Her Highness

My oh my.

Emily's back in a funk. And I don't mean she's glued to the couch in some sweat pants eating out of the ice cream carton. Emily in a funk equals "I'm not happy and everyone should know it!" No idea what's up, although I suspect teeth. Because what else when there's no obvious answer?? I would actually be THRILLED if she would grow her two front teeth because she currently has the two outer ones on top, but not the middles. While the vampire look was super for Halloween, it pretty much creeps me out.

She has lots of words and has no problem speaking her mind. Well, I say lots of words. Lots compared to Drew who at this age had approximately zero. The new ones are : down, up (sort of), thank you, shoes, bear, baby, and Drew. Most of the time she says Drew in regards to his juice. "Dew's oosh" is my best phonetic approximation. What it really means is, "I'm about to swipe Drew's juice."

She wants to be held ALL.THE.TIME. Today I bought a crazy fancy baby carrier that allows me to carry her on my hip or on my back. It cost a ridiculous amount of money. But I needed something today. And let me just say that I folded laundry and did the dishes with her on my hip. She was happy and work was getting done. Pretty much worth the insane price right there.

I'm having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that she has mastered the art of the temper tantrum. Isn't she still a baby? Surely a baby would not throw a fit. And yet, the fits are being thrown. Every time it happens it seems weird to me. I don't know why I'm having a hard time grasping the fact that she knows what she wants. But I am. And what she wants right now is golden Oreos. You may not know this about Big Dan, but he goes though what I like to call "food phases". He will eat the same thing for many, many days in a row. And then, he won't eat it again for a long time. Or ever again. Anyway, he's currently in a golden Oreo phase and Emily has been slipped a cookie or two and now she knows the goodness. She threw a full blown screaming, thrashing her arms around fit because she couldn't have a THIRD cookie. Yes, my 13 month old had two golden Oreos. Not even discussing the nutritional issues here, let's discuss the fact that stuff like this hurts her belly. Usually in the dead middle of the night. So. NO THIRD COOKIE. Drama ensues.

I have resorted to trickery and lying. I refer to her milk as "juice" and today I handed her an organic fruit bar and called it a "cookie".

It's a good thing she's cute. What, with her Lyle Lovett hair and her daddy dimple. And her belly laughs. And her surprise face. Oh what the heck...what's one more cookie???

Fall Fun 2010

Now that all of my school hubbub is over, it's time to get back to business. The business of gratuitous pictures of my bebes!!

You might not know this about me, but I'm sort of a maniac about making memories. Because of this, I have been known to over plan a few weekends here and there. Just a few. Ahem. So, back a few weeks ago, you remember that we had two birthday parties in one weekend. My sister from Knoxville was coming to town along with all the grandparents. So...I had the bright idea to take a visit to a pumpkin patch. All together. The weekend of two birthday parties. I don't know where these ideas come from. I suppose from the part of me that says, "Just cram in one more thing. It'll TOTALLY be worth it." Thankfully, on this particular weekend, the sisters saw some reason . Maybe all of us traipsing to the pumpkin patch wasn't a great idea. Probably right.

BUT.

I left Emily in the capable hands of Big Dan, twisted Grammy's arm a tad and took my first born to the pumpkin patch. He had the undivided attention of two adults who think he hung the moon, and a few hours to call the shots. He needed it. I needed it. It was the most fun I've had all fall!


Gentry's Farm-my all time favorite Fall destination


Playing in the corn bin. With his best corny grin. (Sorry. Couldn't resist...)




Drew and his Grammy




I've been trying to come up with a way to rig one of these in the backyard. It just screams "wholesome".


This is Drew at the entrance to the corn maze. The kiddie version, that is. I think this was his favorite part of the morning-telling Grammy and I which way to go!

I LOVE spending one on one time with my kids. There are surely days when I feel like myself and my love just can't stretch far enough. I might be a slightly crazy memory making maniac, but I'm ok with that. Every single day matters. You can't do it over and you might not get another. I plan to blow it out every chance I get!

Not the Chosen One

Hallelujah and Amen. I did not get picked. REPEAT. I did not get picked.

Our ECERS evaluation was yesterday and we all survived. I had pumped myself up. Told myself I could totally handle it. BRING.IT ON. And then, when I found out I wasn't chosen, I wanted to weep like a child! All day long I caught myself thinking, "Don't forget you need 45 minutes of free play during this block." OH WAIT! No I don't! I can even have snack early. *GASP*.

The two ladies chosen were both veterans and one has been evaluated two times before. Her own personal life is super hard right now and she pretty much could have cared less what they said! We were at recess with them (and the evaluator) and I was a nervous wreck just for that. And naturally two of my boys had a head-on collision resulting in one howling like his leg was on fire. It was fairly humorous to see the cavalry of support staff who came running for the one injured child!

But now it's over. Let freedom ring. I told the director not to be surprised when I was doing all sorts of crazy, zany, non-ECERS approved activities with my kids. She said, "Go for it!" It's one of the reasons I love her. So, bring on the cardboard tube binoculars and the sound effects CD, because we're going exploring in the forest tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm plum tuckered out. In the midst of all the manic preparation, my daughter got roseola and went on a milk strike. From her sippy cup. And insisted on shouting, "Ba-ba, ba-ba, ba-ba" all the live long day. I thought I would be excited about having an early talker. Considering her two most used words are "nak" (snack) and "oosh" (juice) and she screams like a witch whenever she can't have either, I think I might prefer Drew's made-up sign language.

Annnnnd, my washing machine broke again. I will not be repairing it for the third time, and the new one arrives tomorrow evening between 4 and 6. And then I'll be doing laundry non-stop until Christmas because Drew's pull-up leaked twice this week all over his bedsheets. Naturally. Emergency load being done at Katy's tonight. Undergarments are in short supply. Just trying to be transparent. We're headed there because Drew left Ribbit there yesterday afternoon. Tough lesson in personal responsibility.

The good times just keep.on.rollin'! Dare I even wish for an uneventful week? What if I beg??