Merry Christmas!!!

Oh what a fabulous Christmas. Emmy must have been a very good girl because Santa was really good to her. He brought her all kinds of toys but she and Daddy loved playing with the Hungry Hungry Hippo.

John's sister and her family gave her a chest of Princess dress up clothes and shoes and she has been giddy ever since. She got lots of dress up clothes and jewelry and she couldn't have been happier.

We had so much fun with the Jacksons on Christmas Eve. I was so glad that Sol liked his teepee I made him. Eastern Arkansas was overwhelmed with rain... some places got 10 inches in 24 hours! I was hurrying to get gifts in the house and I forgot Sol's presents to go with the teepee!!! I guess with all the excitement I just didn't think to grab them. Thank goodness he loved the teepee and now, I get to be the cool aunt that gives him great New Year's Day presents. Aunt Becca gave her a jewelry box with her name on it and Emmy didn't stop playing with it all day. She carried it around the whole time and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. She got lots of bracelets too and was so thrilled to wear them all. She also had an accident so when her clothes were in the washer and dryer, Aunt Becca gave her leg warmers to wear. What a silly goose.
Emmy Ruth and I made these carollers last week out of cardboard tubes and lost socks. Saying WE made them is quite generous, but....

Ah that girl...

Every time we get in the car now, Emmy announces that she wants to go to Mars. I told her that the drive time to Mars would be around 14 days, not counting stopping for potty breaks, but she is still insistent. I asked what we would do there and she told me we would hunt for rocks.

 

We made little gift bags last night for all of her classmates (complete with PlayDo) and this morning she asked to make sure we had bags for her friends in the car. She then announced that we weren’t her friends, we were her “mama and daddy and I love you!”

 

She has been calling John “Maddy” and this morning she called me “Dammy”.

 

Every so often as we are playing, I will hold Emmy like a baby and sing “hush, little baby don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you…” and Emmy pipes up with “a toy!!!”

Football princess

Sunday evening Emmy was lying around in her PJs and had to put her ballerina outfit on as well. Then she started playing football in the house. Since I made her and her daddy go outside, I just put her rainboots on her. We noticed later that John was still wearing the broaches that she had put on him from an earlier play time.

Alpine Village

Last week we went to the Alpine Village at Trinity Baptist Church. They put on this really neat Christmas festival for the kids with a live nativity, puppet show and all kinds of little activity booths. The kids loved it.

 

The picture with the nutcracker makes me laugh. I have Momma’s collection of nutcrackers that I have added to on my piano. This year, we have a 4 ft inflatable nutcracker that I put by the piano as well. Emmy loves that thing. When it’s unplugged and deflated on the ground, she gets so sad but is giddy when it comes back to life. Now she has started hugging it when we leave and telling him good night. It’s hysterical.  When she saw this nutcracker at the Alpine Village, and the one at the Enchanted Forrest, she was amazed that they are everywhere! Not just at home!

 

Enchanted Forrest

Lucas and Emmy let me and Tara tag along with them to the Enchanted Forrest to have cocoa and cookies with Santa and see Santa vs. the Snowman on the IMAX screen. I think Emmy Ruth is going to have to improve on her technique if she wants Santa to bring her anything because the falling out on the floor in front of him and screaming for her life might not get her the “Barbie girl” she has been asking for.  Lucas, on the other hand, hopped in his lap and said he wanted a “bowling alley, balls and pins” and Santa told him that he agreed, one did need pins with a bowling alley. Later on, Lucas told Tara that he asked Santa for a bowling alley and all he gave him was a candy cane.

 

In other related holiday shenanigans, we have to work with the girl on the advent calendar and how that you get whatever is in the pocket for that day, nothing more. I walked by the calendar last night and realized that day six’s gift was gone and had been replaced with a chicken nugget.

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Sweet Julia Jean had a fabulous birthday party and we are so grateful that we get to share these precious times with her.  Happy birthday, Julia!

 

My favorite elf.

So thankful for this crazy kid

Emmy Ruth was so funny today that John and I said all day we had to hurry and write these things down or we would forget. I am sure we forgot a lot but here we go:

- We watched the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and I asked Emmy if she wanted to be a Rockette. She told me she couldn't because she didn't have a fuzzy costume.

- Emmy was running and I told her to quit, I said "what would Daddy and I do if you got hurt?" Her reply: "Cuss". We can't figure out where she learned that word, but she's probably right. :)

- The babies had to ride with us to Wynne and when she asked us to hand her the blue one (she has a set of twins she got last year for Christmas from MiMi), I told her I was getting her baby doll. She said "no, it's my kid".

- As is our routine, any time we see cows, we all roll down the window and yell "moooooooooo". So glad we got the chance to do that today.

- Emmy has started saying "ohhhhh, yeahhhhhhhhh" to things so we heard that a lot.

- We were watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special and she started dancing like Snoopy.

- As I was getting my laptop, we are all piled in bed watching TV and she crawled on Daddy's back and kept calling him a zebra. I asked her why and she said, "because he's my best friend". When I got my laptop out, she was afraid I would hit John's head with it and she grabbed him and said "watch out, zebra!!!"

- "One more thing". Everything is one more thing... either one more toy or one more show or one more ...

- The sweetest was when she told Aunt Becca and Mary Margaret that she was thankful for her daddy today.

We are so thankful for our precious time with this amazing child. She drives us crazy sometimes but we know how lucky we are to have her as our daughter. John and I are beyond smitten with her and we are so thankful for the family and friends that are pretty sweet on her as well.

The Zoo (and of course the Buddha picture)

Saturday we went to the zoo with the Burtons and Rogers. Emmy Ruth officially exhausted her daddy and Aunt Cathy. She ran and they chased her all over that zoo.  It wasn’t very chilly Saturday but Aunt Cathy brought Emmy a Dora hat and mittens set so we had to wear that some of the time. Of course we got her picture made with the Buddha as well. And I think it’s safe to say that this girl was meant to be in parades. When she was on the carousel, she loved to wave each and every time she went around. I moved once to try and get a better picture of her and she was distraught trying to find me so that she could wave.

 

The Pampered Chef

I got this really neat cake pan to make letters so I figured this was a good way for Emmy Ruth to learn what the letters look like to go along with knowing the alphabet song. Last night we started with, what else?, the letter E. Emmy was delighted to help with the mixing and putting the cake batter in the pan, and she couldn’t wait to ice the cake. So after her bath, we started icing the cake and she did one whirl at it and promptly sat down to lick her spatula. She’s really not much help in the kitchen yet.

Best Friends

My absolute favorite thing that Emmy Ruth is doing lately is to wrap her little arms arounds John and I and cry out "best friends hug!!!".

It's time to turn on the heat...

I guess it is time to turn on the heat when Emmy went and got scarves,
hats and gloves to wear while watching The Muppets. I used to pride
myself on how long we could go without turning on the heat (and how
low our heat bill was!) but those days are long gone!!!!

Papa Richie

We went to visit Papa Richie on Saturday and Emmy Ruth got some quality time in running in his yard and playing with the ducks. She had so much fun with the ducks and loved feeding them. We tried to show her how to tear off little pieces of bread to give them, and she tore off the tiniest little bitty crumbs that no duck could see without his binoculars. It was hysterical. Because it was a Saturday, she wore her Razorback gear. After she got dressed, she jumped up and down and said, "I feel like a Razorback princess!!!"

Being the ultimate in two year olds, Emmy Ruth is running and climbing all the time. And it seems that she is always falling. So, we've decided to just keep her wrapped in bubble wrap.

Cousins

The Jacksons took some pictures of Emmy and Sol when Emmy was visiting. These are my favorites.

 

Cinderella

“No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.”

Emmy Ruth is really getting into the princesses lately. We watched Cinderella the other night and she just loved it. I am really having a hard time with this transition to little girlhood for her. Watching Dora the Explorer is still a toddler thing but the princesses really makes her a little girl. I think it also has to do with me being such a “princess” as a kid, it’s really emotional watching her get into this—in a good way!—but emotional. Momma bought me the Cinderella DVD, it was the last Christmas gift she bought me, and I had not opened it since I already had a copy, so when Emmy pulled it out to watch Tuesday night, we opened it for the first time together. It is the little things that get me every time…

We were in the car yesterday and Emmy was singing along to her music CD and I heard her sing loud and clear: “there’s a hole in the bottom of the sink, there’s a hole in the bottom of the sink, there’s a hole, there’s a hole, there’s a hole in the bottom of the sink”. I guess it’s true and it does make more sense than there being a hole in the bottom of the sea.

Multitasking

Is she a princess? A dog walker? A doctor?

Happy Birthday, Momma

Today would have been Momma's 64th birthday. I miss her so much and I often think of how much she would have loved Emmy Ruth (& Sol & Rose Ryan). It's a tough line for me to know how to tell Emmy about her Yia Yia so that she can know about her but then not to be weird. Tonight we had cupcakes and ice cream for Yia Yia's birthday. When we went to the store, Emmy picked out the pinkest, princessest cupcakes there. She told me that they were "for my girl". I think Emmy nailed it with that. Yia Yia would have been her girl.

I let her have a cupcake before dinner tonight and John told me it was fine since our moms certainly would have let her done it.

The Tides are Turning

Last week, Emmy had a couple of really bad mornings when I dropped her off at school. This morning, as I was hugging her good-bye and telling her what a good time I had with her this weekend, I actually got a little choked up and almost cried! She just sat down and ate her yogurt. I can’t decide which is harder: her crying when I leave or me crying when I leave…

 

Yesterday we had a little battle over naps, me insisting she take one and her refusing to do so. After being asked “why?” I told her I was the mama and I said so. She put her hands on her hips and said, “well, I am the Emmy!”.  Do I even have to embarrass myself and admit that she never took a nap?

 

 

If she only knew...

...that Momma bought that Barbie pillowcase for me when I was in
college. She is now crying "Barbie girl!!!!" and saying that it is her
favorite pillow EVER.

Silly goose

Since the unfortunate accident, Emmy’s little lip and mouth are a little sore. When she brushes her teeth, she says “this is not my favorite”.

She has this little Cinderella vanity that I got at a yard sale for $5 and then a few months later, I found another one at a thrift store for $5 and I got it so that would could make one complete set between the two. I had one of the vanities in the car to give away and Emmy saw it and cried “but that’s my favorite toy ever!”

Every thing is a battle that Emmy wants to do it herself. Getting in the car is especially trying since I can throw her in the car and strap her in her seatbelt in about 7.6 seconds. But, she wants to crawl up herself, strap herself in and even open the door. It’s tough when we are rushing to get to work!! But, it’s hard to argue with her since she needs to develop her skills and her sense of accomplishment. I am hoping to develop my patience any day now.

I think I have mentioned this before but she calls John “Maddy”. This is a combination of “my” and “daddy”. It’s pretty darn cute.

That goofball....

We discovered yesterday that Emmy Ruth can reach the doorknob and open the door herself now. I was in the kitchen talking to John as he washed dishes (I know... isn't he great???) and I heard the front door shut. I raced out to find Emmy in the rocking chair on the porch. We are now locking the door all the time, and she doesn't get a key yet.

I have been watching Emmy to make sure she doesn't pick at her stiches. Last night, as we were going to sleep, she was messing with that area and I told her to quit picking at her mouth.

"I'm not. I am picking my nose."

Day of the Dead

The day after Halloween is the Day of the Dead and we spent the day cleaning up after the party and playing outside.

Cake

I have to find the picture but... my mom saved everything and this was the cake accessory kit for my third birthday party. A circus cake, so I used it to make a cake for our carnival Halloween party. Do I have to even mention how much my mother would have loved this???

Halloween party

Pre party with balloons!

Baby Jaguar holding Baby Rose. Ok. Really? I know that Baby Rose has no idea what I have in mind for us. We are going to have so much fun when she is slighty older but really??? The crying when I come near but smiling for everyone else MIGHT hurt my feelings one of these days.

Swiper no Swiping!!!!!!!!!

After all the hubbub on Friday (yeah, the basement flooded in addition to the the Emmy injury), we didn't get to really do all we wanted to do for the party. We had plans for lots of games but the kiddos were having fun without ever actually playing any of our fun games!!!! I ended up talking too much to take all the pictures I wanted to take and Emmy refused to wear her Dora hair. After weeks of her wearing it every day, she wouldn't wear it at the party. I wonder about that girl sometimes. I also didn't get a picture of Spiderman in his costume, but he had fun regardless.