It's only taken me one year and nine months, but I finally figured out how to get video off my camera and onto my computer. Well actually, I think I've always downloaded it, but I could never find it and play it. But tonight, I did. :) Here's Emma running around the gym at the fitness center.You will now be able to see why we take her there - it's to let out all that energy. The child never stops!
Did ya notice the giant bandage on her chin? She fell going up the stairs Wednesday and busted open her chin. No stitches required, but there's going to be nice little scar.
Did anyone watch How I Met Your Mother Tonight? Did you watch the very end and see Barney posting to his blog - it was a flashback to Doogie! They even had the music playing. That was a nice little flashback. I loved Doogie.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Easter
Finally getting to the Easter recap. Only took a week, which really isn't too bad for me!
Easter was a very busy day. We had nursery duty at church, so we got there at 8:30 to attend the first service then worked the next two services. Which meant we didn't leave until 12:50. Emma certainly didn't mind being there the whole time, she loves going to church and, as she says, "play with toys." (We made some progress with that today though, when I asked what she did in church today she said "play with toys," and when I asked what else she said, "Learn about Jesus.") After church, we picked up my mom at our house then headed to Michael's parent's house where we had lunch. Althea hid some eggs for Emma to find which she was really into. Until she figured out there were animal crackers in them. Then she just wanted to open them and eat the crackers. The girl really likes her food. When we got home, Emma searched for the Easter baskets, both her's and Mackenzie's. It was quite the year for Easter baskets, as both girls got four - from us, my mom, Michael's mom and my sister. Emma was loving it.
Our family picture. Emma had a sweater on initially, it was only in the 30's, but took it off not long after we got there.
Emma finding an animal cracker.
Mackenzie that evening. I had taken off her tights, bloomers and sweater because I was about to put her in her jammies when I realized I hadn't taken a picture of her yet. Didn't get a good one of Emma either, but that's typical considering she rarely sits still.
Easter was a very busy day. We had nursery duty at church, so we got there at 8:30 to attend the first service then worked the next two services. Which meant we didn't leave until 12:50. Emma certainly didn't mind being there the whole time, she loves going to church and, as she says, "play with toys." (We made some progress with that today though, when I asked what she did in church today she said "play with toys," and when I asked what else she said, "Learn about Jesus.") After church, we picked up my mom at our house then headed to Michael's parent's house where we had lunch. Althea hid some eggs for Emma to find which she was really into. Until she figured out there were animal crackers in them. Then she just wanted to open them and eat the crackers. The girl really likes her food. When we got home, Emma searched for the Easter baskets, both her's and Mackenzie's. It was quite the year for Easter baskets, as both girls got four - from us, my mom, Michael's mom and my sister. Emma was loving it.
Our family picture. Emma had a sweater on initially, it was only in the 30's, but took it off not long after we got there.
Emma finding an animal cracker.
Mackenzie that evening. I had taken off her tights, bloomers and sweater because I was about to put her in her jammies when I realized I hadn't taken a picture of her yet. Didn't get a good one of Emma either, but that's typical considering she rarely sits still.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
My layouts thank you, Stacy
Meet my scrapbook albums. (Just ignore the temporary dymo labels, eventually there will be cute permanent labels. It's on my super long to-do list.)
Prior to reading Stacy Julian's Library of Memories book my pages were all stored in boring, mismatched albums, by year. And while it worked well enough it didn't really feel right to me. Then I read her book. And I got very excited. It was like a light bulb went off. I immediately had to reorganize all my albums. That I "had" to get all new, very cute, coordinating albums was a bonus.
(Funny story - when I explained to Michael how Stacy organized her albums, he looked at my and said "Well yeah, isn't that how you do it? That's how I'd do it." Yes, honey, of course it is.)
Going through my pages and putting them into new categories made me feel good. I enjoyed my pages all over again in a whole new way. And it made me think of my pictures in a new way too. I'm currently in the process of organizing my photos The Library of Memories way. Granted, I started it two years ago, but one day, I'm sure I'll finish. Reorganizing thousands of pictures is a tad overwhelming, after all. But I'm excited to finally have my pictures all organized and easily accessable. I know it'll help me start scrapping some of my older pictures. To tell stories that I otherwise wouldn't get to. To showcase pictures that would otherwise be forgotten.
Eventually I'll even get to that page of my childhood pet dog, Rosie, I've been planning to do. See, I'd like to do one page with pictures from throughout Rosie's 16 years. But that would now require going through 16 years of pictures and let's be honest. I'm not doing that. BUT, when I finally get my pictures all organized, all I'll have to do is go to my pet category, pull out the pictures of Rosie and get scrapping. :)
Thank you Stacy, for changing the way I scapbook. Good luck to you!
PS, in case you hadn't heard, Stacy is stepping down from her editorial role at Simple Scrapbooks and you can read more about it both on Simple's blog and Stacy's.
Prior to reading Stacy Julian's Library of Memories book my pages were all stored in boring, mismatched albums, by year. And while it worked well enough it didn't really feel right to me. Then I read her book. And I got very excited. It was like a light bulb went off. I immediately had to reorganize all my albums. That I "had" to get all new, very cute, coordinating albums was a bonus.
(Funny story - when I explained to Michael how Stacy organized her albums, he looked at my and said "Well yeah, isn't that how you do it? That's how I'd do it." Yes, honey, of course it is.)
Going through my pages and putting them into new categories made me feel good. I enjoyed my pages all over again in a whole new way. And it made me think of my pictures in a new way too. I'm currently in the process of organizing my photos The Library of Memories way. Granted, I started it two years ago, but one day, I'm sure I'll finish. Reorganizing thousands of pictures is a tad overwhelming, after all. But I'm excited to finally have my pictures all organized and easily accessable. I know it'll help me start scrapping some of my older pictures. To tell stories that I otherwise wouldn't get to. To showcase pictures that would otherwise be forgotten.
Eventually I'll even get to that page of my childhood pet dog, Rosie, I've been planning to do. See, I'd like to do one page with pictures from throughout Rosie's 16 years. But that would now require going through 16 years of pictures and let's be honest. I'm not doing that. BUT, when I finally get my pictures all organized, all I'll have to do is go to my pet category, pull out the pictures of Rosie and get scrapping. :)
Thank you Stacy, for changing the way I scapbook. Good luck to you!
PS, in case you hadn't heard, Stacy is stepping down from her editorial role at Simple Scrapbooks and you can read more about it both on Simple's blog and Stacy's.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Charlie's here!
Marie, BJ and Lily welcomed Charles Oscar into the world today. So excited for my friend. I can't wait to meet the little guy.
Since I don't have a picture of Charlie yet, Here is one of Marie with Mackenzie last week instead.
Since I don't have a picture of Charlie yet, Here is one of Marie with Mackenzie last week instead.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Miss Mackenzie
So I started this post last Monday, saved it, and never came back to it. But before I get to Easter, I wanted to get this up. So without any further delay, Mackenzie and the rice cereal:
We started rice cereal on the 12th, and since then have introduced bananas (her favorite), carrots (just okay) and sweet potatoes (loves them). She doesn't really care for the rice cereal, so we switched to oatmeal today and that went over better.
We started rice cereal on the 12th, and since then have introduced bananas (her favorite), carrots (just okay) and sweet potatoes (loves them). She doesn't really care for the rice cereal, so we switched to oatmeal today and that went over better.
Here's Mackenzie's Chicken. This is the best baby toy ever. Given to Mackenzie by Abby and Marty, she loves it. Chews on it every day until the "feathers" and dripping slobber. This was the first object she switched from one hand to the other, as well. That was at the beginning of the month when we were out to dinner. I was so excited that I witnessed it, but then forgot to write down the date. (Pictures from 3/13/08)
Completely out of it.
Love her big blue eyes. I've been messing around with the manual settings on my camera and have managed to get some good pictures. Which inside my house is very had to do. It's so dark that I always used the flash. But as long as my subject sits still, I discovered I actually don't need it. Which means with Emma, I'll always need it.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Meet Malachi
This is my new nephew. :) Abby and Marty are adopting Malachi from Uganda. Abby is heading over there next month for the first week-long visit - yeah!
Malachi is 7 months old, only 2 months younger than Claire. Abby and Marty are going to have their hands full! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet Malachi.
Malachi is 7 months old, only 2 months younger than Claire. Abby and Marty are going to have their hands full! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet Malachi.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
The Big Storm/Winter Wallop
So, we've got a lot of snow outside. Like 20 inches of snow. It started snowing Friday and didn't stop until late Saturday night/early Sunday. And apparently, you can't have a snow storm with out having a catchy name. One channel was calling it The Big Storm while another was calling it The Winter Wallop. Seriously. They were telling people not to go out, to stay off the roads, libraries and restaurants were closed. Pretty much every church cancelled services this morning. But lots of snow means lots of fun for Emma.
Yesterday morning around 11 we saw our neighbors across the street were out and of course Emma wanted to go play with Caroline. So we headed our for a bit. (Yes, I realize we are missing one child. I only went out for a short time to take some pictures and then came back in. Mackenzie hung out in her bouncy seat. She had just woken up and I was hoping she'd fall back asleep but she didn't.)
The top picture is Emma running to me with her snow pants, she was so anxious to get outside. Emma got stuck in a the snow by their steps, which was pretty funny. Their driveway was icy in some spots. Both Michael and Emma wiped out and I almost did. Michael brought Emma's sled over and Emma mostly just wanted to pull Caroline around. Which she did pretty easily. As she would say, "So strong!"
I took the bottom right picture as I was walking over.
Then around five, Michael needed to snowblow again, for the third time, so he and Emma headed out. The bottom left picture is the view from our living room. You couldn't see anything. Emma was very helpful and brought the mail to me as I waited in the garage. I was surprised the mail even came, our road was so snow covered. You couldn't even see it.
Then we thought it'd be a good idea to get pizza. In The Big Storm when they were saying not to go out. In our minivan. Here's Michael going to get it. As you can see, not the best road conditions.
I don't have a picture of him coming back, because he got stuck in the road right about where he is there and I had to go out and drive the car while he pushed. (Beth across the street saw us and came over and stayed with the girls. They were each in their rooms so they were okay, but that was really nice of her.) Thankfully, two city Parks and Rec trucks with plows stopped and helped it him push. It was going well enough when we saw a tow truck coming. He was coming towards us and stopped behind the two trucks. Now, they were blocking the road while helping us, but hey, there's not exactly a lot of traffic. Well, Mr. Tow Truck Driver wanted to get by. And instead of nicely saying "I've got to go get a car out of a ditch, could you please move?" He started yelling "Move Your Trucks!" Michael said they were just trying to help us. He said he didn't care. Told them to move their trucks again. They said they were trying to help. Same answer.
Not that he had to, but he could've easily turned around and gone back up the hill and around, there were other ways to get to where he had to go. Michael told him to relax. He said "What'd you say?" And started toward Michael. I think 50-year-old Mr. Meanie wanted to fight my husband. He was going nuts. He then threatened to call the cops. Okay, call the cops. What are they going to do? We're stuck in the road in front of our house. Maybe the cop will help us push. Mind you, he never once offered to help. We didn't expect him to since we didn't call him and he had somewhere to be, but he could've generically offered.
So they moved their trucks down to the cul-de-sac. He followed, and proceeded to tell them not to help us and let us get ourselves unstuck. Nice, huh? He left, the two guys came back. One had plowed the road in front of us and helped to push again but we weren't moving. The one guy said he knew Meanie because his company is contracted by the city to do their towing. He said he was going to call about him. I said I would too. They finally had to leave. A few minutes later I was in the wrong lane since that was plowed trying to get up the hill when another truck came. Great. This guy was nice he waited until I reversed out of the way then came up next to us and stopped. He said he would've pulled us up if he had a chain but he didn't. It was very nice of him to offer though. Unlike Mr. Tow Truck Driver. Eventually, I backed down the cul-de-sac and got in the driveway. Whew!
Once we got in, I immediately called the towing company. The guy who answered was very nice. I explained to him everything that happened, from Meanie's anger and impatience to starting towards Michael to telling those guys not to help us. I said I understand he was probably stressed with all the snow - to which he replied they'd been working 3 straight days - but that that wasn't an excuse. He knew who I was talking about since he'd just sent him our way and apologized many times. He thanked me for calling, said "If you don't call, there's no way for us to know." Afterward I felt bad because I don't want the driver to get fired but I definitely want him to be reprimanded. I never in my life have encountered someone that acted like that. It was so crazy.
These pictures of our deck/backyard are from today. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, it was The Big Storm/Winter Wallop, after all.
And finally, Michael and Emma playing outside after lunch today.
PS, Yes Missy, we got the pizza. :)
Yesterday morning around 11 we saw our neighbors across the street were out and of course Emma wanted to go play with Caroline. So we headed our for a bit. (Yes, I realize we are missing one child. I only went out for a short time to take some pictures and then came back in. Mackenzie hung out in her bouncy seat. She had just woken up and I was hoping she'd fall back asleep but she didn't.)
The top picture is Emma running to me with her snow pants, she was so anxious to get outside. Emma got stuck in a the snow by their steps, which was pretty funny. Their driveway was icy in some spots. Both Michael and Emma wiped out and I almost did. Michael brought Emma's sled over and Emma mostly just wanted to pull Caroline around. Which she did pretty easily. As she would say, "So strong!"
I took the bottom right picture as I was walking over.
Then around five, Michael needed to snowblow again, for the third time, so he and Emma headed out. The bottom left picture is the view from our living room. You couldn't see anything. Emma was very helpful and brought the mail to me as I waited in the garage. I was surprised the mail even came, our road was so snow covered. You couldn't even see it.
Then we thought it'd be a good idea to get pizza. In The Big Storm when they were saying not to go out. In our minivan. Here's Michael going to get it. As you can see, not the best road conditions.
I don't have a picture of him coming back, because he got stuck in the road right about where he is there and I had to go out and drive the car while he pushed. (Beth across the street saw us and came over and stayed with the girls. They were each in their rooms so they were okay, but that was really nice of her.) Thankfully, two city Parks and Rec trucks with plows stopped and helped it him push. It was going well enough when we saw a tow truck coming. He was coming towards us and stopped behind the two trucks. Now, they were blocking the road while helping us, but hey, there's not exactly a lot of traffic. Well, Mr. Tow Truck Driver wanted to get by. And instead of nicely saying "I've got to go get a car out of a ditch, could you please move?" He started yelling "Move Your Trucks!" Michael said they were just trying to help us. He said he didn't care. Told them to move their trucks again. They said they were trying to help. Same answer.
Not that he had to, but he could've easily turned around and gone back up the hill and around, there were other ways to get to where he had to go. Michael told him to relax. He said "What'd you say?" And started toward Michael. I think 50-year-old Mr. Meanie wanted to fight my husband. He was going nuts. He then threatened to call the cops. Okay, call the cops. What are they going to do? We're stuck in the road in front of our house. Maybe the cop will help us push. Mind you, he never once offered to help. We didn't expect him to since we didn't call him and he had somewhere to be, but he could've generically offered.
So they moved their trucks down to the cul-de-sac. He followed, and proceeded to tell them not to help us and let us get ourselves unstuck. Nice, huh? He left, the two guys came back. One had plowed the road in front of us and helped to push again but we weren't moving. The one guy said he knew Meanie because his company is contracted by the city to do their towing. He said he was going to call about him. I said I would too. They finally had to leave. A few minutes later I was in the wrong lane since that was plowed trying to get up the hill when another truck came. Great. This guy was nice he waited until I reversed out of the way then came up next to us and stopped. He said he would've pulled us up if he had a chain but he didn't. It was very nice of him to offer though. Unlike Mr. Tow Truck Driver. Eventually, I backed down the cul-de-sac and got in the driveway. Whew!
Once we got in, I immediately called the towing company. The guy who answered was very nice. I explained to him everything that happened, from Meanie's anger and impatience to starting towards Michael to telling those guys not to help us. I said I understand he was probably stressed with all the snow - to which he replied they'd been working 3 straight days - but that that wasn't an excuse. He knew who I was talking about since he'd just sent him our way and apologized many times. He thanked me for calling, said "If you don't call, there's no way for us to know." Afterward I felt bad because I don't want the driver to get fired but I definitely want him to be reprimanded. I never in my life have encountered someone that acted like that. It was so crazy.
These pictures of our deck/backyard are from today. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, it was The Big Storm/Winter Wallop, after all.
And finally, Michael and Emma playing outside after lunch today.
PS, Yes Missy, we got the pizza. :)
Friday, March 07, 2008
Emma 3/6/08 8:30 am - 9:00 am
Hello Erin. Be careful. (said as we were coming down the stairs.)
Lick the fingers? (while eating bananas)
Mommy eat Pop Tart. (no thanks)
Go get the paper. (not yet)
Mommy color. (said while making this list)
Napkin. It's mine!
Mommy color.
All done.
Drink the bottle. (to Mackenzie)
I got it! I got it! Strawberry milk! All done.
Color?
Mommy color.
Baby color.
Mommy sing baby color.
"baby color" (singing)
Mine Mine Mine Mine. (holding cup)
Carolines! (pointing to her own cup)
Mommy eat banana. (okay)
Daddy's home. (no, he's not)
Mommy's home. (yep)
Mommy's milk. (yep again)
Baby.
"A B C D H I J" (singing)
That's a "B"!
Yours! (pointing to her own cup)
Oh, there is yours! (She says yours when she really means mine. I say "go get your cup" so then she thinks your means my. Does that make sense?)
I see yours. (mine)
Watch Backyardigans? Okay.
Go get it.
That's hard!
I jump. (over burp rag)
Jump!
Next. (over hat)
3. Jump! (she skipped 1,2)
Great job! Great job! Great job! Great job! (clapping)
1,2,3 Jump the hat!
I jump the hat.
"do do do do" (singing)
Through tunnel.
Emma through tunnel. (going under my arm)
Color.
That's mine. Mine!
Mine pen. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. (actually, it was mine)
2. 10. (skipped a few numbers)
Catch. (holding mini bucket)
In there? (putting toys in it)
Car in there. (putting car in it)
Go go go go turn! (talking to car)
Beep beep.
Oh no!!! (a crash, perhaps?)
This one.
This one goes around.
Snowing. (looking out the window. snow on ground, not actually snowing) Ok. (I asked if she wanted to take a bath)
Take clothes off.
Take a bath!
What are you doin' down there? (when I didn't come upstairs fast enough)
I've said it before. She never shuts up. She actually said even more than this, but I couldn't write fast enough.
Some other funny things Emma has said/done lately:
-If she's upstairs she'll look down and say "what are you doin' down there?" And vice versa.
-I was doing her hair Wednesday, which most of the time she doesn't care for, and she started yelling "don't want it! don't want it! no!" Yep, she's finally saying "no."
-She'll run around in a circle singing "wheels on the bus go round and round"
-When saying her ABCs she sings "A B C D H I J...." She skips about half of the rest of the letters, too.
-Everything is blue.
-When counting, it's usually 1,2,3,6,7,8.
-She's starting to count in Spanish. One example, we always count the stairs when climbing them and I was counting in Spanish, when we go to the top she said "ocho" before I could.
-She wakes up quite often in the middle of the night wanting chocolate milk. I go get it for her and once she has it she goes right back to sleep. Rarely does she drink it. According to the ped, it's a comfort thing.
-She's very loving now. All day long it's "I love you Mommy. Miss me Mommy. Mommy hold you." Lots of hugs and kisses and hand holding.
-She doesn't get pronoun usage. Example - when I go to get the mail, I'll say "Emma, come watch me" and she'll run to the door saying "Emma watch me" instead of "Emma watch you." When she wants me to hold her she'll put her arms around my legs and say "Mommy hold you" because she hears me say "Do you want Mommy to hold you?" Miss me Mommy? That's from me saying "did you miss me?"
-She loves everything. Seriously. Random things will get the "I love ___! I love it! I love it!"
-Is finally recognizing more letters thanks to "Super Why" on PBS. Very cool show. She only knew B for the longest time, then added I. This morning she recognized M and O on the show. Then she thought T was I and C was O but I can see where that'd be confusing.
Living with Emma is never boring. :)
Lick the fingers? (while eating bananas)
Mommy eat Pop Tart. (no thanks)
Go get the paper. (not yet)
Mommy color. (said while making this list)
Napkin. It's mine!
Mommy color.
All done.
Drink the bottle. (to Mackenzie)
I got it! I got it! Strawberry milk! All done.
Color?
Mommy color.
Baby color.
Mommy sing baby color.
"baby color" (singing)
Mine Mine Mine Mine. (holding cup)
Carolines! (pointing to her own cup)
Mommy eat banana. (okay)
Daddy's home. (no, he's not)
Mommy's home. (yep)
Mommy's milk. (yep again)
Baby.
"A B C D H I J" (singing)
That's a "B"!
Yours! (pointing to her own cup)
Oh, there is yours! (She says yours when she really means mine. I say "go get your cup" so then she thinks your means my. Does that make sense?)
I see yours. (mine)
Watch Backyardigans? Okay.
Go get it.
That's hard!
I jump. (over burp rag)
Jump!
Next. (over hat)
3. Jump! (she skipped 1,2)
Great job! Great job! Great job! Great job! (clapping)
1,2,3 Jump the hat!
I jump the hat.
"do do do do" (singing)
Through tunnel.
Emma through tunnel. (going under my arm)
Color.
That's mine. Mine!
Mine pen. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. (actually, it was mine)
2. 10. (skipped a few numbers)
Catch. (holding mini bucket)
In there? (putting toys in it)
Car in there. (putting car in it)
Go go go go turn! (talking to car)
Beep beep.
Oh no!!! (a crash, perhaps?)
This one.
This one goes around.
Snowing. (looking out the window. snow on ground, not actually snowing) Ok. (I asked if she wanted to take a bath)
Take clothes off.
Take a bath!
What are you doin' down there? (when I didn't come upstairs fast enough)
I've said it before. She never shuts up. She actually said even more than this, but I couldn't write fast enough.
Some other funny things Emma has said/done lately:
-If she's upstairs she'll look down and say "what are you doin' down there?" And vice versa.
-I was doing her hair Wednesday, which most of the time she doesn't care for, and she started yelling "don't want it! don't want it! no!" Yep, she's finally saying "no."
-She'll run around in a circle singing "wheels on the bus go round and round"
-When saying her ABCs she sings "A B C D H I J...." She skips about half of the rest of the letters, too.
-Everything is blue.
-When counting, it's usually 1,2,3,6,7,8.
-She's starting to count in Spanish. One example, we always count the stairs when climbing them and I was counting in Spanish, when we go to the top she said "ocho" before I could.
-She wakes up quite often in the middle of the night wanting chocolate milk. I go get it for her and once she has it she goes right back to sleep. Rarely does she drink it. According to the ped, it's a comfort thing.
-She's very loving now. All day long it's "I love you Mommy. Miss me Mommy. Mommy hold you." Lots of hugs and kisses and hand holding.
-She doesn't get pronoun usage. Example - when I go to get the mail, I'll say "Emma, come watch me" and she'll run to the door saying "Emma watch me" instead of "Emma watch you." When she wants me to hold her she'll put her arms around my legs and say "Mommy hold you" because she hears me say "Do you want Mommy to hold you?" Miss me Mommy? That's from me saying "did you miss me?"
-She loves everything. Seriously. Random things will get the "I love ___! I love it! I love it!"
-Is finally recognizing more letters thanks to "Super Why" on PBS. Very cool show. She only knew B for the longest time, then added I. This morning she recognized M and O on the show. Then she thought T was I and C was O but I can see where that'd be confusing.
Living with Emma is never boring. :)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tag, you're it
I was tagged by Tina
this morning. So here are the rules:
The rules: Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here we go...
1. My first name is Alycea, courtesy of my sister Tara who named me after Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons. In elementary school I would use both. One day I'd write Erin on a paper the next day Alycea until my second grade teacher Mrs. Cole told me I had to pick a name. So I chose Erin.
2. I can't sleep with socks on. But I can't take them off before I get in bed. I have to take them off once I'm in bed, covered up and have been there for a few minutes. Then I take them off with my feet and shove them down to the bottom. Drives Michael crazy when a sock creeps over to his side of the bed.
3. When I tell a story I have to act things out - hand gestures, voice changes, the whole shebang. Michael and I were just discussing this last night in the care - right after I acted out something Emma had done that day.
4. When I go to the grocery store my cart has to stay nice and organized. All the frozen stuff together, boxed items, etc. Everything lined up and stacked neatly. I can't just throw things in there. Then when it's time to check out, I have to put like items together again, also neat and organized. I can't stand it when I see carts when stuff thrown in all haphazard like.
5. Sometimes I can't read my handwriting. More than once I've left the grocery store without something I needed because I couldn't read the list.
6. I lose stuff. A lot. Which goes along with me being very forgetful. Like walk downstairs to get something, do something else, and go back upstairs without the item I went to get in the first place. I make lists so I don't forget to do something and then lose the list.
7. I like to recycle. We recycle pretty much everything we can. I really need to call and get another recycling bin because ours is overflowing every week. I've been meaning to do that since fall. I bought some reusable bags for the grocery store, although I leave them in the car a lot.(See number 6.) I save all gift bags and tissue paper to reuse them. Can't tell ya the last time I bought either. Next up is replacing our lightbulbs with those energy-efficient bulbs. Can't remember what they're called. (Again, see number 6.)
I tag:
Julie
Rebekah
Cheryl
Darcy
Renee
Shelly
Missy
(Marie, I'm not tagging you because I'm hoping you'll be too busy having a baby to respond!)
And because all posts need pictures (at least mine do) here is my cutie pie niece Claire on Sunday eating spaghetti. She'll be 10 months old on the 10th.
Emma, shoving a giant spoon of ice cream in her mouth.
And on the way home, asleep, obviously exhausted from all that ice cream eating.
this morning. So here are the rules:
The rules: Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here we go...
1. My first name is Alycea, courtesy of my sister Tara who named me after Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons. In elementary school I would use both. One day I'd write Erin on a paper the next day Alycea until my second grade teacher Mrs. Cole told me I had to pick a name. So I chose Erin.
2. I can't sleep with socks on. But I can't take them off before I get in bed. I have to take them off once I'm in bed, covered up and have been there for a few minutes. Then I take them off with my feet and shove them down to the bottom. Drives Michael crazy when a sock creeps over to his side of the bed.
3. When I tell a story I have to act things out - hand gestures, voice changes, the whole shebang. Michael and I were just discussing this last night in the care - right after I acted out something Emma had done that day.
4. When I go to the grocery store my cart has to stay nice and organized. All the frozen stuff together, boxed items, etc. Everything lined up and stacked neatly. I can't just throw things in there. Then when it's time to check out, I have to put like items together again, also neat and organized. I can't stand it when I see carts when stuff thrown in all haphazard like.
5. Sometimes I can't read my handwriting. More than once I've left the grocery store without something I needed because I couldn't read the list.
6. I lose stuff. A lot. Which goes along with me being very forgetful. Like walk downstairs to get something, do something else, and go back upstairs without the item I went to get in the first place. I make lists so I don't forget to do something and then lose the list.
7. I like to recycle. We recycle pretty much everything we can. I really need to call and get another recycling bin because ours is overflowing every week. I've been meaning to do that since fall. I bought some reusable bags for the grocery store, although I leave them in the car a lot.(See number 6.) I save all gift bags and tissue paper to reuse them. Can't tell ya the last time I bought either. Next up is replacing our lightbulbs with those energy-efficient bulbs. Can't remember what they're called. (Again, see number 6.)
I tag:
Julie
Rebekah
Cheryl
Darcy
Renee
Shelly
Missy
(Marie, I'm not tagging you because I'm hoping you'll be too busy having a baby to respond!)
And because all posts need pictures (at least mine do) here is my cutie pie niece Claire on Sunday eating spaghetti. She'll be 10 months old on the 10th.
Emma, shoving a giant spoon of ice cream in her mouth.
And on the way home, asleep, obviously exhausted from all that ice cream eating.
Monday, March 03, 2008
She's 4 months old with Pink Eye
Yes, that's right. Pink eye is back in our house. No clue where Mackenzie picked it up. We noticed a little bit of eye gunk Saturday but didn't think much of it. Sunday morning her right eye had so much gunk in it she couldn't even open it. Here eyelashes were stuck together. I called the pediatrician and since I knew what it was (there was no mistaking it) and had eye drops left over from when Emma had it in January, I didn't have to take her in. Thankfully, our pediatrician practice had 4 offices and one of them is always open on Sundays, so if we had to, we could have. So we started her on them yesterday and already it's looking better. Less gunk this morning.
Took these pictures Saturday.
And this one this morning. Can't even tell she's got pink eye - which amazes me. Yesterday it was swollen and red all around it with lots of gunk.
Her 4 month check up is next week. I'm anxious to see how much she's grown. My guess is she's around 12 pounds, so we'll see. She's a very happy baby. She rolls up on her side all the time. We think she'll roll over sooner than Emma. Although now that I think about it, it'll have to be soon because Emma rolled over at 4 1/2 months. By rolling up on her side, she moves all over the floor and her crib. She gets up on her side, turns a bit, lays back down and repeats. It was funny the first time I noticed her. I'd put her down in one spot and 10 minutes later she'd turned 180degrees and moved half way over the play mat.
We stopped nursing last week, and she didn't really seem to care. She's slept on her back in the crib the last two nights, so hopefully we're done with the bouncy seat for good. Although really, if we have to go back to it, I don't mind. As long as she sleeps well. And that she does. She usually naps for about an hour in the morning, although when she does that depends on when she wakes up. Then she takes a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She goes to bed between 8 - 9 pm and will sleep until 7 - 8 am. She usally wakes up wanting her binky once or twice and goes right back to sleep. Sometimes she wants to eat around 5 other times she doesn't eat until 7:30, like this morning. For four months old, I can't complain!
Mackenzie is a hand/finger sucker. She likes her binky too, especially at night. But she loves to put her fingers in her mouth. Sometimes she gags her self and has even spit up because of it. You should see the drool that comes out of her mouth when she's doing this. Earlier this morning the entire front of her sleeper was soaked. While we pretty much missed the acne, she only had a touch of it, she's got a lot of cradle cap. It's starting to creep onto her forehead now. At least it doesn't smell. Emma's stunk. Gross, I know.
Mackenzie is just a very happy and content baby. Not a lot of crying, just likes to hang out and watch what's going on. One thing is for sure, she'll be tough. She has to be with Emma as her big sister!
Took these pictures Saturday.
And this one this morning. Can't even tell she's got pink eye - which amazes me. Yesterday it was swollen and red all around it with lots of gunk.
Her 4 month check up is next week. I'm anxious to see how much she's grown. My guess is she's around 12 pounds, so we'll see. She's a very happy baby. She rolls up on her side all the time. We think she'll roll over sooner than Emma. Although now that I think about it, it'll have to be soon because Emma rolled over at 4 1/2 months. By rolling up on her side, she moves all over the floor and her crib. She gets up on her side, turns a bit, lays back down and repeats. It was funny the first time I noticed her. I'd put her down in one spot and 10 minutes later she'd turned 180degrees and moved half way over the play mat.
We stopped nursing last week, and she didn't really seem to care. She's slept on her back in the crib the last two nights, so hopefully we're done with the bouncy seat for good. Although really, if we have to go back to it, I don't mind. As long as she sleeps well. And that she does. She usually naps for about an hour in the morning, although when she does that depends on when she wakes up. Then she takes a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She goes to bed between 8 - 9 pm and will sleep until 7 - 8 am. She usally wakes up wanting her binky once or twice and goes right back to sleep. Sometimes she wants to eat around 5 other times she doesn't eat until 7:30, like this morning. For four months old, I can't complain!
Mackenzie is a hand/finger sucker. She likes her binky too, especially at night. But she loves to put her fingers in her mouth. Sometimes she gags her self and has even spit up because of it. You should see the drool that comes out of her mouth when she's doing this. Earlier this morning the entire front of her sleeper was soaked. While we pretty much missed the acne, she only had a touch of it, she's got a lot of cradle cap. It's starting to creep onto her forehead now. At least it doesn't smell. Emma's stunk. Gross, I know.
Mackenzie is just a very happy and content baby. Not a lot of crying, just likes to hang out and watch what's going on. One thing is for sure, she'll be tough. She has to be with Emma as her big sister!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Birthday Recap
I know it's been almost 2 weeks since Emma's birthday so I figured I should really get to her birthday recap. To begin with, here are some pictures from her party.
Emma's celebration really lasted 3 days. Since Michael wasn't going to be home on Friday the 15th, her actual birthday, we gave her her present on Thursday night. This was a doll accessory set - stroller, carrier, pack n play, high chair, diaper bag. She loved it. She's all about playing pretend with her Baby Chou Chou and bears right now. Goes hand in hand with her kitchen and play food. Michael did make it home for an hour Friday, so we gave her her other present, which while wasn't quite as exciting, she liked Mrs. Potato Head and didn't really care about the clothes. Sidenote, she now calls Mrs. Potato Head Mr. Noodle Head.
Saturday evening was her Dora birthday party. Emma was really into it. As our family started arriving Emma was going nuts. She was so wound up and had so much energy she was just running around in circles squealing and hugging everyone and talking up a storm. It was hysterical. Had a lot of fun opening her presents, although I kept having to turn her around so everyone could see her because she'd sit facing me with her back to them. She could sort of sing the Happy Birthday song, she got about half the lyrics right. She was afraid of the candle on her cake but had no problem eating it. Michael's Dad made Emma a beautiful cradle for her baby dolls. Michael mom made a mattress for it and gave Emma a magic bottle. You can see Michael feeding the Baby Chou Chou in one of the pictures above. He took over for Emma. :) She also received some summer clothes, a Magna Doodle, puzzle, a book, Dora movie and Sit n Spin. Emma was frightened by the Sit n Spin at first (as well as Mr. Noodle Head) but came around a few days later. Now she loves it and says "It's fun!" every time she rides it.
It's hard to believe she's two. It's gone so fast. And when I look at Mackenzie I can't even begin to picture her as big as Emma even though I know that will be here before I know it!
Emma's celebration really lasted 3 days. Since Michael wasn't going to be home on Friday the 15th, her actual birthday, we gave her her present on Thursday night. This was a doll accessory set - stroller, carrier, pack n play, high chair, diaper bag. She loved it. She's all about playing pretend with her Baby Chou Chou and bears right now. Goes hand in hand with her kitchen and play food. Michael did make it home for an hour Friday, so we gave her her other present, which while wasn't quite as exciting, she liked Mrs. Potato Head and didn't really care about the clothes. Sidenote, she now calls Mrs. Potato Head Mr. Noodle Head.
Saturday evening was her Dora birthday party. Emma was really into it. As our family started arriving Emma was going nuts. She was so wound up and had so much energy she was just running around in circles squealing and hugging everyone and talking up a storm. It was hysterical. Had a lot of fun opening her presents, although I kept having to turn her around so everyone could see her because she'd sit facing me with her back to them. She could sort of sing the Happy Birthday song, she got about half the lyrics right. She was afraid of the candle on her cake but had no problem eating it. Michael's Dad made Emma a beautiful cradle for her baby dolls. Michael mom made a mattress for it and gave Emma a magic bottle. You can see Michael feeding the Baby Chou Chou in one of the pictures above. He took over for Emma. :) She also received some summer clothes, a Magna Doodle, puzzle, a book, Dora movie and Sit n Spin. Emma was frightened by the Sit n Spin at first (as well as Mr. Noodle Head) but came around a few days later. Now she loves it and says "It's fun!" every time she rides it.
It's hard to believe she's two. It's gone so fast. And when I look at Mackenzie I can't even begin to picture her as big as Emma even though I know that will be here before I know it!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
"Take a picture!"
This morning we're in the kitchen - Mackenzie in the high chair, Emma at the table and I was at the sink cutting up strawberries - when I hear Emma say "She's smiling! She's smiling! Look!!" I turned to see her pointing at Mackenzie, then she says "Take a picture!" She's SO my daughter!
In other news, Emma is no longer afraid of her sit-n-spin. We had a breakthrough today. Thank goodness! I don't have to feel guilty about her receiving a birthday gift that frightens her.
But for every two steps forward she takes one backwards - she's afraid of her Flinstones vitamins. Seriously. A vitamin. :)
In other news, Emma is no longer afraid of her sit-n-spin. We had a breakthrough today. Thank goodness! I don't have to feel guilty about her receiving a birthday gift that frightens her.
But for every two steps forward she takes one backwards - she's afraid of her Flinstones vitamins. Seriously. A vitamin. :)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
2 Year Pictures
Today we had Emma's 2 year pictures taken. Oh, what an experience that was. She's not really into the whole "sit and smile for the camera" thing. Let's just say that were it not for fruit snacks it'd would've been worse. At least I had those to bribe her with!
Birthday party recap to come soon!
Birthday party recap to come soon!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Two.
Emma 2/17/06 (2 days after she was born, but best picture of just her without someone holding her. Unless you count the naked-right-after-birth shot and that one wouldn't really work.)
2/15/07
2/15/08
Happy birthday to my big girl!
2/15/07
2/15/08
Happy birthday to my big girl!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Wednesday before the big '2'
Emma's birthday is coming fast. And I'm trying to get down as many details about her during the week she turns two as I can. I feel like there are so many little things about her I'm going to forget, because as anyone who knows me can attest to, I have a terrible memory. I need this blog for the near future (for my scrapbook pages) and for the distant future, so I can look back on it. I already keep remembering things that happened when Emma was a baby that I know I didn't write down/scrapbook and I'm afraid I won't keep remembering. (For the record, Emma used to sweat like crazy when she drank her bottles, I remembered this because Mackenzie? Not so much.)
She loves to color. Unfortunately not just the coloring books. So she doesn't color as often as she'd like. It's why we got her the AquaDoodle for Christmas. But Monday night we sat at her table with her and colored. And she did well. Stayed in her seat the whole time. Only got a little crayon on the table. But that's what it's for, so I'm not concerned about it. By the end of our coloring time, she just wanted us to color and she watched.
Have I mentioned lately how much Emma LOVES Mackenzie. Here, as you can see, she's giving her a hamburger. Today, she tried to give her ice cream and tea. In case you can't tell, it's not a real hamburger. She really wants her to eat her play food. And really, all food in general. When I'm nursing Mackenzie, Emma usually says "Mackenzie's eating" but tonight she said "Mackenzie's eating a jelly sandwich." Um, not quite Emma. (This and the next picture are from Tuesday)
She also really loves to hug/touch/pet/kiss her. As evidenced by this picture.
Today when I picked her up from Kid Park at the fitness center I heard Miss Rhonda say "No Emma!" And when I looked, I saw Emma leaning over Mackenzie who was playing on the floor. When I told Miss Rhonda how Emma can't keep her hands off Mackenzie, she said "Emma can't keep her hands off anyone or anything." Yep. Pretty much.
I was at the fitness center taking the Rock Bottom fitness class with my friend Lisa. We were both just doing cardio and weights but decided to try this class on Wednesday mornings. I used to take a lot of classes but hadn't recently. Last week was our first class. Let's just say that Lisa doesn't dance (her words) and I'm no kick boxer. At all. I took a kick boxing class once and hated it. I was totally embarrassed by my lack of kicking skills and never took another one. We only do a few minutes of kicking in this class but it's enough to remind me of that horrible experience everytime. As for Lisa, well, she doesn't mambo and grapevine so well. But, man, she can kick! I told her she should be in a Tae Bo video. Me, not so much. Oh and for the record, I hate jumping jacks and it's going to take a loooooong time, if ever, for my bottom to be rock-like.
The car completely knocks out Mackenzie. She fell asleep leaving the fitness center today around 10:30 and didn't wake up until almost 3. Almost every time she falls asleep in the car, she sleeps like that. She is so funny. Laughing a lot. And now that she's discovered the toys on her car seat, bouncy seat, and play mat, she loves to grab them and play. So cute. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. :) She snores, by the way, sometimes really loudly. I just mention this because I can hear her snoring through the monitor as I'm typing this.
Watching Yo Gabba Gabba today. Michael thinks it's dumb. I like it. So does Emma. We've gotten a lot out of it. Dancy dance dance dance dance dance. Wiggle wiggle wiggle go, wiggle wiggle wiggle stop, hold still! There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy. And many more.
These pictures of Emma in the green shirt and red Chatterbox shirt were all today. Many days we go through two outfits. She's a messy kid.
She loves to color. Unfortunately not just the coloring books. So she doesn't color as often as she'd like. It's why we got her the AquaDoodle for Christmas. But Monday night we sat at her table with her and colored. And she did well. Stayed in her seat the whole time. Only got a little crayon on the table. But that's what it's for, so I'm not concerned about it. By the end of our coloring time, she just wanted us to color and she watched.
Have I mentioned lately how much Emma LOVES Mackenzie. Here, as you can see, she's giving her a hamburger. Today, she tried to give her ice cream and tea. In case you can't tell, it's not a real hamburger. She really wants her to eat her play food. And really, all food in general. When I'm nursing Mackenzie, Emma usually says "Mackenzie's eating" but tonight she said "Mackenzie's eating a jelly sandwich." Um, not quite Emma. (This and the next picture are from Tuesday)
She also really loves to hug/touch/pet/kiss her. As evidenced by this picture.
Today when I picked her up from Kid Park at the fitness center I heard Miss Rhonda say "No Emma!" And when I looked, I saw Emma leaning over Mackenzie who was playing on the floor. When I told Miss Rhonda how Emma can't keep her hands off Mackenzie, she said "Emma can't keep her hands off anyone or anything." Yep. Pretty much.
I was at the fitness center taking the Rock Bottom fitness class with my friend Lisa. We were both just doing cardio and weights but decided to try this class on Wednesday mornings. I used to take a lot of classes but hadn't recently. Last week was our first class. Let's just say that Lisa doesn't dance (her words) and I'm no kick boxer. At all. I took a kick boxing class once and hated it. I was totally embarrassed by my lack of kicking skills and never took another one. We only do a few minutes of kicking in this class but it's enough to remind me of that horrible experience everytime. As for Lisa, well, she doesn't mambo and grapevine so well. But, man, she can kick! I told her she should be in a Tae Bo video. Me, not so much. Oh and for the record, I hate jumping jacks and it's going to take a loooooong time, if ever, for my bottom to be rock-like.
The car completely knocks out Mackenzie. She fell asleep leaving the fitness center today around 10:30 and didn't wake up until almost 3. Almost every time she falls asleep in the car, she sleeps like that. She is so funny. Laughing a lot. And now that she's discovered the toys on her car seat, bouncy seat, and play mat, she loves to grab them and play. So cute. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. :) She snores, by the way, sometimes really loudly. I just mention this because I can hear her snoring through the monitor as I'm typing this.
Emma really likes to follow Michael when he snowblows the sidewalk. But she won't go off it. She won't go in the yard. And our little dare devil who rode every kiddie ride at the fair this summer? She refuses to get in her sled and let Michael pull her around. In fact, not long after I took this picture Monday, Michael said it was time to go, Emma refused. Michael asked her if she wanted to get on her slide and she immediately said "Inside!" and went for the door.
Emma is so strong. Seriously. And if you don't believe me, belive her. Because she says is all. the. time. Like when she was carrying her piano in the family room today. So Strong. When she carries her Weeble Wobble Castle. So Strong. When she carries an animal train car in each hand. So Strong. Even when she carries something that's not so heavy. So Strong. And sometimes, Mommy and Daddy are So Strong, too.
For some strange reason, she also likes to put one cup in another cup and drink from it. Don't really get this at all. (That cup by the way, it's a Cleveland Indians cup from 1996. Seriously.)
She's actually not doing so bad with her toys back in her room. Tonight she went to bed within an hour. And only played with her toys for a half hour or so before getting in bed. Although once in bed, she started doing her fake cry and saying "watch Dora Halloween" over and over again. We can't of course, because it's back at the library. (Yesterday I took the case back, without the DVD. I didn't realize this of course until I got home and Michael tells me they watched Dora Halloween. I say ok. He's says it again. THEN I realize why they is meaningful. Oops.)
For some strange reason, she also likes to put one cup in another cup and drink from it. Don't really get this at all. (That cup by the way, it's a Cleveland Indians cup from 1996. Seriously.)
She's actually not doing so bad with her toys back in her room. Tonight she went to bed within an hour. And only played with her toys for a half hour or so before getting in bed. Although once in bed, she started doing her fake cry and saying "watch Dora Halloween" over and over again. We can't of course, because it's back at the library. (Yesterday I took the case back, without the DVD. I didn't realize this of course until I got home and Michael tells me they watched Dora Halloween. I say ok. He's says it again. THEN I realize why they is meaningful. Oops.)
Watching Yo Gabba Gabba today. Michael thinks it's dumb. I like it. So does Emma. We've gotten a lot out of it. Dancy dance dance dance dance dance. Wiggle wiggle wiggle go, wiggle wiggle wiggle stop, hold still! There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy. And many more.
These pictures of Emma in the green shirt and red Chatterbox shirt were all today. Many days we go through two outfits. She's a messy kid.
Oh, yeah, got the haircut and highlights and I love it. Although Michael says the color is exactly the same, which it isn't of course. He was trying to get Emma to say "Mommy I like your haircut" for when I got home but all I got was "Mommy! Mommy! Haircut! Mommy!!" I'm taking Emma in for her first haircut within the next two weeks. Her bangs are just at her eyebrows and once they start getting in her eyes, it's time for a professional. I tend to get them a tad crooked.
Our new cell phones came today. I know have a charger for inside our house. Michael told me tonight that I'm not allowed to touch his charger. Ever. And if I lose mine again I'm out of luck. I've got to try REALLY HARD to not lose it.
Our new cell phones came today. I know have a charger for inside our house. Michael told me tonight that I'm not allowed to touch his charger. Ever. And if I lose mine again I'm out of luck. I've got to try REALLY HARD to not lose it.
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