Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July....

 From our little firecracker!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

It dawned on me that I never did post about our, or rather I should say, my bear experience.  Yep, I had a bear experience just a few weeks ago. You read that correctly. A BEAR experience!!  (Mark that one off my bucket list. As if it was ever ON my bucket list!)  On our property mind you. NOT at the zoo. 

It all began....

...On your average, North Carolina, summer day -- and by this I mean a day of unbearable (no pun intended) heat.  I was spending a lazy afternoon on the front porch with the dog when Charlie started barking.  Paying little attention to his barking, I continued on with my texting.  When the barking became a bit more frantic I decided to glance up and see what the fuss was all about.  At first glimpse my eyes registered a black, furry mass standing on the driveway not 30 yards away.  Seeing as how it's not uncommon for dogs to roam our property, I assumed "it" was just that - a dog.  A few seconds later something told me to look again, this time with my mind actually linking what my eyes were seeing...a black, bear cub.  Immediately panic set in and I began screaming thus causing panic to ignite in the cub, who proceeded to run like hell back to the woods.

I truly have NO idea what this cub was doing, or where he was going, though I imagine the extreme heat was driving him to find water, but I can say that we have yet to see the bear again.  Thank God!

And that brings us full circle to the title of this post, one of Emma's favorite books, the new joke at the house, and the theme for one of our weekend adventures - hiking.  Despite the rough terrain, a few falls and scraps, and a lack of (thank God) actual bears, Emma seemed to enjoy the hike and playing in the lake.

"We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to find some big ones.  We're not afraid...."

Lovin' Summer

Sulking on the way to the Dr.

Wow! What a busy month it has been.  I can't believe it's already approaching July and soon the summer will be coming to an end :(

So far we've had an exciting beginning to the summer, and while each day has primarily consisted of the same things; playing and then more playing at the pool, we've been thoroughly enjoying the moments!









Pre-blood work face



At the beginning of the month I took Emma to see an Immunologist at the local Children's Hospital...perhaps not one of the most fun activities...but much needed.  --I don't think I've recently posted any updates on Emma's chronic illnesses, but it continues to be a battle for us to keep her well. --  Not a whole lot to report from the visit; inhalers prescribed for what they think is asthma, nasal steroids to prevent the severe inflammation she unfortunately gets with any sort of illness and a continued diet of all organic food --the one thing that seems to have made the most difference as of yet.  We'll be following up with the Doctor in September so I'll keep you all posted.

After the visit, we headed to the pool for a "pool play date" with Miss. Heather and her little boy, Tucker.  The kids had a great time swimming, laughing and playing, while Heather and I got to enjoy some time catching up.

A few weeks later, Abuelo and Abuela were able to come down for a visit.  Though the weekend consisted, for the most part, of our typical summer activities, Emma had a blast spending time with her Abuelos.

And of course, if it's not drama with Emmy than it's drama with Mommy =)  And since it had been awhile, the fates finally dished it out with a trip to the ED.   I'll spare details as the real story isn't as good and just say that a got into a fight with a grill, and well, the grill won :(

Pause...Rewind...Play Again...

As promised, I'm back to finish what I started yesterday.  So where did I leave off...  Oh, that's right...

December/January

Picking out our Christmas tree

This winter found North Carolina with more snow than I think they've possibly ever had.  So, needless to say we spent a lot of time building snowmen, going sledding, and just playing in the snow.  Along with that, we were also hit with our first case of the stomach bug.  Or rather I should say, Emma was hit with her first case of the stomach bug.  All I can say on that is, not fun!!

Christmas.  What can I say about Christmas? Well, Emma was sick.  Emma got Mommy REALLY sick.  Mommy had to work.  So, a really sick, sleep deprived Mommy doesn't remember a whole lot about Christmas.  Thankfully Gammy, Uncle Ryan and Daddy were there to capture it on film :)

After Christmas, as most we're anxiously awaiting the start of a new year, Mommy and Daddy were anxiously counting down the days until Emma's surgery :(  Yep, little Miss was going in for another surgery. This time to have her tonsils removed and, this time we would be required to stay overnight at the hosptial.  :Gasp:  But, surgery went well and just like her adneoids, we learned that she had what are commonly called "kissing tonsils"; tonsils that are touching in the back of her throat almost completely obstructing her airway.

Though surgery went well, recovery was...well...recovery was painful for all of us.  Note to anyone who's child has to have their tonsils removed: When the doctors prescribe your child pain medicine, be sure to ask for a sedative for yourself at the same time.  Trust me, it's THAT bad!  But like everything else, we got through it...somehow!

Just when we thought we were in the clear...drum roll please....Emma got the stomach bug, AGAIN. Yuck! No fun.  But she was a trooper, even managing to throw up in the toliet on at least one occasion ;)

Feburary/March

My baby turned 3!! Wow, I am now the proud Mother of a three year old.  Can you see that I'm still trying to grasp this concept?

But...before I get to that.  The beginning of Feburary was fairly uneventful, just kidding.  Uneventful is not a common term used to describe our lives.  The stomach bug that Emma had in January... Well, that turned into a three week stretch of a fever of unknown origin.  Yes, three weeks.  With a temperature of around 103.  It was rough and those three weeks consisted of numerous doctor's appointments, blood draws, etc.  Poor little girl was, yet again, a trooper and somehow managed to finally knock out whatever it was she had.

All three girls together and smiling..can't believe I got this one

And then came her birthday.  The first birthday (aside from her 1st birthday) in which we had almost all extended family down to help celebrate.  Both sets of grandparents, Aunt Laura, cousins Naomi and Brooke were all able to make the four hour trip...and Emma had a blast! We spent the weekend playing...at home and at the playground and finally celebrated with a birthday dinner at Emma's favorite restaurant, aside from Mommy's that is, OPA!  After that it was more celebrating with a party at Emma's school. 

Three apparently looks a little scary to Em

Oh, and did I mention that not only did my little girl turn 3 but that she also graduated into a "big girl" bed? Yep, despite the fact that many of you were convinced she would be in her crib until 21, I finally got the courage and transitioned her.  And I can proudly say, she's only fallen out twice =)

So isn't there a saying that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb? I think that's the way it goes. If not, pretend it does just for argument sake because that's how I feel about March. 

No sooner do we get past the birthday festivities and Emma is puking again.  This time is round three of the stomach bug and the worse one we experienced (the lion).  By this point, Emma, I'm sad to say, is pretty well-versed when it comes to throwing up.  As we are driving she can now point to certain areas and with confidence in her voice tell me, "Mommy, this is where I threw up in your car.  giggle, giggle", or see the "bucket" and scream in panic, "I'm not going to get sick."  But, this stomach bug came with avengence...avengence it seems that was primarily aimed right at me! Or my mouth to be specific. Uh-huh, I did say my mouth.  And I'll tell you why...because on the first morning of the "lion" stomach bug, as I was trying desperately to console my obviously ill-feeling child, she puked right in my mouth.  Lovely!  And for those of you who just gagged a little at the thought of that...hold firm...if I didn't puke at the time, neither can you!  A mere hour later, I'm covered in vomit again.  Apparently this is one of the many "perks" of being a Mom =)

But alas, the month ended quietly with no more vomiting and about a two week stretch of peacefulness (the lamb)!

April/May

The beginning of April found Emma in "Daddy Daycare" again, as Mommy traveled to the West Coast for a conference in Seattle (my blog will be updated with that fun stuff later).  And luckily there was no need for calls to posion control (which happened once when I was in FL) and no trips to the ED....always a good thing!



Yes, I realize this is the same dress from last year



April also found Emma participating in her first team sport, soccer! Yep, out tiny, slightly uncoordinated child was going to be pushed to follow in the footsteps of both Mommy and Daddy on the soccer field.  I'm sure there's really no need for me to paint a picture of what soccer practices/games look like when the team consists of nine, three and four year olds.  But despite the interest in everything besides soccer or the concept of soccer, Emma seemed to enjoy venturing to the soccer fields twice a week.

And then of course there was Easter.  The tradition continued with a holiday visit from Gammy, Easter egg hunting at school and then again at home on Easter mornig, a hilarious attempt at kite flying in the front yard (wind of course would've been helpful that day), and a grilling mishap involving Easter dinner!  Oh the memories!!

On to May...



Possibly my favorite picture from the trip



Hm.... Spring! Mother's Day! Graduation!  All of which I don't think I have ANY pictures worth posting.  BUT, those things did happen and are worth at least typing.

However, most note-worthy...a trip to the BEACH! Yeah!! And more specifically, Emma's FIRST trip to the beach.  It was a blast.  But I guess I should lay out the details first, I'll be brief, and then on to the pictures.

Location: Right outside of Destin, FL.  A place called Watercolor, in a beautiful 4 bedroom house.
Transportation: Car; 12 hour drive --Which I can proudly say Emma did extremely well with seeing as she actually slept! WAHOO!! Another first!
Length of stay: Six days
Goal of trip: Have FUN!
Daily activities: boat and bike rides, playground time, swimming, building sandcastles, running from the waves, eating too much ice cream, painting, laughing, chasing each other, crab/fish catching, and blowing bubbles.
Partners in crime: Uncle Brett, Aunt Kelly, Sophie and Max

Alright, I'm probably having too much fun with this (maybe because of my extreme fatigue at the moment) so I'll get on with the pictures....

Swim break

These two are going to be nothing but trouble ;)

                  

                

Lovin' that ice cream

Bike rides galore

Beachside

My beach model

Out of focus I know, but I like it anyway

So there you have it, from August of last year to May of this year.

Excuse me while I give myself a pat on the back for just blogging all of that.....

Okay, I'm back.  And, since we are just two days into the month of June...well, I'm NOT going to blog anything for this month at the moment.  But rather I'm going to go to bed.  So, goodnight and as Emma says, "May the Angels give you kisses in your dreams."

Pause...Rewind...

I know what you're thinking.  We've fallen off the face of the Earth.  Our house, specifically our computer, was hit by a meteor.  I packed up everything and we wisked away to some beautiful place, perhaps France.

But, no.  Nothing like that occurred.  I'm sad to say that I simply got busy and found that I no longer had the time for blogging.  BUT. I'm back.  And on a mission to re-cap the past 10 months and start again.

So here I go....

August/September

Remember that boys weekend trip..or should I say the last post I actually posted a little under a year ago.  Well, while the trip was uneventful for Luke; consisiting of golfing, drinking, hanging out with friends, me and Emma's weekend went a little more eventful when Ms. Priss decided to spike a 105.4 fever one afternoon.  All of course ended just fine, though I have to admit that I was totally freaking out as I watched my child, in her car seat on the way to the hospital, shiver so much I thought she was going to have a seziure.  Talk about frightening!!

The rest of the month was fairly normal with trips to our neighbors to visit their animals, our annual stepping stone making, and plenty of time at the playground/pool. Oh yeah, you know how I jokingly said that perhaps the reason I hadn't blogged in a while was because our house was hit by a meteor.  Well, it wasn't a meteor...but we did have a lightening strike hit a tree right outside the sunroom one night.  Fortunately their was no damage done to the structure of the house but we it did however fry the sprinkler system and lights to the dock.

 Emma's stepping stone.  This year we did her foot print.

Can you see the split down the center from the lightening? WOW!

October/November

As I look through my pictures for these months there is only one word that can sum them up....CUPCAKES! For some odd reason I think this child ate more cupcakes during these two months than I have in my short * =) *, little life. And I really have no reason expect that maybe I was just in a cupcake mood.



Dressed and ready for candy!



Anyway, not much to tell during October.  Of course we celebrated Halloween with Emma dressed as a fairy.  Went trick or treating at the hospital, the daycare and then again at the community college.  Note to self: Don't do that again.  Way too much candy!!  But it was fun and really the first time I think Emma actually understood that if she said "Happy Halloween" that would somehow earn her gobs of candy.  Let's just say, she's a FAST learner ;)



Helping to make Jackson's birthday cake



November found our house mixed with emotions as always. Not only did we have Jackson's birthday to celebrate but we sadly learned that good friends our's; Misty, Dayton, Alayna, and Abby, would be leaving North Carolina to be closer to their family in Wisconsin :( If you don't remember...Alayna and Emma are three weeks apart in age and had become good buddies through play-dates, trips to the library, swim lessons, etc. It was sad to see them go but who could blame them, there's nothing like having family around to help.

But, Emma wasn't just losing her play-mate, I was also losing a great friend.  I can remember when the girls were little, the endless phone calls to one another for advice on this or "Hey, you have any idea what this could be". As the girls got older it was phone calls asking about potty training, discipline, bedtime issues and of course, just to rant.  And then there was the "non-Mommy" time with girl's night out, a tradition we started to give ourselves a break and what eventually became a routine of sorts just so we had an excuse to eat really good food and drink wine ;) 

Here we all are (Stacy, Misty and myself) at our "See you soon" dinner :(

 And of course we couldn't let the girls not say good-bye to each other.  So, they day before they left, we gathered at our house for a "goodbye" breakfast and play-time.  And if our hearts weren't breaking enough...as they were leaving, Alayna turned to Emma and said "Come visit me in Wisconsin soon."

Okay...I'm giving up for now. BUT. I PROMISE I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Boys Weekend Equals...

....girl time!!! That's right, Luke is spending a long weekend with some old friends from college so its a mommy/daughter weekend ;)

On the agenda....scones, lots of playground time, pedicures, swimming, coloring, shopping and play dates!! 

Stay tuned :)

Daddy Day Care!

First and foremost...Emma is alive and well. While Kelly is vacationing in Paris, I'm enjoying the days with my daughter...and counting the days until Kelly returns. Emma and I made it through the week with flying colors, unfortunately, no time for pics during the school/work week. Today was a different story...I even had time for pigtails!

We started out with breakfast at the bakery, pretty much the standard for Emma on Saturday mornings! After juice and a cinnamon scone we were off to the park. Slight change of plans, as Emma insisted on going to the Science Center...what a scholar to be!

No pics from inside, but she was very interested in showing baby all the animal exhibits. It was now time to head home for lunch and a nap!  BTW, pictures show a date of 8/6 in the morning, but in the afternoon they show 8/7.  I'm going to have to look into that.  These were all taken on Saturday!

As you may or may not know, our family joined a swim and tennis club in early July. Kelly has been taking tennis lessons and on Mondays, I go to guys night for a couple of rounds of tennis...and a beer (or a couple rounds of beer and a game of tennis). Emma had noticed the new tennis rackets around the house and seemed interested. Wouldn't you know it, we were in Walmart and walking down the sporting goods section and Emma grabs a racket. She wants to play...six days later, we have the next Steffi Graff!

OK Emma, try using the racket next time!

Form...check...trajectory...check...head placement...check...power...check...grip...uhhhh were still working on that one!

"OK Daddy, I've had enough". She laughed and ran all over that court...even if it was only for seven minutes! Off to the pool to cool off.

Can you say tired? Emma loves the pool and likes to jump into our arms...Daddy is tired too! Enjoy and good night...only three more days until Mommy comes home, but who's counting!

Fourth of July Weekend

What an extremely busy weekend but well worth it!

I'd been telling Emma, literally for months, that Gammy and Uncle Ryan were coming down for the 4th of July.  This is a game we constantly play every time we talk to Gammy on the phone and it goes something like this:

Mommy- "Emma, would you like to talk to Gammy?"

Emma- No response.

Mommy- "Emma, are you sure you don't want to say hi to Gammy?"

Emma- Still no response.

(Mommy finally gets off the phone.)

Emma- "I want to talk to Gammy! When is Gammy and Uncle Ryan coming to my house?"

Subsequently, I've learned to simply tell Emma when specifically Gammy and Uncle Ryan are coming down.  Though it takes a while for her to understand when I'm talking about, she eventually grasps the concept and seems pleased with her new found knowledge.

So, after months of preparation, when I asked Emma what was special about the upcoming 4th of July weekend, she proudly looked at me and announced with her very best adult impression that "Gammy and Uncle Ryan are coming to my house!!"

And that they did :)

Arriving on at lunch time on Friday and quickly emptying the car the weekend of fun began.  Immediately we put Uncle Ryan to work on the lawn mower while Gammy and I set off to numerous locations.  First stop, the Farmer's Market.  Gosh, its been way too long since I've been out there.  An hour after arriving and a trunk full of peaches, peppers, cantaloupe, corn, blueberries and tomatoes later we were off again.  Next stop, Gammy's first introduction to Simple Kneads Bakery where we enjoyed wonderful smoked cheddar croissants and a chocolate eclair.  After that we were off again, this time to check out some local swim clubs Luke and I had been interested in checking out (no such luck) and then finally off to pick up the kid!  After such a hectic day we enjoyed a simple dinner with fresh corn from the Farmer's Market.

Monkey knew exactly what to do with that corn cob!

Saturday we were up bright and early with a trip to Delicious Bakery and the park.  After a couple of hours swinging, sliding, jumping and riding it was home for lunch and nap.

Post-nap it was back out again, this time downtown for the street festival.  Though I don't think E cared too much for the craft booths, we were finally able to convince her to play some of the games.

Here she is going through one of those blow-up mazes.

A little later it was time to meet up with Uncle Ryan and Daddy for dinner at Natty Greene's.  While eating out at a restaurant is a treat for Emma in itself, Natty's was even better for not long after we sat down a train came through....

Here's what she thought about that!

After two days of running all over town we thought we'd keep Sunday simple and relaxed.  Remember I mentioned something about swim clubs? Well, after visiting a few we finally decided to join Sherwood Swim and Racquet Club in Greensboro and what better place to spend the 4th of July.

Despite the unhappy looking face, Emma loves the pool!

Hot and worn out, we headed home for a relaxing night at the house.

Keeping with tradition the boys decided to grab a few beers and the fishing poles.  And as history goes, the fish were happy to supply us with some great memories....

Happy 4th of July!!!

(FYI, since I'll be out of the country for almost two weeks I'm hoping to convince Luke to take over blogging duties...fingers crossed he says yes!)