My baby is a big girl

It's official No longer can I try and deny it.We are well on our way to having an "official toddler." Emma will be two in less than a month. I feel like I haven't had a "baby-baby" in such a long time though. She has been this big girl for a while now.

Emma gets into everything. Seriously. Especially those things we explicitly tell her NOT to get into. Those are her favorite. Of course. haha

At one point I tried to jot down every new word Emma said. I WANTED to be one of those moms who could tell you exactly what words were learned at 14 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years... But the fact of the matter is Emma learned way too many words way too fast. She knew how to put sentences together, form complete and complex thoughts, making actual decisions from so early on that it was impossible to keep up with her. Granted, the decisions she made weren't overly ridiculous, but still. I let her decide what she wanted to wear---within reason...aka I presented options I felt were appropriate and let her choose. Sometimes I would pick out 2 outfits for her and she would end up mixing the shirt and pants but hey, she liked it so I didn't fight her.

She chooses her own sippy cups when she is thirsty. When we moved, I made sure there was a bottom cabinet allocated to her plates, bowls and cups. So when she tells me "Mommy I firsty." I tell her to grab a cup. She goes right to her cabinet, squats down, thinks about which one she wants, and then brings it to me. That's amazing for a not-yet-two-year-old.

This kid. She's a nut though, I tell ya. She loves to sing and dance. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is now branching out to watch Octonauts, Sophia the First, and Doc McStuffins without a fuss. She still isn't overly fond of Jake & the Neverland Pirates, but that's fine too. She has a personality with definitive likes and dislikes.

She also knows what her "schedule" is. She knows Mondays are "Mamaw's days." Tuesday and Thursdays she knows she's goin to "Nonna's." And every Wednesday she wakes up and asks if her "An Sheh-yee" is coming over. I didn't know kids her age could pick up on that. Like pick up on what day of the week it is.

She knows how to count to 13. Sometimes she skips 5, 6, 7, 8--as in she will go "one, two, free, foe, nine, ten, eyeven, telve, tirteen..."; but if you ask her "What comes after 4?" She will tell you "5." And so on. She is learning her colors. She knows bue, geen, and wed (blue, green, & red). Usually. Those are about a 75% chance of her getting it right. Sometimes she knows yeh-yo (yellow), ohwange (orange), puhpull (purple). She doesn't understand white or black yet.

She gets the concept of names too. You ask her "What's your name?" And she says tells you. You ask her "How old are you gonna be?" She says "I gonna be TWO!" and holds up both of her pointer fingers! Now that's funny! I've even asked her what my name is. She says "Peeka" because my last name sounds like that. Or sometimes she says her dad's last name, then stops, acts like she's thinking about it, smiles (smirks really), and says "Nooooo. Is PEEKA!" Smartalec!

She's also a bit of an athlete. She can hit a ball off a tee to about 20 feet away. She can toss with serious accuracy. She manages to hit her target 99% of the time!! She loves footballs and basketballs and softballs... She loves to come up behind you and go "Momma-Kesh!" (MommaCatch) Then chuck a football right at the dead center of your chest!

But she's also such a girly-girl. She wants to wear dresses all the time. Seriously, I have to force her to wear shorts and pants. She wants her skirts and dresses. So weird for me because I used to have to be forced to wear dresses! But this kid loves 'em. I have said for a while now that she will be the girl on the softball field in full hair and make-up! haha

I can't believe she's going to be two next month. Exactly 4 weeks from today, actually. And it will be her Golden birthday. 2 on the 2nd.

I love being her mommy. I love watching her with her Daddy. I love snuggling with her and singing and dancing with her. I love when I drop her off with her Mamaw/Papaw or Nonna/Poppa, or when her An Sheh-yee or An Kiki come visit her and seeing her play with them. It hurts sometimes that she is so okay with me leaving or when she loses it because I have to take her home, not gonna lie. But then I remember she knows she's loved from everyone. Every single person who has ever met her has liked her. Genuinely liked her. She says "HI!" to the people in stores and their faces always light up and they almost always say hi back.

I got lucky. I know it. I was smart enough to wait for the perfect guy for me, so I would have this perfect person to help grow and raise and mold and shape and teach... I get to be her mommy every day. And every day is a blessing.

So many Birthdays!

It's almost here! The weekend!! 

I know. They take forever to get here, but they always come, each week, so it shouldn't be such a surprise. But that's not the big deal. The big deal is this weekend is EXTREE-Special. This weekend all of my nieces and nephew (and a "cousin") will all be one year old! Holy Moly!!

That's right! I have the best luck in that my daughter--who is already 19 months old!-- has 4 cousins who are no more than 7 months younger than her! My twin niece and nephew turned one at the end of December and it was fun going to Wisconsin to celebrate with them. They are these adorable roly pollies who have seriously the biggest, happiest, and overal BEST smiles...EVER! I swear. My only nephew (to this point) is a tank of a boy but the biggest sweetheart ever. He loves to laugh and you love to hear him laugh. And when his grandparents get around him, he lights up and wants to play. I think he's going to be that football player you just inherently like because he's genuinely friendly. Sporty and  Friendly. The best combo!

My nephew Monty. Told you his smile was perfect!

His twin sister, my "oldest" niece, well she's like him and she's not. She is friendly but not one of those "I'm going to love everyone RIGHT AWAY!" types. No, she's more of a "let me study you and figure out how good a friends we are going to be" type. What I like to call "Southern." lol She's not mean or anything remotely like that, but she won't be fake either. She is kind and courteous if she doesn't know you but so tight and loving if she does. Kinda like me and her mom. My stepsister and I are A LOT alike and to see her daughter be like her is amazing. Anyways, my niece is incredible. She is definitely a care-giver. Even at their birthday party back in December, it seemed like she would randomly look around for her brother, make sure he was okay and having fun. When they were having their smash cakes, she wanted to share hers with him. Quietly perfect, that's my niece!

My oldest niece Amelia... aka "Melie"

Melie sharing her cake with Monty

We had a little break before the next "round," you know. Next up was my guy's cousin's little girl. She turned 1 earlier this week. Ellie is sort of like Monty and sort of like Melie. She LOVES to laugh and she LOVES her cousins. She isn't too sure about new people though. Ellie is sort of like Emma's little sister right now, which is great! They live really close to us so Emma gets to see Ellie AT LEAST once or twice a week, if not more. They fight like sisters: when Ellie has a toy, of course that's the one Emma wants to play with. If Emma has something Ellie knows is "hers" (aka, if she wants it), then she will "tell" Emma in no uncertain terms. It's adorable!! I love that Emma gets to be a big sister to her cousin, yet still get to enjoy being Mommy & Daddy's "only." Ellie is talking a little more each day and trying her darndest to walk. She is soo close! A favorite new memory is from her birthday dinner, when Ellie and Emma both asked to watch their beloved "Mimi" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). They were pointing things out on the TV, characters and such, and singing the songs together. It was such a beautiful moment.
**Side note: I also think it's fitting both girls have "classical" and "Austen-ian" names! Eleanor and Emma are both strong, independent, loving characters from my favorite author. Just seems kismet to me! :)

Ellie and her Smash Cake photo!

(Almost) Always the happy, smiley girl! 

My "youngest" niece" turns 1 this weekend. Vivi is just a pure joy. She is so smart and athletic. I mean, what other baby do you know--at 9/10 months--could figure out that if she kind of rocks her upper body back and forth on a swing, the swing will start to move?? That's insane! But that's Vivi. She is so sweet. Her hugs are amazing... maybe because she is so deliberate about who she gives them to. Seeing her with her mommy and daddy is like candy for the eyes. This little girl captures your heart quietly. And I don't think I have ever heard her cry, seen a pic of her crying, or heard tales of her crying. Really and truly a happy and easy going baby girl.

If I had to use Jane Austen's characters to describe my littl'uns, I guess it would be as follows:

• Monty: Well he is like Mr. Bingley. Funny and fun to be around. Everyone loves him. No one can find a bad thing to say about him. He makes and keeps friends because he is a genuine and true guy. He will lead the pack because he wants to experience everything fresh and new, and not because of some need to be first. His enjoyment of things comes from their simple pleasure and not from what he can gain. (Little philosophical for a toddler. LOL)
• Amelia: She reminds me so much of Jane Bennett. Which is weirdly perfect in that Mr. Bingely ends up with Jane Bennett. But anyways. Jane is always thinking well of others, looking out for her family. Quietly observant of what is going on around her. She is the rock of the family. She doesn't judge as quickly as Elizabeth, so people like her and want to be around her. She finds the good in people and doesn't throw herself into the spotlight (*cough, cough* Lydia!), 
• Ellie: I see Margaret Dashwood with her. Yeah, yeah, she's like 12 in the book but whatever. Margaret is neither completely fanciful nor completely family-focused. Margaret craves adventure; she wants to be able to do the things her older siblings can do. She doesn't care about the material things, more the experiences she can have. She is probably the most well-balanced of Jane Austen's characters, but then again, she is only 12! haha
• Vivi: I just keep thinking of Fanny Price. Yeah, she's shy and timid, but I wouldn't describe Fanny as "shrinking from notice." Nor would I say that about Vivi. They are quiet and determined. I once heard Fanny described more of "Horton" from "Horton Hatches an Egg": She sits there, unwavering and faithful. "Steadfastly virtuous" is another way to look at it. I think that is more appropriate for my littlest niece. She is never going to be a "Marianne" (flighty, quick to fall in love, carefree to a fault...) but she doesn't seem to need to be. She already seems like she is aware of who she is and accepting of it. Far better than some of us adults sometimes!

For my family reading this: How'd I do? Did I get close, you think? And for those of you who don't know each baby (maybe that's not the right word anymore?? EEK--TODDLER), did I paint a picture of their personality clearly? 

On Emma's 1st Birthday, we...

Wow, so yesterday was an amazing day! I still am in chock that my baby is a little girl now. Anyways, here is what our Mommy-daughter day consisted of:

First, Emma slept in! I actually had to wake her up at 8am because she just wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep! She reminded me so much of her daddy then.

When she finally did wake up, she had a bottle, played with her toys, made a big mess in the living room... and basically made me laugh and smile the entire time! I put the computer away all day. I just wanted to spend time with her. I figured if I had to, I could work while she napped, but--if she was up--the computer was closed. Very proud of that decision.

Thing is, Emma didn't really want to nap yesterday. She wanted to play even though she was super sleepy (aka: becoming very grouchy). Finally I figured, if she wasn't going to sleep, I was going to have to take her with me on my errands. We went and ran an errand for Daddy, signed Emma up for the Kid's Pass at Barns & Noble where she got a free cupcake for her birthday, went to my other favorite store and bought a few things, went to Party City for streamers and a helium tank, then went home where she went right to sleep. I started prepping the ribs I would make for dinner, cleaned up the house some, watched some TV, and watched my baby girl sleep so peacefully in the living room.

She woke up right before her daddy came home. After that we were constantly entertaining her until her Nonna, Poppa, uncle, and Mamaw came over for dinner. Ribs & grilled corn. Tasted pretty yummy if I do say so myself!

After that we played in the living room for a bit with Emma before we opened presents. She had so much fun pulling the tissue paper out of the bags and "reading" her cards like they were books. Adorable. Then we brought out her birthday cupcake with one candle lit, sang to her, and she loved it. She is such a little diva too: Loves being the center of attention! She manga'd on her cupcake!! Icing all over her hands and face. Luckily not her hair this time like happened with the smash cake in her photo shoot.

Not long after that, the long day caught up to her. She was exhausted but fighting sleep. She didn't want her "guests" to leave yet and made a big show of fussing when someone had to leave. It would be adorable if she weren't so darn loud about it! haha Then she got a last bedtime bottle and went right to sleep.

Overall, a fun-filled, family-filled, perfect day!

One Year Pics

Just pictures from Emma's One Year photo shoot!

It's been a year already?

Seriously? Someone please tell me how this happened! My baby... Well I don't even  know if I can call her that anymore. She is my LITTLE GIRL! Everything about her amazes me. Everything.

Yesterday I had to work a long day. 12 hours away from her. But it was so I could have today off with her. A whole day off with her on her first birthday. A whole day to spend with her without any work. No emails. No texts. Nothing but her and me time.

Anyways, back to yesterday. So yeah, every time I would look at the clock, I was transported back to exactly one year ago at that time. I kept remembering every thing I was doing at that exact moment one year ago. People tell me it's silly to do that because eventually I won't remember every minute. But I think the reason I was so aware of every minute last year was because I was being induced. I was counting those minutes until we would go to the hospital and I would get to meet my daughter. I told me dad it was different than when he and mom were pregnant with me: They had no clue I would be coming when I did. So they didn't notice all the things that day. But I did "know." Sort of. I knew when I would be heading to the hospital and I knew it would be a few hours after that when she could be here. So yeah, one year ago I was making memories, storing them, because every minute was important to me.

One year ago at 8am I had my last doctor visit. I went to breakfast with my mom and stepdad at Cracker Barrel. I paced the house, cleaning what little I could, waiting for my dad and Grammy to come in. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We came back to the house where I proceeded to pack and unpack and repack my suitcase probably a good 5 times! I knew I should get some sleep because the next day was going to be a rough one, but I was too excited. We checked in around 11pm. Question and answer session with the nurses. Watched my guy sleep on that crappy fold out. Watched crappy TV (because really, is there ever anything good on at 2am?) At 4:30am on 7/2/13 the doctor came in and broke my water. Epidural at 9am. At 12:25pm I told everyone I was fully dilated. They all laughed at me. I forced my guy to go get the nurse because I was THAT sure. He laughed as he brought her in. She laughed as I told her I was done. She wasn't laughing when she told the assistant nurses to go get the doctor and shoo-ing everyone out of the room. I pushed for almost 2 hours. Then, at 2:12pm, they laid my daughter on my belly. I wanted to hold her so bad, but they took her to clean her up. Her dad looked at me, then at her in the rolling bed, then at me, asking me if I'd mind if.... I told him to go meet our daughter. I don't know how much time passed before people were allowed in, but I remember the room being flooded with people who wanted to see Emma.

That was a year ago and I remember all of it. Like I am watching a home video.

And now. Now my daughter is this little person. She is getting into everything. Here is a little breakdown of the little person ruling my life:

• She's a running fool! She doesn't walk so much as she runs. Last night, as we were playing before bed, I had my phone plugged in to charge. I watched as she unplugged the charger (not like ripped it, but actually unplugged it)... and IMMEDIATELY RAN AWAY! Haha little stinker. She knew what she was doing and when I "ran" after her, she had gone to the bathroom and was waiting for me. She had this HUGE smile on her face when she saw me. Then she ran back to Daddy, laughing the whole way.

• Her vocabulary is huge! Mama (or Mum), Dada (or Dah-DEE), Nonna, Mamaw, Timmy, Shawn, Poppa, No, Pees (Please), Tank Ew (Thank you), Toof-bah-sh (toothbrush), That's mine, I want that, Ball, Ba (bottle), Yuh You (Love You)...

• She loves to open the microwave when it dings that her bottle is warmed. She also loves to close the microwave door.

• She loves when we let her open/close the door, turn the light switches on or off, pull the shower curtain back... She loves being a big kid.

• She only wants to eat what we are eating. Like--what is on our plate. She doesn't want her own plate. She wants OUR plate!

• She loves baby dolls.

• Everything is a phone and every "phone" should play music. She is already Tech-savvy. She can work a phone. She mimics her Daddy with his Playstation remote.

• This kid loves to dance! She can keep the beat of almost anything after just a few seconds of hearing it. She's a genius, at least in my opinion. May have the stuff to be a Prima Ballerina or dance Hip Hop. We're not sure yet! haha

• She likes to "tidy up." She puts her toys in containers...whether or not they are the containers we would put them in doesn't really matter. The other day I found her "stacker" toy sticking up out of the recycling can we have! We find our cell phones in random places. We still can't find the TV remote and it's been missing for almost a month now!

• She's not a huge fan of the pool yet. She has to be held the entire time. Won't go in the sitting-floaty thing we got her. And she HATES when her daddy and uncle rough-house in the pool. 

I'll post again with her "One Year Pics." And some fun stories from her birthday-day!

My Mother's Day!

I'm just a few days late with this. Pretty good if you ask me!

Anyways, Mother's Day started off in the most memorable of ways. The night before I just could NOT get Emma to go to sleep. We went down around 10 and at 10:30 Emma was up screaming. I changed her diaper and tried everything I could think of. Nothing worked. After 2 hours (yes TWO HOURS!) of trying to get her to sleep to no avail, we finally figure out a new "technique" to get her to sleep. She slept great the rest of the night; Daddy & I--not so much! haha

It seemed like just minutes later her daddy was waking me up saying he had to go meet his dad so I needed to get up with the baby. I was scared it was already like 8am because we had a full day ahead of us and I needed every minute to get ready for the day. I hopped up and that's when I realized something was "off." He had this huge grin on his face and was leading me to the kitchen. There, sitting on our counter, was a huge stack of pancakes and my iced tea just the way I like it!!!
   **Side Story: Every Sunday I have tried to make pancakes for us as a family and it never happens. Either her daddy has to help someone out, or we don't have syrup...SOMETHING! 
But this time, this time I got to have my Sunday pancakes!! And they were delicious! Everything was perfect. I even had a dozen yellow roses and a B&N gift card. My "daughter" already knows me so well!! haha

After that I had to get Emma ready for her busy day. Diaper bag packed. Car loaded up. Emma dressed up. Me dressed up. Extra "nice clothes" for both of us for when Emma decided she no longer liked what we were wearing (aka: spilled something on herself or me, spit up on me, wiped guk on me, etc). Mother's Day bags ready for Mamaw (my mom) & Nonna (her dad's mom). Then we made our rounds! haha

We had brunch at a really nice place... a golf course. The food was really good. I ate way too much sausage gravy & biscuits and bacon! Emma even enjoyed he eggs, biscuits & gravy, hashbrowns... my girl can EAT! After brunch we went to hang out with Nonna and her family for a while.

Towards the end of the night we went to Mamaw's for dinner. We were celebrating my mom's birthday that night too. It was a lot of fun! Emma entertained everyone. We had rotisserie chicken my stepdad made, salad I made, and my sister's "famous" ranch potatoes. It got really late on us pretty fast though. Not sure if that was due to the lack of sleep or if Emma just was wore out from her busy day! Either way, we were home and asleep by 9pm! haha

I must say. Mother's Day was as perfect as it could have been. I had the best wake up. Got to enjoy both of my families. And I got to share my Emma with people who love her. There's nothing a mother could ask for than to see her baby receive so much love. That might have been the best gift of all!

1 month pics

Just a few pics of Emma on her 1 month birthday!

Busy birthday weekend

Well this weekend was by far the most PACKED weekend we have had in a long time. There was just so much going on.

Friday was my work baby shower right after work (check out the pics in that blog). After that, I headed home so I could change into comfy clothes... because we were going to my mom's for my birthday dinner. See, my anniversary is also my birthday, so my family decided we would just have dinner together the day before. So we headed over there for a few hours. Ate. Hung out. Told some fun stories. Just had a generally fun time.

Saturday was my birthday and anniversary. My boyfriend gave me gift on Friday. I was bringing in the gits from my shower and he asked if I wanted my gift a little early. OF COURSE! LOL He got me a Nook!! I am so excited about this! I mean, yes, I am traditional in the sense that I love my paper books. But I think this will be something amazing for when I am doing the late-night feedings. It has internet, games/apps, etc on top of the books. I will be able to read, check facebook, post some things on here.... all while I'm feeding her. Once I told him about this, he was even more happy he got it for me! lol (It will help keep me awake during those late hours.)

I have a Nook!

My Nook and cute cover!

The cover is adorable!

On Saturday, my guy had to get a lot of stuff done, so the morning was spent checking things off my To Do List. And boy did I get a lot done! I got all my Thank You cards filled out and ready to go. Got a haircut (this was a mistake... shouldn't have done that). Picked up my new prescription sunglasses. Cleaned up the house. Got all the laundry washed and dried (not necessarily folded! lol). Had lunch with my sister. Returned somethings to Target and Penney's. Picked up a dress for my anniversary dinner later that night....

I had made reservations at Rainforest Cafe for our anniversary. My guy had brought it up a few times that he wanted to eat there. I thought it would be fun. I told the lady when I made the reservations (and when I confirmed that day) that it was for a birthday and anniversary. When we got there, I told the hostess I was there for my reservation. I don't guess she understood, because she just put a "2" on a card and had them seat us anywhere. They ended up placing us next to a birthday party for like an 8yo. And the rest of the people around were families with little bitty babies crying. The food was ok, but not what I was hoping for. Ugh... Oh well, like my guy said: there wasn't a lot we could do since I am 8 and a half months pregnant. Maybe next year we will leave Emma with family and get a night out. Not sure we will be able to handle being away from her though!

I already posted about Saturday night's "adventure," so I won't go into that again. But it just added to the craziness of the weekend.

Yesterday was Father's Day. You would think after spending all night in the hospital, we would take it easy. Nope. Not our style! LOL My guy had to finish up helping his uncle. Then we went to his dad's for the rest of the day so he could fix something with their water. (It was WAY above my comprehension! LOL Good thing I'm dating someone who's smart enough to do all that!) By the end of the day, neither of us had any energy left. We basically got out of the car and went STRAIGHT to sleep!

I think we still overdid it though, because we both woke up sick as heck this morning. If I stood up, I would get dizzy or throw up. He was in the same boat. I ended up having to take the day off work. I'm realizing more and more how strenuous it is making a baby. And I'm just not able to do EVERYTHING like I used to. I'm being forced to take more breaks and cool it on the To Do Lists! Lol