Weekend fun

The weekend was so much fun for us! We played outside a lot and apparently paid for it, since Emmy Ruth ended up with a nasty cold Sunday afternoon and a fever Monday. But, she had such a good time. She took my frogs from the flowerbed and moved them to the sidewalk and I think had  a really nice chat with them. I love to hear Emmy say something is “heavy”; it comes out more like “haaaaaaaaaaeevy”. Usually, her shoes are too haaaaaaaaaaaaevy to wear or something along those lines but the frogs were really haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaevy too. And we flew kites! Well, Victor ran down the street trying to fly the kite; obviously, since John had to hold Emmy and I had to take pictures, he had to run down the street.

 

On Sunday, Tara and I went to see Legally Blonde the Musical. It was adorable! When the announcer was discussing the emergency exits, we noticed that we were sitting beside one and Tara leaned over and said, “So we can be safe”. Anyone not engulfed in Dora the Explorer would not understand, but I did and I almost couldn’t stop laughing. We had a wonderful girls night out, even if it was John’s birthday and he was at home with The Girl. When I got home, he told me all the fun things that they did—including Emmy asking Victor to take her to the bathroom and peepeeing in the potty for him!—and I was a little sad that I missed it. Just a little… When Tara showed up at the house to pick me up that afternoon, Emmy Ruth ran outside and looked around her and said, “Where’s Lulu?”, devastating her AunTee.  I guess she wanted me to feel her pain since when we got home, she said since Emmy was asleep she was going to go on home instead of coming inside. 

 

 

Oh so proud

This morning in Wal-Mart, Emmy saw a Razorback and said “Razorback”. I asked her what a Razorback said and she said “Woo Pig Sooie!”. I am so proud!!!

 

WPS

I have the best husband. I don’t tell him enough and I don’t thank God enough for him, but he is so good to me. We had a trip to Fayetteville planned and he even though thing after thing kept being thrown at us, he just went along with me as I trudged forward to see my Hogs and my girlfriends, and I am so glad that we did. First he got a wisdom tooth pulled, then the roads were getting pretty slick. Tara and Lucas were heading back to Memphis from her parents house and she stopped to chit chat with Emmy and I while we waited on John. Tara ended up taking ER back with them because the roads were so bad. Which leads me to wonder why there was so little concern for John and I, but I am really thankful that she did take ER for us—the kids had a great time in the snow!  We made pretty good time on the trip there, but just before we got to Fayetteville, there was an accident and we sat on the interstate for an hour and a half. The roads in Fayetteville were slick by then and it was dark and cold!!!

 

I went to hang out with the girls and John hung out in the hotel room. The plan had been for him to hang out with Emmy Ruth while I was out but since she wasn’t there and he certainly didn’t want to go hang out with all us, he was left to watching Blazing Saddles in the Super 8. Lucky guy.  But, the next morning, he got up and we put on our matching Razorback T-shirts and went to breakfast with the girls. After that, we headed to the arena for the championship celebration. I stopped to get two basketballs to get autographed (and a RazorSpud since Emmy does love Mr. Potato Head) and when we got parked, I decided to switch purses so that the mini balls would fit in there and I wouldn’t have too much to carry. As soon as I shut the lift gate on the car, I knew I had left my keys in the other purse. So, Mr. Wonderful sat and waited on the Pop A Lock guy so that I could go on to the celebration and see about getting my autographs.

 

The game was wonderful (and a great win!) and John had so much fun. I love to see the look on his face when he does something “new” and this was his first time at Bud Walton. We hurried home to get our girl and got in our little house about midnight.  We both stayed home yesterday to regroup and recover and spend time with our girl.

 

The best part of the weekend was seeing my friends from college. I think it’s funny that the five of us from UCA ended up meeting in Fayetteville for our reunion, but it was wonderful. Amanda flew in from Indiana and Trisha drove up from Conway. It has been over ten years since we have all been together but I am so very happy to have such long time friends.

Hey, I really like Dora.

Here is a very filthy little girl watching Dora in the car. Very entertained. And, a coworker gave Emmy this Dora Dollhouse. She is beside herself with glee as she plays with the little Dora house inside the big Dora house.  Lucky for us, the thing talks too!!! Last night, I was having trouble deciding which Dora voice went to the house or the episode Emmy was watching. In the picture of Emmy and Lucas, I am sure that they were just talking about Dora. Who knows? MeeMee said that if she isn’t right there whenever it comes on, Emmy comes running and says “Come on! Come on! Dora’s on!”

Time Out

The other day, Emmy Ruth really wanted to play in the bathroom by herself. She pitched a fit if I went in there, so I managed to sneak in once to get the toilet paper off the roll and hide it and then just let her play. After she was done, I found these ducks all facing the wall; I can only assume that they were bad and in time out.

I got my baby back baby back baby

I think Emmy likes to carry this baby on her back because she is the only one with hair as wild as her own.

On Pins and Needles

I am finally getting the hang of my embroidery machine so this weekend I wanted to try to applique and to actually sew. So, I did a tshirt last night for Emmy and then started on a dress, with an applique of course, that Emmy can wear for Easter. Right now, it seems that the only Easter she would wear it to is at the clown church. So far, I have discovered that a rotary cutter is a great thing but how does the self healing mat really self heal? Also, pinning on a dining room table is a pain and that I need a pub height table. And after enough of this sewing, I could use a pub style drink. Hopefully I can finish this dress tomorrow. Of course, regardless of its outcome, I will certainly post pictures.

The acupuncture went well, if a little odd. She put seven needles in each leg, four in my belly, one in each hand, one in the forehead and five in my right ear. It really didn't hurt putting them in, but there was a strange ache when I moved with them in there, especially in my leg when I moved my toes. I didn't really didn't realize how often I wiggle my toes until I was lying there with needles in my body. Nor did I realize how annoying and heavy my hair is until I had needles in my hand and ear so I was scared to move it. I have this great habit of almost fainting. A few weeks ago, I had this little thing cut off my shoulder. Of course, I almost fainted. The funny thing then was the the doctor and his nurse were African American and I looked at them and said, "am I really white?" Usually I get really pale when I get dizzy like that but I am sure they thought I was a very confused patient. Anyway... today, I was lying on the table and it was freezing so she had a heating lamp and blanket for me but I got dizzy so I asked for a wet rag and ended up having to get all that stuff off of me. She left me alone for 25 minutes with the needles and I think that was the longest 25 minutes of my life. That probably explains the majority of my headaches. I couldn't possibility just lie there and relax, I stared at the ceiling and thought of how I should be stripping the popcorn off my ceilings, I thought of the dress I am trying to make, I thought of work, I thought of John and a list of things to remember to tell him and on and on. But, I smiled when I thought of Emmy Ruth and how when she doesn't want to do something any more, like a bath or sitting in the buggy at Walmart, she screams "I DONE!". I really wanted to scream "I DONE! Get these needles out of me! I DONE!"

Intervention

We are planning a Dora intervention for Emmy Ruth this weekend. She woke up this morning and looked at me and said, “I love Dora”. I told her that there was not a doubt in my mind that she loved Dora. I was glad she had a friend. Maybe we will wait on the intervention until it is warm enough to be outside and distract her attention away from her beloved.

 

In semi-related news, I have a gift that I cannot for the life of me figure out who gave it to Emmy Ruth. It’s this really cute Keri doll that has pop on clothes that you can switch outfits for her. It’s great and we play with it every night, so much so that I am going to have to get Keri’s accessories kit for ER, maybe I will mention it to the Easter Bunny. So, if anyone knows of the giver, please let me know, Emmy would be mortified if she knew that a thank you note didn’t get out for Keri.

 

I have an appointment tomorrow for acupuncture. Interesting. I have never done anything like this and I am kind of nervous but we shall see! I have had some pretty bad headaches for a few years now and I am not going to leave any option untested in getting rid of them. I am certain they are stress related (yep, I have been to the doctor(s) and everything is a-ok up there) so I have tried all sorts of things, probably the other weird one was the Rolfing. Not sure I will do that again, but at least I tried it. Anyway, the website for the acupuncture facility said to ask about Auricular Treatments rates, and that they were usually used for smoking cessation, weight loss, etc. Thinking, what the heck, if I am getting poked with needles, why not get needles pokes to lose weight too? She said that those sessions were a group session as opposed to individual, private sessions and that they only did needles in the ear as opposed to the entire body. Of course, I asked if that meant a bunch of us fat people will be in a room just hanging out with needles in our ears? She was not amused.  Fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday, Emmy Ruth!!!

What a lucky, lucky girl Emmy Ruth is to have so many friends and family that care about her! Her party was great fun… even if a little crowded. John and I had so much fun Friday night getting everything ready for her. My friend Natalie came to help as well. Emmy went to see the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse live at the Cannon Center with Mrs. Debbie, Uncle Neall, Auntie B and Solomon and spent the night with them. When the pulled up to the house Saturday morning, Becca said Emmy saw the decorations and said, “I like it!” We were so lucky to have a beautiful day so we spent a lot of the party outside, which is good because our little house was bursting at the seams!

 

Emmy was a little overwhelmed, I think, and was really clingy to John and I. When opening presents, she absolutely had a meltdown and had to take her dress, tights and shoes off. She proceeded to sit there and put four pages of Dora stickers on her naked belly. Oh well… it was her party, I guess if that was what she wanted to do…

 

Twenty Four Months--She's Two!!!

This morning, our little princess woke up to a pink balloon (which we had to carry into Walmart) and a birthday song from Mama and Daddy. I can’t believe she is already two years old!

 

I can’t be sure that she would even be speaking if it weren’t for Dora the Explorer. We watch it religiously now and we talk a lot about backpacks and maps. Her little voice is so sweet as she sings along to her Dora CD, the alphabet song, the Itsy Bitsy spider and Twinkle Twinkle are her favorites. I sometimes try to turn the radio down so that I can just hear her little voice, but then she gets upset and wants me to put “MY DORA!” back to its regular volume. The other song she sings that cracks me up is “Joy Joy” and she really relishes the “WHERE?” part.

 

The baths seem to be getting better, which is a great thing; she still doesn’t sit down and really hates to wash her hair but the screaming fits during the play time have stopped. Every day when we pull in the drive way, I ask her who lives here… “Daddy”. And? “Emmy”. And? “Bill”. And???? One of these days I am hoping that she acknowledges I live here too. Lucas was over the other night and told Tara to go bye-bye and he, Emmy and John were going to stay at our house, but that was it, the rest of us had to go.

 

What an amazing two years. We are so lucky to be Emmy Ruth’s parents.

Fully recovered

I feel safe saying now that I have fully recovered from this weekend. It was a long one, with my floors being ripped up again so that they could be fixed, I ended up with tonsillitis and a double ear infection, John has been working lots of overtime and is just pooped and Emmy is in the midst of the terrible twos.  

 

That silly girl is head over heels in love with Dora the Explorer now. Nana was so very sweet and wanted to keep her Friday night for a sleepover and as usual, Emmy came home with way more than she took. But, best of all, is a Dora CD. We put it in on Sunday afternoon and at first she was very upset that she couldn’t see Dora and there were tears. Now, there are tears, but they are mine because I hate this CD. If I hear it again, which I am certain I will today on the way home, I am certain that I am going to come to work dressed in a pink shirt, orange shorts, yellow socks, a purple backpack and a really bad choppy Bettie Page hairdo one day. But, it makes her happy, and as much as she is in the car, what can I say to that?

 

We are gearing up for our big Valentine’s Birthday Bash on Saturday and there will be photos to follow soon!!!

The Green Room

A few weeks ago, I did this little project to try to make use of the space between the mudroom and the basement stairs. I was literally at my wits end with scarves and toboggans on the table each day when I saw something in Martha Stewart Living about putting mailboxes on the wall. So, I got a couple and painted them red and put our hats and gloves in them and hung scarves and John’s baseball caps on the magazine hooks. Also, since it is right off the kitchen, I put all my canvas grocery bags on hooks (hence the name, the Green Room), keeping them off the backs of chairs. I painted magnetic paint and then chalkboard paint for a memo area for me and a play area for Emmy. A friend cut the molding that I got at Home Depot to frame the chalkboard. Emmy had fun drawing on it last night, if only for three minutes. The cork board is this really creepy monkey that I for some reason like but can’t put anywhere else because it might scare guests.

 

If you are still using plastic bags at the store, Walgreens has their canvas bags 3 for $1 this week!!!

And the words just began to flow...

Last night, we dove straight into the bathing situation. Her hair had to be cleaned so we took some of the advice of our friends, and tried the laying on the counter and washing her hair in the sink routine again. I was hoping that this time would go better. It did not. But, with John holding her down, it went pretty quickly. I told John I was done and he was double checking my rinsing technique and Emmy screamed, “Mommy said done! Done! Done!!!!!” Afterwards, I cut her nails too… bahahahahaha! Mean Mama!  

 

As we all piled in our big family bed, Emmy said “I love you, Daddy” and of course he told her too and then she said “I love you, Mama” and of course I told her too and then she said, “I love me, Emmy”. John told her he hoped she would always say that, every day of her life—who know John was so introspective?

 

This morning as we were driving, Emmy kept saying something and I couldn’t figure it out and finally the beat got me… she was doing singing the patty cake song.

 

I have been so worried about her speech and all it took was for her to do it in her own time.

and me with no camera!

Friday, Emmy and I headed to Arkansas to remember Ruby Jewel. Emmy Ruth stayed with Sol while we went to the service. I wish I had gotten a picture when I walked in of the two of them sitting together in a chair watching Disney. It was pretty adorable. Then, on Saturday, we got to visit with my cousin Jordan and his mom Tina. It was so sweet of them to think to visit while they were in town and very special for me to see Emmy Ruth meet them for the first time.  And me… without my camera!!! What was I thinking???

 

 

It's a Sorta White Morning

We got a snow day! Well, Emmy and John did and we opened up our office at 10 so we had time to play in the snow this morning. We lingered around getting out of bed this morning and then had to drag Emmy away from Dora the Explorer to get her outside to the snow. What is up with this kid? She wasn’t sure what to think of it and she really didn’t like John throwing snowballs at her. She walked over to her little car full of snow and threw her arms in the air and asked “What happened??”.  And of course, she insisted on taking her gloves off so we didn’t stay outside too long.

 

I am thinking that coming in late and going home to John and Emmy already there is going to be a pretty fabulous day!

 

Ruby Jewel

Last night, Aunt Ruby passed away in her sleep. As sad as I am, that I will miss her and that Emmy never got to know her, I am so grateful that she is no longer suffering. She slowly slipped into dementia following Uncle Warren’s death and then quickly fell into the depths of her Alzheimer’s. It always pained me to visit her as she always asked me where Momma was and why she didn’t visit her. When she first was admitted into the Alzheimer’s unit, I would tell her my name then I would tell her I was Teri’s daughter for her to recognize me. Eventually, I would try to back into her recognition by saying I was Ruth’s granddaughter but pretty soon, even that didn’t work.

I hope to always remember her for the beautiful, proper woman she was. She always had a perfect house with the crystal tea set on the tea cart just in case it was needed! When she and Uncle Warren lived in Forrest City, the garage to their house had the neatest little sunroom; Neall and I played for hours in that building—away from adults! The “stairstep” photo was taken in their backyard with Ruby’s grandsons (Harrison on one end and Warner on the other), Neall, me and cousin T, and Aunt Glady’s granddaughter Chrissy visiting. Even after they moved to Wynne, to be close to Momma, she kept it up. The two bedroom apartment was stuffed with all of her valuables and she and Uncle Warren were so happy. When Uncle Warren died, my cousin Gary said the most beautiful eulogy for his dad. Momma and I both had a copy that we kept close just to read the tribute of such a great guy. I never had a grandfather and Uncle Warren stepped in for me there, since he had never had any little girls--two sons and two grandsons. Gary spoke of how his father would “shamelessly flirt” with his mother and I often smile thinking of them, hoping that John will still shamelessly flirt with me when we are eighty. Could there be a better husband than that? Ruby would often get the urge to move the furniture on a whim and Uncle Warren, not being able to get around well, but being a huge stature of a man, would stand behind the sofa and push it around the living room in that little apartment to her content. Momma would walk in and cry out “Ruby Jewel! What are you doing????” It never wasn’t funny. When her grandson Warner was getting married, she was so happy to be getting a daughter into their little family. But just before, I got a card in the mail that read, “you’ll always be my first granddaughter”. Coincidentally, I found that card last night (before she had passed away) as I was arranging things in my sewing room. It made me tear up a little then and of course, it does now. When her great granddaughter was born, and died only hours later, Ruby smiled and spoke of how sweet it was to think of Warren rocking Annabelle in heaven, the first little girl in three generations.

After Uncle Warren died, she never got her footing back again and she moved around and around until she finally was in a home in Memphis near her son. Here she was, finally near her boys and she didn’t even know it. But now she is with her sisters and brothers, many of whom left so many years ago. I bet Uncle Warren was just as happy to see her last night as he was that first day he fell in love at first sight with her walking across the street in downtown Wynne.

oh yeah...

And John did Emmy’s hair yesterday. I wish I could find someone like this… he did exactly what she wanted and she didn’t have to leave home. Or put on pants.

 

Weekend Update

This weekend, I attempted to get Emmy’s two year portraits done. I would love, love, love to have them professionally done and the timing for it is perfect since our favorite professional is about to be in town, but I just can’t justify spending the money right now. I am going to wait until next year and just take some myself for right now and see if we can get them to work. We worked on pottying a lot, but it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. In this picture of Emmy watching Yo Gabba Gabba! you can see the chair insert in front of her. She had an accident on it and then asked me “What happened???” So, the Elmo chair cover is the laundry and we are still wearing diapers. She did really want to wear her Dora the Explorer panties Saturday but we continued to have accidents so I headed back to the Dollar General near our house where I originally bought them so we would have more than three that were already wet in the laundry.  After a scare, I found a package on the very bottom, in the very back. Whew! Emmy Ruth also discovered a pink and a lavender Dora cowboy hat. I think it looks like what she would wear if auditioning for Rock of Love, the Brett Michaels show on VH1, but none the less she had to have one. She wanted me to have one too, how sweet, but thankfully, I realized I had it on as we were checking out and I had worn the darn thing all over the store. I am a little concerned since everything we got her for her birthday revolves around Yo Gabba Gabba! and now we are in a Dora the Explorer phase. But, hopefully she will come back to her roots soon.

 

And she is in a naked little mood lately. Tara and I were laughing that Lucas will wear nothing but a white t-shirt, no matter how he is dressed, he takes it off and sports his white tee. Emmy has been wearing layers of lately but yesterday decided to be a streaker. While watching YGG, she ended up taking her PullUp off and just running around naked all afternoon. I told her this was a better idea in the summer but she would have nothing of it. This kid!

 

In other news, John worked on the closet in my office/guestroom/shrine to mom and grandmas/photography studio/sewing room so that I can put things in there. I was so delighted! The closet had this little built in shoe rack on the bottom so nothing would actually stack in there. When we got the house, it thought it was neat, then I realized that possibly ten pairs of shoes would fit there and who has only ten pairs of shoes? Oh yea, John. Like he’s getting another closet! Ha! So, now my storage bins of sewing things are easy to reach, I actually have a chair to sit in while I work on my machine and I don’t have to sit on the end of the hope chest and sew, and I don’t have to pull everything out to get in there. It’s delightful! But, just to prove you can’t get anything for free, John got a giant inflatable hockey set for the back yard and he insists on having the fully inflated net in the living room.

 

 

 

Randomness

I tried to get a good picture of Emmy in this jacket since I just love it on her, but this was all I got. Of course, we are wearing the Yo Gabba Gabba! hat, glove and t-shirt. She slept in the glove last night. Yes, the one glove.

 

Tara reported that last night when they were at Amerigos, when the apparently very attractive waitress brought his drink, Lucas said, “Thank you, my lady”. Oye. That boy.

Morning Commentary

Me:        We are crossing the bridge and now we are in Arkansas!

Emmy:  Over the water!

Me:        Can you say “woo”?

Emmy:  PIG!

 

She might wear John’s Ohio State hat but she’s my Hog.

 

Not everyone can pull off this look

Last night, Emmy Ruth was taking her bath and she told me she had to booboo. I got her out and she sat on the potty for a while with no action. She was playing in the tub again and told me again that she had to go. I finished washing my face and turned around and well, she was right this time. I grabbed her quickly and she managed to finish in the toilet. We are so proud of her! Afterwards, she was in the living room hanging out wearing her pull up, Brobee hat, her pretend high heels and reading a book. Not everyone can look so fabulous in this outfit.

oh and did I mention...

… how sore I am after all that yard work? Seriously, there were at least a dozen trash bags full of weeds on the curb this morning, not to mention the large pieces of dead tall plants that just went directly to the curb with no bag.

 

Here is Emmy playing dress up with Daddy while I am working hard in the yard. It’s a rough life she has, but it is certainly a pink one… Pink phone, pink dress up shoes, pink tutu…

 

Children's Museum

Since it was so chilly yesterday, we headed to the Children’s Museum and had so much fun. I think the last time we want was on MLK Day so it appears to be a tradition! Emmy Ruth and Lucas were so adorable playing together, they really do a great job of sharing and hugging. We played on the stage for a while and ERB was just amazed at all the “big” kids there. Of course, Lucas loved the slides and the cars and trucks and I am not sure why Emmy Ruth felt she should get in the back of the police car but I really hope this is the only police car backseat for her. And of course, we talked a lot about Uncle Neallio when we visited the dentist’s office!!

 

Busy, busy, busy but so much fun!!

Friday night, Emmy stayed with Nana (Lucas’s paternal grandma). I called a couple of times to check on her and Nana would say that she had to go, they were having fun without her, so I think a fun time was had by all. I can say that when I met them, Emmy would not come to me and Papaw Ricky had to put her in our car. Little twerp! Friday night, however, I managed to get lots of sewing done that I had not been able to work on for a while so I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I did a really cute project in the mudroom (pictures to follow when I get the finishing touches complete). John and I went out to dinner. And sat for the entire meal! I made him promise before we went that he wouldn’t get up and run around in circles or crawl under the table and he assured me he wouldn’t and he kept his word.

 

John worked Saturday and once Emmy came home, I considered calling Nana back since Emmy was properly spoiled.  Sunday morning after our trip to Sonic and Target, John and Emmy hung out while I worked in the flower bed. My flower bed was ridiculous and I swear, I think I saw some neighbors standing on the porches clapping and thanking me for finally cleaning it. Last year, I had lots of plants and tall flowers and of course, after all was dead, I never pulled out floral corpses and the leaves. So, I worked for a couple of hours in the yard and got most of the larger bed finished. In John’s defense, he would do it if I asked him to but he would also salt the earth so that he didn’t have to do it again. John and Emmy played in the house and then in the backyard. Neall and Becca were coming to Memphis for the night so I asked them to swing by and see if Neall could fix my wireless router. I am exhausted at messing with it.  Of course, when I went to get pictures of Sol and Emmy, my battery was dead!

 

Monday, we dropped John off for work and by the time we got home, Emmy Ruth was fast asleep. I knew that this would likely be the only time I could work on the other flower bed for the day and it really wasn’t nowhere near as lovely as it was on Sunday. We have NEVER been able to get a sleeping Emmy from the car into the house without waking her. I always thought it was so charming when people would remark about how when their kids would sleep they just put them in the car and drove around until they feel asleep. But then what? When ERB was a baby, I drove that Prius and the thought of spending the night in there wasn’t too appealing. So, with a sleeping girl in the car, I worked on the other flower bed. As cold as it was at 7am, I got a lot done… quickly!

 

Emmy started complaining about her ear hurting and then she grabbed her head and said it hurt. I know that I am a freak, but really, don’t care, I called the doctor and they were able to get us in 30 minutes later. She was fine, no ear infection, just a cold, but I would much rather be safe than sorry and have to take off work and go this week. Once she had the all-clear, we made plans to hang out with Lucas and AunTee and we all headed to the Children’s Museum.

 

Whew! And here we go back to the everyday stuff!