Happy New Year 2011!!!

Little Miss Emma Grace did not make it all the way until midnight. She told me she was ready to go to sleep around 9:45pm, which is actually pretty late for her. I went in a few minutes before midnight to see if she wanted to get up with us, but she was fast asleep. So I placed her dollar in her tiny little fist (thereby ensuring our financial stability for the year to come ;-)), knelt down next to her on the air mattress, and gave her a hug as I whispered "Happy New Year Baby." Of course, being the child that she is, she refused to wake up at midnight but decided to be wide awake and ready to play around 1:00 am as we were all settling down! Lol. My girl is a trip. I sure do love this little lady and it has been an amazing year for the both of us. I can't wait to see what 2011 brings! Happy new year, my sweet girl!

New Year's Game Night & Slumber Party!

We decided to ring in the New Year as a family at Tim & Jen's new house. Karen, TJ & Mikayla, Scott & Matthew, Kenny, Mom & Al, and Emma & I all spent the night there playing board games and watching movies (and the Dexter season finale!). We had so many tasty snacks and drinks and everyone had a great time just hanging out and being silly. I made my famous jalapeno poppers and those were gone really quickly! We also had fried chicken, chips and dips, BBQ's pork roasts, deviled eggs, fruit, coffee cake, Scott's signature "Hop, Skip, and Go Naked" punch, etc etc etc. It was a great way to have a safe celebration and we had a great time. Emma and TJ especially loved the fireplace and thought that was really neat. It was so nice to just hang out, engage in some friendly (at times!) competition, and be together. Unfortunately for Scott, he was the first person to fall asleep though. Lucy, Katie, and Karen attacked him with baby powder! And then he tried to come in and retaliate in the middle of the night but mine & Karen's airmattresses were blocking Katie's bed, so he only got Lucy! Lol. Too funny. Thanks Tim & Jenny!

Countdown to NOON!

Being the parent of a young child presents certain holiday... difficulties. Like, do you fight a losing battle against a cranky toddler in order to keep him or her awake to ring in the new year with you at midnight? Nope! Not if you are one of the smart Mommies like my friends and myself! Rather, we move up the celebration and get the little ones together for a "Countdown to Noon" party. We met up at our friends Erin & Sophia's house around 11am so the kids could play and we had a little potluck full of snacks and finger food munchies. Then we counted down at 11:59 am and set off poppers and horns at 12:00. The kiddies had a blast and Emma LOVES that annoying paper horn. Man, that thing is loud when it is being blared straight into your ear as you drive down the road! Oh well, New Years comes but once a year. Or, in our case, twice. ;-)

Disney on Ice - Let's Celebrate!

I took Emma out to Ontario today to see the latest Disney on Ice show. It was called "Let's Celebrate" and it was wonderful! We had gotten comp tickets through a friend of a friend so we had good seats and were wayyyy closer to the stage than we ever are when I actually pay for our nosebleed-section seat! 12th row, right in the middle front of the stage! So cool, and it was even better since it was free. That almost took the sting out of the $12 cotton candy I broke down and ended up buying. :) It was a really cute show and had tons of Disney characters (including the ubiquitous, but all important, princesses) as the celebrated different events including un-birthdays, Halloween, Valentines Day, and Christmas. Emma was entranced and so was Baby Lucy who now accompanies us everywhere.

Build-A-Bear!

I had a credit for Build-A-Bear that had to be used before the end of the year, so we spent yesterday at Ontario Mills. I had an appointment earlier in the morning and had brought Katie & Lucy along with us so they could keep an eye on Emma while I was busy. Once that was completed we headed over to the mall. This was Emma's first trip to BAB and I think she thought it was pretty neat. I had to gently guide her towards the $10 bears and away from the $30 ones but, after that, she had a great time! She was insistent that her new friend have a Belle dress just like she has at home. Funny enough, BAB has little electronic devices that can be inserted into the toys to make noise or say something and Emma chose the one that roars, since it is a bear. Well, that was at the beginning of the process and the clothing selection is at the end. So we ended up with a fancy pants Beauty and the Beast Princess who lets loose with a scary roar when her paw is squeezed! That is one fierce little bear! Lol. At the end you get a birth certificate for your new friend. Guess what Emma named her? Belle Emma! Wonder where she came up with those names!

After BAB, we went and saw the newest Harry Potter movie. Finally! I had been putting off going because, to tell you the truth, I didn't want to take Emma with me. Everyone had told me how dark and scary and long this one was (2.5 + hours). Now Emma likes HP movies on dvd, but that is way less scary than the big screen and you can always pause a dvd. She actually did really well though. She was very into it and watched quietly for the first hour and a half. Then she told me she was tired and fell asleep on my lap for the last hour. I'll call that a success!

We finished up our girl's day out with lunch at Joe's Crab Shack and a trip to play with all the cool things at Bass Pro Shop. Emma found a lunchbox that was almost as big as she was. I found Lucy zipped up into a mummy bag sleeping bag (that was still hanging on the rack!) and all the girls had fun riding the glass elevator & checking out the giant catfish! We had a great day!

Emma's Musings...

I haven't been keeping up as much as I would like to with the funny things that Emma says. So I went back through my facebook posts for the last couple months and found these few little gems. So here, just cut and pasted, are some more glimpses into the psyche of my mini-me...

--> Oct 10th: thinks its sad that my daughter came running, shouting "Oh! My dinner is ready!" when she heard the microwave timer ding even though I had been standing at the stove for the past 20 minutes actually COOKING!

--> Oct 23rd: I just got summoned by the midget... "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!!!" I ran in and asked what she wanted. Emma: "Hi Mommy. I want a MOHAWK!" Wha?!? Emma (while giggling): "Hahaha! When I'm big I'm gonna get a mohawk and 'you'll never stop me now! hehehe!'" Great. My kid is going to be mix between a punk rocker and Swiper from Dora... the Explorer.

-->Nov 16th: Emma was bugging me & i just told her to knock it off. her response? "oops! sorry mom. was i being a turd again?" lol. maybe i need to rethink my vocabulary...

--> Nov 24th: I have been fighting Em to eat more than cheese & fruit lately. Today it was, even if they look different, white cheese, yellow cheese, & spicy cheese,are ALL cheese & she cannot eat just cheese for breakfast. I thought I finally broke her when she said, "Fine. Mommy will you make me a bagel?" I said, "Sure!" Then she smi...led at me and added, "... with cream CHEESE!!!" O.M.G. This child is too smart for her own good...

--> Nov 29th: Feliz Navidad was on the radio this morning. Emma asked me what they were singing & I told her it meant "Merry Christmas." She giggled & exclaimed, "He sounds like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3!" Hahahaha!

--> Dec 20th: finally went through Emma's toys and got 2 large boxes and 2 bags worth to take to donate at the daycare center. She was surprisingly helpful and willing to part with the "baby toys." Sometimes that kid amazes me with her ability to share or, as she puts it, to "be Genesis." (It took me a while to realize she meant GEN...EROUS!) Lol. Now I think I need more coffee so I can go do some more wrapping.

--> Dec 22nd: I just located a dvd Emma wanted to watch but couldn't find. According to her, this means "Momma saves the day again!" Lol. It's good to be a hero! :)

--> Dec 23rd: I just told emma to "hush" because we are in a restaurant. she looked at me with her eyebrow raised and said "hush? or not hush...?" WTH?!?1 i Almost expected her to follow it up with "that is the question. whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows etc." great my 3 year old is quoting her version of shakespere to... me already. lil punk!

--> Dec 30th: Emma & Matthew are helping me take down the Christmas tree and decorations. I told them to wrap the glass ornaments in paper and that they could just toss the soft ornaments into the box. Matthew kept asking if each ornament was glass or not. Finally Emma looked at him and said, "Maffew, if you do not know if the ornament is glass, then you just drop it on the floor like this! If it does not break, it is not glass!" Ummm.... okay, I kinda get her logic here, but NO! I had to re-educate her on how to figure out if things are breakable.

Bargain Baby!

Grandma Angie always gives each of the kids a gift card for Christmas. Emma also had some birthday money left on another gift card so we went to Wal-Mart today. Emma did really well with her walmart gift cards!! She got herself a digital camera that even has photo editing and games, some candy cane gum, jammies for her new baby doll, and FOUR new bottles of sparkly nail polish! So proud of my lil' bargin shopper. :)

Christmas Day!

We had a good Christmas. This is the first year that Emma was old enough to actually "get it" and she was so into everything about Christmas... baby Jesus' birthday story, the nativity scene, carols, driving around looking at lights, baking cookies, volunteering, decorating the tree, and even going to sleep early so Santa could come. She got everything she asked for (surprise, surprise) but, to be fair, her list was not exorbitant. She asked for a pink DS from Santa, a snow globe, and a new babydoll from Mommy. I got the DS for free using swagbucks and found a pretty good deal on everything else. Of course, that was not all she got. There were board games, books, and dress up clothes in their too. She had a wonderful day with so many presents. I also got a new coffee cup from Emma with our picture on it. I love it!

Christmas Eve!

We spent Christmas Eve preparing for a visit from the Big Guy! Karen, Todd, & I went to an early service at church with the babies. Then Karen & I took them to dinner at McDonalds. Yes, its kind of ghetto, but it is a new tradition I started last year. It actually works out great because it is not at all crowded, everyone gets fed dinner without making a mess in the kitchen or having to cook, and then they get to play on the playground for an hour or so and tire themselves out for an early bedtime. Perfect! After we got home, it was bathtime and time for new Christmas jammies. All the kids loved them this year! TJ got Buzz Lightyear and Matthew got How to Train Your Dragon jammies. Emm'a have Minnie Mouse all over them and they came with a matching pillowcase. Nice! Then we put out milk and cookies for Santa, sprinkled glittery reindeer food on the lawn to guide Santa's sleigh, and it was off to bed! Once everyone was asleep, Santa was able to come and leave their special presents & fill the stockings...