A little birthday love xoxo

*I strive to support Emmy's self expression (while we are at home,) so she is wearing a 3-6 month dress and Cars pull-up in this film*

HAPPY 32nd BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

Celebrating your birthday just isn't the same without you.  We love you so much and hope that your day is as happy as it can possibly be on your side of the world!!!!  WE MISS YOU!!!

Long Day...

So I spoke too soon about the tantrum bit.  Against my better judgement, I took the girls to Office Max to buy some new ink cartridges for our printer on the final day of Tax Free Weekend.

The back story: Our scanner's been on the fritz, just in time for me to sign contracts/negotiation documents for the house sale.  Since turning it on and off again for hours on end hasn't solved the problem, I turned to Yahoo Answers, where I read that, supposedly, my scanner will work again once I replace the empty ink cartridges.  It's my last ditch effort.

Back to my story.

I prep Emmy a good five minutes before we arrive, telling her that I need her to be a big girl and hold Mommy's hand in the store.  No running off.  She half-heartedly agrees to comply.

We get to the store, I load Hannah in my beloved Ergo pack and pull Emmy from her carseat.  We walk, hand-in-hand, to the ink cartridge aisle.  Just as I locate the very box that I'm looking for, she begins to attempt to wiggle free.  I hold her hand more tightly and get down on eye level to calmly tell her that she needs to hold my hand and that we'll go home just as soon as I pay the nice lady at the register.  I might as well have been speaking Chinese, because her attention was already fixated on the darn impulse candy display.  She simply responded that she was going to look for her special treat and took off.

Knowing full-well that this is about to get ugly, I pay quickly at a nearby register and attempt to lure her out of the store with a snack at home.  No bueno.  The whining started, "I want a special treat!" (There are so many things wrong with that statement and how it was delivered; I can only guess that people were shaking their heads at me, but I can't say for sure, because I avoided eye contact at all costs.)  There would be no talking her down from the ledge.  So, I pick her up (with Hannah still affixed to my front) and explain to her that it's time to go to the car.

This is when the screaming and arm/leg flailing began, "I WANT A SPECIAL TREAT!!!" I got out of Office Max as fast as I possibly could carrying two children.

The screams subsided not long after I got her restrained in her carseat.  But then, every couple of minutes she persisted with, "Mommy, I want a special treat."  Each time I said evenly (though I was screaming in my head), "No special treats, Emmy, you were naughty in the store."  And she started wailing all over again as if it was the first time I'd turned her pleas down.  The closer we inched towards home, she used an alternate approach; through her tears she said, "Mama, I happy now, special treat?"  Of course none of my responses were what she was hoping for.  Praise the Lord for Dora, who bought me 28 precious minutes of quiet to collect myself.

Lucky for all of us, Daddy called a short time later.  Both girls were engaged in some dress up play when the phone rang.  They looked a little like this:

Emmy was excited to talk to Daddy on the phone, and was giving him a play-by-play with what she was doing as they talked on the phone, "I spinning, Daddy!"

Her deranged ballerina appearence matched her earlier attitude.

Just as I laid the girls in their beds, a pretty decent thunderstorm rolled in, which, understandably, made it hard to sleep (the colds and teething didn't help either.)  So, Hannah got some tylenol and Emmy and I made a fort.  This is how I found her later...

I then got to work cleaning up the house and unpacking some more boxes before Hannah's tylenol wore off.  But it was quiet, which is all I could hope for.

Just Three Words...

JUST LIKE DADDY

From what Nick tells me, he used to stay awake until all hours of the night reading when he was a kid.  Not much has changed; he still sacrifices sleep in the name of a good book.  Last night, I found Emmy kneeling at her bed reading sometime after I'd tucked her in.  I hated to disturb her...

...So I came back a short time later and found her sound asleep on the floor reading her "Big Sister Little Sister" book. :)

Week 1 = DONE!!

This past week has flown by!  As much as we miss Nick like crazy, it doesn't feel as though he's deployed (yet. :-P)  In the days since leaving Indy, we have successfully filled every wakeful period to the max preparing for the closing of our old home, organizing our new home and playdates!

I found out a couple of days after our counter offer was accepted that the buyers of our old home had asked for early occupancy.  We didn't hesitate in saying ABSOLUTELY!  With a letter of commitment from the buyers' lender in hand, Emmy, Hannah and I have been moving my glassware and fine china by the carload.  I would say that, aside from my hubs and our wonderful man friends, my Highlander and laundry basket have been MVPs for this move.  The movers are coming Tuesday morning to transport the remaining pieces of furniture, so that the buyers can move in on Wednesday!  I am so excited to finally finish putting the new house together, and to get the "rent" check for the month!  Everybody wins!

Since saying goodbye to Nick, my girls have been super troopers.  Emmy knows that Daddy is on a trip, and there have been only a few occasions around dinnertime, when the dogs are barking, that she asks if Daddy is home from work.  She has been able to talk to Nick a few times on the phone, and lights up at the sound of his voice.  Hannah is completely perplexed by the phone, but has responded to Nick with big Hannah smiles.

I am grateful that Emmy has been my helper since Nick left, and has, for the most part, kept her tantrums to a minimum.  (As an aside, I hijacked Hannah's 6 month check up to grill Dr. Seawell about parenting a two year old; come to find out, smart children are very tantrum-prone, which is what I am going to choose to believe! HA! :-P)  To be honest, tantrums usually begin when Emmy is trying to help in the way that she sees fit and I am not going along with her plan.  For instance, when we hear Hannah wake up from her nap, Emmy says, "Mama, I get her.  You stay here."  At which time I think to myself, "How are you going to get her out of her crib?"  And then I say, "Thank you Emmy, you go check on her and I'll be right up."  As soon as I start climbing the stairs the tantrum starts, "But Mama, I GET HER!!"  Oy vey!  Back to my originally point, though.  Emmy has been "super helpful Emmy" but without the tantrums over the past week! HOORAY!

Hannah has been...Well....Hannah.  Happy, adaptable, patient, Hannah.

Sleep has been hard to come by between the teething, toddler bed-transition, dogs on high-alert, and a gnarly midnight storm.  It's pretty amazing, though, how God gives you reserves.  I'm in trouble if I sit down, but, my caffeinated tea has never been far from reach...

We are big supporters of Chick-Fil-A.  I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that it's name was one of Emmy's first "strings of words."  Not because she eats an exorbitant amount of fast food, but because it serves as the meeting place for her friends and their mommies each week.  We also stand by them because one of the families in our church group owns/operates one here in town.  They are incredibly kind-hearted, hardworking people.  The young wife, a breast cancer survivor, endures horrific chemo treatments every three weeks in an effort to remain in remission.  Their plate is over-flowing and their faith is absolutely inspirational; I get goosebumps just thinking about it.  I couldn't stomach the idea of anyone negatively impacting their livelihood over political issues.  So, we waited for 45 minutes to go through their drive-through, and devoured our chicken and waffle fry dinner on Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.

"Family" July

I couldn't be more grateful for the time that I was able to spend with family this month!  The only problem is that it makes me greedy, and just want more...

My girls (all four of them) and I loaded up the car to drive to Indy just a handful of hours after seeing Nick off.  My parents had spent the week with Kris and JP, et al., and we were so fortunate to be able to crash the back end of their trip!

My girl requires a one to one ratio at the pool.  Luckily for me, there were plenty of Hannah takers!

My sister, the lunatic, bathed all five of them singlehandedly while I stood by with the camera.  Thank you, Kris, for giving my kids a bath while breaking your child-bathing record!

JP and his littlest little man.

Dad taking a break!

Andy and Emmy were playing Prince and Princess...Andy dressed up in a tie all by himself. ;)

Mama breaks in to dance with her boy.

Mimi shares her love of fancy shoes with the big girls.

Kris looking for the offenders responsible for Jacob's gum discomfort.

The prince dancing with his two princesses.

As per Mom's request.

Hannah working on her core strength.

If you can't beat 'em, just start taking pictures...

I don't think Clairey got the memo that they were racing down the slide.

The walkers...Clairey and I chose to drive.

Kris has a monkey on her back.

These two can't get enough of each other.

Clinging to Papa.

1.5 hours of quiet in the car on the way home...a record!!

6 month Stats!

Weight: 16 pounds 1 ounce (42%ile)

Length: 26 inches (49%ile)

Head circumference: 47cm (26%ile)

For her milestones: She is rolling all over the place and sits in a tri-pod position.  Her sleep has been as good as one could hope for considering all of the traveling we've been doing!  She'll reliably take two solid naps a day, and sometimes three.  She's still waking up at night most nights, usually just once. I admit that I have avoided letting her cry it out so as to not wake our hosts while we have been on the road.  

As for her food intake:  In addition to nursing 5 (or so) times a day, her breakfast and dinner menus include: rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, avocados, peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pears and apples.  She loves her water sippy cup and is getting really good at picking it up and putting it in her mouth...

Hot of the press!!! We have two bottom teeth that have just, in the last few hours, cut through her sweet little gums!

Exhibits A & B!!!!