I love Fridays

Fridays are sack lunch day at Emmy's school and we get to pack a lunch
for her. I think her carrying her lunch box is the cutest thing ever.

I AM NOT A MONKEY!

John and I love monkeys, not sure why, but we do so it only makes sense for that to be a term of endearment for us to use with Emmy. This morning, I called her a monkey and she screamed, “I am not a monkey! I am Emmy!” Alrighty then. She has been doing this a lot lately any time I call her anything, such as silly. I have been trying to get her to learn her whole name and that she lives on Walker, just in case something happens. When I ask “Emmy who?” she replies with “Emmy Ruth”. It’s  a start.

 

Big Girl

This is a girl that slept in her big girl bed all night long!!! Mama, on the other hand, lay awake in her bed, very lonely for her munchkin. I bet I got up a dozen times to check on her and she was perfectly fine. I am so proud of her. And John and I!!!

 

Even superheroes like to color.

Really?

I understand reading while you do your business but must it be the Led
Zepplin Saga??

Well, she might not be physicist.

Every time we leave a location, Emmy asks where the building is going. We leave school, “Where did my school go?” I try to explain that we are moving and the school is staying there, but she hasn’t quite gotten that concept yet.

 

I told her the other day about our upcoming beach trip and when we pulled into our driveway, Emmy Ruth started crying and said, “I don’t want to go home, I want to go to the beach!” Me too, sweetheart, me too.

 

For a girl that doesn't like baths...

She really likes water. When we were at the zoo, that was all she could talk about… the water everywhere. She stepped in water puddles, she was amazed at the water the gorillas had in their exhibit, on and on…

 

And then Daddy set up her slip-n-slide that Lucas gave her. And she almost lost her mind.

 

Memorial Day Weekend

How do you celebrate a holiday in honor of the men and women that have sacrificed so much for all of us? I am not sure we can do it justice but we tried to enjoy every second of the long weekend.

We started out at the park with Lucas and AunTee on Friday afternoon. The kids love to run and run they did. And is there any better way to be a friend than sharing a milkshake?

On Saturday, we went to the Children's Museum and to Ian's birthday party and had a blast!

Sunday, we woke up to no electricity so we headed to the zoo. It was a wonderful time.

John kept saying he liked the hot pink kneepads that the flamingos were wearing.

Emmy kept telling this plaque to leave her dress alone. Not sure what that was about. And of course, we have the Buddha picture at the zoo.
Monday, LynnLynn and Richie came to visit and Emmy Ruth was in rare form. Eventually, I am hoping that we get to sit and eat at a restaurant. It's so hard now! John always ends up taking her outside since she refuses to sit still. On one hand, she needs to learn how to behave in a restaurant. However, who wants to sit next to that??? And once we start spanking and going to time out in the meal, it puts a pretty big damper on the meal experience. This is definitely something we are working on this summer. Wish us, and our fellow dining patrons, luck.

I gotta go... John is knocking on the window to get the pool and meet them outside. Oh heavens!!!

Glasses

Sometimes I wonder if she is going to take after her Aunt Becca and be an optometrist. The girl loves her glasses. Monkey glasses, Dora shades, Barbie or Minnie Mouse, she has them all.  Seriously, she has about seven pairs of glasses in the carrier on the back of the seat. We stopped to visit our cousins Rex and Kim the other day and Emmy pulled out each pair to show Kim—and Kim was amazed at all her shades. Last night, she took each and every pair in the house and this morning, she took three pairs to school with her. She does love her Aunt Becca so this could be her trying to be just like her.

She is really keeping us on our toes

Here is our “angel” in an outfit she picked out, fully engrossed in Dora, watching for Daddy to come home and playing the piano after her bath.

Stroller for Two

I am pretty sure that this is not what the intended purpose of the double stroller is, but Emmy is just fine sharing it with her Baby.

 

And of course, Baby riding on her shoulders. And Baby’s bed in her lap because she insisted we take it with us.

Veggies

There is tale that when I was a kid, I would eat tomatoes faster than Daddy could grow them. It’s strange since I hate them now, but I really liked them as a kid. Emmy Ruth apparently loves them too. She had corn on the cob for the first time this week too and loved it. It makes me giggle thinking of Daddy’s garden as a kid.

 

Food stuff

Why is it while Emmy Ruth is cooking dinner for me and two babies,
they get milk but I get the bottle with a vinegar sticker??

TGIF

She might be a silly monkey, but I sure am sweet on her. Emmy Ruth finished her first full week at school (well, almost full week since I kept her home yesterday) and she did wonderfully. When I picked her up this afternoon, her teacher changed her diaper just before we left and ER lay perfectly still for her. What? It takes both John and I at home, one of us at each end holding her down!! And the teacher told me the most wonderful thing today.... they are going to work on potty training in a few weeks!!! I am giddy!

On Monday, we thought our dog Bill was a goner, but after $300 at the vet, she only has a thyroid issue and will be taking pills twice daily from now on. I have trouble remembering my daily multi vitamin so this does not bode well for Bill.

Then the washing machine died.

Then my laptop died.

Today they delivered the new washing machine and I moved the fridge into the middle of the kitchen so that the delivery men could get downstairs easier. When we got home, Emmy saw the big empty spot and then saw the giant six foot stainless steel box three feet away and exclaimed, "I found it!" We obviously can't get anything past her.

Twenty Seven Months Old

Okay, I treasure every single day with Emmy Ruth but really, really is she going to be two for a whole year? My goodness... every thing is a battle. She wants to walk the stairs alone at school, she refuses to hold my hand as we walk to the car, she closes the door to the bathroom and tells us to "get out", she cries and throws a fit at every single thing we do. Seriously, I feel like every day I threaten time out a dozen times. She will usually relent before I get to the end of my "You better do this or else" countdown but it definately puts a damper on the mood having to even go there. Oh this girl. So independent! Where did she get this???

When I was little, Momma said I ate tomatoes like mad... faster than Daddy could grow them. She would love to see Emmy Ruth eating tomatoes all the time now. I can't keep cherry tomatoes here as she eats so many a night. And she calls them "apples". It's pretty adorable.

I cannot believe that I wasted so much time worrying that Emmy would not start talking. She never hushes now! Right now, I am watching her make her daddy lie on the floor and every time he moves she tells him to lie back down and be still. Such a silly girl. And such a silly daddy for doing it...

Emmy Ruth is doing so well at her school. She cries when I drop her off but about three seconds later, she is fine and the highlight of the day. The teacher said that she wished she had twelve Emmies in her class. Of course, this lights this momma's day.

Phone call

Emmy was just walking around with her phone and I overheard this.

"Hi, AunTee."

"Hi, Lulu."

"Hi, Jorge."

"Remember me?"

Happy Mother's Day

She's all mine. The other night, I couldn't sleep and I just stared at sweet Emmy Ruth sleeping in our bed and I could not think of anything but how she was all mine. The curls on her little head, the way that she sleeps with her arm under her head, that prissy little walk, it's all me. She's got plenty of her daddy in her too--when she wakes up and makes the same faces and expressions he does. She does things that confuse me as to where she got them... the way she hates to snuggle when she sleeps. I love to snuggle. I slept with Grandma Ruth a million times and always asked her to "hold my back" so we could snuggle. Even as a thirty year old, I would sleep with Momma and she would hold my back. Not my girl. And I really don't think I have ever enjoyed being naked as much as she does. This child would go without clothes or diaper or panties all the time if we let her. But, then, just to remind me that she is mine, she askes about "Wal-Mart". I am so proud.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of Momma but each Mother's Day is easier than the last and nothing makes it more sweet than having Emmy Ruth, for both me and John. Emmy would have hit the jackpot with grandmas.

Getting back to it

I got home on Wednesday afternoon and I am pooped already. John, Tara and Natalie are babying me and keeping me from doing much of anything, and that is pretty amazing. I really shouldn't be laughing for sure but that is so hard with John and Emmy Ruth around. Since I have been out of sorts for a good three weeks now so there hasn't been much housekeeping that I have done lately. When John came in drying off with one of Emmy Ruth's pink towels, I almost lost a stitch. Then, Emmy insisted on sleeping with her Dora stepstool and when John exclaimed to a whiny ERB, "if we are sleeping with a Dora stepstool, you better quit crying!", I almost fell off the bed.

We have a very slow and calm weekend planned, actually un-planned. The only plan is to have a good lunch on Sunday for Mother's Day, very exciting.

Emmy Ruth started Idlewild this week and absolutley loves it. Natalie has been driving us to school and back each day and as soon as ER sees it, she exclaims, "my school!" The teachers say that she is doing wonderfully and is just precious. No doubts.

Mr. Entertainment

Uncle Neallio provided today's entertainment at the hospital. They will be removing
my gall bladder this week; so thankful that this is almost behind us!!!

Today is also Papa Richie and LynnLynn's anniversary. Lots of love to them this special day.

Hip

Oh so cool.

When life hands you pancreatitis...

...make jello molds. I have eaten my weight in jello the past two weeks so last night Emmy Ruth and I worked on molds in the shapes of Spiderman, Shrek and Cars. They didn't turn out so well but the jello was just as good. I am really looking forward to eating again!

So, this is ER's last week with MeeMee. I am so excited about Emmy starting school at Idlewild, mainly because I can't wait to see how much she learns! Of course, the idea of not driving a hundred miles a day is quite pleasing also. But, the idea of leaving MeeMee is just torture. I can never thank her enough for all she did for us, when we needed it most. I dropped this sweet girl, at six weeks old, off at her house for the majority of the day. If I do say so myself, she has done a wonderful job of raising our brilliant girl. I am so sad to leave, uh, I mean, for Emmy Ruth to leave, but I know this is for the best and that she will be so quick to bounce into her new routine. Let's hope Mama does as well!

Daddy's Girls

So, a sweet Emmy Ruth came home today. I was so happy to see her and Uncle Neallio, Aunt Becca and Joy all said that she had been asking for me. ME! It had been a day longer since I had seen her than her daddy, and I just knew we would snuggle up on the couch for some much anticipated Dora and Yo Gabba Gabba! I was wrong. She got out of the car and gave me a quick kiss and immediatley went for Daddy. Even when he was cutting up strawberries for her to snack on before dinner, she would have nothing to do with me, only her daddy.

I can't get too upset since another Daddy's Girl spent the day with her dad today. For the second time in three days, Daddy drove all the way over her to just check on me and help out with that important stuff that I could never do alone and that must be done while sick, like grocery shopping.

We are both so lucky to have such good daddies.

Note...

Before Tuesday morning, the only other time I drove myself to the hospital was when we came home with sweet Emmy Ruth. I am thinking that trip was a lot better than this more recent drive I made. I got up after midnight and was quite certain that I was passing a kidney stone or perhaps having an ectopic pregnancy. I have never hurt so badly! It literally was worse than the labor pains pre epidural. There was no way that I wanted to get Emmy Ruth up and out in the middle of the night so John had to stay home with her while I took off. I am pretty surprised I didn't get pulled over on the drive there, but I arrived okay, and took off towards to the ER. I must have looked pretty rough since they got me back there pretty quickly and off to do an EKG and CT scan. I was admitted and limited to a diet of ice chips only.

I am so thankful for friends that take care of me, a husband that loves me and was literally shaking with worry, a brother and sister in law who jumped over here as quickly as they could to take my girl so I wouldn't need to worry and friends that kept me in their prayers, made visits and called to check in on me. I was lucky that this wasn't a big deal, and I am going to be okay. Praise God.

And now, three days later, I am home with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis due to a gallstone. It was much more fun coming home with Emmy Ruth!

Such a lady

And here we have Our Grace riding along with me.

Another phrase she has learned is "daddy where's the remote?"

Jesus Loves Me

Emmy Ruth is in the habit of making a statement and asking a question at the same time lately. We listen to our Sunday School music CD in the car and after Jesus Loves Me, she looked at me said “Jesus loves me?” I told her He did more than she could ever imagine. But, He was surely not happy to see her throwing her sippy cup at me while I was driving.  

 

The other day, she kept saying “That way!” when I was getting on the interstate to drive home. She was correct in the direction we needed to go back to Memphis but I had to turn left to get on the ramp to get back that way and Emmy Ruth was not happy until I was going east. Last night, she kept saying she wanted to see AunTee and told me to turn “That way”, again, correctly. I was really thinking it was all a fluke until this morning, she said “MeeMee lives that way” and again pointed accurately. I am amazed! And can say without a doubt that she did not get this astute sense of direction from her Yia Yia who got lost when she left Wynne.

 

And last but not least, Emmy Ruth said her first sentence! I can’t be sure that she hasn’t said sentences before but this was the first that John and I both stopped and looked at each other and realized it. She said… “Bill ate my dinner!” after Bill ate her chicken taco while ERB was watching Dora the Explorer.

 

Flowers and Stickers

Emmy Ruth gave flowers for Easter this year. Because they would be
planted, putting them in a pot didn't make much sense so she decided to
just put Easter stickers on the green planter they were already wearing.
And what the heck? If there are stickers, might as well put some on our
belly.

Happy Easter and 26 months

There is nothing to say but, my goodness, Momma would have loved this.

Nothing like a little Ring Around the Rosey before heading to church.

Easter. At the Mall.

Of course it is time for our Annual Easter On the Bench At the Mall Picture.

 

2007. Emmy crying.

2008. Lucas crying.

2009. Emmy and Lucas won’t stop hugging long enough to take a picture.

 

 

Yep, it is all still there...

I am quite sure she was looking to see that her eyeballs were still
intact after the screaming that went on during her shampoo massage.

Last night, we made Easter cookies. That is probably a stretch of the
truth to say that we made them but it was so much fun. Emmy Ruth was
standing on a step ladder to reach the counter and as I would roll out
the cookie dough, she pressed in the Easter shaped cookie cutters. She
quickly discovered that cookie dough is the best food ever. We kept
telling her to stop eating it so she would sneak out a piece and pop it
in her mouth every chance that she got. She thought this was the
funniest thing ever and would just cackle with delight.

Me too, Emmy, me too

This morning as we got out of the car at Wal-Mart, there was a Tombstone Pizza truck within eyesight. Emmy Ruth exclaimed, “PIZZA!” and pointed at the picture on the side of the truck. Then she said, “I love pizza”.

 

Glad I got that picture

…of Emmy with the maraca! She broke it this morning on the way out the door. Last night, she found two more maracas and she had John and I join her in her playtent shaking maracas and playing the bongo drum.

While she is enjoying playing the tub, Emmy Ruth still hates the bathing process. It is really getting difficult to handle and I am not sure what the problem is or what we are going to do about it. She isn’t happy at all with the scrubbing on her body but heaven help us all when we wash her hair. Last night, we were blowing bubbles and she would say “it got me!” when one landed on her. This morning, a tiny little drop of milk from her sippy cup landed on her hand and she exclaimed that it got her too—she found this hysterically funny. That girl, she’s one silly munchkin.

This morning, she requested that we listen to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in the car. About twenty times.

Good stuff

Emmy Ruth spent Saturday night with Nana Alice and Papaw Ricky and John and I worked on getting the basement cleaned up after the flooding it got the week before. The floors are properly bleached and scrubbed and everything is now up and off and floor. Emmy’s playroom has foam tiles for playing and lots of toys in hanging baskets. All is well.

 

This picture cracks me up. Momma kept so many of my things for when I had kids and I am so glad she did and I wish she were here to see Emmy Ruth playing with them now. Grandma Jackson had a penchant for costume jewelry so I kept a lot of that knowing that one day it would be perfect for a dress up chest and how right I was. Emmy is sitting in the rocking chair that was mine when I was little, wearing two of Grandma Jackson’s necklaces and shaking a maraca that Momma and Daddy brought back from Costa Rica. Life is good.

 

 

Just like David Beckham only CUTER

So, Lucas had his first soccer game on Saturday. The coach told them the first rule of soccer was no hands and the second rule of soccer was no picking flowers. They followed each rule equally well.

 

Emmy Ruth is obviously Lucas’s biggest fan.

Sushi with Minnie

The other day, I found Emmy and Minnie Mouse having sushi in Emmy’s room. Apparently, Minnie Mouse likes her sushi with a croissant and a hot dog wiener and Emmy likes hers with a carrot and ice cream.

"Daddy..."

Last night, John was so sweet and let me camp out in the bedroom and watch the series finale of ER. I really haven’t watched it lately but I remember sitting around watching it with so many friends through the years. As I tried to watch it in the living room, Emmy got out her Yo Gabba Gabba! dance mat which made it a little difficult to hear, so John offered to entertain Emmy for me. This morning, when I got up, this was the scene in the living room after their playdate. I am not sure what happened in there but apparently there was a grocery store incident (as evidenced by the sideways shopping cart), a concert of stuffed, singing and dancing farm animals, and perhaps some role play with all of the Yo Gabba Gabba! characters while wearing a pink cowgirl hat. But, it was certainly a good time.

 

This morning when we got in the car, Emmy wanted to watch Yo Gabba Gabba! and I told her we didn’t have a DVD for them and we couldn’t. She immediately tried to rat me out! “Daddy, Mama said we couldn’t watch Gabba!” As if John wasn’t sitting in the passagner seat and heard the entire conversation. I am not sure what this is about but it’s quite comical. Thankfully, John hasn’t turned on me to take her side. Yet.

 

The other just stinking adorable thing lately is that when we drop John off at work, Emmy says he is “going to make the money”. One day when she was upset that he was leaving I told her that he had to go to work to make money and she has held on to it. MeeMee says that all day long she will tell her that Daddy is making the money. I don’t know what she thinks I am doing all day, but I am glad she knows that Daddy is working hard to support us.

 

 

 

Apparently, she's afraid of my driving.

We went to Jonesboro Saturday to see John’s family. It was so good to see them and of course, Emmy Ruth got spoiled while we were there. Her Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ted gave her this really cool Dora helmet and kneepads and she insisted on wearing them all day. She even tried to sleep in them! We ran into Richie and LynnLynn at the mall so it was an exciting meet and greet all the way around!

 

No, that’s not Emmy’s Sonic drink, she just managed to snag John’s for a bit.

 

Our girl is getting so big. I just can’t believe it. I like to think she is just the sweetest and most caring soul. Any time you make a strange noise or grumble, she says “you okay?” Just a sweet, sweet girl. We are so lucky.

Thug Nation

Lucas came over Friday night to show off his mad soccer skills after practice. He and Emmy had to wear their hooded sweatshirts exactly alike.