11:32 am

The plan for the day was to get to the zoo at 9 am. We arrived at 11:32. I wonder if it will ever get easier for us to get out of the house?? Emmy was most impressed with the polar bears, which is my favorite exhibit as well. We managed to see lots of the museum and plan to go back soon. Emmy's NayNay, aka Natalie, got her a membership for Christmas this year, and I must say that it was a fabulous gift. We are so grateful. Mama put some pickles in the cooler so they were good for a treat on a hot day.Could our Lucas be any happier to see the pandas????Trying to get a picture and Emmy has to get some kisses from Lucas....
And a picture of Lucas tickling Emmy in the panda hole...
Best Daddies.
Funniest animal there... yeah, you got Houston Nutt. Whoo hoo. Welcome to medicoracy. Oh, you're Ole Miss, you haven't been there. A very tired monkey. This duck heard that there were great opportunties at the Peabody for ducks and he is headed that way.

Letter from Heaven

I worked on the house in Wynne again this weekend and found this box.

The note reads, "I washed these Nov. 2000 & stored them for "who-whom" ever wants them. Love, Mom"

Best mom ever.

Her Daddy's Girl

I have mentioned before how Emmy Ruth will clap when she sees her daddy standing on the porch when we get home in the evenings. However, this morning, she might have surpassed even her best act yet to endear her to him. As we were driving to work, we turned around to see what all the ruckus in the backseat was and Emmy was about to come out of her carseat dancing and clapping to "Cold Gin" by KISS on the radio.

The smile on Dadoo was ear to ear.

Brain Cancer

I normally don't discuss current events, and believe me, it is hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes, but I also plan on using this to be a scrapbook for Emmy. As such, I think she should realize what was going on in the world when she was this age.

Gas is really expensive for us. It might be higher for her when she is buying, God help me even imagine her driving a car, but for us, it has increased a great deal. I am thrilled to find it for $3.60 a gallon.

And this week, Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The fact that the doctors aren't telling the media about surgery but only radiation and chemotherapy leads one to believe that it is inoperable. Love him or hate him, no family deserves cancer. And from my experience, I can say that no family deserves this dreaded cancer.

The reports say that 9,000 people get the worst tumor--gliobastoma multiforme (which Momma had). I can't help but feel that number is really low. I think there are lots more out there that are misdiagnosed. A former coworker has been 'sick' since I met him in 2000. They diagnosed him with fibromialgia, chronic fatigue, even a discussion of MS, and only recently discovered a brain tumor--that had become a stage 4--glioblastoma. My uncle Richard was diagnosed after he fell when visiting his family in Colorado. Originally, it was thought to be his heart but after testing, the horrible news was discovered. Senator Kennedy was diagnosed after a seizure. It leads me to wonder how many people had tumors and died of other causes, a seizure made them fall into a lake and drown, made them have a fatal car accident or lead them to a manic state that they committed suicide.

In one moment, I think that no one shouted from the news when my sweet mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Fox News and CNN didn't show her friends crying at work or me almost passing out as I told my dearest friends the horrible news, and her life was just as important. But, maybe this dreaded diagnosis for him will help bring attention to this horrible cancer with patients that have no more hope for their cure than those who were diagnosed THIRTY YEARS AGO.

One day, this might be a disease that Emmy can know of as a disease of the past. And she can say that her YiaYia is smiling that no one else will have to suffer.

Downtown kids

Yard Sale

The yard sale was a smashing success--we now have some extra spending money for the beach! But, with help like this, was there any doubt that it would go well?

Fifteen months

It is going to be difficult, but I am really going to try to not say anything about how I can’t believe we are already here or how did time get by us so quickly. Oh, Emmy Ruth, you are a mess! This child is rotten and I just absolutely love it. She, on the other hand, just absolutely loves her daddy. Every day when we get in the car to go to work, John comes out after us and she claps when she sees him. The same thing in the evening when we get home, John comes to the car to get her out and she starts clapping and cheering for him. It’s hysterical.

Emmy still loves her Baby. All baby dolls. She carries them around the house and loves them and feeds them and rocks them. It is adorable to see. For the first time, John and I have seen something in here that she didn’t get from either of us: her love for the outdoors. John and I can agree that it is too hot for us to be outside, but not Emmy. Lucas got her a sand and water table for her birthday and she loves to play in the front yard with it. The other day, I brought lots of toys outside for her to play and she was beside herself with glee. The empty box, of course, was a favorite. John and his friend Victor were skateboarding in front of the house and she could not contain her excitement. When they would jump onto the sidewalk, Emmy would squeal and clap. I am going to have a talk with her and explain that she needs to not get quite so excited about the skateboarding boys yet, her day will come for that.
Unless we get really stingy and just want her to ourselves, Emmy is sleeping in her own big girl bed. It’s enough to just bring you to tears to see. This was on Mother’s Day after church—she was pooped! Notice all the stuffed animals that are strategically placed around her just to make sure she doesn’t fall off the bed. The sheets on her bed were mine when I was little; Grandma Jackson made a quilt and shams that match it as well. And the silky floral pillowcases were Grandma Ruth's. I like to keep a little something of old around for Emmy all the time in her room.She has a Hello Kitty iPod docking station in her room so that she can listen to lullabies as she goes to sleep. She loves to play with it and turn the music UP! REALLY! LOUD! and then she gets mad at me for taking it away from her to get it back to a tolerable level. I remember getting a lavender jambox for Christmas one year from Santa and being so excited and dancing to Lionel Richie at Grandma Ruth’s house when I was seven or so. A NewWave lavender jambox is a far cry from a Hello Kitty iPod docking station… I am terrified to see what else is coming…

I can’t believe that we are already here at fifteen months old and I can’t believe how the time got by us so quickly. Our sweet Emmy Ruth is growing by leaps and bounds. It must be all that milk.

Feliz Madre Dia

My Momma. What can I ever say about my momma that would ever do her justice? She was not perfect and I certainly never was. We fought a lot. A LOT! But she loved me dearly. I remember some of our lovelier fights. Once, I was determined to go to Lollapolooza and she and Daddy were worried about the vehicle we were taking. I knew they would be upset and when my friends showed up, I ran out to the car and waved bye to my parents on the porch--at 6am. It was not pleasant when I got home. Or the time that I snuck out with my friends and some boys and went to Memphis. We were supposed to spending that night at a friend's house and when we got busted, Momma came to pick me up in Vandale at 4am. It was not a nice ride home.

But she loved me. She might have not forgotten about the stupid stuff I had done, but she forgave me. I hope that I have the same gift with Emmy Ruth, she is her father's daughter so she is bound to get in to some trouble.

As I sit today and think of Momma here are some of the thoughts that flitter through my mind:

• Momma was a priss. She prissed everytime she walked. I do it too. And Emmy does it. It's quite funny.
• She danced. Not very well, mind you, but she always danced. Every time I see Emmy dance, I think it's momma giving her a kick in the tush to do it.
• She laughed. Not just laughs but good belly laughs. I once was in a wedding where the dress was absolutely horrific. Momma had to sit down on the floor to not pee on herself she was laughing so hard!
• Love. Love. Love. She loved Daddy; she loved Neall and I; she loved her brother, her nephew and her Christina and Jordan.
• Friends. When I think of how good my friends are to me, I only think back to how good of friends Momma had. It is an incredible thing for our sweet Emmy to see.

Today is a day to celebrate the miracle that is my sweet Emmy Ruth and to be thankful for the blessing that was Teri Grayson.

A smiling YiaYia

As we approach Mother's Day and I think of what a wonderful grandmother Momma would have been, I see the photos on Becca & Neall's blog and I know that she is smiling right now at our adorable monsters. Check them out at www.neallandbecca.blogspot.com.

AunTee Daycare

Emmy's sitter had to be off today and tomorrow so Tara so graciously volunteered to take two vacation days and keep Emmy Ruth for me. The morning mainly consisted of her sending me text messages of how cute these monsters are and then I got this picture. Of course it is grainy since it is taken with Tara's phone but if that just doesn't melt my heart, I can't imagine what might.

I went and had lunch with the crew and then they settled down for a three hour nap! Tara said that Lucas woke up and then went to kiss Emmy to wake her. Are you kidding me? Can I giggle at these two any more than I already do???

That's Doctor Auntie B to you

We are all so proud of Becca for graduating from Southern College of Optometry on Friday. Emmy and I attended the ceremony but due to someone's fabulous gift of gab, we spent practically the entire time in the hallway. I did sneak in and get to see Becca walk across the stage and get her diploma and Emmy waved like mad. Here is Emmy with Becca's cousin in the hallway (Martha and Laura Ruth had to bring Solomon out for a bit as well) and then Emmy in her first time out for throwing her sippy cup. We didn't get to stay after the ceremony to get pictures with Auntie B but we did manage to get lots of photos at the wedding.

We are so proud of our Doctors Jackson!!!

A happy, well-rested and well-fed girl

When we stayed in Batesville for the wedding this weekend, Emmy and Lucas shared a queen size bed. She did a great job and stayed in there all night. I have been trying to get her out of our bed for a while but have not been very successful in getting her into her crib. Apparently, she just didn't like the confinement. Saturday night, we put her to sleep in the full sized bed in her room and she slept until about 3 am when I got in bed with her. Sunday and last night, she slept in her full sized bed all night!!! When I go in there to wake her up, she is so happy and loves to look around her bedroom. Her room is so airy and light compared to our dark bedroom, I bet that it is a lot friendlier to sleepy eyes.

And she really likes pizza.

Wedding Bells

There are no words to say what it was like for me to see my father get married. So many emotions wildly flew through my mind but the most important one was the gratitude I have that Daddy and Linda are happy. We love Linda and are so thankful to see someone that makes Daddy so happy. Emmy and Solomon were absolutely adorable and I cannot imagine how I would have made it without the love of my sweet Emmy Ruth, my crazy John, my rock Tara, my roll Natalie, and my links to Momma, Pat and Jean, to name just a few. I am a very lucky daughter when I think of all the people that called to check on me, just because they knew this weekend would be so emotional. I am a very lucky friend, indeed.

Left alone for just a moment...

...and this is what I walk in to find.

Yard sale: life's memories, best offer

Today I feel completely selfish and stingy. I can't believe that I no longer have a parent living in Wynne. I am so very happy for Daddy and we absolutely love Linda and are so eager and ready to welcome her into our family on Saturday when they get married. It does sting to see him move from our home. To see all of the things that were accumulated over the years go to whomever wants them (or has room for them) and then on to the yard sale. It is as though that part of our lives has closed forever.

Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. The result: "For sale: baby shoes, never used." It's rumored that Hemingway thought it was his greatest work, and it's invariably offered as the standard to which micro-fiction should aspire.

Yard sale: life's memories, best offer.

11:56 AM

Only a few hours to go until my little monkey girl is back in my arms. I am not sure why this time that she is away from me has been so hard. Maybe it's because all I have heard about since she left is how wonderful she has been and how funny and sweet she is. All of these things I have known about her but to hear them again makes me want to kiss her and hear her sweet little voice say all of those funny sounds. Five more hours!

Get Emmy home!

For our date night, John and I walked to do's, a sushi restaurant in our neighborhood. It was nice to not have to accomodate for a stroller but we spent a long time looking at each other as if, "what's strange about this scene?" We went home and spent a very romantic evening cleaning the basement afterwards. It is something we have needed to do for a long time, especially since John's idea of putting things away is to stand at the doorway and throw them into a room. I love that about him. The heavy rains caused the basement to flood as well so it was quite emotional for him to see vinyl records and other memories soaked and ruined (because they were piled on the floor). We filled up lots of bags of trash and John has sworn to never put anything down there again.

He only has to say that once for me! It's on to decorating the playroom down there now!!! And I will keep things tidy and up off the floor!

I absolutley cannot wait to get my little munchkin back into my arms. I feel naked and empty without her.

Strange night's sleep

Emmy is staying with Uncle Neallio, Auntie B and Solomon for two nights. I got home last night around 9pm after dropping her off with the intention of getting some things done around the house that I can't do with a tiny munchkin around. Of course, that didn't happen. I didn't even make it through Law & Order before I was out for the night. I guess that I slipped into some deep sleep that I have not had since I got pregnant since this morning, I overslept and I feel kind of loopy still.

The report from Wynne is that Emmy and Solomon are having a great time. Neall called last night and said that each baby was tied to a ceiling fan blade and the higher they ran the ceiling fan, the more they giggled. That's one funny uncle Emmy has. Tonight they are going to an event in Wynne and I made Neall promise to dress her in something adorable. I sent several dresses with her but I also sent some play clothes, so hopefully she won't be at this event wearing a "I listen to Slayer with my daddy" onesie. Fingers crossed.

TARA!

I swear that Emmy can be heard calling me "Tara" sometimes. John just looked at her last night and told her that no matter how hip we were, we weren't parents that were hip enough to let her call us by our first names.

Quick Emmy note and other stuff

We are trying to teach Emmy how to blow kisses to people and last night, she spent lots of time kissing her fingers. And that is it. Just kissing fingers and holding them to her mouth. Slowly, but surely, we will get it.

A lovely woman told me yesterday what a beautiful pregnant woman I am. I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't pregnant.

April begins the horror known as the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's just so long. And the games are on every night. And every one will be on my TV. But little things like this make me giggle. Are Canadiens the same as Canadians??

New Car

On Monday, my Prius broke down on the way to work. I was pretty lucky that it died a few blocks from Emmy's babysitter's house so I just got the stroller out from the back and walked her to her sitter's house. My CEO lives only a few blocks away and since we are good friends, she came and waited with me on the tow truck. It took several hours and not only was I disappointed with the time but I was very upset with the reasoning of the dealership about my car dying. The reason they gave me was that the car was out of gas---but when I picked it up no one had put gas in it and it ran fine. Really, this was just a final straw since I was getting frustrated with how small the Prius was. Although I appreciated all of the perks of the car, I was pretty nervous with how I seemed to get blown away by the semi-trucks on the interstate every day. The recent heavy rains scared me when I was being thrown all over the road with the wind.
Never being one to take my time, I went looking for a car and bought one on Tuesday during my lunch hour. I love it! It is not great on mileage but I can fit our family and Tara, Jorge and Lucas, which is worth a lot. It's a white Chrysler Pacifica.

I do not use paper towels and I always use my canvas bags at the store so I feel like I am still doing my part for the environment without having to purchase carbon offsets.

Fourteen months

Are you kidding me that our girl is over fourteen months old already??? We were at the mall and shopping the sale racks the other day, seeing the 0-3 month clothes almost did me in, thinking of how my girl used to be too small for even those clothes at one point. Now, she is such a girl. A little girl, not a baby girl, but a little girl.

She is still not talking much and I am worried of course. Everyone tells me that I am crazy for being concerned. Not only is she brilliant already, but with her family history of me and her YiaYia, she will be certain to talk a LOT! I know this and I try to not worry too much but I can't help to be concerned that if I am not active, she will be behind all of her peers in school. That is the last thing that I want.

This month Emmy has just bloomed into a little lady. I can't tell how many times I have seen this girl run through the house in her diaper carrying a purse. She cracks me up with the purse! Such a little lady! She has started really playing with her toys as opposed to just having them around. Lucas and Emmy are always giving each other kisses and hugs and even thougth I try to hide it, it almost brings me to tears each and every time.

I told Emmy about our trip to Gulf Shores in June and she was distraught when I told her the trip was still six weeks away.

Bozo--The Afteryears

It's no wonder so many people have clown phobias. We worked on cleaning out the attic this weekend at Daddy's house in preperation for his move. There was lots of stuff and it was really dusty but it was good to get it out and start going through stuff. At some point, I finally have to say "enough is enough" and just stop looking at and examining every agonizing thing. It is tough to think of doing but I just can't have everything and it is heartwrenching to read every note and card. It's just too much.

I thought I had done an okay job during this but maybe not. I found that Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were tough days for me (and subsequentally tough for John as well!) but I am sure that I will get through it soon.

What I wouldn't do for just one picture of Momma and Emmy. Just one shared look between the two of them would melt my heart.

Flip Flops

This is a very important day in Emmy Ruth's life. She wore flip flops for the first time. We even trimmed her toenails (a pedicure if you will) last night in honor of the special occasion. Here she is at Wal-Mart showing off her toes to the nice lady in the fabric department.
I had this really cute sterling beaded necklace that was Momma's that I wore almost every day. I loved it and got so many compliments on it. This morning when I was taking Bill out for her daily constitutional, I felt all the beads go flying across the yard. It was pretty sad to think I can't wear that any more since I loved having a piece of her so close to me all the time.

Lovely weekend

Oh it was so nice this weekend! The weather was great and we had a big time outside almost the entire time. Emmy loves to be outside now and will stand at the door and point and cry to get out there. Saturday Lucas and Emmy played in her sand/water table for hours. NaNa got her some pink sand for Easter so they had a blast with that. Then on Sunday, Papa Richie came to visit, when he left, we went to the new playground in our neighborhood. Home Depot built a new playground behind Peabody Elementary School so it is really close for us to run to visit. We convinced NaNa and Dan to go with us and then went for a quick bite to eat at the Young Avenue Deli where Uncle Neallio stopped by for a quick visit.

Whew! A busy weekend for such a tiny girl.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It just keeps on raining. I write about this so that when Emmy is older and reading this recount of her life, I can tell her about the great floods of 2008. I drive over the bridge(s) four times a day--to West Memphis and back to work and then to West Memphis to pick Emmy up from the babysitter and then back home. I get a lot of quality time looking at that water and I can say that it is high. There are billboards that are now resting in water, street signs that are covered, walking trails that only have the tree tops that line the way showing. I really want to get out there and take some pictures of it and I am still going to try and do that, but, oh wait... it's still raining. Not really big on taking pictures in the rain.

The ground is so saturated that the basement has started to leak. This has only happened three times since we have lived in our house--a small price to pay for such a great space that we have. But, when it does happen, ugh!!!! I will try to get pictures of Emmy in her rainboots trying to do laundry tonight.

You know you are a greenie...

When the guy behind you in line at Whole Foods asks where you got your cool bag (my canvas shopping bag that reads “Paper or Plastic? Neither.”).

Wal-Mart. $1.

Life after tubes...

... is nice. Really nice. The Girl is babbling and babbling like there is no tomorrow. It is almost like a switch was flipped when she recovered from her surgery. She is still not saying a lot of words, but I am confident that will come in time.

However, the best thing about Post Tube Emmy is bathtime. The Girl hated baths. Hated them. It was a tortoruous event every time we took a bath, to the point that she rarely got one. I know, it is awful, but she was beside herself. I would try to give her a bath every night in hopes that she would just get used to it but that didn't help. Now, I realieze that she hated baths so badly because her ears hurt when they got wet. Even if we didn't wash her hair, she would scream, just from fear of getting water in her ears. Now, she has to wear ear plugs every time we get in the tub. She splashes and she laughes and actually cried last night when I got her OUT of the tub! Amazing stuff.

Silly girl

Papa Richie got Emmy a Sight and Singing Stage for Christmas and it is now part of her nightly comedy routine. She loves to sit down behind it and wait while we all cry, "Where is Emmy???" and then she jumps up and just laughs and laughs! It is quite hysterical. The best part though is when she turns around with her back to us and slowly slides down to sit behind the mirror. She definitely thinks she is a diva.

This weekend, we worked on the flower bed expansion outside until the rain finally forced us inside. Then on Sunday, we went to Wynne and spent some quality time with Solomon and his folks. The monsters had fun with each other, I am sure. Emmy loves to run up and down the hallway. I am sure that Neall and I did too.

Easter Smiles

Easter is always such a special holiday for me. Of course, there are the religious reasons that it is so important but it is also one of the holidays that I most remember as a child. Mainly, I remember having to stand outside of our house on Crabb Lane in front of this little tree and get our family picture made each year. I hated it! Every time I take pictures of Neall and Daddy, I think of me being so difficult to photograph and I say a little 'sorry' to Momma. Then, today at church, one of the hymns was "Up from the Grave He Arose" and I can literally see Momma dancing in the aisle. She loved that song. I love it because it makes me think of her. I whispered in Emmy's ear while we were singing that her Yia Yia loved that song.

Then, we went to lunch at Neall and Becca's. Of course, everything was wonderful but I just see Solomon and Emmy and I wonder what Momma would have thought of them. I see them and I can see her in them. In Sol's fat little thighs and Emmy's quirky little facial expressions, I see Momma standing back and laughing at them and not being able to keep her hands off of them.

The sermon this morning was titled "Suddenly" and the preacher gave examples of how suddenly things happen: the cancer diagnosis, a spouse dies. I felt like every eye in the church was on Daddy and I, although I know of course they weren't. After the service and during the song, Becca went to get Sol and she brought Emmy back to the sanctuary with them. When the door opened, I suddenly saw my sweet Emmy Ruth walking through the door. And everything is wonderful and I am so very, very thankful for my life.

Guy talk. I wonder what in the world they are discussing? I am sure it is the engineering aspects of the JumpARoo.

Ah, the insanity

Now that Emmy is in her new car seat, she doesn't sleep as much when we are driving. Really it is not that big of a deal but we really enjoyed that little 30 minute nap she would have in the afternoon as it put her in better spirits for the evening. But, when she does go to sleep, we inevitably wake her when try to move her in the house. The infant car seat was nice that we could just pick up the carrier and she could sleep on through the transition. So, last night, she feel asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake her, so I tried to find things to entertain me in the front yard. This really isn't hard since I just had my new flower bed tilled and I had seeds and plants on the porch to plant. But, I was in my work clothes! I couldn't leave her in the car alone to go in and change so I ended up digging in the flower bed in good clothes. I am sure my neighbors thought I was nuts. Later, my friend Natalie's husband Dan drove by and stopped to say hi so I asked him to sit with her while I ran in to change clothes and of course, Little Pumperdinkle woke up immediately.

Emmy is still in our bed but she has started not only sleeping with her head on my pillow but her entire body on my pillow. I am not sure how this happened exactly, but... somehow she managed last night to scoot off the pillow and off the bed in the middle of the night. John yelled when she fell and the girl went head first into the trash can on my side of the bed. Lucky for her, there was still trash in it so she did have a soft landing. Thankfully, she was not hurt in the least, just really annoyed that she was awake!

All kinds of stuff!

I forgot to post this picture of Emmy with the snow. We got a few with her outside but she was much happier in the house, I can't say that I blame her for that. She really enjoyed running around the house with a snow ball I made for her. We bundled her up under her raincoat so that she wouldn't get too wet, and she just loved the raincoat and boots that Uncle Neallio, Auntie B and Sol got her.

This picture wasn't made the same day as the one above, but now that the weather is warming up, we usually just throw this cuddly outfit on her when it is cold. I walked into the living room to find that Emmy had taken some of her toys out of the baskets where they belong and just went ahead and got in there in their place.

As I have mentioned, photo shoots are getting increasingly more difficult with The Girl. Here she is when we tried to take photos with her bunny ears on her head.I read in a Parents Magazine about a tradition someone had that they took a picture of their daughter every year on her birthday in a dress that her mother had worn, just to show how she had grown over the years. I didn't have a picture of Momma in a dress to do this with but I did have this fun dress that I bought years ago and have never worn. I actually bought it with the intention of wearing it when John and I got married, but we ended up eloping and getting married at the Mall of Memphis. Emmy wasn't too excited with this picture but hopefully she will like it better next year!!!

And then the best news of the day. I swear, the little birdies were chirping louder and the sun seemed to beam just a little brighter this afternoon when I get off of work. Mayor Herenton is resigning! I am just giddy with excitement. Of course, there is something behind it and we probably will never know the entire story but for today, I am just going to bask in the glory of this fabulous news!

And, just wait for Easter Day pictures! Not only will we have adorable pictures of kids in pastels for church but we expect a special visit at Nana Alice's by the Easter Bunny!!!

Momma said there would be days like this....

I remember Momma telling me that she knew that God made Neall and I perfect since she couldn't have handled anything else. I know what she meant. Yesterday morning, we showed up at 530 to get our girl tubes in her ears and to get her adenoids removed. It almost did me in. To see her in a hospital gown almost was more than I could take. There is no good reason that they should have to make hospital gowns that small. I sat there and thought of our friends that have been through so much more: Ginger that saw her son go through so many tests at St. Jude and Michelle that is at St. Jude's now going through treatment with Garrett. I cannot imagine how they are doing and have done it. I see my girl, going through a simple procedure and it almost was too much for me.



We brought our sweet girl home and she was swollen and doped up and we thanked God that we had her in our arms. Her Aunt Becca and Uncle Neallio and Sol came to visit her to tell her to get well soon and it was so very, very sweet. I thought they were in Memphis anyway but when I realized they came only to see her, it brought tears to my eyes. She is such a lucky girl to have so many people that love her. Her AunTee came to visit too and then on Saturday, Papa Richie came to visit. She is back to her normal self and playing today and we just kiss and love her even more than normal.

13 Months

Wow. How did this happen? How did she get to thirteen months old so quickly? We just celebrated her birthday and now it has already been a month. Last year Tara and I were at the mall with the kids so that Lucas could get his photo made with the Easter Bunny and we got this great picture of them on a bench there. So, last night we were at the mall again (seeing a theme here?) and I wanted a picture of them on the same bench, one year later.
Now that they are mobile, picture taking is getting more and more difficult. Sweet Emmy is doing so many new and interesting things. We still have not figured out to get her to take a bath without screaming for dear life. I am hoping that once summer gets here and we get to swim lots, she will feel better about it. Fingers crossed. She is eating all she can get in her little fingers. We have yet to find anything she doesn't like to eat and we are letting her try to self feed with a fork and spoon. She doesn't do a great job, but it's not a horrible job either. And she laughs with glee whenever she puts her spoon or fork into food. Apparently, that is really funny stuff.

Oh and the A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E! This morning, I was going to let her walk in to the babysitter's house but she refused to hold my hand. I told Mimi that was obviously something she got from her, certainly not me or John.

She has gotten really clingy to us lately and will hold on for dear life when she is up in our arms. I am not sure if that is because she just loves us so or that her teeth are hurting where these vicious molars are trying to completely arrive. Lucas got a chair this weekend when we were shopping so of course, Emmy had to have one too. She loves to do whatever he is doing and just lights up when she seems him. This morning, she wore her "Mommy's girl" shirt but I think she was a little fussy because everyone knows that she is really her Daddy's girl.

Tomorrow morning we go for her surgery on her ears. My sweet baby at 13 months is having surgery--neither John nor I have even had surgery yet and here she is having to go through it. We are confident that she will be just fine and we should be home before 9am.

Mornings!!

This morning as we did the frantic dance to get out the door, I asked John to put a coat on Emmy. “Which one?” he asked. Seriously, any of the ten on the mudroom bunch will do—just get her coat on her and out the door, I forgot to give the dog her Xanax! This is what he put on her! Her Sunday coat for church. At that point, I really couldn’t change her without risking hurting his feelings. In her little grubby hands, she has her toothbrush. We brush her teeth in the mornings and she gets really upset when you take the brush away from her so that she can’t continue doing it herself (I am not sure what Uncle Neallio has told her about this brushing stuff) so I just bought another one to keep in the car so that she can brush the whole way to the babysitter’s house. Each morning, we leave and take Dadoo to work and then head to West Memphis to take Emmy to her sitter. I don’t like to get her there before 7:30 and John has to be at work at 7:00 so we have a little free time. Emmy and I like to get as many of our chores done as we can during this time, like going to Wal-Mart or Walgreen’s, but that can get expensive so we are looking for other ideas. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! Here are some of the things we have done:

• Go to the park (when it is warmer)
• When she was smaller, I would strap her on my chest and we would go for walks
• Take my laptop and sit in the Krystal’s parking lot and surf the internet because they have free WiFi (so does McDonald's)
• Get breakfast at Sonic and sit in the backseat with her and share our breakfast burrito over a good book (my personal favorite)
• Run the car through the carwash

We had the best weekend. The snow didn't really hamper us since it was actually all snow and no ice! Emmy wasn't too thrilled with it at all--she is her Mama's girl. She was out there for about 2 minutes and decided that was too cold and wanted to go back inside. On Saturday, we got up and headed to Sonic to pick up breakfast and I convinved John I needed to just run by the Salinas's while we were out. Two hours later, we finally let them get back to their day after the kids had a big time playing together. We brought Lucas and Emmy an order of CiniBites from Sonic so they both have icky goodness on their little faces in this picture. On Sunday, Emmy and I met the Salinases again for church and then spent the afternoon buying Emmy's swingset that her Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ted got her for her birthday. We ate lunch and Emmy insisted on actually feeding Lucas herself. Those kids... :)

Newest tricks...

... Emmy insists on putting her own straw in the HiC juice box and can do it! It might take her a minute but those tiny little fingers of hers can make that little straw fit in that little hole.

...Emmy gives kisses on demand! Not all the time but if you tell her you want a kiss and pucker up, she might just plant one on you.

...If she sees a hairbow, she knows that it goes on her head. She might not let you put it on for her, but she will hold it up to her hair and smile. Of course, you know this just delights me!!!

And on just a weird note... our dog Bill has some real seperation anxiety issues. It really has nothing to do with me, but she does love John and is distraught when he leaves. I asked the vet about it and she gave me some articles on seperation anxiety. And Bill got some Xanax. I told the vet that I need the Xanax dealing with this nutso dog but she gave it to Bill anyway. Yesterday, I gave it to her right before I took her outside at 6am and we leave at 640am and there was not difference, she was still a basketcase. When I say "basketcase", I don't mean she is a little upset or whiny. I mean, the back of my front door is going to have to be sanded because of her trying to get out. I mean that she bites John's feet on the way out and that you have to run out and slam the door to get away from her barking and begging you to stay. This morning, I gave it to her at 530am and my heavens! Bill stood in the dining room when we left and seemed to say, "hey, check you guys later, I am going back to get in our bed. Have fun at work!" My day is already better for it.

The dreaded stomach bug...

John was sick over the weekend and being the loving wife that I am, I pretty much told him to suck it up and he was fine. But, then on Monday, I got sick and I knew that death was pretty much imminent. In the middle of the night Sunday, she puked all over us. Because she seemed okay that morning, I went ahead and took her to the sitter on Monday and I went to work. I somehow trudged through the day, but got little to nothing done as my computer does not stretch into the office bathroom. Then, Tuesday morning, she puked on us again. All three of us stayed home and cried of our misfortune. Then, Wednesday morning, she puked on again in bed. We are running out of sheets at this point as neither John nor I can quite get the physical strength up to go downstairs and wash any sheets. John went to work Wednesday and I was better but the girl was much worse. She threw up all day and showed off how she knows to shake her head no every time I offered her juice, Pedialyte or water. But, around 4pm, she started to turn for the better and now she is doing much better, although she still is scared to eat or drink anything but HiC punch or potato chips.

This was Sunday before the Stomach Plague of 2008 invaded Walker Street.

It's that time of year again...

Girl Scout cookies!!! Emmy likes the Thin Mints.

Hold my back, will ya?

When I was little and spent the night with Grandma Ruth, I would always ask her to hold my back. That was my way of asking her to lay behind me with her arms wrapped around me. It was wonderful. I never felt so protected. Before Grandma Ruth went in the nursing home, I spent the night with her every night. I would go home and get ready for bed, then walk across the street to her apartment, then in the morning walk home in my PJs, get ready for school, and then Momma, Neall and I would go back to Grandma's. We got her breakfast and got her ready for the day. Then Momma would come home at lunch and then after school we did the same. My sweet Momma. When I think of all she did for her mother, I just want to cry. I would go out on dates or to do stuff with my friends and come home at 9 at night to help Momma put Grandma to bed, then go back out and then come back to her apartment at curfew. I loved her so much. I just loved her. Everything about her. She was so sweet and so giving and so thoughtful. I loved my Grandma Ruth like I don't think that many love their grandparents. But, that is because of the love in my mother's eyes. I learned from her. I can remember so many details of my grandmother--so many little lovely things.

Now that Emmy is big enough for me to hold her back, I hold her a little tighter because I can almost feel Momma there too. I can almost feel Momma there betwen us and I can almost feel Grandma Ruth behind me holding my back. It is pretty special to have loved someone like I loved Grandma Ruth. I hope that I can somehow explain to Emmy all the love that she and Momma would have had her for her. They would have just been smiten with her sweet smile and the way that she just toddles around now. When she pulls open the cabinet and drags all the Tupperware out, they would have just oh'd and ah'd. When she babbles in the backseat, they would have been there babbling with her. And somehow, I have to put all that in words so that she knows how very loved she is, even if they are not here to tell her.

So I hold her sweet little back and I will tell her about how Grandma Ruth held my back when I was her age and I never, ever felt quite as loved as I did then.

Men say the dardest things...

So, when I told John that they wanted to put tubes in Emmy's ears, he said, "how far will they hang out?"


A friend, to remain nameless, had to take his dog to the vet. His wife told him that he could just take the poop so that they didn't have to do a sample. So, he took a bag of poop. And no dog. He sat in the waiting room with a bag of poop. When the doctor called him back, he asked what he had and he told him he had doodoo and he, of course, had to go back home and get his dog.


What in the world would they do without us????

Always good reading material at the doctor's office

Emmy has had ear infections pretty steadily since October so when we went to her twelve month checkup, the doctor referred us to an ENT. They have decided it is time to give her tubes for her little munchkin ears. Friday, we went to the ENT and the surgery is scheduled for March 14th. We are pretty nervous, but hope that her speech will just blossom after this. We shall see.

I told Emmy when we were in the bathroom at the doctor's office that her Yia Yia would not have let me do this to her. When I was her age, the doctors wanted to take out my tonsils and Momma refused because I was so little. Later as I had so many bouts of tonsillitis and strep throat, I always blamed her. Momma told me once, jokingly of course, that she wanted to wait until I was able to pay for it myself so that I could really appreciate it. Hysterical! I wanted to go ahead and do this so that she doesn't have trouble later and wish we had helped her in this way. But we can't help but be nervous. She's our munchkin. Our tater. Our doodoo. We love her so much.