Disney on Ice

Of course, I have no pictures but we went to see Disney on Ice tonight with the Jacksons. Emmy and I with Neall, Becca, Solomon, Baby Rose and Maggie Grace. When we were walking to the Forum from the parking lot, Emmy announced, "We are a family!" It is just the little things she says sometimes that just take my breath away. Of course we are a family but having her little precious voice around to say it is pretty sweet.

The kids all loved it. I wondered at first if Sol and Emmy would ever speak again because during the first act, they sat like stone with their mouths open, staring. Emmy of course loved the princesses and Maggie Grace clapped with delight. Solomon's favorite part was when Toy Story came out at the end. Rose liked the food. She (of course) was sitting in Becca's lap and eating nachos. I thought it was so sweet that she kept putting a chip on my leg until I realized she was licking the cheese off of it and then giving it to me. Then she had popcorn. And a soda. And french fries with ranch dipping sauce.

Cooper Young Fest

The Shepherds came over to go to the Cooper Young Festival with us again this year and we were so happy to see them. It was so very, very hot so we didn’t stay out in it as much as we might have otherwise. Joy took these adorable pictures of the girls and put them on her blog, so I borrowed them. I just love to see these girls playing together. I would have given anything to have heard the conversations they had in the stroller together. They chit-chatted the whole time!

Of course, Emmy had to wear her fairy wings and skirt.

I really don’t know what to think of Emmy with that crazy rolling her eyes look!

Sweet, sweet smiles.
Then she saw her... WonderWoman. We tried to go see her and Emmy just didn't have the nerve but when her daddy was with her she finally was able to do it.

Her Own Style

Emmy has been very outspoken about picking out her own clothes on
occasion lately. We had a rough time last Sunday getting ready for
church because she was very opposed to every dress I picked out for her.
She finally (after many tears) decided on this dress.... it's a size 5
and shouldn't be this long. But, we made due and went on to church. I
told her when we got out, we would go to Macy's so that she could pick
out a dress that she would want to wear next week to church. We went in
the Macy's entrance near the cosmetics and fragrances that leads
directly to jewelry and I don't guess we have ever used that entrance
before. She was AMAZED.

She stopped at a jewelry counter, placed her hands on the glass and
said, "OH MY GOSH. You aren't going to believe this stuff". I am afraid
that we are in for big trouble with this girl and her shopping. She did
pick out a pink and black polka dot dress to wear to church this week.
Fingers crossed all goes well with getting ready!

In other silly funny things she has done lately:

--She grabs my face (or John's) and says, "oh suga, suga, suga! Aren't
you so cute?"

--Tells me (or John) that "you're just the best mama (daddy) ever; I
think I am gonna keep you!"

--She loves to play teacher. This is one of those things that Momma
would have just LOVED. I used to play school all the time and I remember
hearing about me putting Grandma Ruth in the corner when I was about
Emmy's age. The other day, we were playing with Lucas and AunTee and she
would "read" the book and then ask "Children, who can tell me what was
in the story I just read?" If we answered correctly, she would have
everyone clap. Unfortunately, the teacher does pick on me a little, she
gave all the other students a sticker, except me! I hope to win her over
soon.

Noses

Me:        You’ve got such a cute nose.

Emmy:  Thank you.

Me:        You know you have your daddy’s nose.

Emmy:  No I don’t.  {laughing at that silly mama} He has his own nose!

 

Good times with a silly goose.

 

Did she really say that?

I know I am going to forget all these funny little things she says....

John was giving Emmy way too many hugs and kisses and she said, "alright, alright, I get it, you love me!"

I am really pushing her to learn her letters and she just told me, "we're not doing letters tonight, hon".

Emmy has had these little tiny bumps on her arms since she was born. The other day, we were at Pancho's with John's sister and I asked her to look at them and see what she thought I should do. Emmy said, "Actually, I don't need you sea witches' help!"

WonderWoman 1980 and 2010

Emmy Ruth wore my WonderWoman dance costume to Sol's birthday party. There are some times that I am so thankful Momma kept so many things!

WE LOVE SOLOMON!!!

I can't believe our little Superhero is already three!!! Sol had a great superhero party and we are so glad he invited us. We are so thankful for our sweet family! I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of him in his Spiderman outfit--he changed quickly into Buzz!He loved the Wall-E that we got him. It was fabulous to see him so excited because of something we got him.
Supergirl.

Supergirl getting pizza from Captain America.

Pinata!!

Super Julia

Here, WonderWoman is counting out all her loot from the pinata with Uncle ET.Super Sol!!!!!!
Nothing like birthday hugs between Buzz Lightyear and WonderWoman.

I thought (and I think Sol does too) this was a climbing wall. I was corrected that it is a castle. Super Julia, Supergirl and WonderWoman love the castle.

I love this of SuperJulia and WonderWoman counting all the things they got from the pinata.

Captain America and three Buzz Lightyears!

Pucker up!

Family!

Daddy's sister, who we always knew as Aunt Mutt, had three kids, the youngest is Andy, who is a year older than me. We have been keeping in touch some on Facebook and a few months ago, he called to tell me about his daughter, Riley. He asked that I "friend" her on Facebook, which I did. When he called a few weeks ago and said that Riley was asking questions about his family, we decided to take a quick trip to Little Rock to meet her. I am so glad we did! Riley is a sweet, beautiful girl.

On the way there, Emmy was the school teacher to John and I... the entire way. She kept calling us "hon" and "sweetheart" and telling us to be quiet and still. She would say a word and then say "now, say it with me" and repeat it slowly and enunciated. Once she said "In English, we say 'rollercoaster', in Spanish, we say 'aqua'". The whole way there, I kept telling Emmy that if she was good, we would go swimming! We arrived at the hotel, checked in, carried our things up and jumped in our swimsuits and rushed downstairs only for the pool to be closed! It was just like Clark W. Griswold. Of course, I went to the front desk, we got our money back and headed to another hotel. We ended up at the DoubleTree which was better for our evening, location wise. We were able to walk to the Rivermarket to meet Riley and Andy and then walk back to the hotel to look at old pictures I brought and then walk back to meet Riley's mom and eat dinner. After we checked in at the new, more expensive hotel, we got in the pool and twenty minutes later, Emmy said she was ready to go inside.


After meeting Riley and Andy (Emmy has only meet him once and that was at Grandma Jackson's funeral when she was very little), Emmy kept calling them "our new friends" and she insisted on holding Riley's hand when we were walking. Very, Very Sweet.

Gotta Have It!

We have had our first "gotta have" incident around here. Skechers has a new shoe out called Twinkle Toes that has sparkles on the toes. Emmy had to have some. I have held out and thought about getting the generic ones, but this is really one of the first things she has specifically asked for by name. I had to get my license renewed yesterday and told her that if she was really good, we would get her Twinkle Toes afterwards.

Little did I know that I was able to use a kiosk there and we were out in ten minutes. She didn't have to work too hard for the Twinkle Toes.

We headed to Sears and got some Twinkle Toes on sale for $29. EGADS! But she loves, loves, loves them. They are pink and shiny and everything she loves.

Lucas loves his Skechers and thinks that they help him run faster. I told Emmy that Lucas would be so happy to know she had some Skechers and she said that she didn't have Skechers... she had Twinkle Toes. "Where is the box? It says Twinkle Toes, see?"

Happy Birthday to Me!

This morning, Emmy Ruth had me put her socks on her. I know she can do it herself but I was feeling somewhat lovey.... I asked her to promise me she would always need me. She said of course she would... "You're a great sock putter oner. And you're a great washer!" I couldn't ask for a better birthday thought!

And for a best birthday card ever... Yesterday, I got my passing score for the Regulation part of my exam!!! Only three more to go!

Other little things

Emmy has really gotten into Barbie dolls lately so I rented a Barbie Mermaid movie for her. She loved it and immediately began telling us she was going to be surfer when she grew up. She has been running around the house doing her surfer moves!! John’s dad had an old guitar that he fixed up for her and she loves playing it. She cracks me up when she has John accompany her on the piano so she can play her guitar and sing.

 

She thinks that McDonalds is Old McDonald’s.

 

We continue to have a rough time in the mornings. She gets up so early (6am) and the earlier we try to put her in bed, the more she fights it and the later it is when she actually goes to sleep. The other day she was in our bed (we are not consistently starting out in her bed in the evenings but even when we do, she wakes in our bed!) and I was trying to gently wake her. She woke up crying that we had moved her book while she slept. I told her she didn’t bring it in our room and it was still in her room so I carried her in there to kind of chill out. I went to put on my makeup and she got up, turned off the light and slammed the bedroom door!!! I thought she would be lying on the bed when I got there but she was sound asleep again. I fully expected lots of slamming of doors but I thought I had a few years before it started. Peggy (Gigi) said she took her girls’ doors off the hinges when they slammed them. I am afraid that is going to be coming around a lot sooner than later for us.

It is already the middle of August!

After searching and searching, I finally found a church that I like. Since I was still looking for so long, I didn't want to take Emmy Ruth until I was really sure about a place. When I finally decided on the church I like, I took Emmy. She was pretty adament that she didn't want to go to the children's church so I took her with me to the service. She did pretty well but I did learn that when selecting a baby to take to church, always find a baby doll with a soft face as those hard ones make lots of noise on the wooden pews!

She was so sweet when we were in church. While we were singing hymns, I was holding her on my hip and she sang in the sweetest, sweetest little voice. She would look at me and smile and then kiss my cheek and just sing along in her own words. When the pastor made a reference to John, Emmy exclaimed, "My daddy is John!" Of course, everyone thought she was just beautiful and wanted to say helo to her.

I told her the next week we were going to church the next week and she said, "but we went last week!!!"

We have so many things going on and keeping busy. Emmy loves her friends at school and she is starting to get used to the new routine. Her classroom is a lot more structured and not quite as much playtime for the kids.

Emmy has these other little phrases that I can't seem to break her from saying: "how many times do I have to tell you?" or "I told you!" or "I said ...".

I knew it was a good school.

"My teacher said we don't eat grass or pretend apples. Or lamps."

Little Nothings

To start the week off, I was mortified at what Emmy said/did. At Rose's party, she greeted a well wisher with a big 'pfffffffffffft'. It was one of those moments that I wish I could have seen my face. And what exactly do I do when she does that? Spank her or put her in time out in the middle of the party???? I could have just melted into the pavement.

Thankfully, some other quips she had this week were somewhat amusing.

I have been looking for a church and finally found one I really like. I plan to take her this Sunday for the first time so I have really been talking it up to her. We did (attempt to) go to church last weekend with the Jacksons so when I mentioned it to her, Emmy said, "But we went to church last week!"

We went to Walmart this evening to get a few things and Emmy Ruth exclaimed no fewer than a dozen times, "OH MY GOSH! Back up! That is adorable!!!!!!!!!"

We were checking out the bikes and found this really awesome Barbie bike, complete with a mini bike for Barbie. Emmy really liked it, until she saw the motorized car. Then she told me she wanted the car, Barbie could have the bike and she would drive the car over and pick up Lucas at his house.

As we were checking out at Walmart, I saw a mom and dad and a little boy who was obviously a patient at St. Jude's. This is something I see a lot in Memphis, especially in Midtown (or West Memphis as it were today). It always makes me stop and want to slap my forehead as I say to myself "MY GOD, WOMAN! SLOW DOWN! How amazingly lucky you are to have a healthy child!" As I was getting her out of the shopping cart, I kissed her and told her I was so thankful to be her mommy and she wrapped her little sticky arms around me and kissed me and said she was thankful to be my daughter. It doesn't get much better than that.

Happy Birthday, Baby Rose!

I think she will be 30 and will still be Baby Rose to us. Papa Richie and LynnLynn did a wonderful job with her birthday gift—a playhouse. I am not sure who loved it most, Emmy Ruth, Solomon or Rose, but it was a hit. Baby Rose especially loved the door bell!

 

I love the pictures of Emmy Ruth and Baby Rose in the playhouse with the toy birthday cake; Emmy would sing to Rose and Rose would clap and laugh. She is such a precious baby and we are so thankful for her.

 

And one day… one day… she’s going to let me hold her without crying! I just know it!

 

 

 

Tomato!

Giggy shared lots of tomatoes with us and Emmy loves them. It's pretty
funny that I ate tomatoes directly from daddy's garden when I was her
age.

A Morning in the Life

635         Wake up with Ze Fronk and the Little Einsteins.

637         “Emmy put on your clothes.”

640         “Emmy put on your clothes” followed by “Mama, you have to be patient”.

645         “Emmy put on your clothes.”

647         “Emmy I am turning the TV off if you don’t put on your clothes.”

650         “Emmy put on your clothes.”

655         Emmy has on no underwear. “Emmy put on your clothes.”

656         “I don’t want to wear panties” to which I reply “you have to wear panties” and we have an argument discussion on why panties are required for school and work.

657         I turn the TV off and tears follow. Sobbing tears.

700         “Carry me!!!!!!!!” while sobbing. I hold her hand and we go to the bathroom and I hold her on my lap while I brush her teeth. “Hold me, Mama!”,“I am holding you, Emmy”,“NO! Hold me like this” and she jumps up and imitates me holding her on my hip.

703         “WHY IS THIS BACKPACK IN MY CLOSET??????????” “I am not sure, Emmy, but you can put it in your room” so she throws it on the floor in her room. “Emmy, pick that up and hang it on the hook”, “NO!”, “Okay, I will give it to some other little girl…1…2…” ,“baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!” but the backpack goes on the hook.

705         Sitting on the floor to put on shoes and she doesn’t want to wear socks. “I wanna put them on myself”, “Fabulous! you do it!”

708         Still telling me how she wants to put her shoes on herself. “Fine! Put your damn shoes on!”

708.5     “They aren’t damn shoes! They are shoes!” I feel horrible.

709         “You are right, Emmy, I am sorry.”

710         “I want to take my crayons for show and tell {you know, because no other kid at daycare has crayons}, are they still in the refrigerator?” Yesterday, she took them in the car but not to school and I forgot to take them in the office with me and when I picked her up, there were some slightly molten crayons in the carseat so we put them in the fridge. “Nope! I got them out and ready for you!”, “BUT I WANTED TO GET THEM OUT OF THE FRIDGE!!!!!!”, “I am sorry, would you like me to put them back”, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!”

711         “Put the crayons in the backpack and let’s get in the car.”

713         Walking out to the car, she goes all the way down the sidewalk to the sidewalk near the street then decides she would rather use the sidewalk near the house so she comes back up. Then, gets to the car and sees that the Velcro on her shoes isn’t fully engaged. Trying to fix it. “Emmy can you do that in the car?” Silence “Emmy, please get in the car” Silence “Honey, we really need to go” Silence “GET IN THE CAR!!!!!!” I like to think this was my good deed of the day—waking anyone in the neighborhood whose alarm didn’t work properly this morning.

713.25   Tears.

715         I crank up the CD of Revival Hymns and sing “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” as loud as I can.

716         Apologize to Emmy for getting upset and yelling. I tell her that was not very nice of me and I am sorry and I will work to do better. “Emmy, can you help me some in the mornings too?” I get a big “no”.

718         Arrive at school. Walking down the hall, the whining starts “Carry me, mama”. I remind Emmy that she is a big girl and doesn’t need me to carry her but if she will walk to her room, put her backpack in her cubby and ask me nicely, I will carry her back to the room where all the kids gather.

719         Tears and crying and general fit. Refuses to put her backpack in the cubby and says she is going to wear it all day.

720         Of course I am wearing a knee length dress today as I am squatting on the floor to try to reason with a hysterical 3 year old.

722         Emmy has to potty, still wearing a backpack, and I am on the floor and asking if she remembers the Llama Llama book we read last night about Llama getting mad at mama and how she sure is making a lot of llama drama this morning. Recite as much of the book from memory as I can.

724         “I don’t want to wash my hands!!!!!!!!!!!”

725         “I’m gonna put my backpack in my cubby” so we go back down the hall to the classroom and then back to the gathering room.

727         “I’m not hungry, I want to go to sleep”. I usually set up her breakfast for her at the table but sometimes she is tired and would rather lie down on the little beanbag and getting a little more rest.

728         “I’m not sleepy, I am hungry.”

730         I go home to go back to sleep stop at Circle K for a Thirst Buster coke since I am already late for work.

 

 

 

Mud Island

Sunday afternoon, we had brunch at the Arcade Restaurant and then hopped on the trolley for the Riverfront Loop. We ended up at Mud Island and did the Riverwalk (the miniature replica of the Mississippi River). I didn’t realize that she would get soaking wet, apparently all the other parents did as they all had their kids in swimsuits! This poor little brown dress has been nothing but wet when she has worn it… into this exhibit, into Lake Catherine.

 

A little girl named Sophie was there too and she took an interest in Emmy Ruth. She kept calling her “little one” and telling her to be careful. It was adorable. When we were walking off, I called out to Emmy, “come on, Turtle, let’s go”. I am not sure why I call her that sometimes, but I have for a while now, maybe because she’s so slow when I am in a hurry. Sophie said, “Turtle! Your momma wants you!”

 

Then we did the peddle boats and Emmy was not nearly as amused as I had hoped. We rented them for 30 minutes but were out there for about 5.5 minutes. Emmy was done and wanted out, so John and I peddled our little hearts out to get us back to the starting point, me with an Emmy on my lap. She was so tired that she fell asleep on the trolley ride back to the car!

 

Bathroom humor

I don't know why but Emmy is really concerned with what everyone is doing right now. At school last week, she asked her friend Omaida's dad what he was "doing in there" when he came out of the bathroom. Then at lunch yesterday, she asked this elderly lady what she was going to do when she walked in the bathroom stall!

This can fall under bathroom humor too, I think... each morning, I let Bill out in the backyard to go potty while we are getting ready for school. Emmy likes to help out so she gets to go call Bill back in the house. I usually do something along the lines of "Bill! Come on! Hurry, we're late!!!" Emmy prefers to speak to Bill in her native language and says "Ruff! Ruff, Ruff!!" And Bill always comes running.