First Haircut

She was SOOOOOOO good! I was shocked. I actually was looking forward to holding her on my lap while she got her haircut, but they didn't even need me! When we walked in, Emma took off as if she owned the place, looking at all the cool toys and displays they had. Then she sat right in the chair and let the stylist spray water and cut her hair, as if she didn't even notice what was going on.

Our scraggly little gremlin before the haircut. She couldn't even see when her bangs were down in front of her face.



"my hands are stuck under this thing!"


"heeeeeeeeey! a little too rough back there lady!"

checking out her new shorter 'do in her own personal mirror

They have little tv's for every chair, and Emma was VERY interested in watching the movie. Whenever the stylist would get in front of her and block her view of the movie, she would move her head to try and see around her.

all done with a pretty bow!

At the end, they give her a certificate and a keepsake of her first hair. Then she put a card they gave her into a special machine..and out popped a toy! It was pretty cool... and she won a little rubber ducky dressed as a princess, so she was thrilled and sucked on it the whole ride home. What a good girl she was!!!!

Her New Favorite Facial Expression

Lazy Summer Days

Emma & I went to the beach with some friends on Tuesday and really had a great time. It was our first time out for a real beach day in New England. I think it was actually our first time in the ocean out here as well. Lots of waves, but a bit more chilly than we were used to!

Emma enjoyed multiple fistfulls of sand that afternoon. And watermelon.

She liked the water when I would hold her and go in- but didn't love jumping in the waves the way her friends did.

Here she is watching the waves in the ocean.....

Wait for it.........

RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back home enjoying time with the family. Felix was doing work and Emma kept trying to grab his pen and paper, until we gave her some of her own. She sat down right next to him and drew on her own pad of paper. So cute!

A Day At The Farm!

Today was such an amazing day- family fun at its finest!

Felix & Emma picking berries

Teaching Emma how to pick the good ones.....


"So, you're saying, I can pick these off the bush and eat them??"

".....sounds like a good deal to me- let's get some of these in our yard at home!!!!"

Emma was in absolute heaven! She kept picking them off the bush and eating them- she preferred the unripe ones, but was happy as could be yanking them off and sticking them in her mouth. She was even signing "more" when we walked away. I think she was confused as to why she was actually allowed to put these items in her mouth- as opposed to the rocks and dirt she usually tries to eat. She really truly enjoyed herself.

....notice in every picture, she has her mouth full!

And here is my dainty little man carrying his 2 baskets of blueberries


We were at Ward's Berry Farm which also has a petting zoo. Emma was more comfortable petting the animals than I was....probably because she is used to Matti, but thse sheep were very sweet with her and gave her kisses on her fingers as she was grabbing their face. They also had cows, and some very smelly chickens & ducks, another one of her favorites.


Petting the soft sheep. I was glad to see them there because just this morning when we were reading a book, I pointed to a picture of a sheep and asked what it says...and sure enough, she said "baaaaah".

Here is a short video and you can hear her squeal in delight at the end. she had so much fun today!

Before leaving we stopped at the farm store and bought some fresh tomatoes & basil....which I absolutely love- I wish my pillow smelled like fresh basil! And we even lucked out with a gigantic supersized canteloupe- for only $2!!!!

Our country home just isn't complete...

.........without a white picket fence!

Felix installed this white picket fence for Matti, to keep him nice and safe, and so we could finally take down the chicken wire fence that was up. It was a difficult task since the ground is so rocky and dips down....but he made it work! Good job my love!

Girls Lunch

Once a month or so my girlfriends from MIT & I get together for lunch- half of us have left working at MIT and so we are living all over the place now which makes it hard to get together as often as we used to.
This past Sunday we went to Melissa's new house and enjoyed a lovely BBQ in the backyard, with our own personal griller (thanks John!!)

Emma giving the sheep kisses

I had to strip her down before allowing her to dive into the chocolate cake......and it is a good thing I did!

Before breaking them.... (sorry Steph!) Emma took these sunglasses and was dressing up as...............

Sid the Science Kid's Grandma!!!!!

Playing outside for the most beautiful day of the year!


She was actually posing in this picture- came right over to me to lie down, and waited for the camera to take the picture! Then she got up and ran away through the grass.


Learning to use a spoon eating her applesauce in the mall. She insisted on eating this all by herself and would push my hand away when I would try to help her.

New Haircut......

I have been wearing my hair in a ponytail everyday, so I decided it was time to just chop it off. This style definitely has the potential to make me look like a mushroom head- so I tried a few different accessories to see how they looked. Hopefully I will be able to keep it looking nice & stylish. So many options!

Down.....


Clip up high.....


Clip down low.....


Pulled back...


Heaband......

I'm sure it will be only a matter of weeks before I am back to my old habits and have it up in a pony.... wish me luck!

DI-O-SGUSTING!

Matti Watkins, our 18lb Bichon Frise....

...killed a baby bunny and brought it into the house last night!!!!
Felix & I were talking in the living room and Matti came running inside and was chewing on something- I couldn't see what he had, I just heard crunching. Figuring it was a leaf or twig I just ignored it.
A few minutes later, Felix was in our bedroom and I was reading a magazine...and I hear Matti in Emma's playroom chewing his new toy...more crunching. So I got up to look again and see what he had...and I saw enough to know it was an animal.
I STARTED SCREAMING! I ran on my tippy toes across the house into our bedroom as I was yelling "FELIX FELIX FELIX FELIX" at an obnoxiously high pitched sound. I then jumped on the bed so Matti couldn't get to me.
Felix couldn't even identify the mangled animal, but swept it up and threw it outside.
Meanwhile, I was looking at Matti in our bedroom and noticed he had blood all over his face and neck. And in this moment (as Felix was threatening to get rid of Matti), I did what any loving mother would do- put on rubber gloves and gave my little baby a bath.

This afternoon, Felix went out and examined the murder scene....and found the fur.....and a foot....safe to say it was indeed, a baby bunny. And then-hopping out and about, we saw the mommy desperately trying to find her missing baby. We can never look at our innocent little Matti the same again.

New Toys and Fun!

My grandparents, Emma's Mamare & Saba- got her a new table & chairs for her birthday. The very same one her cousins have! She loves it- she keeps walking over to it and asks me to help her sit down.

I know there is a picture of me at this age with the same facial expression.

She has also started taking the sink out of her Dora kitchen and walking around the house with it.

Check out her new shiny shoes- thanks Bubbe & Grandaddy....

we decided to keep them...glitter and all!

This afternoon Emma & I went to play at a birthday party for a friend who was turning 2! It was a perfect day outside and we had a lot of fun- here Emma is dancing to the music.