These past couple of weeks

Me and my little family has had a semi-busy couple of weeks. We took a trip to Nashville to visit family. Emily got to see her cousin Josie and they played pretty well together. It was especially cute to see them play in Josie's toy kitchen and dance together to a music Dvd. The trip itself went really smoothly (in spite of some dodgy weather on the way there). Emily barely made a fuss and when she did we just placated her with a Dvd. What did our parents do without Dvds? I shutter at the thought. When we returned we stayed busy doing some much needed yard work and power washing. Josh and I got to get out on our boat. Which had been neglected over the winter. He caught 6 catfish. Three were even big enough to eat. Josh has since caught fishing fever and has found another lake relatively close to our house. I have discovered that a lake big enough for a motorized boat does not exist close to our house, so I'll have to settle for relatively close. This past week hasn't been terribly busy. Though we have journeyed over to the new found lake a couple of times. Sans the boat,though, since the weather man keeps calling for storms. The weather man should not be allowed to predict the weather anymore though. Seeing how he was wrong 2 days in a row and the rain has yet to show it's ominous face. Oh well. Emily has been busy playing in her kiddie pool and getting into things she shouldn't get into. For example, mommy's Tums. She was discovered sitting in the rocking chair in her room gorging herself on my Tums. She ate all but one of them. Luckily the bottle was almost empty. So no need to get my panties in a wad and call Poison Control or anything. She's also been busy using words or gestures to communicate with me more. Though she still uses crying as the main tool in her arsenal to tell me what's got her panties in a wad. But she has told me no a couple of times when I'm wrong at guessing at what she wants. Not in a mean way but in an informative way. I know the meaner way is coming though. :) Another form of communication is walking over to her high chair. At times she will also say "eat eat" or try to wedge herself into her portable one that sits underneath her regular sized one. I'm so ready for this new way of communicating because crying every time she wanted something was getting way past old. She's also been busy with silent tantrums instead of this obnoxious noise she usually makes in combination with a tantrum. I suspect she picked this irritating sound up from me because when I get frustrated I make a similar one. So I've been trying harder not to make it and staying on her not to make it. It's hard to describe the sound but she actually had a new take on mine and made it louder and even more obnoxious. She now has resorted to silent tantrums in which she throws herself against a soft surface (such as a couch) or flails around on the floor silently. I'd rather her do that then make that sound. I'm hoping this continues instead of the alternative. Other than that she has been making me laugh at her antics as usual and making me feel so lucky to have her as usual. Other than obsessing about all things Emily, I've been busy reading the crap out of the Twilight series. It was funny though. I told my mom all about the premise of this series and she looked at me blankly and then said with a chuckle I don't know how you and your sister get into to such a story. I don't either but it's sucked me in (no vampire jokes intended). I guess I now have something in common with a bunch of teenage girls. Yippie! To the left are some pics of recent happenings (trip to TN, playing in the pool, and a random silly one for good measure).

Oooo ahh

There's a band and its name is the Laurie Berkner Band. Quite a few times, this band has been a lifesaver for me and for Josh and for Emily. Throughout most days of late, Emily has short lived temper tantrums. I think it's "the terrible twos" rearing its ugly head a tad early. During said temper tantrums we generally reprimand her because we're trying to teach her that those don't really help solve anything. Often times I will ask if she wants something after she hushes her fuss. Sometimes she says okay to my suggestions while other times she just moves on to something else. And other times, when I think she needs a pick me up, I pop in the Laurie Berkner Band DVD. Usually it provides instant relief. She stares while I place it on the DVD player tray and I see the excitement swelling in her little body. Once the songs commence she's hooked. A lot of times she even stays in her room to watch the entire thing (yes she has a tv in her room and yes I see nothing wrong with that). Lately a song that we have labeled the "oooo ahh" song (aka When I Walk Along the River) has become her fave on this DVD. It is named this because this sound is part of the chorus. Emily just plain adores it. We recently caved in and bought a portable DVD player for a recent trip to TN. I'm convinced the trip would have done us in without it. Both on the way there and on the way back she did really well until the last hr of the trip. We popped the DVD in and she just bopped her head along with the music and forgot why she was irritated in the first place. Now when she gets in the car and she sees the player she simply asks me "oooo ahh?" Thank you Laurie Berkner Band for calming the storms that are called tantrums.

Mother Duck said gack, gack, gack

My baby is a singer. She was originally just a dancer but now she's both. Sometimes she does them at the same time. She's getting a little more skilled at "open mouth hum singing" (best way I can describe it) along with the songs. And if you sing the 5 Little Duck song she'll quack along with you when it gets to that part. Mommy sings "quack, quack, quack" and at the same time Emily sings "gack, gack, gack."

Thank you Easter Bunny

Emily had a pretty good Easter. It started with giving her a singing bunny that sings some crazy Easter song I've never heard in a voice reminiscent of the Munchkins. Emily is pretty keen on shim (it has more of a manly voice but is dressed in pink) and sings along with shim. Well her version of singing. Which is more like an open mouth hum. The bunny makes a dramatic finish and sings real high and loud and Emily makes sure she is just as dramatic. We then moseyed over to church where she spent most of her time playing in a plastic rocking boat in the nursery. I was told she spent almost the whole time in it actually and just quietly observed the chaos that is the nursery. We then went to grandma and grandpa Porter's for lunch and the annual Easter Egg Hunt with all her cousins. This was her first one since she was only 6 months last year. She was kind of out of it since we woke her up earlier than usual and she was 2 hrs past her normal nap time. She was more fascinated by the fake grass in her bucket and the rocks on the ground. She sat most of the time and played with what she could find on the ground. When handed an egg she tried to open them and when she couldn't she just returned to investigating rocks. Eventually she became more intrigued with them and became really intrigued when she got to eat some of the candy that was inside of them. She came away with a good amount of loot of candy and toys. She also got to devour a piece of bunny cake. All in all it was a good Easter and the weather was beautiful (although a little chilly). I'm looking forward to next year when she actually fully grasps the concept of the egg hunt.

The cabinet that must not be named

Emily is getting too smart for her own good these days. She's figuring out how everything works (i.e. how to open things, what buttons to push on gadgets etc.). It can be cute but at times annoying. The latest occurred right before bedtime. You see Miss Emmy loves to get into the cabinet part of her dresser. This part holds some various things such as diaper cream, cotton balls, little diapers that we're planning to use for our next baby (not pregnant yet, just planning ahead), and her DVDs. As I said, various things. I don't like for her to get into it because she makes a wee bit of a mess. Usually, once we get onto her about things we don't want her to do, she doesn't bother them. This cabinet is a whole different story. The temptation level is just too high for her. We finally put a child safety lock on it the other day. Josh and I were both so pleased because we're tired of cleaning up after her and telling her no. So, back to tonight before bedtime...we were all spending a few minutes playing in her room. Josh proceeded to open and close her cabinet and tease her with it. Showing her ha ha, you can open it but not all the way so you're little hands can't get a hold of anything. Well, about 10 seconds into his taunt she reached up, touched the "safety lock" and within in seconds figured out how to open it. Dang it, dang it, dang it! Just when I thought one battle was fought and won. On to plan B. Mommy and daddy: 0, Emily: 1 (more like 101 for all the times she's successfully gotten into the cabinet). Above is a picture of her after getting into the "cabinet that must not be named" about a week ago.

Woo hoo!!!

Precious Moments doll

Emily has a little Precious Moments doll that, if you press on its tummy, will say a little prayer (the one that starts " Now I lay me down to sleep...."). The other day I said the prayer at the same time as the doll said it. Emily seemed intrigued and smiled. A few days later I discovered that she is trying to do the same thing. She'll babble in her own language along with it as it speaks and out of all the words spoken she can say "night" and at the end "Amen". That got a big smile and chuckle out of mommy.

Let's Go Tar Heels

March Madness is here and I have found myself watching games between teams I could care less about. That's when I know I've caught the fever. Of course when the Heels play it's a different story. Hopefully they can make it all the way this time.

Emily's emerging personality and some of her sweet gestures

Emily has been seeking out kisses from mommy and daddy lately. Unsolicited kisses only happen every so often and so we relish in the moments she leans in, puckers, and plants one on our lips. Something else she has been doing is walking up to me and grabbing my hand to lead her. I usually have to grab her hand and hold on tightly. Funny thing is she does it when I really don't need to be holding her hand because it's usually in our front yard when she decides she wants me to guide her. Or maybe she wants to guide me. Another thing that I thought was so endearing was when we were riding in my sister's car the other day. My mom was in the back row seat feeding my new niece, Aubrey, a bottle. Aubrey was sitting in the row in front of my mom and Emily was sitting beside Aubrey. She saw my mom holding the bottle for Aubrey and Emily decided that she would help her by holding onto the bottle as well. She did this for quite some time and only stopped because the bottle had to be repositioned.Which was out of her reach. She was being such a little mommy.

As Emily grows older and more verbal her little personality has been emerging more and more. She, like she has been since about 4 months old, is still very easygoing. She has had periods of time when she is not herself and has fussy days but for the most part she just goes with the flow.A lot of times I suggest things to her and her reply is ok. She says ok a whole heck of a lot and I know she has no idea what she's saying ok to most of the time. Don't get me wrong, she does show her cranky side at least once a day. What this looks like is a scream, a clenching of fists, and throwing her little body on the floor. These tantrums don't last long but she lets me know when mommy is working on her nerves.She is very easy to take places and she interacts with other children very well. She loves being out and about. When I take her to the nursery at church, she barely acknowledges that I'm leaving and when I return her reaction is less than enthusiastic. Though I would like to see some excitement in her face I know that it's a blessing that she does well without me.When she is around her 3 year old boy cousins they often bully her and take things from her. Usually she just shrugs it off and stares at them. Then moves on to something else. She's also a very cheerful baby. She often giggles and smiles widely throughout the day. For some reason she thinks I'm hilarious. The feeling is mutual. She's also very curious about her world and I can often see the curiosity in her eyes. She likes mimicking me and we often make a game out of it. She keeps me entertained most days.

Dance Dance

Emily has been into music for a long time now. Ever since she could sit up she would sway or rock to anything that could be considered a beat. One time when she was able to crawl and pull up by herself a commercial with a treadmill in it came on the tv. She went over to the tv and pulled up to hang onto it. She then preceded to sway to the sound of the treadmill beat. Last week at my sister's house we went outside. The wind was blowing the wind chime hanging on her front porch. She then began dancing to the sound of it. So pretty much she can dance to anything. Dancing without holding onto anything is her newest thing. I captured some of it on video. She generally dances to Elmo's World theme song. Unfortunately on the day I finally decided to capture it she didn't dance to it. But luckily (well lucky for me anyway) I caught her dancing to another song on Sesame Street. It was brief but you'll get the idea.Without further ado here is Emily and her original dance moves....