laughed.

St. Louis

2010-10-03T00:27:00.010-04:00

We had the pleasure of enjoying a mini vacation to St. Louis in the middle of the week a few weeks ago. The weather was perfect, nice and warm but not hot or humid. And since it was the middle of the week while school was in session, we didn't run into crowds. It was soooo nice!

St. Louis at night -- so pretty! Unfortunately, this was as close to the arch as we got.

Em checking out a snake -- she thought it was quite neat!

Miss Sassy Pants, herself ::

A cute little story I must share -- We went to the St. Louis zoo while in town, and there were gazelles and antelope in quite a few different exhibits. But didn't matter to Em because every time we came upon some, she would shout "REINDEER!!!" It really was quite adorable.

Em's "reindeer" ::

The next little guy was too cute. We were close enough to this prairie dog to touch him, so we got to see exactly what he was doing -- stuffing his cheeks full of twigs and leaves. And then he darted into one of the holes nearby. It totally confused Em! I told her he took them down to make a nice cozy bed to sleep on, and she insisted sticks were NOT comfy! She wanted to stay until he came back up, but we made a deal and came back to the exhibit before we left to check on the little guy. She was sure he was back up, running around and eating brussel sprouts with his friends.

Em on her puffin, waiting for the carousel to start. (She's still a little iffy about carousels.)

Of course I have to include the zebra, or zebrella as Em calls them. This one's a boy. Trust me. Don't ask why, let's just say I had to wait a few minutes to take this photo in order to make it family friendly! ;) lol

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2010-04-18T16:42:00.008-04:00

I am lucky to work with a wonderful woman who thinks of Em and myself when she finds herself faced with an overabundance of produce. Last week she gave me 15 huge bananas. What does one do with that many bananas (because seriously, even though Em LOVES them, there's no way that even she could put away 15 of them before they over-ripened!)? So I made lots of banana baked goods -- some we ate, some I froze for later. And for my chocolate-loving gal, I whipped up this chocolate chip banana bread. It's so good -- moist, yummy, just the right amount of sweetness, and quite addicting!

::Chocolate Chip Banana Bread ::

4 bananas, mashed
1/3 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1-1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan. In bowl, mix bananas, melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add baking soda and salt; mix well. Add flour, mix until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour.

Yum!
** And for some reason, Blogger is flipping my picture even though my computer has it saved in another direction... not sure what's going on...

Toilet Troubles

2010-04-10T20:26:00.003-04:00

We spent most of Easter weekend at my mom and stepdad's house and loved every minute of it. We got a chance to laugh, eat good food, tease my brother about his very first girlfriend, and gossip! And of course Miss Em and my niece Elle got lots of playing time together... although we had quite a few arguments due to Em feeling under the weather because of her yucky tonsils and Elle taking full advantage of Em's whiny state.

The best part of the weekend was Saturday night when Em needed to go potty and wouldn't go alone because the hallway to the bathroom was dark, and she's mighty afraid of the dark. I accompanied her, and Elle usually does just because she thinks it neat Em goes potty in the big potty.

I am SO glad I accompanied her.

Little Em got a little too exuberant in her jumping on the potty and her little bottom fell into the water. It was so hilarious! Her little legs from her knees up was in the toilet, and below the knees was sticking straight out of the toilet.

She of course cried. I of course laughed hysterically.

And Elle? Well Elle stood there with her eyes HUGE, covered her mouth and giggled. And then she ran out of the bathroom, into the living room where the rest of the family was and exclaimed, "Em's butt falled into da poddy!!!!!!!" She then tried to throw herself butt-first onto the floor to demonstrate just how Em fell into it.

It took about a half hour before Em found it to be funny, but now she proudly asks people, "Did you know I fall into the potty?"

I love my kid.

First Movie

2010-03-31T20:42:00.004-04:00

Daycare took Em to her first movie yesterday -- "How to Train Your Dragon." Made me a little sad that I wasn't there to experience it with her. Okay, so it made me quite sad and tears came to my eyes.... But apparently, I didn't miss much.

I overheard one of the other parents talking to her son about the movie, so I asked Em if she got to go too.

Em: "Yup. We had popcorn and a drink."

Me: "So did you like going to see the movie?"

Em: "Yup. I just love dat popcorn and drink."

Me: "But what about the movie? What was it about?"

Em: "A dragon. It had wots of boys and one girl in it and den da movie was over and Ally wake-ded me up."

Did you catch that?

I did.

Me: "Wait... you fell asleep during the movie?!?!?!"

Em: "Yup. I suuurrre did!"

I took Em to daycare this morning and told the girls about our conversation. They all got a good laugh out of it, and the owner said she wasn't exactly sure just how much Em actually saw of the movie, as she was one of the first to fall asleep.

Did you catch that?

One of the first....

Turns out, only 3 kiddos were awake at the end of the movie!!! Not so sure that's a good reflection on it....

Love is in the Air

2010-02-10T00:08:00.002-05:00

Em: "Mama, do you really so much wuv me?"

Me: "I sure do really so much love you."

Em: "Good."

Tattletale

2010-01-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

A couple nights ago, I was dressing Em for bed when she began crying seemingly out of the blue. Mind you, she hadn't napped that day, so I assumed she was just overly tired and this was her way of releasing pent up exhaustion... if that makes sense.

But then she apologized: "Mama, I so sorry."

Uh oh.

Me: "Why are you sorry?"

Em: "I so sorry I do somefin, Mama."

Me: "What did you do?"

Em: "I not want to show you, Mama."

Uh oh.

Me: "You're gonna show me what you did, Em."

Em: "But I not want to. It's all my fault."

Me: "If you did something something you weren't supposed to do, yes it is all your fault."

And then she started sobbing.

We went to the living room where she told me she was just drawing pictures. I asked where, and she said my white books. Books as in plural. I had a new cookbook and 2 notebooks that I had sprawled out on part of the couch, trying to throw together a meal plan for the next month (I was feeling adventurous!) And she had colored on every one of them with the pen I was using while I assumed she was picking up her toys like she was supposed to be doing.

What did I do?

I made her apologize to my books, of course. Boy that made her feel bad. You see, everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- has feelings in her eyes, and she knew she had hurt the books' feelings when she made them no longer pretty by marking all over them in black pen. She told them each that she was "so sorry" for coloring them, then we had a discussion (yet again) that we only use pens if she asks permission first, and that she's only to color in her coloring books or on paper that I give her the thumbs up to color on.

She went to bed, still feeling a little guilty... which made me feel kind of proud. My kid has a conscious! And even though I was totally clueless about what she had done, she had to tell me before she went to bed -- even though she knew she'd be in trouble for it.

I just hope her conscious and her inability to go to bed without a clear one stick around for the next 16 or so years!

Readying for Ho Ho

2010-01-25T15:17:00.001-05:00

My sister, brother, and niece Elle stayed the night with us on Christmas Eve so that Ho Ho wouldn't have so many stops to make. We did our yearly ritual of cookies and eggnog for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and wearing Christmas jammies. Em must have been super excited because the little squirt didn't fall asleep until 3:30 in the morning. 3:30, people! That part cannot become part of our yearly ritual because it nearly caused Christmas not to happen!

Santa received homemade sugar cookies and snickerdoodles at our house ::

We left carrots on the front porch for the reindeer (and I was SO nice and peeled them!) ::

Em doing the Christmas Countdown calender one last time for 2009 ::

Em showing off her jammies... because she is the BEST gift Santa's ever given me! ::

Christmas Eve Serenade

2010-01-11T23:53:00.002-05:00

In my last post, you can see where my mom gave Em a piano for Christmas on Christmas Eve. When we got home that night, she begged and pleaded with me to get it out and set up for her. As much as I was cringing on the inside, I knew she would love it, so I obliged. She tentatively hit the keys a few times, then a little harder... then she began bellowing out a song. And it was hilarious.

Carefully testing it out ::

Em's version of the fake smile ::

She plays with this thing every day. She loves it. I love it, too, because it has a volume control on it... but what's even better is that Em doesn't like it when it gets too loud.

She gets to tinker with her creative side, and I get to listen to one-word songs and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" over and over and over again.

Just what are one-word songs, you ask? Why it's when Em sings the same word over and over again in an opera-type of style. Right now, it's the Snow Song because that's what you see when you look outside the house. But she's also been known to sing the Taylor Song, as in Taylor Swift. The Taylor Song isn't quite as high-pitched, thank goodness!

Spoiled by the Grandparents

2010-01-10T13:54:00.013-05:00

Christmas Eve is always spent at my mom's house. She cooks dinner, and then we all watch the girls open their presents. Their overwhelmingly amount of presents.

And this year was no different. I took I don't know how many pictures that night of the girls opening gift... after gift... after gift -- they're a tad spoiled. Just a tad.

Elle showing off her dress-up trunk to Uncle Eric... because you know, he cares about dress-up things ::

Em showing me her new baby doll that sings! ::

Mamaw telling Em the titles of the books she received ::

Em looking thrilled about her Snap 'n Style doll ::

Em showing off her new Tag Jr. books, and Elle so excited about her new dollhouse! ::

Em checking out her new baby cheetah that makes sounds with every. move. you. make. (Especially in the middle of the night!) ::

Em's baby grand piano ::

TINKERBELL!!! ::

Uncle Eric with Tinkerbell. (I wasn't fast enough, and he put it down before I got my photo.) ::

Love for the Cards

2010-01-03T11:16:00.002-05:00

About a week before Christmas, we received our first Christmas card in the mail. For one reason or another, Em latched onto it... wouldn't put it down for the longest time, and no one else was allowed to touch it. It really was too funny. She thought that one little Christmas card was so special! I took a few photos of her and the card one night while they were comfy on the couch together, watching a Christmas movie ::

That blanket she is all snuggled up with is a handmade one she received from Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis during her care there. It's one of her favorite blankies and brings a smile to my face every time I see it. They treated us so kindly during our visit with them... hopefully, though, we won't have to go back. We've got a couple more years to wait and see.

Miss Mouse

2010-01-02T08:02:00.002-05:00

A part of our Holiday fun was to go one morning to the county courthouse and visit with Miss Mouse and decorate some Christmas cookies. We got up especially early that morning because we also were going to do pictures with Santa (known 'round here as Ho-Ho).

The Ho-Ho pictures went fabulously. Em walked into the room, exclaimed "HO-HO!!!!," ran right up to him, jumped into his lap, and gave him the biggest bear hug that ever existed. Easy, peasy... the photographer was done! Her picture turned out SO great it was in the local newspaper twice. Yeah, it's that good. Too bad I don't have a scanner.... Anywho, she told her Ho-Ho she wanted a baby and a stroller for her baby. She's such the typical little girl!

My niece Elle went next. The photographer let out a dreaded "Oh no," when he saw her because the two of them don't have a very good relationship at all. She's his most difficult client haha. But she did pretty good this time, and actually cracked a hint of a smile for him -- we were all impressed! Ho-Ho asked Elle what she wanted, and she responded with "Shoes." Now, I must tell you this kid is not yet 2 and is obsessed with shoes. She steals Em's anytime she takes them off. Obsessed, I tell ya.

Since both girls did so well with Ho-Ho, we were confident they would do great with Miss Mouse... but that so wasn't the case. Em was absolutely terrified of her, and Em's fear caused Elle to be unsure about her as well. I had to sit on the bench with Em on my lap, while Miss Mouse snuck behind us and poked her head in at the last second so that we could get a photo with her! Thank goodness I don't have a scanner hahaha!

Elle did somewhat better -- she actually let Miss Mouse sit down beside her, as long as her mommy was with her, so they got a picture of the 3 of them, as well.

Despite their fear of the mouse, the girls did have fun decorating the cookies while there ::

The girls waiting in line to meet Miss Mouse ::

Em icing her cookie ::

Elle doing the same ::

Sprinkles! ::

And then the camera died, of course!

Another Tree Post

2010-01-01T14:38:00.009-05:00

Yes, I know it's 2010. But I'm not done with 2009 quite yet, so hang in there! I've already shared how Em was able to decorate two trees this year and wrote about the Bud Light incident, but haven't posted any photos of her and Elle decorating Mamaw and Papaw's tree... until now. Enjoy!

Mamaw handing Em a train from Uncle Eric's Thomas Collection ::

Em trying to find the perfect spot ::

Papaw helping Elle hang her ornament ::

Papaw was bad and took this photo of me and Em ::

Em proudly showing off how she and Elle decorated the bottom half of the tree ::

Elle's turn ::

Happy 2010!!! This blog will get there eventually!

Expect the Unexpected

2009-12-30T00:13:00.001-05:00

Em recently celebrated her 3rd birthday.

That night we had a little alone time before our family headed to our house for gift opening and cake eating, so she crawled up into my lap and I held her just as I had held her 3 years before... her head in the crook of my arm and her body laying across mine.

I looked down at her sweet face and was hit with an overwhelming wave of sappiness... just as I was 3 years before.

I caressed her forehead, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose... just as I had caressed her newborn face 3 years before.

I then showered her little face with a flurry of tender kisses... just as I had kissed her on her first night with me 3 years before.

And then I whispered "I love you" over and over again into her sweet smelling hair... just as I had 3 years before.

Finally, I tried to squeeze her with all my might... but she wasn't having any of that and instead tried to squirm herself out of my lap.

I told her Happy Birthday once more and commented on just how big she was... and then the tears started flowing, so I let her down and turned away from her so she couldn't see the mess I had become.

And then it happened.

Expect the unexpected... especially with Em around. But really, this was truly unexpected.

Em had crawled up on the other side of the couch, with a little built-in, pull-down table separating the two of us. My back was turned to her while I was trying to pull myself together.

And then it happened.

She knocked an opened box of Nerds candy into the back of my jeans. You know... that little gap you get back there when you sit a certain way, and the jeans are no longer against your body. That gap.

Have you ever felt a million tiny pieces of candy flood into your pants?

Well, I can now say that I have.

Em was horrified, immediately told me it was an accident. Honey, I really doubt you could have pulled this off if you tried to do it on purpose.

I picked up the few pieces off the couch that somehow managed to not make it into my pants, and then excused myself to the bathroom for Nerd removal. Em wanted to accompany me, to see them in there. HA! Sorry, Charlie. I went in alone, of course.

And when I came out, there she was waiting for me. "You get all dat can-ny out of your butt, Mama?"

"Yes, Em, I think I did."

"Dat was weally funny, Mama."

"Yes. Yes it was, you goofball."

You Got Me Twisted

2009-12-24T11:14:00.002-05:00

Em has been doing REALLY well with going potty, only having accidents once or twice a month -- and that's including naptime at daycare, where they are brave and put her down with her underwear on instead of changing her into a Pull-Up. (I am so not that brave.)

But we do have one problem with the whole going potty thang... the pulling the pants back up. You never know what Em's going to look like when she steps out of the bathroom, and it's cause quite a few laughs.

But a couple days ago, she topped them all. Not by how she looked, but by what she said. She came up to me with her pants twisted every which way and said the following ::

"Mama, you help me? My pants is twisted wike a can-ny cane."

My face screwed up into a what-are-you-talking-about look, to which Em tilted her head to the left, put her hands on her hips, and said (as she was nodding at me, that sassy thing!)

"You do un-ner stand me, MOM."

Sorry, kiddo, but you throw me off sometimes!

O Tannenbaum

2009-12-21T12:03:00.002-05:00

Em was lucky enough to have the opportunity to decorate two Christmas trees this year! The following pictures are of her and my niece Elle decorating the tree at our home. Enjoy! (And please excuse the quality of the pictures. We had an especially bright, sunshiny day that day.)

Em putting on ornaments ::

I love the concentration on her face! ::

Obligatory pose with the tree ::

The finished product ::

We get a real tree every year, and I just love the smell! It's not Christmastime until that smell fills the house.

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-20T14:59:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was a cold, rainy/sleeting/snowy day in our town, so Em and I stayed indoors and spent a few hours baking Christmas cookies for our beloved Ho Ho. And if I do say so myself, I believe he will find our sugar cookies and snickerdoodles to be especially scrumptious! (That is, if we don't eat them all before the big night -- especially the snickerdoodles.)

Any other day, Em begs me to allow her to help cook and bake. She absolutely loves being in the kitchen with me -- so much so that Mamaw is giving Em her very own stand mixer for Christmas. But of course, my child is unpredictable and stubborn, which resulted in her not wanting to bake yesterday, no matter how much coaxing I did. Because of this, I have very few photos of her making cookies.

Bummer.

But let me tell you, that girl may not have been into making the cookies, but she certainly was ready to eat every last one of them! I believe she and my brother ate around ten cookies between the two of them.

And no, I did not take any photographs of the finish products. You'll see those at a later time.

Em rolling snickerdoodles in the cinnamon-sugar ::

Making the sugar cookie cutouts ::

Can't have sugar cookies without sprinkles, of course! ::

I also tried my hand at making an icing for the sugar cookies for the first time ever. It didn't taste too good on it's own, but it's amazing on the cookies. I used some paste food coloring to tint it, and we painted it on some of the cookies. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of Em painting because she did ONE cookie. That girl was in rare form, I tell you!

Bud Light

2009-12-08T19:21:00.004-05:00

Em was sitting on the couch with her loving Uncle while he was home from school for Thanksgiving break, when a commercial for Toy Story 3D popped up onto the television screen.

Em: "Eric, who's that?!"

Eric: "That's Woody."

Em: "Eric, who's that?!"

Eric: "That's Buzz Lightyear."

Em: "Oooh, I wuv that Bud Light."

Eric... giggling like a little girl: "Who is that, Em?"

Em: "Dat's my Bud Light. I wuv Bud Light."

My brother was then laughing so hard he had curled into the fetal position on the couch while holding his stomach. This went on for a good 5 minutes because... well, because he's a 19 year old BOY.

But it doesn't end there.

Of course it doesn't end there.

The icing on the cake that is this story was this past weekend when we were at my mom and stepdad's house, helping to decorate their tree. My mom was pulling out our old ornaments from when my brother, sister, and myself were kids. And one of those ornaments was my brother's good old Buzz Lightyear. I knew what would be coming when she saw it. Sure enough, as she turned around and spotted it, Em's face lit up as she exclaimed....

Wait for it....

Wait for it....

"BUZZ LIGHT!"

Yes, that's right. This means I may actually be able to take her to see the movie in the theater without having to worry about her screaming "Bud Light" throughout the film... hopefully.

Punkin Pie Talk

2009-11-28T18:14:00.003-05:00

Em: "Mama, I have some punkin pie?"

Me: "Yup, you ate all your lunch, so you can have a piece."

She sat there, watching as I cut a slice for her and plopped a good helping of Cool Whip on the top.

Em: "Mmm... I wuv dat Cool Whip."

Me: "I know you do; I do too!"

Em: "Mama, where you get dat Cool Whip?"

Me: "The store... you were with me when I got it, remember?"

Em: "At da storm? I wuv dat storm."

I sat the pie in front of her, and she immediately began licking all the Cool Whip off the top.

Em: "Mama, what kind of punkin pie is dis?"

Me: "It's pumpkin pie. It has pumpkin in it, so it's called pumpkin pie."

Em: "Oh. But what kind of punkin pie is it?"

Me: "You goofball."

Em: "Yup, I sure IS beauful."

Me (cracking up now): "I said you were a goofball. Goof. Ball."

Em: Yeeeaaah, I goofball, but I still pwetty."

We made the discovery over our Thanksgiving holiday that Em believes ALL pie to be called pumpkin pie. So when she had a slice of apple, it was apple punkin pie to her. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what a slice of pumpkin pie was called. Still can't.

Bacon Cheddar Dip

2009-11-23T10:03:00.001-05:00

This dip is rich, y'all. Sooo unhealthy. But it's sooo yummy, as most unhealthy things are. I serve this with pretzels.

1 16oz. container sour cream
1 1oz. pkg. dry ranch dressing mix
1 3oz. container bacon bits
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Chill in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you this is another recipe where I do not measure. I just dump the bacon bits and the cheese in the bowl until I think it looks good.

Em goes back and forth on this one. She's chowed down on this numerous times in the past, but when I served it the other day, she puckered up her face in disgust and informed me it was yucky. That's okay, I prefer her to not like the yummy unhealthy stuff... although the real reason she didn't like it probably has to do with the fact it isn't sweet and sugary. She's developed quite the sweet tooth despite my best efforts to avoid that.

Enjoy!

It's Like Christmas in a Carton!

2009-11-19T20:20:00.007-05:00

Em and I were at the good ol' WalMart earlier this week, in the dairy department, when she blurted out, "I want pink milk!!!!"

Pink milk? What the heck was she talking about? We were looking at yogurt?!

I asked her where she saw pink milk, and she pointed a couple feet away to a gaggle of pink gallon jugs of juice.

Gotcha.

I told her that was juice and asked if she really wanted some pink milk, all the while trying not to gag at the thought of pink milk. My only experience with pink milk was the dinky pouch of strawberry milk I decided to try one day for lunch during grade school. Let's just say I was not a fan.

But of course, my Em enthusiastically informed me that yes, she did indeed want some pink milk.

So, I agreed and headed toward the strawberry milk. Gag.

Imagine my surprise when she shouted, "I want that pink milk!!!" and I turned to find myself face-to-face with a carton of candy cane milk.

"Are you sure you want this pink milk and not the one down there?" I asked her skeptically. You see, my child had never tasted peppermint before, and I had no idea how pepperminty this milk would be. Plus, peppermint and milk?! Gag.

"Yup, I sure!" Em answered excitedly.

I caved. I bought the milk. Bought that pricey little carton of candy cane milk, I did.

We got home, and I snuck away to the kitchen to taste this pink stuff and see what exactly I would be dealing with. And oh. my. goodness... it really is like Christmas in a carton! Frothy, creamy, and soooo yummy! And the peppermintiness isn't much at all, thank goodness.

I'm afraid I'll be spending a small fortune on this pink milk from now until Christmastime because Em enjoyed it even more so than I.

That's okay, I guess. I mean, I only have 4 more presents to buy, and then I am finished buying for the Christmas/birthday extravaganza!

Oh, Lordy...

2009-10-28T21:30:00.003-04:00

This is gonna be a long Autumn season. A long next couple of months. Well, I guess technically it would be less than 2 months.

It's not yet even Halloween.

I will go crazy. I just know it!

I know, I know. Y'all are wondering what the heck I'm talking about. Sit back and let me ~~walk~~ talk you through a little drive home I had recently.

I live in Indiana, where there are just absolutely gorgeous things happening to the leaves right now. My drive home from work is especially gorgeous... filled with lots of gold, orange, and red trees. I smile every time I drive that route, and not just because I'm leaving my job behind me.

I've begun to turn the music off in the car when I pick Em up from daycare, and we talk about her day instead of listening to the song du jour. (Seriously, why do radio stations play the same 5 songs over and over again, anyways?!) At first, I only got protests about my turning the music off. I then began to get an "Uh huh" or a "Nuh uh" to what I asked or said. Recently, Em's actually been answering my questions! And then some. Like when yesterday she shared on her own about how she had to sit in time out because she pushed a girl down. Why? Because she wanted to push her, of course.

A couple days ago, we drove around the bend that offers a fantastic view of Indiana's Autumn beauty, and I began to talk to Em about it:

Me: "Do you see all those trees?"

Em: "Yeeeaah."

Me: "They used to be green. Do you remember?"

Em: "Uh huh."

Me: "And now, their leaves are changing colors so the trees are red and orange and yellow."

Em: *Silence.*

Me: "Do you see them? Do you see the trees and their new colors?"

Em: "Uh huh."

Me: "Are they pretty?"

Em: "Yeeeaaah."

Me: "Do you understand what I'm talking to you about? The trees used to be green and now they've changed colors, so some are red and yellow and orange."

Em: "Uh huh! De're ready for CHRISSMISS! I gonna see Santa 'morrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Me: *Silence*

It's gonna be a long couple of months for me, folks. Please pray for my sanity.

Vitameatavegamins

2009-10-22T23:04:00.004-04:00

Me: "Em, do you want a red vitamin or a purple vitamin tonight?"

Em: "I wanna red vitermelon."

FYI: I give her Flintstone chewables, the ones for 2 and 3 year olds. The orange ones are gone because she chooses all of those first.

Healthy Microwave Popcorn

2009-10-17T16:58:00.009-04:00

Who doesn't enjoy a big bowl of buttery, salty popcorn?

And microwave popcorn is such a convenience.

But just what all is put into that bag of microwave popcorn?
I mean, just what exactly are those natural and artificial flavors not disclosed?

And popcorn lung?!
That's some scary stuff.

So, I'm about to share a secret.
Well, actually two secrets.

The first being my recipe for microwave popcorn. Healthy microwave popcorn.
The second secret is that it's not really a recipe, as I don't have any measurements.

Yes, I am one of those cooks. In "real life," I don't measure. I do a little of this and a dash of that.
And I'm pretty darn good at it, too.

Anywho, here are my directions for Healthy Microwave Popcorn:

Pour a little olive oil into a small bowl.
Add some popcorn kernels to bowl and toss to coat.
Grab a brown paper bag and pour oil-coated kernels into it.
Fold top of paper bag over once. Now, you don't want to use up all your bag in the fold, so make the fold about an inch wide.
Secure fold with a single staple in the middle of the the fold.
Place bag in microwave standing up, not on it's side as you do with commercial microwave popcorn. You will get burnt popcorn if you don't follow this step!
Microwave 2-3 minutes, depending on your microwave. (Our microwave is big and bad, and I don't dare go over 2 minutes.)
Pour popcorn into bowl and season with real butter and salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Portrait Day '09

2009-10-15T15:57:00.007-04:00

My mom, dad, and grandparents have made it clear that the best presents they receive are photographs of my Em. Throughout the year, I print off for them copies of snapshots I've taken of Em and her crazy antics, but every October I shell out the money and have her professionally photographed in order to beat the Christmas rush. For 2009, that day was yesterday.

I was nervous as all could be. The company that has done her portraits in the past no longer exists, so I was on the hunt for a new one. I received some coupons for a couple different places and spent hour upon hour flipping back and forth amongst them all, trying to decide who was the best choice.

I finally settled on one and made the appointment. Then I pieced together Em's outfit -- which turned out too, too cute! And finally, I emptied my bank account. (Not quite, but the photos cost quite the pretty penny.)

I was still nervous as all could be. I have a newly potty trained toddler on my hands, and we were traveling a long distance for a newly potty trained toddler. And then there was her hair. Anytime I do her hair, Em cannot leave it alone. She obsessively checks to make sure her bows are still there, that her curls are still boing-y... which only results in a mess of lopsided bows and limp curls.

I am proud to say, though, that Em made it the whole way there without once needing a potty break. I took her potty as soon as we got there, and then 6 more times before we left the place an hour and a half later. Can you imagine how many germs we've picked up from the bathroom in that amount of time, even if we did wash our hands repeatedly! Makes me shudder.

The hair, however, is another story. That little girl sat in the backseat, CHEWING on her hair. I couldn't hear her and what she was doing because we were driving in a downpour. Oh, I was so saddened by the fact her soft little ringlets were clumps of wet hair. I've never seen her do this before? Of course she would choose "Picture Day" to begin this.

She didn't do too well following directions once it was her turn to shine. Her stubborn side made itself known, lots of "No!" and "Nuh uh" were heard coming from her. She wouldn't look at the camera, she wouldn't smile at the camera, she wouldn't sit this way or put her hands that way. Needless to say it was quite frustrating.

The only thing that worked was the photographer finally had the bright idea to act like she was going to tickle Em. That got some funny poses and lots of giggles and smiles. And as a result, I got my money's worth.

As I was going through the photographs, deciding which ones I wanted to order, Em lost it. My child threw herself face down on the floor, kicking her legs and arms, crying. Why? Because another family had gone back to get their photos taken. Apparently, my Em wasn't finished and tried to drag me back into the room. "It's my take pictures. It's my take pictures," she kept saying. The woman behind the counter kept gushing over how cute it was that she was getting upset over it, while I was dying of embarrassment.

Kids.

We made a quick stop to McDonald's before leaving town to head back home. By then, she was crying about everything under the sun, so we hit the drive-thru. Plus, we'd been exposed to enough germs for one day. After filling her belly with chicken nuggets, fries, and milk, Em passed out from exhaustion. Much needed rest for her and much needed quiet for my sanity.

I'm over the moon about the way the photos turned out, but I am so thankful I only try to pull this off once a year!

Goats!

2009-10-10T00:30:00.006-04:00

We love goats.

Seriously.
If I ever am given the opportunity to own a nice sized piece of property in the country, like I dream of...

I'm totally getting a miniature goat.

Em could have stayed like this for hours.

She got a kick out of feeding them.
"He swobbered on me!" she kept saying, with her infectious little giggle.

Elle enjoyed feeding them, too.
That is, until she got a little ornery and began throwing the food at them.

Ahem.

Death, by Chocolate

2009-10-04T17:48:00.006-04:00

That's what these cookies should be called.

(Em just ran in here as this photo popped up onto the screen. "Hey, dose my cookies. Dem's special!")

Seriously y'all, splurge on the Halloween M&Ms, or wait until the after-Halloween discounts, and make these cookies with your kiddos.

SO moist, SO chewy, SO chocolatey!

Thank you Baking Bites for making my little chocoholic deliriously happy!

Goodbye, Dear Friend

2009-09-27T09:03:00.000-04:00

You've been a great sport.
You've been a teacher of shapes, a teacher of colors.
An introduction to Elmo (or Melmo, as Em calls him) and to Zoe.
You were bright and colorful -- right up our alley.
You were her FIRST ball.
You've been bounced off more heads than one can count.
You've been kicked both indoors and outdoors.
You've been sat upon and bounced on for hours upon hours of enjoyment.

And that, that ultimately led to your untimely death.

And Em's deep sadness.
"But I wub it!" she exclaimed after I told her you were broken, showing her that deadly hole.

The "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh" that escaped you after your fatal injury was gut-wrenching.

I've hidden you from Em, tucked you away so she can't see you any longer because each time she does, she gets upset.
I can't bear to throw you away.

And now I am on the hunt for your replacement.
One who looks exactly like you.
But one that won't hold the same memories as you.

Goodbye, our dear dear friend.
You shall be missed.

(Okay, is it totally pathetic that I'm crying?!)

They're Baa-aack!

2009-09-26T13:03:00.003-04:00

My little friends have returned, though they're a little later than normal:

They totally creep me out.

I was oblivious to them this year -- probably because they hadn't taken up homes near the entrance of the house -- but the other day when we were outside, Em said "Mama, I wub doze spiders."

Spiders?!
Eek!

I followed her gaze and caught my breath as I counted.
1... 2... 3.

4!

All clustered together within a few feet of one another.
A few feet away from us.
From me.

My skin began to crawl, my flight response was kicking in.

Em said, "Dey so pretty, Mama. Right?"

"Um. Yeah. Sure. They sure are pretty. Pretty and (gulp) yellow."

"Yeah... I wub wellwoh."

How could I have ended up with a child who adores spiders when I'm so terrified of them?

Eek!

Edit: About a half hour after I hit the "Publish Post" button, Em and I went outside for a bit. I looked to the left, to where our friends have gathered, and did a quick count... only to discover we now have 5 little orb weavers visiting. Five!

Schnakes!

2009-09-24T19:34:00.003-04:00

My sister recently celebrated her birthday. I'd give her age, but she'd kill me because she thinks she's old. She's in her early 20s, people. Old?! No.

Anyways, my dad bought her a birthday cake. Yes, my dad still buys all his kids birthday cakes even though we are all over the age of 18. Cute, huh?

My Em loves cakes. LOVES. Her response to being told it's someone's birthday? "Happy Burday Cake!!!!"

And it was no different when she found out it was her Aunt Shelly's birthday. (Okay, sidenote. I'm totally giggling after having typed out "Shelly." It's not my sister's name. It's nowhere near my sister's name, but that's the only name Em has ever called her and we don't know why!)

I cut a big piece of cake for Em to enjoy.

Em: "Wishes, Mom."

Me: "What?"

Em: "Wishes."

Me: "Wishes?"

Em: "Yeah, it's willy nummy!"

Me: "OH! Delicious! You think your cake is delicious?"

Em: "Yup. Wishes."

I left her alone to savor her cake in peace. However, in just a few minutes she called for me and said she was done. I knew there was no way she could have eaten that piece of cake so quickly, no matter how "wishes" she thought it was, so I went to investigate... only to find the cake still on her plate. In pieces, granted, but still on her plate. As I got closer I realized she had eaten every drop of icing off the cake!

Me: "You only at the icing?"

Em: "Yeah, it was so good, Mama! I wubbed da schnakes!"

Me: "The SNAKES?! What?"

Em: "They's willy nummy!"

-- Long pause. --

Me: "Wait, were the snakes purple?"

Em: "Yup. They's purple."

If I had a light bulb over my head, it would have glowed as fluorescent as it possibly could at that moment.

Snakes = "Happy Birthday Shelly" that was scrolled across the top of the cake in bright purple icing.

Never Think Never

2009-09-19T16:54:00.002-04:00

Never in my life did I believe I would ever find myself saying, "Why are you POOPING on the living room floor?!?!?!?!"

But today, today I said those words.

I had left her on the toilet to go get a wipe from the bedroom because I knew Em was going #2. She knew what I was doing, where I was going, and that I would be back in a flash. I was gone for under a minute. I returned to the bathroom, only she was no longer there.

Instead, Em was in the living room.

And yes, she was indeed pooping on the floor.

You want to know the reason why? The reason she gave me for why she left the bathroom and the toilet to instead poop on the living room floor?

"I not know."

Channeling

2009-09-17T21:49:00.005-04:00

The other morning, Em seemed to be channeling Cindy Lou Who.
Her nose appeared to be more turned-uppity that usual.
Perhaps she slept face down the night before?

Anywho, I couldn't resist the chance to take some photos before heading out for the day.

The Saddest Day

2009-09-10T11:17:00.001-04:00

As we were saying our usual goodnights:

Me: "Night-night, Em. I love you SO much."

This is where Em usually says, "No, I wuv YOU so much." Only, this night wasn't a usual night:

Em: "NO! I not WANT you wuv me no more!!!! I NOT wuv you!!!!

That hurt.

And as soon as she saw my face react to those few little sentences, she knew those words hurt me and began to apologize profusely and cry.

I, of course, told her it was okay and that I knew she was sorry, followed with another talk about saying nice words over mean ones (because she understands that term).

She did tell me she loves me, but the sting of those earlier words stuck with me. They're still with me.

I hope it's a long, long time before those sentiments are uttered by her again, like 14 years from now when she's sixteen and I won't let her stay out after her curfew.

Yeah, so looking forward to those days.

Of Bugs and Boogers

2009-09-08T12:24:00.002-04:00

Em woke especially early this morning, so I had her watch some cartoons, or rather rackacoons, while I finished readying myself for work. I went into the bedroom to get her once I was finished.

Em: "Mama, I gots a bug in my nose."

Me: "You have a bug up your nose?"

Em: "Yeaaaah, I git it out wiff my finger." (while demonstrating how she did so!)

Me: "So you got it out yourself?"

Em: "Yeaaaah, and it fwy weally far away."

Ummm... Okay, two things:

First, if she truly had a bug up her nose? Well, eww.
Secondly, if it wasn't a bug, that means a booger flew out of her nose "weally far away." Again, eww.

I don't find myself winning with either situation.

Ticket to Ride

2009-09-02T17:57:00.006-04:00

My daughter has a special place in her heart for cheesy movies.

At age 2.

I'm in for a long run of torture.

Last night was no different. Somehow Help! ended up on the television, and my Em was instantly entranced.

Then came the swaying. The swaying from left to right, right to left.

Next came the singing, the singing in Em's own special way. Own special way meaning she only sings the last syllable of each line.

Swaying and single syllable singing.

It was too cute, so the movie stayed. Even though it is cheesy.

Beyond cheesy.

I'll never understand it, no matter how many times I'm made to sit through it.

I allowed Em to stay up pretty late around here for a weeknight -- 9:30! -- just because she was so into this cheesy film.

And I'm so super glad I did.

Ticket to Ride came on, the swaying began instantly. Next, the single syllable singing. And then it happened! She began to catch on to the words.

And then it was bedtime.

Only, before bedtime comes the get-ready-for-bed time, and that involves diaper changing. So, here I am, struggling to change the diaper of my long-legged giant when it happens:

Em: "Ticket to ride."

- pause -

Em: "Ticket to ride."

- pause -

Em: "And her not care."

Not once, but time after time after time did she sing those 3 little bits of the song.

And I melted.

A part of our bedtime routine is a CD being played so that Em falls asleep to music. It has always been children's music -- that is until last night. Last night I popped my Beatles CD into the player for my little Beatles fan.

She swayed and single syllable sung herself to sleep.

Photographs

2009-09-01T20:45:00.009-04:00

I am horrible. I am the picture-taker of thousands of photos of my sweet Em. And yet, I've only printed months 1-4 of her life . In fact, I've not bothered to print any in an entire year.

That's right. September 2008.

(Side note: I find it a little crazy that in just a few short years' time, I've eliminated the word developed from my photography vocabulary. Advances in technology during my lifetime thus far have been incredible!)

I've spent the past few nights playing catch up and now have month 5 complete. Let's see, that only leaves nearly 2 and 1/2 years to go.

Promising.

Going through all these photos makes me yearn for the chance to have another snuggly, chubby, bundle of joy.

Fat chance of that happening the way my life goes now.

So instead I'll have to reminisce about my former chublet -- and chubby she was!

My sister snorts every time she sees this picture of Em.

Because of the chub.

This picture was taken near Easter 2007 when Em was approximately 3 months old. This was the only time she wore this darling, girly romper because she outgrew her clothes at record pace the first 6 months of her life.

The photographer practically stood on his head and definitely made a total fool of himself, all in an effort to get a smile out of her.

This was the best shot he could get.

I left in near tears because the first professional photo, that I paid my nonexistent money for, showed a blank, expressionless baby... and that was NOT my baby. She was happy, silly, always cooing, with a twinkle to her eyes.

This baby just looks plain uncomfortable.

I know now it's not a big deal that the photo didn't turn out amazing, but at the time it seemed like the end of the world. If only I had known what future photo sessions would hold -- the same expressionless glazed-over look of nothingness time and time and time again!

As each one happened, it became just ever so more amusing than the time before.

Only within the last 10 months have professional photos been able to capture the lighthearted joyfulness that is my daughter.

Oh, my heart just skipped a beat when this loaded onto the screen! She looks like such a baby here, still. In under a year's time, her baby-ness has completely disappeared.

The next few months for us will bring a slew of professional photo sessions, and of course gobs of mama ones. I can't wait to share each of those memories with you!

Hopefully, the next few months will also bring my catching up on the near 2 and a half years' worth of Em's photographs that I've yet to tackle. All I can say is thank goodness I don't scrapbook! I believe I'd never see the end of that tunnel.

Headache

2009-08-26T23:33:00.003-04:00

Em: "Ow."

-- pause --

Em: "Ow."

-- another pause --

Em: "Mama, I gots headache."

Me: "Oh, you do?"

Em: "Yeah, my feets hurt."

-- insert me snickering here --

Em: "Mama, don't waff. I gots headache."

Me: "You have a headache in your feet?"

Em: "Yeah. Dey hurt willy bad."

Productivity

2009-08-23T23:31:00.003-04:00

Sundays tend to be my productive days.

Let's see... today brought a burn on my arm from the oven, a blood blister under my thumbnail from killing a spider, and a bleeding pimple near my eyebrows.

But hey, I cooked dinner, killed a spider without screaming upon seeing it, and actually plucked my eyebrows!

4 loads of laundry were washed and 3 were dried, folded, and put away. The fourth is in the dryer as I type.

Baths and showers were taken, nails were groomed (except for my one tender thumbnail).

Trash and dishes were taken care of, bills for the week paid, and our bellies well-fed.

And 2 blogs written! An amazing feat in and of itself.

But all this was done while having a 2-year-old fighting off a pesky, persistent, 103-104 degree fever.

I am amazing.

Giddy Up, Pardner!

2009-08-09T18:26:00.006-04:00

Em and I recently made a trip over to "Ganmaw's" and Papaw's house for our usual weekly visit. Unfortunately, Papaw's crazy work schedule has only gotten crazier by the week the past couple of months, and we were unable to see him.

However, Em did get to have some playtime with her buddy and cousin, Elle. When they're not fighting with one another, they're quite cute together.

And of course I have evidence of the cuteness!

On this particular day, they decided to hit the trails on their horsies ::

I won't show you the evidence of the fighting, or how they each wanted the horse the other was riding, no matter which horse it was.

Isn't that how it always goes, though?

Death of a Rollie Pollie

2009-08-04T14:21:00.001-04:00

Em loves bugs.

Loves.

But she usually loves on them a little too much.
Meaning, they die while in her hands.

Worms meet the same fate.
Like when she decided one wanted to JUMP, and it hit the ground with a SPLAT! after being launched into the air, only to never move again.

And being the Mama I am, I had to document the death.
For posterity's sake, as my dad likes to say.

Here she is, holding the poor rollie pollie, unknowingly killing it.

She places her rollie pollie back on the porch, only to discover it's multiplied and she has 2!

Those, um, wet spots? Well, they're juices.

And just in case there is a chance of it being alive, she's sure to finish the little buggy off by coloring it with her sidewalk chalk.

I've been thinking of some fish, or perhaps even a little guinea pig as gifts for her Christmas/Birthday bash this year, but things like this make me tend to reconsider.

Bounty

2009-08-02T16:50:00.002-04:00

"Giant" Reminders

2009-07-30T19:32:00.006-04:00

It's a rainy summer night here in Indiana, and Em and I are all snug and cozy in our quiet, happy house. (It's just she and I tonight.)

I'm sitting here reading blogs, catching up on emails, watching a few Ebay bids, and letting some tears fall while reading heartbreaking tributes and gazing at photos of our small town's "Gentle Giant."

It's just yet another reminder to hold our loved ones close and to cherish the time we have with them. The hard thing, though, is there have been so many of these reminders in such a short period of time. This past month has just been... so very emotional.

I hope with all my might that August isn't the same.

I had decided to write a little post while Em was getting her nightly Dora and Diego fix, but couldn't remember if I had yet downloaded the photo I had in mind for using for the post. Turns out I hadn't.

But as I was scrolling through my millions of photo files, something caught my eye.

Something that yet again hit home on the fact that we need to cherish each and every moment we have with those we love, especially our babies.

Especially our babies:

I swear it was just yesterday when I carefully dressed her for the very first time, preparing to take her home for the very first time.

I can't believe she's already 2 and a half years old!

When things like yesterday's tragic accident occur, it just makes me even more anxious about leaving her side -- letting go, even for only a few hours.

And so, because of that picture of my newborn little Em, my "planned" blog post turned into a rambling mess of emotions.

I'm easily distracted like that.

Rack-a-coons!

2009-07-28T19:29:00.002-04:00

Em: "Mama, I wanna see my rack-a-coons."

Me: "Ummmmmmm, your what?"

Em: "My rack-a-coons, Mama. I wanna see my rack-a-coons!"

I stood there, blank. No idea what she was talking about.

Me: "Show me where they are."

Em: "C'mere, Mama," as she took my hand and led me to the living room. "Right dere," she said, pointing at the TV.

Ding!
Light bulb moment!

Me: "Are you wanting to watch some cartoons?"

Em: "Yeah!!! Me wanna see my rack-a-coons!!!!"

Creamy Italian Meatballs

2009-07-26T15:52:00.004-04:00

** Disclaimer: You MUST follow each and every step in this recipe to get the same result I did. I cannot tell you how the dish will turn out if you do not because I have not yet attempted this recipe for a second time. You'll understand why soon, trust me!

1 lb. ground turkey
2 eggs
1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 tbsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
Hot, cooked wide egg noodles

Mix the first six ingredients. Shape into 1-inch meatballs. Place meatballs in skillet over medium heat on your electric stove. Brown one side of said meatballs.

Now, you may need to make a few calls ahead of time to do this next step. Of course, I'm so special, I did not have to do that. Ready? Here goes: Have your electricity go out for 45 minutes. Trust me. It's a crucial step to the cooking process.

Your meatballs will flatten out into little mini turkey burger patties during the 45 minute waiting period. Save some time and don't even think about trying to reshape them. It's not worth the hassle and is a waste of time. And you need time on your side because of the next step: Encourage your 2-year-old to stand at your side in the kitchen. She has to be crying and pleading with you to give her her supper, or it won't be effective.

Panic.

Think, "How in the world am I going to save this?"

Then get angry: "Stupid electrical workers. Do they not know people have to feed their kids in the evening after they get home from work?!?! You'd think they would KNOW not to let the dang electricity go out during prime dinner-cooking time!!!!!!!!!!!"

Use that anger, baby! Grab a spatula and begin beating the crap out of your
~~meatballs~~ mini turkey burger patties. Keep at it until your mixture is crumbly.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and simmer 20 minutes.

15 minutes into that simmering, think, "Dangit!" upon remembering you've forgotten to begin cooking the wide egg noodles you were planning to serve with your meatballs. Boil water faster than you've ever boiled water before and throw those noodles in there!

Try to calm your toddler down. Give her some cheese to quiet her. Order her out of your kitchen because you can no longer think, straight or any other way at this point.

Beg the egg noodles to cook faster. They won't, but still beg them.

When they're finally done (after what seems to be light years later), drain. Spoon your... um, mixture onto the noodles and serve.

At this point, you toddler will look up at you through the tears in her eyes and say, "I so glad you give me breakfast."

LAUGH.
You'll start to feel better, less stressed.

I give to you ~~Creamy Italian Meatballs~~ Aromatic Slop:

(It really does taste good, thank goodness!)

Walking with Dinosaurs

2009-07-17T16:52:00.016-04:00

This past Saturday was quite an eventful day. A nice family day, provided by my mom and stepdad, took a turn for the very unexpected worst.

But before all the chaos erupted, we enjoyed a very lovely day in Indianapolis, Indiana. And for that, we are truly grateful.

My stepdad received a link in his email to the main site for Walking with Dinosaurs a couple months back. We all gathered eagerly around the computer to watch the videos on the site, Em included. You see, she has a love for all things dinosaur -- and she LOVED the videos! That was enough for my mom, who instantly grabbed her credit card and purchased tickets for us all.

We were unsure how she would react once we got there, and she saw the life-sized dinosaurs moving in front of her. I am proud to say, she was entranced with them until up to the end when it was past her naptime and she was letting it known. "I done!!!!," she exclaimed when the last dinosaur came out onto the stage. It was funny and embarrassing all at once.

But it was amazing.
Amazing.

Highly recommended.
Highly.

And later, when we arrived home that night, Em shocked my brother and I when she placed one of her smaller dinosaurs into the mouth of her largest and said, "Crunch, crunch!" (Yes, the show was a bit graphic.)

She's talked about the show numerous times since that day, has begged for me to take her to go see her dinosaurs. She truly believed they were real and instantly considered them her friends. Soooo sweet!.

If you're ever given the opportunity to take in this show, I highly, highly recommend it. We all enjoyed it: 40-somethings, 20-somethings, teenager, and toddler.

I will leave you with this, taken before the show. Excuse my eyes, I was going for a fearful look, as Em was supposed to be doing also. Notice how she didn't cooperate! ::

Tribute

2009-07-16T21:40:00.007-04:00

It wasn't the same without you there these past 2 days.
Your laugh was missing.

The massive number of people who showed up to honor you was absolutely astounding.
The loyalty your husband showed by never leaving your side last night, refusing to take a break, have a seat to rest his legs... he shook the hand of every single person that walked into that building during those long, emotional 6 hours...
The flowers and memorials that were crammed into every nook and cranny....
It was amazing the composure everyone had last night.

That composure was gone today, as everyone said their last goodbyes.
Watching people stand up to share memories of you, seeing them struggle to get the words to come out through the sobs....
And then your husband stood up to tell of how much love the two of you shared and to thank everyone for all the love and support that has been showered upon the family during this tragic, unexpected loss...
There wasn't a dry eye in the place after that.

It was so hard to see your son's shoulders shake as he sat in front of me.
So hard to watch your granddaughter fall apart.
So hard to see your mother say goodbye to her only child.

So hard to see you for one last time.

You were and are loved by so many. You've touched and made an impact on SO many people's lives. The amount of love you had for each and every person you met was astounding.
You're a true inspiration.

Thank you for taking me in as a family member -- insisting I was your granddaughter, there was no step to it.
Thank you for everything you've done for Em, and for loving her so so much.
I so wish you could be around for the rest of her life, so she can know just how wonderful of a person you are.

We will all miss you.

Late Night Talk

2009-07-15T12:23:00.003-04:00

Em: "Mama, my belwy hurts."

Me: "Your belly hurts?"

Em: "Yeaaaah. My belwy hurts cuz my baby bite my arm an I got a boo-boo on my weg. Kiss it!"

Splish, Splash

2009-07-12T20:27:00.010-04:00

Indiana summer is upon us, which means heat and humidity. Ick!

We've been munching on lots of cool, crisp watermelon, ice chips, and fruity popsicles. I also bought a shaved ice maker. 18 bucks at WalMart and well worth the investment! Homemade snowcones anytime of the day, for mere cents!

My sister and I had the day off from work, and miraculously and for completely different reasons, our girls weren't at their respective daycares -- all in the middle of the week! So we spontaneously scooped up some beach towels, changed the girls into their swimsuits, lathered everyone in sunscreen, and headed to the nearby splash park.

And fun was had by all.

Voted #1 for Family Fun!

2009-06-18T18:00:00.016-04:00

If you couldn't tell by the title of this post, we went to H oliday World, courtesy of my baby brother who is employed there. Em loved it. Loved. It.

Well, almost all of it.

She loves the rides that go 'round and 'round, like Dasher's Seahorses:

However, she does not like rides that go 'round and 'round and up and down, such as the Star Spangled Carousel:

That would be Mamaw strapping in a very uncertain Em.

There are no more photos of Em riding her pretty zebra, as the entire ride was spent with me holding on to a severely shaking Em and trying to convince her that she would be just fine and the ride would be over in just a couple more seconds. She wasn't convinced.

On the up-side, my mom (Mamaw) found the ride to be quite delightful:

My brother found it to be even more so. Can't you tell by his expression?:

Right before riding this charming little car ride, located in the Holidog area, my lovely little Em peed on my brother. Priceless. She loved driving the jeep. She wasn't quite strong enough for the Antique Cars, so I was glad when we came to this ride:

Em also had the opportunity to listen to a story, read by none other than Santa Claus (who had to shave his beard very short in order to stand the heat!!) Can you spot her?:

She found the story to be a tad boring, so she found some ants to entertain her:

(I truly doubt they are alive after their encounter with Em. She's a little hard on her creepy, crawly friends!)

When Santa finally finished his story, all the kiddos were given the opportunity for a photo op. And Em wanted to do it! (Shocking, let me tell ya!) But when the time came for her turn, she wasn't getting anywhere near Jolly St. Nick's lap. She did let him touch her, though:

See the reindeer in the background? Em couldn't understand why she was not allowed to climb in the pen and pet him. She's a bit young to understand liability issues!

We were heading to the park entrance when I realized that a HoliDazzle show was to begin soon. My brother groaned, and when he did, I knew I had to make him sit through a performance. And I was so glad I did because Em loved, loved, loved it. I believe she developed a bit of a crush on Leif.

Oh, and did you know that Holiday World has a blog? Or that they Twitter? I didn't either until I went to link to them!

I should totally be hired as their PR person.

Water Painting

2009-06-06T21:43:00.007-04:00

Em loves to be outside. Loves.

Me, not so much. I burn WAY too easily, no matter how much sunscreen I pour onto my body. And since I've already had a couple scares with skin cancer, I'm not a big fan of the sun or any burns it may bless me with.

But since I do have a sun-loving daughter (Literally. I'll share that story another time.), I do oblige by going out before dusk for short periods at a time every now and then.

But... it annoys me. Or shall I say, Em annoys me. Yes, I get annoyed by my child. Often. Sometimes I'm ashamed of it, but right now isn't one of those moments.

You see, she has an endless rainbow of sidewalk chalk, wiggly little worms, a big wheel, billions of rocks to collect, a basketball goal, shovels of all kinds that are perfect for dirt digging, flowers of all varieties to pick, and bugs galore to inspect and squish after declaring they are her new friend -- and that's just in the front yard!

And they keep her entertained. Really, they do.

For all of 5 minutes.

And then she's up my tush the rest of the time we're outside. Whining. I can't stand the whining. And she only does it while outside for all the neighborhood to hear!

Seriously.

One night while ~~stalking~~ reading blogs, I came across this post on Vanilla Joy. So simple it makes one wonder why they've not thought of it before! I didn't waste any time trying it out on our next sunshine-filled outing.

And Em loved it.

For more than 5 minutes.
Woohoo!!!!!!!!

So now this has been added to our regular outside-playing repertoire. In fact, she asks -- or rather, demands -- to paint. She loves it. It gives her a chance to express her creativity, and she can be as messy as she wishes without being messy at all.

There's just one downside to it. She doesn't understand that her masterpieces dry up in the sun and disappear over time. So when she gets distracted for a bit and then goes back to continue painting, she gets angry that someone took her painting. Very angry.

And that anger is directed at me.

For all the neighborhood to hear.

Ode to Bathing

2009-06-03T14:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, bathing.

You see, we have been without hot water in our household for nearly 3 weeks now.

What?

Couldn't be.

Totally, man.

We've had "guys" come in and look at the hot water heater. We've had hot water heater parts air-mailed overnight to our home. We've had more "guys" come to look at the hot water heater. And so on.

But yet, we still have no water but freezing cold water.

Mind you, this is the NEW hot water heater that is just a wee bit over 1 year old.

In other words, we shouldn't be in this predicament.
Shouldn't be. But we are.

Arg.

I can only go Little House on the Prairie style for so long. And by that, I mean heating up water over the fire (or stove in this day and age) in order to get somewhat clean with somewhat warm water.

Arg.

Oh how I dream of a long, hot shower. Or soaking in the tub.

Someday soon.
I hope.

But what's really great is that our air conditioner and microwave also went on the fritz during this time period. The air conditioner is fixed, and we had a spare microwave.

Too bad I can't say that about the hot water heater.

Arg.

Whirlwind

2009-06-02T19:44:00.011-04:00

This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity, which we really don't do. I'm not one of those that likes to pack as much activity in as possible. I'm SO much more laid back than that. I have to be, I have enough anxiety the way it is!

Anyhoo, our weekend began like this:

And ended like this:
'Nuff said.

To start with, Em had her preschool program. I was SO excited to see if my baby would sing in front of a crowd with her peers. Turns out, she won't. She will instead stand (or sit) there with her fingers in her mouth the entire time.

See?

(Please excuse the horrible quality of the photograph. It's hard to photograph and video tape at the same time! Ah, the life of a single mama.)

From there, we had my brother's graduation to attend. Em and I got there early. The rest of my family did not. Do you know how hard it is to save seats with only one adult and a toddler as the seat-savers?! I mean, we can only spread apart so far... especially since Em kept falling off the back of the seats. Yes, you read that right. I had about 5 heart attacks that afternoon, I promise.

But didn't she look pretty?

She totally did not want this photo taken.
Too bad.
Also, that's Tee she is holding. (Short for manatee because she cannot say that word!) Tee has the ability to fall down several rows of seats at graduation ceremonies. Many, many times.

So, my brother graduated. Very, very near the top of his class. He didn't want a graduation party, he didn't want a big fuss to be made about his graduating, and he didn't want any pictures of himself taken. My mom was successful in wrapping her arms around him in a hug-like fashion before he could push her away. I was successful in the photograph.

The BEST photograph.
Ever.Do you SEE the tie swaying as he ran down the stairs to change out of his dress clothes that we will never see him in again until (or unless) he graduates college?
Priceless.
I'm so dead if he finds out I've posted this!

Em also had another berry-picking experience. No photos of that. It was a Papaw-and-me moment for her. No intruders, or photographers, allowed. That's okay. I'll catch her one of these times.

She also had her first restaurant experience. Yes, my daughter is very nearly 2 and 1/2 years old, and until this weekend, had never been inside a restaurant. (Again, my anxiety.) We went to the local major Mexican restaurant to eat. On a Saturday night. She was a big girl (literally) and did not even need a booster seat to eat at the table. Of course, she was well-behaved -- because she almost always is. And Mama was a big girl (despite the fact that my feet couldn't touch the floor while seated!) and didn't spaz out due to my being in a public place with half the town. (It was the local major Mexican restaurant. On a Saturday night.)

And in between it all, I had laundry to do, meal plans to be planned, and of course we needed sleep! We survived, but it felt as though I never had the weekend away from work. And that, STUNK.

But that's okay. I'm taking a 3-day weekend this week!
More on that later.

Beer Bread

2009-05-26T14:10:00.004-04:00

I gave my baby brother his first taste of beer the other day.

In the form of bread.
He didn't believe me when I told him it actually had beer in it.
And then...

He asked ...

"Doesn't all bread have beer in it?"

Excuse me?

I giggled. I just might have snorted.

I've so much to teach him!

:: Beer Bread ::

2 1/2 c. self rising flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 12 fl. oz. can/bottle beer
1/4 c. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a bread pan.
In bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
Pour in beer and mix just until moistened.
Transfer to baking pan and pour melted butter on top of batter.
Bake 55 minutes.

Yum-O!!!

And I have to add, my baby brother enjoyed his first taste of beer... as did Em.

Intoxication

2009-05-25T08:54:00.004-04:00

I was sitting here in the comfort of my computer chair, stalking blogs, when a familiar scent penetrated my nostrils.

Ohmygosh, they bloomed!

Finally.

Then, I did something disgraceful.

I lied to Em.
Yes, I'll fully admit it.

I told her I had to get something from the car and that I'd be back in a second or two, so as to not have to fight the I-wanna-go-outside-and-not-come-back-in-for-bedtime battle.

I hate that battle.

And with that, I gleefully pranced out the front door, camera in hand, to capture...
THIS ::

Our gaggle of wild honeysuckle!

Dang, I love that smell.

Doodlebug

2009-05-24T09:02:00.005-04:00

Em goes through spurts of playing with her toys. She'll go for months without touching a toy, and suddenly, she'll play with it for 7 days straight. This time, it's the AquaDoodle she received as a 2nd birthday gift from her Ganmaw and Papaw.

Look at that concentration in the above photo! The best part of this particular art time was when she counted her little drawings -- 7 in all! She rambled through 1 to 7 without skipping a beat... or a number! Huge pride filled me because she normally leaves out the number 4, but not this time! Genius, I tell ya.

Of course, the creative process of a toddler would not be complete without trying to write on yourself. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work this particular time. She exclaimed, "I boke it!" when her little arm didn't turn blue like the mat.

She soon realized, however, she was wet.

And that led to her washing other toys of hers with her pen... or rather bathing them, as she informed me when I asked if she was writing on her dollhouse family.

And once again, the beloved AquaDoodle has been tucked away and replaced with another toy-of-the-moment. Just so happens it's a little dog that sings the same song over and over and over again with a push of his paw.

Help.
Me.

Make-Shift Sprinkler

2009-05-23T16:35:00.009-04:00

Who needs a true sprinkler when your garden hose decides to sprout a leak while you're doing yard work?

Adventures in Non-Potty Training

2009-05-19T15:12:00.004-04:00

Stubborn little thing.

She used to enjoy the thought of going potty like a big girl. Didn't exactly get the whole concept, but she loved my reaction and cheers when she made the tiniest of a tinkle.

That was then.

Now, she sits for two seconds and with no effort made whatsoever, stands up and announces, "I did it. I go pway."

And if I insist that no she did not indeed "do it," and make her sit longer, the devil takes over my child. Those blood-curdling screams that come out of this almost always cooperative 2-year-old can surely be heard for miles away. They're accompanied by back-talking (Gasp!), foot-stomping, and escape attempts.

It's a lovely experience enjoyed by all.

Amy (Em's nurse practitioner) assures me this is normal.
However, she's never been witness to the actual outbursts of defiance.

So I've stopped pushing and am letting her take the reigns... even though her little body is as ready as can be. (The dry diapers after a 12-hour night of sleep make that obvious!) It's out of my control, as much as that irks me.

And as for all that cheering she receives when she goes potty? Well, I now receive that same cheering. Yes, she gives me praise for when I use the restroom.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-05-16T12:55:00.008-04:00

Ours is... well, so so.

Last night, we visited my Mom and Step-dad, otherwise known as Ganmaw and Papaw. He has planted a ginormous amount of strawberry plants and let Em do the first round of berry picking. She LOVED it! I regrettably had left my camera behind, so I have no photos to show of it or of her meeting her first scarecrow. You'd think by now I'd know to have it attached to my body for every second.

Eyes!

2009-04-27T21:55:00.007-04:00

Last night, we had taco salad with all the fixin's for dinner at my dad's house. I loaded Em's portion up with everything but the jalapenos. I was picking up the ransacked living room while Em helped her "Monk" (a whole story in itself!) clean up dinner. She saw the leftover black olives and asked him what they were. He told her they were olives, which was followed by her asking for one. My dad gave a little chuckle, thinking she'd be disgusted by them, and handed her one. She popped that sucker in her mouth and went to town... and promptly asked for more. And more. And more. And MORE. She absolutely loved them on their own. Next thing I knew, she came running into the living room, excitedly showing one off to me and exclaimed, "Mama, I got eyes!!!" ;)

Bling, Bling, Baby! and Other Stuffs...

2009-04-01T19:57:00.009-04:00

My lovely brother taught Em all about "bling" the other night. She picked up on it in two seconds flat, and has kept it up all week thus far. My dad's watch has officially been deemed "bing, bing," as well as the tags hanging from the dog's neck. She even has hand motions for when she says it (and she came up with those all. by. herself.)

The little instigator (i.e. my baby bro) also had the bright idea to tell Em to turn the lights on in the living room the other night. Of course my Em is a giant for her age, but the switch is still just out of her reach. The next bright idea was to tell her to get her little yellow chair and stand on it -- that was followed by much protesting by me, but my words fell upon deaf ears, of course. My little daredevil bravely stepped up on her Little Tikes chair and flipped on both sets of overhead lights. Her face lit up -- so proud of herself!!!

Then she fell.

It wasn't a graceful type of fall at all. It was more of a how-many-things-can-you-hit-before-you-hit-the-ground fall, followed by the wails and tears of fear.

Hugs were given, tears were dried, Em was cuddled.

And then she decided to do it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.

*Sigh.*

With those two, you never know what's going to happen... what he's going to teach her or talk her into doing next. And she loves him! My, how she loves him. He's more of a father figure to her than anyone else. Watching them together makes me laugh and smile all the time, but deep down it also makes me quite sad. (So sad that I have tears in my eyes right now. Arg!) He's going to go away to college come August, and I know that's gonna throw her entire world for a loop. She lives for the days when she sees him pull up in the driveway. How is it going to affect her when it is weeks or even months before she's able to see her bestest bud?

I just hope somehow, some day I am able to give her a true father figure. Someone who will be proud to have her as his daughter. And no, I am not envisioning the sperm donor stepping up to the plate.

I don't know. This blog has taken a turn that I wasn't expecting, and I'm not so comfortable with how raw and open it is, so I'll close it before I divulge all the ugly little details of my life in one posting.

Playhouse Disney Live

2009-03-08T17:24:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday, Em and I traveled out of town to watch Playhouse Disney Live. Em had a BLAST! (Even if it was scheduled right smack dab during nap time.) Thank goodness I brought lots of snacks and had a couple of sippies on hand -- don't know what kind of scene would have resulted if I hadn't been prepared!

Em enjoying her Manny spinner before the show starts.

Yet another failed Mama and Em photo. (This is quite common!)

The whole gang -- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, The Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny!

Domestic Life

2009-02-24T21:24:00.004-05:00

I caught my sweet girl Em washing her "silverware" the other day at her play kitchen's sink. Too cute!

Hap-py Burr Day to Meeee!

2009-02-21T16:05:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, one of the doctors I work for and his wife surprised every staff member with a sweet bouquet of flowers.

Friday was Em's Valentine's party at daycare. She came home with lots of goodies and cards. Once we walked in the door, she thought it was time to break into the heart-shaped strawberry Rice Krispie treat she received.

That little box sitting beside her was made from a Cheerio's box. Amazing what can be done with some paper and glue. It's darling.

Saturday, Em awoke to find a new friend awaiting her outside her bedroom door. She said "Awwww," upon seeing him. My dad got one for Em and for my niece, Elle.

Then, awaiting her at the breakfast table, were her Valentine gifts from me.

Em also had a gift for me. She made this adorable handmade (literally) bouquet, with the help of her preschool teachers. Too cute!

Em spent most of the day going around the house, telling her dolls "Hap-py burr day to me!" ;)

Enough Already!

2009-02-07T17:31:00.002-05:00

My lovely, newly 2-year-old daughter's vocabulary is ever expanding and catches me off guard on a near-constant basis. This afternoon was no exception.

"Em, do you want water or juice to drink."
"Juice!"
"Okie-dokie. Juice it is then."

I headed to the fridge with her pitter-pattering right behind me, as usual.

"I nuff wa-wer," she firmly stated.
"Did you just say you've had enough water?!" (Totally giggling.)
"I hab dee wa-wer nuff!!!"

Gotcha.