My cutie pie

Happy Anniversary to us!

Brian and I have made it to the 3 year mark! It's unreal how much has changed since we've been together these five years, but it's been a lot of fun. I am so thankful for Brian and I just don't know what I would do without him. To celebrate, we went out for dinner on Saturday night to Maggiano's since Brian had class last night, and it was really nice. Then, yesterday Emma and I met Brian for lunch so we could at least have one meal together on the actual day. We usually don't exchange much of a gift for this since we go somewhere nice for dinner, but MUCH to my surprise, he came home last night holding a little jewelry box with diamond earrings inside!! I did not see it coming at ALL! They are gorgeous and I am so excited about wearing them! Unfortunately, I don't think they mix well with housework, so I am holding out for a more appropriate opportunity. Anyway, that's that. I just thought I would brag on my super sweet husband! I have no pictures to offer you. When I finally get a chance to wear them, I will post a picture.

Pictures

If you live in Atlanta, or are simply morbidly curious about our pollen count, click this.

Yesterday was Avalyn's bday party at the park, and these are some cute shots of the munchkin at said party =).









And a Bonus: my headboard!!!

Big Shocker

This made my day! I found the link from this website, and I must say I have been very impressed by it. You can get a link to it on your google webpage if you have one.

Okay Okay

So I've been a little busy lately. I suppose it's time to update.

It's pollen season! My favorite time of year! People will often remark on how gorgeous spring is, and how it's their favorite season. I am afraid that I cannot share this sentiment. I never used to have pollen problems, but when I got to high school it really started bothering me. I take Bee Pollen to help, but this year it doesn't seem to be doing much. I will take ANY suggestions for something to help. This sadly means that I cannot really go outside much either. Oh well. Come end of April Emma and I can venture outdoors again. Until then, you'll find me laying on my couch staving off the sinus headaches. Joy. I did discover today that I can wash my pillows! Why does this make me so happy, you might ask? Because I always thought I had to throw away my pillow after a certain while, and this means I don't have to. I can sleep on a dustless, pollenless pillow! The things that make me happy...

Oh and speaking of things that make me happy, I have discovered the Mr Clean Eraser Mop and Unscented Oust. The mop is phenomenal. I can now clean my floors with a mr clean eraser and not have to be down on my hands and knees to do so. I am a big fan! And so is Brian, because I seem to be obsessed with mopping now. As for the Oust, it really does get rid of any odor without leaving some nasty fake scent. It doesn't mask, it actually takes it away. If they can sell it in unscented then it must really work, and believe me it does. Oh and it's bogo at publix this week =).

Emma is doing marvelously. I have discovered that she really doesn't like fruit, but she LOVES veggies. Not a bad thing, but quite funny. I make her asparagus, carrot, and zucchini purees and she LOVES it. We have also now gone a whole week without butternut squash and I am dancing for joy! She is also quite mobile now, as she has realized the extent of what crawling means for her. This also keeps me on my toes, but it's fun. She pulls up all the time and stands only holding on with one hand and she is starting to get the idea of walking. I don't think it will be very long until we hit that milestone, and it makes me want to cry! She is also talking in vowels and consonants, e.g. dadada, lalala. It's really sweet. She just babbles away to herself as she crawls around playing, and it's adorable!

Brian is on spring break this week, and he has been home every night. It's been really nice to have him around, and it's been a great week for him to recharge. Next week he's back at it, but in a few short weeks he'll get Geneva's spring break too, so that will be really nice as well.

Well, it's my day off from all babysitting I do, so I am going to go take advantage by not going outside! Hmm..Maybe it's time to go to the mall! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week!
As for the pictures, I just couldn't help myself!

Too cute!

Moving right along...

Sorry for the password protection so quickly, but I did not know who the psycho was who posted on my Soap Box post, so I decided I had had enough of guessing who was reading this thing. I will post more of an update tomorrow, for tonight I have a lot to do, but I will leave you by saying that I finally found some material for a headboard! I am very excited to show you guys the finished project, but it's not done yet, so you're going to have to wait! Goodnight all.

Picture post

All is well around here. Emma will be 8 months old in a few days, and Brian's school is coming along just fine. I decided to go ahead and try to make that headboard so I have been scouting for fabirc, but other than that, life is just normal. So here are a few pictures =)

I have fallen in love with this picture of Emma...

Overheard

Brian was playing with Emma on the floor the other day while I was doing dishes. He pulled out all of her wooden blocks and was stacking them up to her great satisfaction and she was knocking them down. Then when he was rebuilding them, I heard him ask "Now Emma, can you spot the zoning violation here? That's right. This should only be three stories tall, and over here it's four. Very good!" I could not stop laughing. Ah...my husband the lawyer.

Consignments and Paint

Mom and I began painting my dining room last Friday morning. We had several setbacks causing us to be unable to finish the job in a day, but we had a lot of fun, and the end product looks great, in my opinion! I am really happy with the color, and am looking forward to tackling the kitchen and living room next! I am sorry I don't have a pictures of the finished dining room yet. It's coming...






In the middle of painting, we took a break to go to a consignment sale in the neighborhood adjoining ours. We got a lot of great toys which is what she really needs these days, and I am always a fan of getting a great deal on stuff like that. Which speaking of, I am reposting the link to the consignment website I had up last year. It's about that time again, and so many of you are pregnant that I figured you might want to see it again. There is one particular sale in early march that I have liked every time I have gone to, so if anyone wants to tag along with me, you are more than welcome. Call me for the specifics!

Emma's fourth tooth is just about to break through, and she looks like a vampire! But a very cute vampire. On Tuesday I had baby Kate on the floor on a play mat and Emma wanted to play with her. I was worried she would scratch Kate again, so I grabbed the nail clippers and was clipping her nails so she could do no harm. On the very last one, which just so happened to be the thumb that she sucks, I clipped the skin on accident. She started howling, I was practically crying because I had hurt her, and then I noticed it was bleeding. I kept thinking it would stop, but it kept bleeding for nearly three hours. My shirt, her outfit, her crib sheet, two burp cloths, a towel and her bear friend all looked like they had been at a crime scene. There was blood everywhere! By the time poor Liz got back, Kate was crying but I couldn't put Emma down because she would scream, and she was still bleeding! She finally stopped, and when I got to talk to an advice nurse, she told me to put Neosporin and a band aid on it...right. So when I told her Emma was 7 1/2 months old, and that was the thumb she sucked, she said "I wish I knew what to tell you to do." All in all, I will be mentioning this to the doctor when we go in for the next well baby. I am curious if she has some minor clotting disorder...three hours is a LONG time for a very small cut! And that was the last time I ever clip her nails....

Brian has been sick for well over a week, but he finally seems to be getting over it. He just has no voice, which isn't exactly helpful when you are a teacher. But thankfully this has been a good two weeks to be sick, school wise. He hasn't gotten behind on work, and so he hasn't had to stress about it. And I have managed to sidestep being sick at all, for which I am very thankful. I think if all three of us were sick I would have no idea what to do!

Well, I think that brings everyone up to speed. I leave you with these cute pics of my kiddos.. Leo has become a big fan of getting under our covers. Too cute!

Time for a change

I have been redoing things all over my house, so I figured I could redo my blogger page too. I am feeling too lazy to put the links back up yet, though, so you will all just have to wait until I again feel so inclined.

Emma went to the doctor today for a whole body rash she's been having. Evidently it's quite common and viral, so there is nothing I can do about it. She has been a sweetie though! She really hasn't complained about it at all, she has just decided to start getting me up earlier =). Then Brian got sick too, so it spawned me to scrub my whole house. I am still working on the kitchen, but I am tired and I need a break, so I am goofing off here =). Emma has also tried and LOVED chicken soup, so our list of foods she can tolerate just got a lot longer. And the best part of all is that there was no butternut squash at all!! This is progress! I can make soup a LOT more quickly than I can make squash, and it's a whole lot less messy. So anyway, I am a happy camper.

Kate has been great, sleeping most of the time like a trooper! The batteries in the swing died yesterday, however, so I had to improvise with the bouncy seat. She loved it! She hung out wide awake in it for a long time, and Emma had a great time playing with her, as you will see. She got so excited she decided to scratch Kate before I could stop her(sorry Liz!), but she was just so happy to have a friend!






I have completely moved around everything in my living room to accommodate our piano, and I am quite happy with the results. Next up, mom and I will be painting the dining room and getting the dining room table in! We will finally have a dining room after 3 years of marriage!!!




As for valentine's day, we had planned on going to lunch since Brian has class tonight, but he woke up feeling very sick, so he ended up sleeping through most of the day. Honestly, though, we both forgot to get cards or gifts. It's just been so crazy around here that I think neither of us have time to worry about it! Next year had better be really good though =).

Well, as usual I had so many clever things to say, and by the time I got to typing all of them were gone. The story of my life... So I hope all is well with everyone for now I am off to fall asleep on the couch.

Joke's on me.

Well, here's for that mouth full of teeth. Emma is cutting another one! This time, a top side tooth. Next she will just start speaking in full sentences. I need a nap.

Crawling and other news

Well it's official. Emma can crawl for real. And four days after she started crawling for real, she started pulling herself all the way up to standing. It's a very good thing we lowered her crib a few weeks ago, otherwise she would have fallen out by now. All afternoon long yesterday I tried to put her down for a nap, and she would stand up and not know how to get back down. She would scream and scream and I would go lay her back down, and back up she would go. She is rather proud of her two new skills, so now I am waiting for her to start walking and for the rest of her teeth to come in. It is all or nothing with this child, after all. Might as well get it all out of the way. She also makes a specific noise when she sees my parent's birds and my cat. Every time the birds chirp she makes this squeak noise that we think is her trying to chirp. Whenever she sees Leo she makes a different noise that she associates with him. It's too cute!

My life has also just gotten that much crazier. Liz went back to work, so I am watching Kate for three hours in the afternoon. So far she just naps, but one of these days she is going to snap out of the baby stupor and I am going to find myself surrounded by energetic babies. It will be crazy but fun =). And I am going back to school! I will be taking online classes starting this summer. I know it's not going to get any easier for me to do this, and I might as well start working on it now. Hope will most likely be paying the tab for me, so I might as well take advantage.

Brian's school is moving along just fine. He has a big paper due monday, but he is taking it in stride. He is still enjoying classes, and it really striving to do the best he can. I think he's doing a great job juggling everything.


I leave you with some pictures I have taken the past week or so. Enjoy!

Diapers

I am wondering if anyone has tried costco, sam's club, or bj's diapers. If so, were you happy with them?

My computer is alive again.

Monday morning I walked into the office to the sound of silence. I pushed the power button for the computer multiple times, and puzzled much before deciding that my husband must of done something to kill the computer just to keep me off it. Having concluded this, I called him to tell him exactly what I thought of that. But I was wrong, as he genuinely seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. At that moment I began to panic. Brian wouldn't be home until late that night, and my dad was on a plane to Florida. There was no hope to be found. For three long days I was forced to go to my parent's house to check email. The humanity!! And then dad came home and took the ailing desktop to the doctor, and it's all better now. So I'm back!!!

There. Now you know why I have been silent all week.

Emma is starting to pull herself up. I walked into her room this afternoon after a nap and she was on her knees holding the top of the rail. She was doing the same thing on the coffee table earlier. My life is desperate moments away from getting a whole lot crazier. We have also decided she is a Chia pet. We have watered her, and now her hair is growing like crazy! Soon, I will be taking some of it for me, as I am still feeling rather bald. Oh and a huge praise. Mom and I took Emma to the opthamologist today, and he said that she doesn't appear to have the same eye problem that I do (mine is genetic and I have worn glasses since I was 2). Hopefully she won't have her dad's issue either(legal blindness). Brian and I were hoping my extreme far sightedness and his extreme nearsightedness would cancel each other out. What are the odds?

Well. I am sleepy. Just talking about Emma pulling herself up makes me want to go sleep til next week. Do you think Emma will be okay with that? =)

So here are pictures for the whiney aunts..I mean adoring public =).


I woke her up for this meal. Can you tell?


She wanted you to see her yummy clementine.

This was her starting to pull herself up. She is also contemplating how tasty the wood is.

Hair cut!

It's a good thing my sister lives in another state. I think my hair looks almost exactly like hers, only mine is longer. But I really like the cut =). The stylist was running behind so I got my eyebrows waxed, and they let me do a paraffin wax on my hands while I was waiting too. My hands are incredibly soft now. It was really relaxing, and the best part is that I got $10 off the eyebrow wax and the haircut, so it was $20 cheaper than it normally would have been. I am a big fan of a good deal! Anyway, it was a very pleasant afternoon, and a much needed break. Now if I could only figure out how to make Emma sleep all night again...

Good to know!!

Maybe everyone else already knew this, but I just found out, so in case you didn't know...
If you order from Amazon, you should go back and check Amazon's prices to see if they are any lower. Although they dont state it on their site, Amazon will give you the lower price on the items you purchased if you notify them within 30 days. All you have to do is call 1-800-201-7575.
I felt this was worth mentioning. Hope it helps =).

On to other things.
Brian found out his grade for his last class and he did very well in it. This was a great encouragement to him, and I am glad. I hope he can do even better now that he knows what is expected and is giving more time to it.

Emma is doing very well and is officially sitting herself up. We were just playing in her room and I was reading to her. When I looked up at her, she was proudly sitting up beside her trash can, moments away from eating its contents, so I was glad to snatch that away in time. She is crawling, though mostly backwards, but crawling nonetheless.
She is in the "only mommy for me" stage, and has been very sweet and cuddly with me. I was at my mom and dad's last night and we put her down for a nap. She screamed and screamed, so we got her back up a little while later and when she saw me she just started grinning and hugging me and wouldn't let me go. Evidently she is terrified that I will leave her if she takes a nap there.
She is finally eating green beans, but only if they are steamed and pureed with butternut squash..but it's a start. Maybe someday she will find a new love. Until that day, though, she will keep her orange skin tone from all the squash she eats. Too cute!

I am doing fine. I get a haircut tomorrow and possibly an eyebrow wax(which is not that painful...c'mon.), so it will be nice to have some "me" time. Maybe I will even get coffee. Hmmm..this is sounding better and better. Anyone want to give me a certificate for a free massage? I won't be saying no...
Oh and Brian and I finally had a good date! It was a few weeks ago now, but we went to Carraba's and it was wonderful! The food was excellent and the service was great as well. We then went out for coffee and to the bookstore and just had a pleasant evening. It's about time =).

I am also soon to paint our dining room, and I would like to make a headboard for our bed. I have seen this done on Trading Spaces, and I am wondering if anyone who reads this has actually done it and could give me some tips.

I think that pretty much catches everyone up. I have to go get some things done before Emma wakes up again!

Update time...

Well, I guess it's been a while, but nothing really has been happening. Brian has grades back in two of his three classes, and he hasn't failed anything yet =). Emma is continuing to grow and get harder to keep up with. I am just keeping up with house work and trying to rest when I get the time. I will say that I am happy 24 is back. We are watching them as they come this season, so that's been fun. Other than that, things have been really boring. So here are some pictures to amuse you since I have nothing clever to say.

And We're Crawling!!...Backwards!!

It is so cute to watch her scoot around on the floor. The other day I put Emma down on her tummy right in front of the futon. I was laying down reading and watching her, and all of the sudden all I saw was her head. She had scooted herself underneath the futon feet first, and then she cranked her head around and gave me a big smile =). And she is also sitting herself up now. I just have to say it again...I cannot believe how big she is getting!!

On another note, I have a question for the people who read this blog. Emma has started reacting VERY badly to both rice cereal and oatmeal. It makes no sense, as these are supposed to be the least likely things that she would react to, but she is reacting violently to both. I know it's these two. There isn't a doubt in my mind, so I am wondering if anyone has heard of this or has any idea why she might be. She has no problem at all with butternut squash, carrots, apples, pears, or prunes. She also had no problem with the rice initially, and has only recently begun to be so sick from it. Anyway. I know I have already asked some of you about this, but I am just curious if anyone has any ideas.

Brian started back to school today, and all has gone well so far. He gets his grades over the next two weeks, so please be in prayer for him. He is convinced he has failed all three, while I am sure he made all A's. I am praying that he will be encouraged by his grades, not discouraged. He just loves it so much, so I am hoping that things will be okay =).

I am doing fine. I am having to readjust to Brian not being home all the time, but it's not a big deal. I am thankful he is getting to do something he loves. He couldn't have such a great schedule forever, so I might as well get used to the real world now. And it does give me plenty of time to read and update Emma's blog, so how can anyone argue with that?

I leave you with a picture of my munchkin eating her giraffe(and a few bonuses). Doesn't it look so tasty?

Happy New Year!

We threw an impromptu party last night, and all was going fine until Emma woke up screaming. Evidently she's allergic to her rice cereal, and she didn't want it in her stomach anymore, so she thought I should wear it instead. But the party went on, and we all had a great time. I even got to sleep until 9 this morning because Emma went to bed so late. Ah well. Never a dull moment.

It has been a really nice vacation from reality, and I can honestly appreciate it so much more since there is actually something to vacation from now. Sadly, Brian returns to school in a week, and will be gone even more this semester than last, but I look forward to the goal of all of this. He will be doing something he loves, and that is worth so much to me.

Emma is days away from crawling. She was on the floor at the Abraham's house and Avalyn's yellow cup was near her. She got up on her hands and knees and actually managed to crawl a few paces before giving up and stretching to reach for it. I am really excited about it, but the thought also just makes me tired. I am going to have to earn my rest from now on, and that's no fair. But she is growing and loves food (except the rice cereal), and she is going to be 1 before I know it. Sigh. Who flipped the miracle grow switch?

I leave you with a picture of my lazy cat. He slept in this manner for a good 20 minutes until I decided I needed a little more room. He has it so good....