2008 is Coming!

Well, another year is right around the corner. Sorry for the length between posts, but I'm finding it more difficult to get on the computer at those moments when I think of things to write. I'll try to be better in the coming months.

Time for some updates on the Peach.
1) Emma had a great 1st birthday with lots of friends present for her celebration.
2) We just got through Christmas....it was fun trying to get Emma to open her gifts and then watching her experience the toys and books for the first time. She got several outfits, a few books, a couple of baby dolls, and some toys. One of my favorites is a push along toy that my parents got for her at IKEA. Emma likes to sit on the floor and push it forward then pull it back.
3) Along with Christmas DAY, Emma got to spend the weekend playing with Grandma and Grandpa (Huntress). She got to play with hair curlers and special little balls, and she got to read the "Eye" book. Emma also got to experience the "Bodies Exhibit", but I don't think she got much out of it! ::grin::
4) In the past couple of weeks Emma has become quite adept at pulling herself up on just about anything, and as been cruising around the furniture. She's also making use of a "walker" that Grampy bought her when he visited last month, and has been doing laps from the living room to the dining room, around the table, and back to the living room. I don't think she's too close to walking on her own, but she's not too far either. She needs to get herself into a standing position without holding onto something first.
5) Stairs are something we've mastered -- the going up part, that is. We're trying to teach Emma how to come down on her own (backwards), and it's so much fun to watch her do it....get to the very bottom, then go up and down a few steps PRACTICING. What a smart kid! It's best to practice when there isn't as far to fall.
6) Em has somehow learned to cross her fingers, like when kids make a promise but cross their fingers behind their backs. She examines her hands quite closely whenever she's doing it, too.
7) Oh, and she's discovered her tongue like never before. She sticks it out and pulls it back in repeatedly, making the most adorable sounds the whole time. I love to hear her do this, and to chatter. She still isn't forming words clearly, but there are times it certainly SOUNDS like she said something in particular which fit the current context perfectly.
8) The Peach seems to be getting better at entertaining herself for longer periods of time....looking at books, bouncing from toy to toy, cruising around the living room, etc. We don't have to give her constant attention for her to be content.
9) Finally Emma seems to be breaking, if even slightly, from her compulsion to he held by Jon and Jon alone. While I persist that he's still her favorite person, she has shared her affection more in the last few days and hasn't been as dependent upon him.

As for family updates, Jon had a second interview today for a job at a cemetary. It's for a "sales counselor" position and would be VERY close by. There is a third step to the process, so there isn't any news to report yet. I have had quite a bit of time off through the holiday and have very much enjoyed having some time at home with Jon and Emma. I've turned into quite a home-body and appreciate the days when we don't have to go anywhere. I also feel that Emma sleeps so much more (and better) on those days, which leads to her eating better as well. I just finished a book by Dean Koontz called "Odd Thomas." Pick it up if you can. I was hooked almost immediately, really came to like the main characters A LOT, and found it difficult to put the book down for the rising level of suspense. I HIGHLY recommend it. Another one of his I read recently was "The Taking." Another good one, but not to the same level. I think part of this evening will be spent at the Suttons' house, and tomorrow is wide open. YAY!

Happy New Year to you all.

Look at Those Teeth!

Our friend, Susan, took this photo of Em at a Christmas party we had for all the babies. I love that you can see her top teeth. Sorry it's so small....when I pull it up on my computer I can see it LARGE...and it's GREAT!

I'm planning to add a video soon....of Emma climbing the stairs in our house.

Back to Normal

Well, I think we're all on the verge of being healthy again. After Emma got over the stomach bug that plagued us all, she came down with yet another clod. A ton of kids have been out this past week in her daycare room and the one next door. One little boy, who is also a neighbor of ours, was out with pneumonia, which made me a little bit paranoid when Emma started coughing a deep, rattly cough. A friends of ours, Meg, who is a doctor, came over the other night to listen to Em's chest and to check her ears. She thought Emma sounded "croup-y" and warned us that it could be a rough night, but she fortunately did well and we didn't have to take her to her pediatrician.

The weekend has been a good one filled with lots of naps and decent mealtimes....for Emma, that is. She had one REALLY rough night during which she woke up screaming "bloody murder" after only a couple of hours of sleep. It took forever to get her calmed down and back to sleep. Then we were up again every couple of hours through the rest of the night. Last night was MUCH improved.

Emma blew me a kiss for the first time the other day....December 6, to be exact. I have been trying to teach her that "trick" yet she never would even mimic me during our lessons. Then, while saying goodbye to her and waving, she spontaneously and independently blew me a kiss. I was shocked and amazed that she did so without any kind of prompting, and that it was completely in context! What a little firecracker we have. Even though she isn't forming actual words yet and isn't yet walking, she has demonstrated such keen intelligence! I'll have to sit and record several of such discoveries, but our computer battery is dying and I must go plug it back in before I lose everything.

Pictures next time....or perhaps a video, I promise.

Sorry for the Wait

Sorry it's been so long since last posting. I'll bet your tired of checking back to see "Garlic Breath" still there. I'm pleased to say Emma hasn't had it since that day!

What's been happening with us lately? Well, the biggest event has been Emma's first birthday. I'm now the mom of a 1-year old!!!! She had a party on Sunday, the 25th, the day before her birthday, and lots of her friends came to celebrate. Wyatt, Grant, Kalli, Anna....along with Anna's sisters Corra & Cailyn. Adults to celebrate with us: Scott and Laura, Kim and Haley, Crystal, Jaime, Malinda and Paul, Wendy, and Emma's Grandma (my mom). She got lots of wonderful presents (thanks, everyone -- those who came to the party and those who shipped gifts from afar) and our living room will be a perpetual mess until we can buy a toy box/basket/something-or-other. We had cupcakes for Em's party, and I discovered that a cake-decorator-I-am-not. I have no future in that profession...or even hobby! Nevertheless I can say I made Emma's birthday cake, something I'll proudly do every year, I think, even though I really don't care to cook.

The other events of the recent past....Thanksgiving, of course, and then all of us getting sick (but NOT from Thanksgiving....but rather a stomach bug). We ate dinner with the Suttons for what was probably the 4th or 5th year in a row -- always a good time. One of the funny moments of the day was when Kim broke out the storage tote of Haley's old beanie baby collection. We put Emma down inside the bin and covered her with toys. Kim took some pictures....when she emails them to me I'll try to post them here. Emma loved it and sat there for quite a long time! Em and I came home early (the dogs needed to be let out and it was nearing her bedtime) while Jon stayed behind to play games. That's when the stomach bug started to present itself....one messy diaper and two outfits covered in vomit. Poor kid took it like a champ! She didn't even cry. She seemed to get better over the next couple of days but then threw up again on Sunday evening. I think this is what I dislike most about her being in daycare....constant exposure to anything and everything that's going around. I got it on Saturday evening, then Jon wasn't feeling well during the day on Sunday, and my Mom started feeling ill Sunday evening. Fortunately we're all now back on the road....nearly fully recovered.

Lest I forget, Emma also was paid a visit by her Grampie Terry (Jon's dad), the weekend before Thanksgiving. He had a trade show in Indiana and drove over the day after Jon's birthday (now the big 3-0) and was able to spend a couple of days with his granddaughter. They had a great chance to play together one evening as both Jon and I had commitments at the church.

Emma had fun with her Grandma. My mom does lots of silly things to get smiles from her granddaughter -- one of the most memorable being setting Em in a laundry basket, tying a bandana to the handle to pull on, then dragging her throughout the upstairs hall and bedrooms for probably a full half hour before bedtime. Emma was multi-tasking, of course, reading a book as she got the ride.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Emma is picking up great speed crawling on her hands and knees, and she's pulling herself up like crazy. She'll take steps if we walk with her, holding her under the arms, but she hasn't really been "cruising" around the furniture too much. She's also been experimenting, it would seem, with her face! She's making all kinds of new and adorable facial expressions, sticking her lips out, making a tiny "o" with her mouth, etc. I don't think I'll be able to catch them with my camera, though. The shutter speed is just too slow.

That's all for now. I'll try not to be so long between now and the next post.

Garlic Breath

Emma had garlic breath today. She ate spaghetti, green beans (a few, at least), and garlic bread for lunch @ daycare, and I could smell it on her all evening. YIKES! She's too little to smell so stinky....from her mouth (I fully realize the stink that comes from other places which is quite normal). Her teachers stripped her down to her diaper before giving her lunch....when I went to see her she was sitting there nearly naked, but wearing a LOT of tomato sauce! I didn't have MY camera, but Kari (her teacher) took some pictures with her's.

Gotta hit the sack since Em still isn't sleeping through the night.

Lipstick Tubes Beware

Woof Woof! Emma wants to eat from Peanut's bowl...
What a sweet face

Isn't she growing? She likes to look out the back door, especially when Daddy's out there with the dogs. Makes it difficult for him to get back inside, though.

Our little jack-o-lantern on Halloween day. We carved the pumpkin's mouth to resemble Emma's right now....3 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom.

Oh, to explain the title of this post, Emma LOVES pulling everything out of my makeup bag and is quite taken with lipstick tubes, cover-up, and anything else that has a top she can pull off. This morning I set her up with the bag that holds all my "extra" (non-daily) stuff while I was in the shower. I came out to find all tubes minus their caps, and watched as she would keep trying to pull off more even where they didn't exist. Lipstick tubes everywhere BEWARE!

First Puke

Well, the Perfect Peach threw up for the very first time yesterday. She had a fever a couple of days ago and hadn't been eating much, and we think she just overdid it with the daycare lunch of dino-nuggets and tater-tot letters...then the snack of chocolate pudding. Apparently she was jumping in the jumperoo and suddenly tossed it all. Her teacher said it scared her --- I imagine!!! The daycare staff buzzed me, and Em was still crying when I arrived a few minutes later. They had already stripped her down and were putting fresh clothes on her. Vomiting warrants a child being sent home, and the policy for illness is that the child may not return until having been symptom-free for 24 hours. Alas, with the exception of a jaunt over to the church for a meeting I needed to attend, Em and I stayed home today.

Other updates....
Emma is crawling quite proficiently now and will go from living room to kitchen, and will roam the upstairs hallway. I awoke this morning to hear her "hand-falls" coming down the hall and into our bedroom. So cute!!! She thinks it's funny when I crawl over her. I think we're going to need to install the gate at the top of the stairs THIS WEEKEND.

Our little girl is fascinated by the shower. She likes sliding the doors open when we're in the act of showering, and this morning she tried to climb in herself. Not sure she'd like it if she were to succeed, but perhaps we'll find out one of these days.

Em's favorite little game tonight was wetting her hand in a glass of water then transferring the wetness to her mom's shirt and face! She thought it was SO funny and giggled every time.

I think Jon is Emma's favorite person right now. She lights up like a neon sign whenever he comes around, and reaches out to wrap her little arms around his neck in a full-body hug. She drapes herself over his shoulder as if it's the most comfortable spot in the world, and she laughs at her playmate's silly antics. She loves her Daddy.

Emma's drinking juice (diluted, of course) MUCH better now. She finishes off the entire sippy cup in a day now. I'm not worried any longer about her being dehydrated. She's also taking he bottles of milk (2 per day) with ease.

That's it for now! I'll add more photos with the next post.

Continuation of the last post

My little pumpkin

In the cute sweater Aunt Darcie made

Outside of the hotel in Richmond with Grandma and Grandpa. Em was too interested in my dad's hair to look up for the camera.

Telling us a story...

On the guest bed at G & G's house

Captivated by the passing train

On one of our last warm days

Feast Your Eyes

Okay, so my mom urged me this morning to update my blog. It's been awhile, and as I admitted to her, I've thought about the blog several times but just haven't had the energy to add to it. So, despite my lethargy, here I sit to give a quick update and some wonderful new photos.

Let's see. Emma is now crawling on her hands and knees -- something which I thought we might skip right over. She does really well for 5-10 "steps" then will often slip back down onto her tummy and continue from there. She does best when she's only in a diaper (pantless), but with the weather cooling off, there won't be much opportunity for that level of freedom.

Em is also pulling herself up quite a bit -- on the back of the couch, in her crib at daycare, up and over the dogs as they're burried in our bed -- Jon has enlisted the help of a friend and will be dropping her crib mattress tomorrow. We laid the Peach down for a nap last evening and, after a long time of whimpers and other such noises, when I went to check on her I discovered her standing at the end of her crib, playing with a package of hair barrettes she had somehow managed to snag off of the dresser beside the crib. She'd gotten several barrettes off the cardboard and her bed was littered with them.

Three top teeth are visible, and I think number 4 is working it's way through. She's been a trooper. Last night was rough -- up at 2 am and then again at 4:30 am to eat....

Two weekends ago Em and I made another Skybus voyage to see Grandma and Grandpa in Virginia (see photos). Again she did well during the flights, and she had loads of fun being entertained and BEING great entertainment. We tried Em on regular (organic) milk that weekend, and she'd done splendidly. She's now down to nursing only 3 times a day and takes 2 bottles. Consequently, I got to sleep in this past Saturday.....for the first time since Emma was born over 11 months ago!!!! I got up with her to nurse around 5 am, then Jon got up with her when she woke for good. I didn't rise from bed until 10:00 am!!! YES!!! Double digits. Felt great.

Had our Mom's group last week and Kalli loaned us a festive outfit to wear. Emma really doesn't have anything "Halloweeny". The kids were dressed up -- the twins were a bear and an elephant, Kalli was a bumblebee, Kaitilinn was a ladybug, Isabelle was Lil' Bo Peep, and Claudia was a lamb. Wish I had pics to share of all of them, but the lighting wasn't so good, so I knew my camera wouldn't perform that well. I'm attaching a photo of Em that Susan took with her AMAZING camera. ::smile::

Rocking Fish

We were at the home of some friends a couple of weeks ago and Emma got to play on this "rocking fish" that they've kept from when their 2 girls were little. It was positively adorable, and Emma really liked it. Unfortunately I didn't take note of the toy brand, and I've not been anywhere that I've noticed anything similar.

Anyhow, a few updates on our daughter...

1) As of Friday night, October 5, Emma has achieved sitting up on her own (by this, of course, I mean GETTING herself in a sitting position). She does this by rolling onto her belly, pulling her knees up under her, leaning sideways so her bum touches the ground, then she pushes herself up the rest of the way with her hands.

2) As of Saturday, October 6, we discovered Em has more teeth coming in. Not just one, as it turns out, but all 4 of her top front teeth. Consequently, the last couple of days have been rough. The poor kid is really feeling it. Fever on Sunday night that kept Em out of daycare on Monday, and two hysterical crying fits in the middle of last night.

3) Emma (as well as Jon and me) is recovering from what is probably her 10th cold in her 10 months of life. Her poor little nose. She's getting too good at turning her head away when I try to wipe, and has demonstrated super-baby strength whenever we attempt to suction out her goobers so that she can breathe again.

4) She's a tough kid. While I was doing my hair this morning and keeping an eye on Em from the bathroom door, she managed to go over the side of the bed and onto the floor. I couldn't get to her before she landed due to the hot curling iron in my hand. After a few tears and lots of hugs, her attention was caught by the Mickey Mouse Club and she forgot about the unfortunate incident. I think we're going to stick to floor-based activities while the curling iron is in use from now on.

5) Our child likes to "ride" her bathtub. Just moments after I start draining water from her tub, which makes it much lighter, she'll start rocking herself back and forth causing her momentum to make the tub move forward and back in the big tub. It's pretty funny to watch.

6) Speaking of bathtime, the other night I caught Emma sipping bathwater from the little blue basin I use to pour water over her. I thought she was just holding it close to her face to look at it, but then I heard little slurping noises! Jon thinks it's gross. I think it's adorable.

I guess that's it for now...or at least it should be for this posting. Hope all of you are well.

The Long Awaited Sweater Photos

I wish these pictures had turned out better, but the lighting wasn't very good either time. The very bottom one is Emma in the church nursery. The others are in our livingroom, but it was nighttime so we didn't have any natural light. The weather has been unseasonably warm here (high 80's today and all week) so I haven't had the opportunity to put Emma back in the sweater since her first time wearing it. Didn't Darcie do a fabulous job? I wish the pictures showed off the stitch work and overall design of the sweater. Oh, and Emma loves the buttons. She likes to put them in her mouth.

If you haven't checked my blog in a bit, be sure to scroll down and read the 2 posts below this one. I've actually gotten on a lot lately, which is out of the ordinary. I don't want you to miss them!

Applying Scripture

This post is going to be quite a departure from what I normally write about. Emma is definitely a part of it, but she's not the dominant theme. God is.

I read this verse this morning.... "My soul is downcast within me, therefore I will remember you..." (Psalm 42:6)

While I feel I'm getting though every day pretty normally, and without the constant feeling of being downcast in my soul, when I have those moments to really reflect on "life" right now (as I did a few days ago when I was unable to go back to sleep for 4 hours in the middle of the night) I realize that "downcast" truly is the reality of my soul. Jon has now been out of work since July 7 (with the exception of 2 weeks) and despite the large number of applications he's filled out and resumes he's submitted, nothing permanent has come up. It's been stressful not knowing when he'll be employed full-time again and looking at our finances, wondering if all will be depleted.

Don't misunderstand...we're doing remarkably well and are not resorting to eating Ramen noodles yet! ::smile:: Emma is not suffering in any way. We have just had to restrict our spending which means also planning our menu carefully and shopping accordingly. All in all I think it has been good for us, however we have certainly had our tense moments of trying to communicate frustrations with one another.

Which brings me to the point in Scripture which says, "therefore I will remember you." Here is what I remind myself of:

• God has dealt with stubborn and foolish people (of which I count myself one) since the beginning of time, yet still extends abundant grace and forgiveness
• Jesus didn't lead an easy life. He had to walk nearly everywhere (yikes!), people misunderstood him all the time, one of his friends betrayed him, he may have desired to have a wife and child of his own yet submitted himself to the Father's will, and ultimately he gave his life -- in a way that had to be as incredibly painful as it was injust.

I look back and see His hand over me through the years...

• One of my friendships ended so that I could be drawn to God
• I received a scholarship which allowed me to attend the college of my choice
• My friendship with Jon (which at one point was non-existent) was restored which ended up in marriage
• God wiped out a balance we owed on our moving truck when we relocated to Ohio....saving us hundreds of dollars we didn't have to begin with
• My paycheck stretched during the 5 months Jon was unable to work at the beginning of our marriage
• The Lord provided a "bonus" for me at the same time Jon required a root canal. It covered the bill
• We have repeatedly come into "extra" money when we've needed car repairs, new contacts, etc.

And most recently....and in light of our current circumstances....I'm coming to realize that God was providing for us in advance, knowing that we would experience this "drought" if income...

• The people of the church (and grandparents) were incredibly generous with baby gifts, and we've not had to purchase more than 8 items of clothing or very many other supplies
• My student loan was paid off right before Emma was born, which freed up $200 per month
• Emma was born in 2006, during which time we had 90/10 coverage through our insurance. At the New Year, our plan changed to 80/20. We were able to get all of the hospital bills paid within a couple of months.
• I get an 80% discount on daycare due to being full-time staff, which equals about $1 per hour for care.
• We have a friend/connection through the church who is able to supply us with diapers and wipes. We've only bought one package of diapers and one box of wipes since Emma was born, and that was during vacation in Canada just because we didn't want to pack them.
• I got a unexpected and substantial raise this year which kicked in mid-June....right before Jon stopped working.

God has proven Himself faithful to us. I will continue to trust Him, even if it requires that we be broken down to $0 in all accounts and have to be in prayer for the next bill to be covered or the next meal to be provided. He hasn't let us down yet.

This has been very stretching spiritually. For a period of time Jon and I got into the habit (to which we need to return) of having "Bible time" together each evening. It was a great time for us to read together and communicate about the passage, which always inevitably prompted other discussions. I don't know what happened to cause us to stop, but I know we need to get back to it...now more than ever.

Some of you may be thinking, "Did we really need to know all of that?" Probably not, but this is my way of giving God glory in the midst of a dry time. It's something I can come back and read on the days when I'm doubting and am especially cynical. And it's something for Jon to be reminded of as well (love you, Babe). I'm sure my next post will jump back to the ins and outs of our incredibly SMART and beautiful little girl.

I am SO excited!!!

Blogger added a video feature....I am SO EXCITED!! Takes forever to load the videos, even though they're only 30 seconds long....but despite the hassle, you are going to have to put up with viewing older videos of Emma that are in my files. Some of them are just too cute NOT to share.

On another note, I love OREO cookies. We got a few packages of them for only 25 cents each, and I've been feasting on one pack here in my office for the past week. They're double-stuff, which are good but present some additional challenges in eating. You see, I usually like to nibble things. With a regular oreo I'll bite off the top...usually 3 bites....then will have 3-4 bites of the bottom side with the cream. Sometimes I scrape the cream off with my teeth, which then prolongs the process. I can't do that with double-stuff. Everything comes apart in big chunks, and thus I can end up eating 6 cookies in the time it would take me to eat 3 regular ones and be satisfied. Honestly, I'm surprised the pack has lasted this long....

Jon is still looking for a job. I'm holding out hope that God hasn't allowed him to be hired anywhere because he's to wait for a certain youth pastor position here in town. It's really hard to wait, though.

Emma is getting even more mobile....moving faster across the livingroom floor and into the kitchen when I'm not watching. Jon said that the other day he turned around to find her with two pieces of dog food in her mouth!!! Mmmm....I think we're going to have to start locking things down. Not sure what to do about the dog food, though. The poor girls would probably revolt if we moved their dishes into the laundry room. Not that they'd starve right away...they each have some extra padding!

I put a "headband" in Em's hair the other day for the first time. There's a bow attached, and it looks very girlie. She's not allowed to wear the barrettes in daycare (choking hazard if it falls out) so it seemed like the only alternative for getting her hair up off her forehead and out of her eyes. I think that will be our only recourse for awhile. Her hair is thin enough that I don't think hair elastics will be an option for a good long time.

That's all for this post. My next one will contain some pictures of an adorable sweater Aunt Darcie knit for Em, and perhaps another video. Enjoy!

She's Moving...

Well, since my last blog, Grandma (my mom) has been here for a visit, and Emma decided it was time to crawl! The first night my mom was here (so, last Friday), Emma started "inch-worming" across the carpet with intensity. Prior to that she would spin, roll, and occasionally make some forward motion, but usually only by an inch or two and that would be it. That night she surprised and amazed us all by trying to follow Daddy from the livingroom to the kitchen, and she also went (pretty aggressively) after the bone Peanut was chewing!

In light of this new development (and also in part that we have company coming for the weekend) we rented a carpet cleaner from the grocery store yesterday and I steamed the downstairs carpets, finishing this morning. Jon has to return it before 1:35 pm today. Yup...they're pretty strict on the 24-hour rental....down to the minute. I think it does look better, but I know that we could go over it 20 times more and still get crud. We'll need to make it a point to rent one every 3 months or so and try to maintain. We also need to institute a "no shoes" rule in the house. That may be difficult, though, since we frequently use BOTH the front and back doors.

Emma is eating more and more tablefood with great success. Yesterday she ate past w/ tomato sauce, green beans, and a breadstick at daycare. AND, she ate most the green beans by herself, while allowing her teacher to feed her the pasta off a spoon. Oh, and she ate a LOT. I was shocked. Now that she's crawling, though, I guess she'll probably burn through more calories and her appetite will increase.

Other tidbits about Em...
1) she likes raisin bran...or at least the bran part
2) she loves to stand on couches so she's facing the back-pillows and has her arms draped over the top
3) her hair is starting to hang in her eyes a little, but she's not allowed to wear barrettes in daycare...I'm pretty frustrated by that
4) she loves music and dances/rocks whenever she hears some
5) she's a very happy girl first thing in the morning

Time to Add More Pictures...

Freshly bathed, in her pjs, ready for bed.
Thought this was a fun expression.

Emma with 3 of her cousins, Jessica, Rylan, & Alaina. It was the best group photo I could get!

Hanging out in Mommy's office after a feeding

I love this shot!!! This is a great sleeper -- white waffle-weave long-john material. She's so cute in it.

Can't remember what she was eating, but she loved it and it got all over her face.

I have this set as my "wallpaper" on my work computer right now. Love it!

Feeding the Ducks...or Emma?

Okay, so it's been too long since my last post. Emma is hilarious. Here are a couple of quick updates:

1) We walked home from the church tonight (left Jon there playing volleyball) and stopped off at the pond in our neighborhood. There's a lady from down the street who goes over and feeds the ducks every night. Not just a few scraps of bread, either....LOAVES...she works near a bakery and purchases entire loaves of sliced, day-old bread for next to nothing. She was there as usual and we stopped for the free entertainment. Diane let Emma have a slice of bread to tear apart and throw to the ducks. Before I knew it, Emma had stuffed a corner of the slice into her own mouth!!! At one point she had bread in each hand and a large piece dangling from her mouth. I wish I'd had my camera.

2) Emma has tried several new foods in the recent past. Some she liked, a few she didn't.
She likes...
- grilled cheese and tomato soup
- any bread
- whole cooked green beans
- yogurt - Horizon organic strawberry
- banana muffins
- saltine crackers
She didn't like (and spit out)...
- regular tater tots
- scrambled eggs
- tuna

3) Em is getting closer to crawling. A pink golf ball from the desk of one of my co-workers is what has given her the motivation to try!

4) Our little Peach loves big pillows. She loves to drape her body over them and bounce up and down. It's pretty funny to watch.

5) Oh, and she has yet another cold. Poor kid has to have her nose suctioned multiple times a day and dreads that blasted blue bulb.

Labor Day Weekend

Oh, it has been sooo nice having a long weekend. Time to shut off the mind and enjoy being with Jon and Emma....naps, walks with the stroller, and a trip to check out a local flea market that we've never gone to in the whole 7+ years we've lived here! Not a whole lot there except for some beautiful produce. We bought some glorious green beans and red potatoes and cooked them up with some barbecued chicken. YUM! Right now Emma is sleeping and Jon is off at his fantasy football draft.

We're searching for a piano for Emma. She LOVES the one at daycare, and we'd like to find something similar for at home. But, no luck so far. It's Fisher Price - one they don't sell anymore - with big colored keys and stars that light up as the piano plays music. We went to Meijer and Walmart today to look, but they didn't have anything close, and what we DID look at Emma didn't seem impressed with. I checked on ebay and there is ONE...but the shipping is just as much as the starting bid. Maybe I'll check some places like "Once Upon a Child."

Officially NINE Months Old

Grandma's going to love this picture. As Emma has grown, I've taken pictures of her beside this bear to track that growth. Oh MY! There's a huge difference between the last one and this. The first of the series showed the bear as being bigger. I think we know who's winning now.

I don't know how well you can see it, but we put Emma's hair back in a barrette this weekend. It made her look even more feminine, and Mom liked it because she didn't have to brush the hair off of Emma's forehead constantly.

Aunt Wendy shared part of the day with us yesterday -- Emma's "birthday". Wendy was with us for Emma turning 6 months as well.

Slowing Down

Emma's growth is slowing down. She had her 9 month check-up today (though she still has a couple of days before officially BEING 9 months old) and here are her stats.... Posted alongside her 6 month stats for the sake of comparison:

Weight: (6) 16 lb. 13 oz. 58% (9) 18 lb. 2 oz. 37%

Height: (6) 26.25 inches 65% (9) 27.5 inches 51%

Head Circ: (6) 16.5 inches 30% (9) 17 inches 22%

Elizabeth, we'll miss you!!!

New Discoveries & Saying Farewell

Every day Emma seems to discover something new. Today it was my eyelashes.

One of Em's teachers (one who rotates in and out of her room to cover breaks and vacation), Elizabeth, is leaving for college next week. Friday is her last day. We're heartbroken. Emma has fallen in love with Elizabeth, and the feelings are mutual. Elizabeth jokes often about smuggling Emma off to Boston with her and says Em could be the "dorm baby." I want to try to put together some kind of gift to send with Elizabeth, but I have a class tomorrow night and lots of running around on Friday. I guess I need to fit it in on Friday morning around dropping Jon off at work and Emma's 9-month doctor's appointment. I uploaded photos of Em with her beloved teacher onto my computer at work, so I'll try to add a couple tomorrow.

I joined Facebook yesterday but haven't had a chance to fiddle around and figure out how everything works. Jon will have to give me a tutorial.

Recent Photos

This dress really brings out the blue in Emma's eyes

Went swimming with "the boys"

It was like taking a cool bath except for Grant's splashing!

Wearing Aunt Darcie's first attempt at a baby hat. No, we don't have a little Jewish baby!

Hanging out with Daddy on the kitchen table. Emma from a very different perspective.

In my office yesterday. She was being pretty sweet.

Asleep in the car, clutching Duckie.

Photos Susan took at the park

Oh, so serious!

Smiling at last.

The Move is Complete

I'm sitting here in my new office on Sunday morning, blogging. I've been closing out all of the services this weekend, and since I sat through the service last night, I'm just popping in close enough to the end and am spending the rest of the morning piddling around, posting updates, and sending some emails.

YAY!!! So far I'm not missing my office downstairs at all. My furniture arrangement (which I played around with on paper beforehand) seems to be working well. I need to get artwork on the walls and all will be complete. Didn't take long at all last Thursday to get all of the furniture put in. My biggest challenge was getting my computer hooked back up properly to the network. Kathy, one of my downstairs "neighbors" thinks I'm going to hate all of the commotion of the upstairs hallway, but I think I'm pretty good at tuning things out, especially if I've got music playing. And I can always shut my door. The move IS helping with motivation. I'm much more peaceful about coming in here than I was downstairs. I don't think I ever realized how much the clutter was affecting me subconsciously.

We're getting together with last year's Zambia team this afternoon. The 9 of us have remained a pretty tight group and try to plan get-togethers often. One of the team, Kris, is leaving in a week or so to do a year-long internship at a Young Life camp in North Carolina. So this is a "send off" of sorts....an opportunity for all of us to see her before she departs. We're meeting at a park, and everyone is responsible to take care of whatever food their family wants. It's been so hot and humid this past week (heat index over 100 some days) that I'm desperately hopeful the temps won't climb that high. Not sure how Emma will do in the heat. It's been way too long since we've gotten out to take a walk because we both would have melted!

I bought more jars of baby food yesterday. Yes, I caved. After a pea-spitting incident in daycare, and watching her gag repeatedly on carrots, we've decided to revert back to the baby food and hope she'll make an easy jump to table food. She did eat some whole green beans at a friend's house the other night. And she loves little pieces of bread. She just can't figure out that she needs to release the food when it gets to her mouth. The daycare provides lunch for kids who are old enough, and I highlighted the menu on Friday indicating which foods she can start to try -- with supervision. Green beans, peaches, pears, carrots, pudding, juice popsicles, and a couple of others I can't remember.

Yesterday was a SWEET day with Emma. She was happy all day long, took great naps, and then was ready to go to bed by 8:00. Slept until 5, ate, then fell asleep in my arms (LOVE IT!) and went back to bed until around 7, at which time Jon got up with her so I could snooze a little longer. Oh, what causes a day like that? If I knew, I'd reenact the day as closely and as often as possible.

I know I need to post some new pictures. I'll probably take some today and then will have to load 'em up.

Purging is Good for the Soul

Well, I'm sitting here in my office at 10:30 PM trying to clean and get ready to move to another office upstairs. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I've been excited, but then tonight it finally sunk in that I'll be leaving this "home away from home" that has been mine for the past 5 years. My office downstairs is so much bigger (and nicer, I think), but I have way too much junk associated with my position and instead of looking like an office, I appear to have a storage room. Which, in fact, is what my current space is to become. I guess I wish the office upstairs could convert to storage and I could reclaim the spacious, wonderful office I once had.

So, in this entire process I've been going through files, cleaning off shelves, and doing a general overhaul. It always feels good to get rid of stuff, I'd say. Streamline. Have the opportunity to start fresh and do some re-design. I'm hopeful that it will kickstart my motivation and clean the cobwebs out of my head. Then maybe I can run full-steam-ahead and tackle the LOOOONNNGGG list of "To Do's" which grows even longer by the day.

Emma and I are having battles of will over eating....specifically over eating carrots that I cooked and that my mom ran through the food mill. Jon thinks she doesn't like the texture. I think it's probably the flavor -- much stronger than the "baby food" carrots in a jar (which she eats without hesitation). We try a few more bites each day, and the most successful we've been so far was tonight, mixing the carrots with her cereal (which she LOVES). I think she's adjusted already to homemade sweet potato, and we're still working on peas, and she likes regular jarred (not baby food) applesauce. I'm concerned about having to introduce meat into her diet and am not really sure how to go about it. Jon and I agreed we really don't want to do any of the baby food meats. They look pretty gross to us.

The bedtime routine is working like a charm. She's been sleeping through the night, though still waking a bit earlier than I would like...around 5:30 each morning. Some mornings she'll go back to sleep for a bit after nursing, but this morning wasn't one of them. Jon ended up getting up with her and they had some quality time together while Mommy slept a little more.

Poor Kiddo. She has a bit of a cold (though it IS seeming not to last as long or be as severe as others) and is so fed up with us going at her nose to suction or to pull out crusty boogers. She's becoming quite adept at throwing a block with her arms, and we now have to pin them down in order to access her tiny nostrils.

Grandma and Grandpa came for another visit and Em got to be a little princess for the weekend...moreso than normal. I asked my Dad, "So, which finger, exactly, is it that you're wrapped around?" His reply, "All of them." MmmmHmmm. So true. Good times were had by all.

On the job front, Jon has accepted a position at an academy for autistic kids and starts next Friday. I think it'll be good for him.

So Far So Good

Last night was an 8:30 pm to 5:30 am. And at that point Emma ate then went back to sleep until after 7:30. Ahhhh....I'm hoping that 8 months is the magical age of sleep...for her AND for me. She went to bed at close to 9:00 tonight, but tomorrow will be an early morning since we need to have Em dropped off at daycare just a little bit before 7:30 in order to make it up to District Conference (in Mt. Vernon) before 9:00 am. I feel bad that she's going to have to eat so many bottles tomorrow, AND I think this will be the longest I've been apart from my babe since she was born, so I'm fairly certain I'm going to MISS HER! Thankfully we don't have anything happening tomorrow night, so we can just come home and have playtime.

Today was a happy day. I didn't see Em for a good chunk of the time (worked on preparing for Art Adventure camp which starts tomorrow -- took 6 hours!), but she was good for Dad and was super sweet during the times I DID get to spend with her. Oh, how she loves her baths now! I like having that as part of the bedtime ritual. She just has so much fun wiggling in the water, chewing on her rubber duckie, and splashing. Something else she's learned to do is make clicking/smacking sounds with her tongue, which is absolutely adorable. Grandma and Grandpa, who are coming this weekend for another visit, are going to love it! She grows more and more fun every day.

Will Tonight Make Three?

Hmmm...the past two nights Emma has gone to bed around 8:00 pm and has slept through until 5:45 one morning and 6:45 the other. It's been amazing. I'm wondering if we've hit on something -- a routine of her eating, playing, taking a bath, saying goodnight to Daddy, then heading to bed. We've never been able to really do the "routine" thing before because of her sleep (or lack thereof) at daycare and her ever-changing eating schedule. If this keeps up, it will give me the opportunity to pump a couple of hours after she goes to bed, which will allow us to store up more milk in the freezer. At the moment we only have 5 or 6 bottles stored, and will have to use 2-3 of those on Monday while I'm at district conference all day (having to pump while away, of course).

Anyhow, there are a couple of things I've forgotten to blog about:
1) Emma's passport DID arrive in time. Really, it was at the last possible minute before we would have had to go through the messy process of birth certificates, state ID, etc. Praise the Lord!
2) Right before our trip to Canada I discovered I can fit back into pre-pregnancy pants. Woo hoo! Took 7 months, but I recognize that is quicker than for some. I'm ecstatic. What frustrates me, though, is that I just bought 2 pairs of shorts at the beginning of the summer that are now a size too big. Really, I ought to look online and see if they have any in the size smaller on sale and snatch them up for next summer. I've struggled for YEARS to find shorts I like.

Canda Pics Part 2

In the airport, waiting to board
Checking out the view

Fell asleep on take-off

Getting acquainted with Lutes

Emma with Jon's Nan

Touching the roses

We took a quick tour of Green Gables

Mooooooo!

Who loves his girl?

Enjoying the water