Emma insisted on having her friends join her for snack this afternoon. Both of them snuggled IN her highchair with her. Think you know your Sesame characters? Apparently, when you have an Elmo doll in three different sizes... one is the mommy, one is the daddy, and one is Elmo. After I brought her downstairs from her nap, clutching her Cookie Monster, tears began streaming down her face because we left Elmo's Daddy in the crib. So up we went to quickly get him to join the party.
They even had to come with us in the car as we rushed out for some open play time at Gymboree this afternoon. Luckily, we were able to leave them quietly resting on a blanket in the car for their nap time while we went inside Gymboree to play.
Oh, but rest assured.... they were given full attention once we got home and Emma was finished with dinner. I was preparing dinner for me & Felix while Emma had Elmo in her other highchair and was reading him book after book. I kept hearing her say "the end" and running back & forth to her playroom getting him a new book to read. Poor Cookie Monster had been tossed to the floor under the chair at this point. But they were quickly reunited for some quality snuggle time on the couch with some after dinner pretzels & teddy grahams. I love how she is sitting here watching TV with her legs crossed.
Here is a picture of Emma during our family breakfast time last week, showing the aftermath of what happens when you try to pick out the chocolate chips from chocolate chip pancakes.
We started off today with a quick workout at the gym, followed by meeting up with some friends at a park with lots of snacks and bubbles to play with. Emma has been telling me what goes on in the gym daycare lately. Yesterday as we were leaving in the car she said "baby bumped head". I asked her "what?? a baby bumped his head?" and she replied "yes. fell on floor". She calls every child a "baby", so I am hoping it was a toddler who fell while running or something, and not a small infant! And today as we left she said "stop taking all the crayons", followed by "emma, pick one". So I can only jump to the conclusion that she was being a crayon hog. I wonder how long she will continue to tell on herself... but for now, I love it! After the park we rushed home for nap time, Felix came home for an hour or two and watched Emma while I subbed a class for someone, then Emma & I met up with some more friends at a different park. LONG DAY! Once we got home and had dinner, she wanted to lay on the couch. I was letting her relax for a few minutes before bringing her to bed. I sat next to her and made nice to her hair (ran my fingers through it). She looked up at me and said...... "mommy. leave me alone."
And as I sat there, I couldn't believe what my little baby just said to me. I was sad! Is the day really going to come where she won't want to snuggle with me? Oh I can't even think about that!!!!!
POTTY SEAT!!!!! YEAY!!! I'm certainly in no rush, but she seems more and more interested in the potty lately. Call me selfish, but I like the fact that I can take her on long car rides and run lots of errands without having to worry about where the nearest bathroom is that I need to rush her to when she decides she has to go. (Now ME and MY pregnant bladder is a completely different story!) So proud of herself! She has been asking for the potty a lot recently- although, it is AFTER she poops in her diaper. But still, the potty is on her mind! So other than trying to tell her to let me know she wants to use the potty BEFORE she goes in her diaper, I am just dropping everything and rushing her to the potty whenever she mentions the word. I have also learned from my mistakes. For example- I don't just whip off the diaper and throw her on the toilet. That usually ends up in a yucky mess that is incredibly difficult to clean while she is standing, not to mention, quite disgusting. So now, we take off the diaper and clean her up, then sit on the potty and sing songs- and she just loves it. After I took her picture I told her she was a pretty girl. She said "Emma see pretty girl", and wanted to see the picture. So when I showed her, she thought it was pretty cool that she could see me through the screen on the camera as well. Who knew potty time could be such fun.
......as in "supercalafragilisticexpialadocious" from Mary Poppins.
She repeats it over and over "supercala! supercala!" pointing to the CD player in her playroom.
My darling daughter is obsessed with this song, and we have it on a CD for her in the playroom. But the song itself is not good enough. She has to be in costume- which includes her apron and a hat. and she has to have us in the room with her. dancing. actually standing up, holding her hands, and spinning around the room- don't even try to sit down and clap to the music, that WILL NOT cut it!
Where has my little baby gone??? I lowered her pigtails yesterday. No more cute little flags of black hair sticking straight up from the top of her head. Seems simple and thoughtless, but certainly a very momentous occasion for us. She is a big girl now. She talks like a big girl, plays like a big girl, even throws tantrums like a big girl. And now, she even looks like a big girl. She dares to climb the steps by herself, telling me to "go away". Mostly because she wants to reach in her crib to get her binky and then come back downstairs right away- not wanting me there to make her go to sleep. She repeats everything I say, even in the same tone. This afternoon we had a friend over and were moving furniture around the house, and I said "this one (box) is just full of crap". Echoed by Emma of course. In her playroom, she sat between my legs and pulled her toy piano up to us. She held onto my fingers as I played twinkle twinkle little star for her. Then she looked up at me and said "good job". The cuteness just never stops. But she is growing up too fast!
"Ride Daddy's Knee" instead of "riding horsey". This one makes her so happy, but we really feel the burn! Especially when she does it to me, because she likes to ride my shin.... basically, forcing me to do leg extensions over and over and over.
Sticker mania, always pulling out those annoying stickers we will forever be finding all over ourselves and the house. She is so big now- I remember when she could barely reach into that toy bin. Now she hardly fits in there when she tries to sit inside and go for a ride.
I shall tell the truth.... even if it means you never want to come inside my house again!
Apparently, our home has been prone to stink bugs! We first noticed them this past September as the weather turned cold, and we had opened the walls and doors for construction. I remember my first sighting of one. Felix was with me as it flew right past me and landed on Emma's floor. He promptly killed it and I thought nothing of it.
Until I would see another, and another, and another. Are they not the ugliest things you have ever seen? Completely archaic looking and just gross. They move extremely slow, which is a plus, but they do up and fly at times- a con.
I have called pest control after pest control company just begging someone to douse my house in spray that will kill these, and nobody has a solution. The good news is that they only want to enter your house in Sept/Oct, hang out inside the walls throughout the winter if they manage to escape the "Wrath of Jill", and then hightail it outta there in March/April. They don't bite or sting and only feed on plants. They are only looking for warmth.
Unfortunately, they get vacuumed up in my house if I see them. But I hate walking in the house having to scan all the walls and windows before being able to sit and relax, for fear of seeing one. We even send Felix upstairs before bedtime to check and make sure none have sought refuge in Emma's room for the evening.
Yesterday, after returning home from leaving the house abandoned for 2 weeks, I came home to find seven. YES. seven of these little guys around the windows of their favorite room in the house- trying to escape to the warm sun they have been waiting for. I vacuumed them up and promptly called for professional assistance.
After today's assessment from a professional service, they assured me I most likely have seen the last of them. Although there are no guarantees.... just hearing someone say that has helped me to relax in the house, even just a bit. They recommended vinyl siding for the house, which would eliminate the carpenter bees, the carpenter ants, and these guys (or greatly reduce). So, until we hit the lottery or save up another few years, we can seal and caulk the house as best we can in preparation for their next invasion in the Fall and can rest assured that we should be stink-bug-free for the next 4-5 months. And that is good enough for me!
He did say we should do the best with what we have- that we have lots of trees, and a great yard, and bugs come with that. I'm such a sucker for compliments! Our yard is not landscaped in the least, and covered in pine needles, but he called it great. And so I like him.
My daughter, who unfortunately learns too quickly from me, is scared of bugs as well. Yesterday, she helped me find the 7th one crawling on the window behind the curtain. She lifted up the curtain and said "oh, hello ladybug" (every bug is called 'ladybug'). I pulled back the curtain and said "there are no ladybugs here honey", to which she pointed in the corner and responded "look, right there. Mommy, vacuum." She was right, and vacuum we did.
And in the interest of my daughter, my soon-to-be newborn son, and my dog, the company suggested not spraying pesticides inside the house. Although they said it would kill any of these stinkers that managed to get inside, I would just be vacuuming up dead ones instead of alive ones. What if I promise not to let my kids lick the walls, then could we spray? At least he promised we can spray the outside with their turbo mega insecticide, up and down all the walls and in the cracks, which he said should greatly eliminate them for this coming Fall.
We shall see. In the meantime, it is safe to come over for the next few months, so come on out and visit while you can!
Things have been going great with our little boy inside my belly. I am having some pains in my lower left back and bum, but they seem to be better when I lay off the exercise. My professional background and some light internet research lead me to believe it is my SI joint, but one can never be sure! I plan on keeping up the exercise and do some more stretching. Maybe even spoil myself with a nice massage! According to my family, I am a complainer! Who knew!!! I honestly think that perhaps my pregnancy DOES hurt more than theirs did! (they are now starting to doubt the severe pain that I told them endometriosis causes!). Apparently nobody wants to be around me when the time comes that I go into labor. I can't blame them. I don't even want to be there!
On a more cheery side, I love love love to sit on the couch (that alone I love), but also- watching him move inside my belly. He certainly is a mover & a shaker and it is so cool to see him bumping around in there. Last night in bed he was keeping me up with all his moving- making me giggle. I can't wait to meet him!
Oh what a wonderful day we had today! The sun was shining and it was the perfect day to play outside. The pool was a chilly 70 degrees.....but we made the best of it and spent endless hours in the sun and jumping in & out of the water! Steph, Roger & the kids, and Jaime came over in the early afternoon to play outside with us. And eventually Mamare & Grandaddy came over and joined us for dinner.
Having a picnic lunch outside. Blowing bubbles...she is getting the hang of it! We set up the kiddie pool which warmed up pretty quickly, and I threw some of her bath toys in there for her. When I put her in she said "yeay....tubbie!" and played in there for hours. Having a blast with her cousins. Gavin was the only one brave enough to go in the freezing cold big pool! Eventually we got the kids to come inside, get dressed, and enjoy some quality snuggle time watching movies together. Even Eli was interested in the show! .....Emma? well, she started off snuggling for a minute or so, but quickly moved to the floor to enjoy her snack on her special tray that her Grandaddy pulled out for her the other morning. Then, back into baking action. All 3 kids helped make 3 different mini cakes to celebrate Gavin & Jaime's birthday since we were all together. We had a nice dinner together with 3 very tired kiddows, and eventually fell fast asleep.
Steph had the idea to bring the kids to Lion Country Safari on Friday, along with cousin Jaime, Mamare & Grandaddy, Jackie, and Mom. It was quite the adventure.....to say the least.
First off, I would like to thank Grandaddy for treating all of us to this trip, it was very nice of you and nice to be able to do it all together. We decided to rent one of the Lion Country vans for the drive thru part so we could all see the animals together in one car. It apparently takes about 45min on a regular day, but being that it was Good Friday and incredibly crowded, it took about 2 hours.
Plus... the van broke down due to the slow traffic and hot weather. And it broke down.... in the Lion's Den. Exciting? yes. Scary? absolutely! The van kept stalling, and finally just stopped just as we approached the Lion section. Luckily, the lions were behind a gate so they didn't actually walk up to your window, but apparently, not a "lion proof" gate. Immediately, a staff truck pulled up to us and let us know help was on the way. We pulled over to the side. We patiently waited in the van, doors & windows shut, with no air.
This staff member pulled up next to us and explained that a new van was on the way and we would have to do the transfer in the Lions Den, which they generally do not like to do. He radioed to the staff member that was in the truck INSIDE the lions den that if one of the lions even stood up, they were to let him know. "Hey guys! Don't worry, we'll get you a new van and you'll be on your way." Me...kind of nervous as I watched (and heard the notice) that a lion was up and walking. Shortly after I asked the gentleman above if they carried tranquilizer guns with them. Apparently, they REALLY DO NOT like making transfers in the lion area, so eventually he actually had us get into neutral and pushed the van with his truck until we made it to the next area. Phew! I couldn't get into that van fast enough! That is, until we learned the AC wasn't working for the back of the new van. I also learned that my family thinks I complain too much after I asked for the 3rd time how much longer this drive was going to be!! Eventually, all of us ended up sitting in the first 2 rows of the van trying to cool off with the AC that was working from the front. And eventually, we made it out of the driving tour. Alive. Dehydrated and soaked in sweat. But nonetheless, alive.
And oh boy did the fun begin! We stopped to feed the animals....... We rode on the train ride, carousels, and the dumbo ride. ....played mini golf....... and even took a spin on the paddle boats! (I offered to do the pedaling but was turned down)! Well...... although the experience wasn't exactly what we had expected, it was quite memorable and we were all completely exhausted by the time we got home!
Emma & I are enjoying celebrating all of Passover this year in FL with the family. We have come to accept that Felix most likely won't ever be able to join us for the holiday because of Women's season. However, it is nice that his schedule usually has him traveling for a week or two this time of year, so he isn't home alone without us.....and we aren't home alone without him. I've chosen to look at it as a win-win, even though I always pictured our family being all together this time of year, being that this was always the most memorable celebration with extended family for us growing up.
Ava greeting Emma when she woke up from her nap....the first time seeing each other since we left in February. Emma helping Bubbe & Grandaddy bake for the Seder. At the Seder table What?!! A sippy cup with a STRAW? For me???!!!!!! Getting their treats after finding the Afikoman. Twins! Sweet baby Eli, sleeping so peacefully.
