Happy Birthday Markley!

We spent Saturday afternoon celebrating Emma's friend, Markley's, 3rd birthday. We had a great time. There was pizza, fruit salad, and a bounce house. Emma loves all of the above so she was in 7th heaven. There were also super thickly frosted cupcakes and totally packed goody boxes crammed full of toys, crayons, and playdoh. Emma loved it! The playdoh was an especially big hit but, apparently Emma forgot who her OCD mother was, and immediately smooshed all of her colors together! Argggh. She thinks it is pretty though.... Oh well.

Disneyland 03/24/11

We went to Disneyland again yesterday! Grandma came with us too and we love having her along! She did really well and didn't even buy a single souvenir for any of the kids either! We also met up with some friends of ours, Erinn and her daughter Kaia for a few hours. The kids had fun riding the rides together. We got to meet a couple princesses and go on quite a few rides. As of yesterday, TJ (with his back ramrod straight and neck fully extended) has hit 40 inches! Woot woot!! He was tall enough to go on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! He loved it, except for the dark parts which he told us he "did not like at all!" Lol. Too cute. We had a great day at the park and were on our way home before the rain really started up again. Perfect timing. :)

Emma's 1st Dentitst Appointment!

Well, I've been a bit of a slacker and hadn't gotten Emma into see a dentist yet. I know the AAP recommends a visit by the time kids are a year old, but my dentist said by 5 years old, and I figured they have been having a dental hygienist visit the preschool every year for a visual inspection and fluoride application, so I thought we were safe. Anyway, I figured I should finally get Em's teeth checked while we are off on spring break, so I made an appointment for this morning. She was very excited and has been talking about "seeing the dentist and opening my mouth wide, like this (*insert mental picture of gaping mouthed preschooler here)!" So I figured we were good to go. Nope. Not once we got taken in the back and she was asked to actually sit on this big green chair covered in plastic and lots of strange people were wandering around with masks over their faces. She straight flipped out. Clinging to me, crying, refusing to extricate her face from where it was buried in my neck etc etc etc. I tried logical reasoning, soothing, a stern voice, the usually very effective, "Emma I need you to follow directions NOW"... nothing was going to work. And then.... I turned into "that" parent. Yes, I resorted to bribery. There is a certain hunk of garish pink plastic that Emma has been drooling over for the past 6 months. A little treasure called a "Baby All Gone." She has been asking for one since right after her 3rd birthday. I didn't get her one at Christmas because she already had a cabbage patch doll coming. Well, every time we visit Wal-Mart, Target, ToysRUs, etc she asks to go "just see the baby all gone dolly, pleeeeeease Mommy." I have been repeating the "maybe for your next birthday" mantra for half a year. And today, her love for Baby All Gone was enough to get compliance out of her. I promised her one if she followed all the directions and sat in the chair by herself (at this point she was in my lap in the exam chair) and she couldn't cry. She agreed. Tears stopped, smiles were wavery but held strong, and I sat in a chair next to her holding her hand. After all that drama, she did great! Cleaning, rinsing, Xrays, being tapped with the "metal toothpick" - it was all handled with nary a word of complaint. And then we got the news that Emma had the unlucky misfortune to inherit my proclivity for bad teeth. Poor baby has 3 cavities! The dentist said we "could" try filling them here & see if she does okay or we could get an immediate referral for a pediodontist. I choose the referral and we were on our way next door to get Baby All Gone. Then we had to have a little talk about how this was a one time only treat and we don't usually get toys after the dentist but we still have to follow directions. She says she understands. We'll see come Friday morning when she has her follow up visit for the cavities...

Girl's Day at Disneyland!

On Monday, Emma and I went out to spend the day at Disneyland with our friends, Heather and Samantha. Emma loves playing with Samantha and we don't seem to be able to get together with her as often as some of our other friends, so this was a real treat. The girls got along wonderfully all day-- playing together in line, sitting together on the rides, and even sharing their little handheld video game systems on the drive out there and back. It was nice for me to get a chance to chat with Heather too. Usually there are so many of us at playdates that it is always nice when we get a chance to hang out in smaller groups. As a bonus, Erin, Chris, and Sophia were at Disneyland on Monday too so we were able to all hang out for a while. Emma loves Sophia and thought it was great to be able to play with both her and Samantha in one day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and we had lots of good jolly green fun! Emma made sure to wear her green pants to school, where they read stories about leprechauns and made shamrocks and paper leprechaun hats. When we got home we made very tasty GREEN smoothies! They had frozen pineapple chunks, orange juice, yogurt, banana, and SPINACH in them. There were those among us who doubted my culinary expertise in combining the aforementioned ingredients but the results turned out fabulous! They were so tasty... and healthy! Then, for dinner, it was time to continue the green goodness. We had pesto pasta with peas, sliced cucumbers, and green grapes. Yum yum yum!

My Little Gymnast!

Emma started classes last week at Redlands Gymnastics Club (formerly "Tumble Tots") and she LOVES it!!! She is great at the balance beam and the bars. Last week they had these little sets of junior-sized parallel bars and Emma is able to just swing and hook her feet right up there. This week, they were working on their jumps as well. Emma loved doing the open and closed jumps on the trampoline and especially loved being hooked into the harness so she could shoot all the way to the ceiling! And, at the end of each class, the teacher gives them a sticker on their hand for doing a good job. This week it was a shamrock in honor of St. Patrick's Day! She loves her little leotard and booty shorts as well. This has got to be one of the cutest things I have seen her do yet!

02/21/2011 at OneTrueMedia.com

And, just in case someone wants to see all 140+ pictures, here's a montage from onetruemedia.com that shows them all! There are some cute ones in here!! :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Photo Shoot with Jenny Trent!

I recently had some pictures of Emma taken by a friend of mine who is a professional photographer. They all turned out really cute but these are a dozen or so of my favorites!

California Science Center!

Karen & I spent Saturday afternoon at the California Science Center with Emma, TJ, and Mikayla. We had a really good time, despite the crowds. It thinned out a bit as the afternoon progressed and we were able to let the kids roam a bit more. There are so many things to see and do here! Dramatic play (dress up) is always a hit, as were the touch tanks and the giant aquarium ( & getting to walk through the underground tunnel to reach it!) Emma was a bit disappointed since she remembered getting to water plants in the Discovery House area last time we were here, and they weren't offering that this time. Apparently it is a warm weather kind of activity. :) Her disappointment was short-lived however, as she happily began digging in the mulch for rubber bugs and plastic vegetables. This was a first trip for Karen & her kids and only the second time for Em & I. It was definitely a lot of fun and a great, educational (shhh!) way to spend the afternoon. Oh, and P.s. - Karen found a stuffed polar bear for Emma that is laying on its belly... just like the one that TJ got at Sea World last year and Emma has been longing for since then! She is such a softie! She got it for Emma and Emma just LOVES it. She named it "Kisses" and has been carrying it around all day. It even replace "baby Lucy" as the chosen lovey for bedtime. :)