Little Tara

I call her Little Tara with a twinge of sadness. She has all the traits of me that I sometimes wish I could turn off—most specifically the sarcasm in her voice. Last night in the car, she literally rolled her eyes and said, “uh-hm”. I can remember Daddy almost jumping up and down in the dining room if I dared give him those fish eyes again. I am afraid of my future. But, here we go with some of her latest and greatest quotes:

 

“Haven’t I told you not to bother me while I am playing?”

 

We went to a birthday party Sunday afternoon and aftewards stopped at Big Lots. I didn’t find what I needed so I wanted to hop into Fred’s. I asked Emmy if she could stand going into one more store and she replied, “no, mama, I can’t stand it”. I told her that they might have a toy in there and she said, “okay! I can stand it! I can stand it!”.

 

While patting me on the back she said, “Trust me, that’s my girl, trust me”.

 

After reading our story last night, we were talking about what she wanted to be when she grows up. She told me she wanted to be a princess. Well, a princess scientest. So that she could come up with a magic potion that would help give princess dresses to all the little girls that didn’t have them.

 

Last week, I was telling she and Lucas stories about when they were born. I guess that it really stuck with her beucase she is on a baby kick now. She and Lucas were pretending that they had a baby; actually, pretendig she was pregnant. Lucas came in and told us that babies sure did need a lot of toys. Then, she and Sol were playing like they were babies. Then, she asked me if she was going to have a baby one day. I told her when she was much older. She asked me what she would name her baby and I told her that was something she and her husband would decide. Then, she asked me if it was going to grow in her belly. I told her that if she was very lucky that one day, she would find someone she loved and they would be able to have a baby together.

 

And then I had a drink.

 

Little Birdies and a Hog

Emmy Ruth and I made some bird feeders for the tree our front this weekend. We painted pinecones (or as Emmy calls them… Pineapples) and put peanut butter on them and hung them on the tree. Of course, I had to tell Emmy that if she wanted peanut butter, I would get her some, she didn’t need to eat the peanut butter from the birdfeeders. Such a weird little kid.

 

And our little fan playing around after ballet practice in my office the other day.

Two Ponies, Please!

On Monday, Emmy Ruth wanted to wear "two ponies" or pigtails. Of course,
I did her hair that way and I guess everyone has told her how cute it
looked as she has insisted on wearing it this way every day since then.
In fact, Monday night when I took her hair down to take a bath, she
cried that she wasn't pretty anymore without her ponies. Whoa, sister.
We had to have a talk about how SHE was what was beautiful, the hair was
just a bonus. I hate that she is having these types of feelings so
early. Although she is adorable in the ponytails, they are not my
favorite look for her, but here we go... it's her decision, I suppose. I
took this snapshot this morning before we went in to school. She asked
to look at it and said, "oh, yeah, that's my shy face".

Jeez.

She also asked me how long she was going to have to say "ma'am". I told
her that as long as there were people older than her, she would be
saying it.

The Dress

I was a little late doing it this year, but we did get Emmy's picture made in The Dress. I really want to take her picture in it every year as she is growing up so we can really see how much she has changed.

The Zoo!!!

Oh thank goodness for a lovely weekend!!!! Yesterday we got to see the Jacksons. It was so much fun playing with them. We stopped by to say hi to Julia and Mrs. Joy too. Emmy was amazed at how they could run and run and run and not have to worry about Mama. It is so strange not having to hold on to her and worry about something happening to her. Ahhh.... life in the country!

We were so tired that we ended up sleeping too late and missing church. We had a great lunch and then headed to the zoo.

Of course, we had to get a picture with Buddha. But, Emmy is in a Daddy mood so he wouldn't do it with out him. They are quite ridiculous together.On the way out, she needed a coin to make a wish. For princesses.This isn't a great picture but it was so funny. We were looking at the flamingos and she pointed to the viewer and asked John what that "contraption" was. Where does she come up with this stuff?

Just a crazy life

It seems we are always running ragged but I can’t tell you what for sure we have been doing to make it that way. We are really enjoying our new church, First Baptist. As the sign says, “A different way to be Baptist”. I have enjoyed the Sunday services and I have been really thankful to be able to attend a class on Wednesday nights on parenting. It’s been nice to get ideas, nice to hear that no one feels perfect and nice to get to know some people. Emmy Ruth attends a Mission Friends class on Wednesday nights as well. Now, they are collecting items to send to Uganda and it is exciting to see her get excited about taking something to send to her “friends”. It’s lovely and I enjoy it but it certainly puts a rush on Wednesday evening. It seems we get home, eat, then head directly to bed. On Tuesday nights, I tutor so that makes it a rushed night as well. But, here we are ready for the weekend again already!

 

Emmy did have time for these little nuggets of wisdom last night, though. On the way to church, I mentioned something about her being a big girl now and she replied, “yes, mama, but I won’t forget you now that I am big”. I am not sure what her deal is with being naked all the time, but I walked in and for the thousandth time found myself saying, “why are you naked?” Emmy replied, “I’m not naked; I am wearing shoes”. Apparently to her, plastic dress up shoes can just make an outfit. Literally.

Observations of a busy weekend

--Emmy and Lucas are about as close as a brother and sister can be without actually being so. When they saw each other this weekend, they immediately gave each other the biggest and best hug. When we left to come home, Emmy Ruth was in her car seat crying because we had to leave. Tara was holding Lucas up to say goodbye through the window and he took her hand and kissed it. In between these two events, there were lots and lots of good times and laughter and fights and bickering. Just like any family.

 

--As Emmy took her bath, she told me she had to wash her hips and then she’d be ready to get out. Wash her hips? What is that about?

 

--A goldfish does not have a good chance at life in the Burton household. Emmylucasdaphnevelmafreddieshaggyscoobie (as Emmy named her fish she got for her birthday) went to the big pond in the sky this weekend and we got a new one pretty quickly and Emmy hasn’t noticed. Whew. However, as we left the store, the salesman said, “good luck, m’am”. To the fish.

 

--Ladybugs found in Arkansas do not travel well to Memphis. Especially in an empty whisky bottle. They are now enjoying the scenery with Emmylucasdaphnevelmafreddieshaggyscoobie.

 

 

Crafting

I have been crafting a lot lately. Poor John left a lamp out the other day and when he came back, I had glued jute to the lamp shade and changed it. He was not amused. But, I have had lots of fun! I have a small ottoman that has seen many better days and I needed to just throw it out but I thought I might try to save it for a little longer. Using some extra material from when I recovered my dining room chairs, I covered it up and then used some linen napkins to make a ruffle. Emmy walked in and said, “Mama, why is that stool wearing a dress?”

 

I am going to retire my glue gun.

Emmy and I got to hang with the Jacksons this weekend and we had so much fun. We took advantage of the wonderful weather to play outside a lot. Emmy and Sol played with the sandtable and made me this wonderful pie! They are so thoughtful.

Nothing like Cinderella and Star Wars in the sandbox.

I love this after they got out of the tub. I still have sand in the bathroom! This isn't a great picture but I love that they were all piled on top of me. John came in and snapped a picture. That is pretty good stuff.

I tried to jot down some of the funny things they said:

--When I said we were going outside, Emmy said, "I hope the puppies don't eat Baby Rose".

--We got to ballet and I realized we forgot to brush Emmy's teeth. She got a look of horror and said, "but I don't want to get a hole!!!"

--I have a tattoo of a skull and crossed bones on my back (it is on my sorority badge) and Sol saw it and said, "Aunt Tara, you have a pirate on your back!"

--For some reason, they kept taking their clothes off. I would ask why they were naked again and Emmy said, "we want to make booty faces".

Majestic Ball

I love all the wonderful pictures we got for the party. Special thanks to Mrs Pat and Becca!!!

The TBs were at the ball!

We were so glad ET could come to the party too!

Julia loved the Cinderella pinata. It's a shame I forgot to do it until almost everyone was gone! Thank goodness Joy convinced me to do it anyway I love that Sol has his knight armor on!This has to be one of my favorite pictures EVER!

This is Layla and Omaida from Emmy's school. They are such good friends and princesses!

Lauren and Jillian go to Emmy's school too. They love each other so much!

Emmy told John he was such a beautiful prince!
The kids loved the cake--even if it was a slight disaster.

She's so little for this.

While yesterday was nearly a picture perfect morning, today was the exact opposite. Emmy Ruth loves to wear dresses to school. Sparkly ones, preferably.  She wore her super sparkly dress yesterday and was quite disappointed that I had not washed it again yet. So, we set out to find something to wear. I try to give her some options and let her choose from them… there was a sparkly skirt with a sweater, a floral dress and a pair of leggings with a matching shirt. None of these would do. She went to pick out something for herself—and it did not go well. We finally settled on a different sparkly skirt (think of a pink tutu with glitter hearts) but it’s a little bit. She put on a Hello Kitty she got for her birthday with it—really sparkly and very fitted so it helped the skirt from slipping down. But then she decided that she didn’t like the skirt with the shirt. Eventually, she wore it—after time out for throwing a fit. Nothing makes a day swell like starting it with time out.

 

She is four. FOUR! I often have these type of dressing sessions, and there are sometimes tears and fits by me, when I can’t find something I want to wear and nothing looks like I want it to look, or the shirt doesn’t look just right with the pants. I sympathize with her on this but I don’t want her to have these thoughts and insecurities so early. She’s FOUR!

 

I somehow doubt this is something we will discuss in the parenting class I am taking at church.

My Girl

I had some ideas for what to say about Emmy Ruth and how she is right now, at this very moment. I want to never forget how funny and sweet and charming she is. Oh, yes, and mischievous. Then, on her actual birthday when we were taking photos at the playground, I thought I could just write an entire entry just on funny things she did that day. By the time we got home, I had forgotten some of them, even thought John and I literally were laughing out loud at the time.

 

I guess that is what happens when she just says and does so many things to make us smile—it’s hard to keep up with all of them. She makes us both just cackle out loud and then gets her feelings hurt because she thinks we are laughing AT her. We tell her we aren’t—she just makes us smile and laugh and that is a wonderful trait to have. The girl loves to sing and dance, that’s for certain. We listen to the Tangled Soundtrack in the car and she sings along. She often wants it louder and she will say in her biggest voice, “I WANT IT LOUD LIKE THIS!” At the playground, they have this stage with a big chalkboard behind it. Emmy loves to get on the stage and dance but she is very particular that everything is just as she wants it to be. She placed her daddy on the audience bench just as she wanted him to be and then I was to dance in a very specific spot, doing very specific dances. And I was not allowed to sing—only dance.

 

I have no idea where she gets her bossiness…. Perhaps her daddy.

 

At home, Emmy alternates between sleeping in her own bed and our bed. I know she should be in her bed all the time, and she often is, but it is just so comforting and soothing to have her in bed with us. I love to cuddle with her. We call it Snuggle Buggle. “Mama, can you snugglebuggle me?” is about the sweetest thing ever. When I was a little girl, I often stayed with Grandma Ruth and I would ask her to “hold my back”. Emmy and I often do that too. It is my most precious time in the day. As sweet as she is at night, the mornings are a different story. She does not wake up well. Sometimes, I carry her into the living room to wake while she is watching TV and she sometimes jumps up and runs back into the bed, pulling the covers over her head. She piddles around so much until we are late almost every single morning. I hate to start the day rushing around and with arguments so I am working on waking even earlier and getting her up even earlier.

 

We are still working on our alphabet—it is just not something she is concerned with right now. At all. She does not want to work on them and I am pulling back and not pushing quite as much. I am sure she’ll learn it eventually… She loves to play on her computer, but only for a bit. When she can’t get the mouse to work just right, she gets very frustrated and just stops. I don’t want to encourage this but I also don’t want her to see working on it as a chore so I don’t push too much. When she wants to stop, she can.

 

The house is a wreck all the time, there are dresses and Barbies and dolls and crayons everywhere. One day, John and I will be sitting awake, waiting on her to come from a date, and long for the time that Emmy Ruth put on her sequin Hex Girl dress and sang “Jesus Loves Me” on her makeshift stage. Having a few crowns and magic wands and plastic dress up shoes just really seems like a small price to pay for such a wonderful life.

Emmy Ruth is 4!

Oh sweet girl... I can't say all the things I love about you. I love you so much. I am so lucky to be your mama.

Sweet Love Notes

Emmy Ruth was making lovely pictures today as I was reorganizing our craft containers. Emmy made a picture for Aunt Becca and "wrote" her a lovely note. She said it was "Dear Aunt Becca, I love you becuase you are the best. Sol is the best too. And you have one of my favorite letters, B! Love, Emmy".

Precious curls

I took this picture this morning on my cell phone so it's not a good one, but I couldn't resist those curls. Emmy Ruth is doing a pretty good job of sleeping in her bed but last night she slept with us. We went to see Ferdinand the Bull at the Orpheum with Sol and Rose and Julia. She was so excited and wound up when we got home, I knew she would never go to sleep in her room. When I woke this morning, she was lying with her head on my stomach and her curls falling everywhere. It was so precious and I hope I never forget moments like these. Sometimes when we are lying together, she will go to play with her and twist my hair instead. It's a Jackson thing. I do it, Neall does it, our cousin Cathy does it. Some people have tried to tell me she learned it from watching me but she did it as an infant so I am pretty sure it just comes naturally to her.

 

We have had quite the drama with our wardrobe lately. Emmy initially refused to wear any jeans. Now, she wants to wear dresses all the time. Not skirts but full dresses. We had a major meltdown yesterday when she threw a complete fit to wear a dress. It was hard to reason with her that she had all these adorable Valentines and heart shaped clothes to wear this week before the holiday. I did stand my ground, simply because she threw a fit and she has to learn that is unacceptable. This morning, I convinced her to wear pants since it is supposed to snow but she drew the line and refused to wear the adorable cardigan I had for her. I let that slide... this time.

The zoo!!

The weather was so wonderful this weekend that we went to the zoo--along with everyone in the midsouth. It was ridiculously crowded but we had a blast. Emmy wanted to see the elephants. We are so glad that we got to go with the Jacksons and Evan Huff.