Happy Birthday Baby!

How fast she's grown! Emily is 2 today and has a very tired mommy that was up unti l 130 decorating a birthday cake (but its pretty neat) more pics on that to come.

2 years ago...

I don't remember what kind of cereal I bought, but I distinctly remember being in the cereal aisle two years ago today. It had been a long day. I had planned on working, but after my dr appt first thing in the morning she wanted me to go in for an ultrasound and since they could get me in around lunchtime I decided to just go ahead and do that and not work that day. I went to babies r us and got a few things I was still needing, and then I went for the ultrasound. The child inside me was not in a favorable position for delivery...actually her sweet little head was crammed up into my ribs (explained some of the discomfort!) and so I knew my chances for a no medication vaginal delivery were out the window. I knew they would be calling to set up a c-section. On my way home I stopped at Walmart to get groceries, a weekly ritual around here and I was in the cereal aisle when they called. I thought they would schedule maybe in a week...but that call stopped me in my tracks, right there in the cereal aisle. I needed to be at the hospital at noon the next day my c-section was scheduled for 1 pm. I did stop for a second. Everything I'd ever known about life would be different in less than 24 hours. And then I finished shopping and went home, excited, terrified, freaking out about being sliced open, and then freaking out about being a mommy. Two years later, she's peacefully sleeping and I have tons of housework and a birthday cake that needs decorated (but its baked...YIPEE!)

Birthday Weekend #1

The busy month of October continues....and since Emily and Blaine's birthdays are Thursday we came south to go to the zoo with the boys. Due to soccer games all morning we were unable to do a party for Blaine's birthday but Grandma took everyone to the zoo. Took lots of praying the rain would hold off and it did until the very end and the hippo was hiding anyway, but we got to go to the zoo. And Emily got to see her elephant....and until she fell asleep has continued to tell us all about the elephant "Elephant poo poo outside" Oh the things that impress a nearly two year old!

And before we went to the zoo Grandpa and Grandma made Emily a huge leaf pile...her first ever! She didnt really know you were supposed to jump in so she had to be shown how And Grandma was kind enough to cover me completely (until Emily started crying for mama). Another option for her pictures....can you see Kendall too?

The birthday kids at the zoo. (the only picture I ended up with of Cameron he wasn't smiling...it was lightly raining so I didnt get very many pictures)

Not sure what she was looking at but it wasnt the same thing as Daddy:)

Oh what fun!

And we have the party and pictures and Halloween next week! So that may be the next post!

If My Life Were A Musical

Doesn't she look like a little princess in this picture? She wanted to play dress up again and I got this picture. Maybe I play dress up too much and that is why my day is doomed to cleaning all day!

I had this thought yesterday...what would the songs be if my life were a musical? Ok, so events of the day on Thursday put this in my head. Playtime in the backyard would be Ray Stevens "Oh yes they call her the streak" I'll let you figure that one out, but it involved light purple socks with dark purple trim and pink tennis shoes. Now imagine that as the ENTIRE outfit! The day progresses...I'm cooking dinner, specifically the cheese part of macaroni and cheese and Emily looks at me and our song was "Oh Happy Day" cause she said, "Poo Poo" and we went to the potty and she pooped! Since Monday we have been in big girl undies with very few accidents. Last night I was cooking dinner and "Hallelujah" when I went to find her, the only doors open were to her bedroom and bathroom and she wasnt in her bedroom. She was SITTING ON THE POTTY by herself and had pooped! Granted she needed some help with the wiping and had gotten some on the floor, but she had pottied without my prompting or even helping. My little girl is growing up. And when we go today to Walmart she gets to pick out whatever big girl panties she wants (which I'm pretty sure will beElmo).

Virtual Fashion Show

Ok, so earlier we played dress up and got a few pictures of various possibilities for picture outfits...and then of course, my mom is making Emily and Kendall matching outfits. Hmm...Decisions, decisions, decisions. Let me know what you like best cuase I can't decide!

Option 1: Green dress with purse. You can't tell here but this one has a little matching purse that goes with it, which I think was over her shoulder.

Option 2: Green pant suit with candy canes....the tongue is possible in any outfit!

Option 3: Light green fancy dress....Oh if she will only smile this much at a real photographer with the dog being good and cute too!

Option 4: Fancy white dress...this one might be a smidge too big, but actually i think that i jsut think that because it says its a 4, but its actually smaller than the light green dress!

Option 5: Pretty purple dress

Option 6: Green with pink flowers and bow dress

And the reason I'd like to decide is we need to accessorize (which may only be going to her room and findign what we need, but we need shoes, hair bows, possibly tights, etc.) So any good accessory ideas send them to me too!

And I'm sure they will not let me have more than 2 hours free, so I should go and prepare for the girls to get up from nap! If comments dont work, you can always send me an email!

Approaching 2 years

I remember two years ago rather vividly...of course it was a once in lifetime experience, waiting on my little bundle of joy to arrive. And looking back I wanted to say thank you, because 2 years ago I had baby showers....and even though Cameron couldnt figure out why the baby wasnt there to take its shower, it was great. I got tons of stuff....amazed at all one little bitty person could need. Now two years later, we have boxes upon boxes of clothes she has outgrown, and other things that we can no longer use, (however they were important for the time), but there are several special things that I got at baby showers that still get used every day. The laundry hamper that my aunt Doris Ann got for me gets used all the time (currently overflowing with dirty laundry) and has been used every single day since Emily was born, a great idea for a baby gift. Baby wash...a small simple gift, but extremely necessary. I think I made the comment after all the gifts were received I wouldnt need baby wash for quite some time...well...two years later and daily use, I only have 1 1/2 bottles left and 1 bottle left of lotion. I did have to buy shampoo but not because I didnt have baby wash, but because my baby's bundle of hair just wasnt getting clean with the baby wash. And considering how much we have watched our money this past year, it was very nice not having to worry about buying baby soap! And then there were two blankets, a green one that was wrapped around the base plate of a diaper cake, and a pink one, I believe I got from my aunt Sue (and her family) that go EVERYWHERE! Even on the one million and tenth time she gets out of bed in the night. Hooded towels, washcloths, and crib sheets are much appreciated too. So Thank you for the gifts that just keep on giving!

And she is now big enough that shopping with mommy is a fun outing. So as I told you, I scheduled pictures for her and Kendall. And I know she's getting a jumper and shirt for her birthday, but I want these pictures to be perfect and dont want to wait until the last minute to decide on outfit, so yesterday we went picture clothes shopping. I had considered Kohls, Penneys, Sears, even Macys and Dillards to get her clothes and then I made a discovery. There was a huge consignment sale nearby and Saturday was half price day. Worst case scenario....I have to go ahead and go to the other stores. Best case...I find exactly what I am looking for (which I wasnt sure exactly what that was). So off we go in search of bargains (along with hundreds of other mommies in the area) and we make our way to the 3t clothes. "Oh look Emily, this is pretty. And its only $2 today. Do you want it?" "Mama Pretty" Ok so this conversation was repeated sometimes with her finding something, sometimes with me until there were many items hanging from the handle on the stroller. Then we looked at shoes but didnt find any we liked in our size, and found some tights, hair bows and hats that we added to our stash. Success?? I'd say so. I still have no idea what she will be wearing for pictures, but we have lots of choices now, and the great part about every thing being $1 or $2 instead of $20 or $25, I just bought them all:) And still spent less than if I'd just bought one brand new (and they all look brand new). We may do a virtual fashion show later so I can get you opinion, besides I havent actually taken time to post pictures lately and I should cause she is pretty darn cute.

One last bit of warning to all you other mothers of two year olds. The new Karate Kid movie is rated PG, so we settled down to watch it while Emily was still up Friday night. Kendall says that was a bad idea. Since then we have been witnessing 2 year old Kung Fu, with the dog being the recipient.

So long until we get our fashion show under way.....

The ideas I get

Sometimes I get wild hair-brained ideas that will probably end up causing me stress in the long run. Well, watch these two. Arent they cute together? Best friends that love to play together. So my wild idea...I will take Kendall with us next time I go to get Emily's pictures. Called and found out I could do that at Target the last appointment of the day on Saturday, October 30. So then I had to schedule Kendall an appointment at Petsmart to get her haircut and beautified before the pictures. And then.....what to dress Emily in. I dont have her a special dress this year, her birthday outfit is a shirt and pants. But do I want a dress? I just cant decide. There are some pretty ones out there, and even ones that arent too terribly expensive, but do I want to spend the time to go out and find one? Oh the decisions.... The photographer said that they have a great winter backdrop and it would look really cute with hats and mittens. Yes I said hats, but really dont have one for the dog:) And if I do that backdrop it would look a lot better with a dark colored dress. Ok, enough babbling on that in a few weeks I'll let you know if it was great or a nightmare!



Doodle Doos....if only she'd been able to meet Quikster!