09Feb
Tags: family, newborn, personal, sneak peek
09Feb
Tags: parenting, personal, skiing
19Nov
I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to post this before!
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First pic – looks like a normal kid going to school. Second pic – oh yes. That’s the picture of a little girl who has just lost her very first tooth! Emma has had a loose tooth for quite some time now. In school they were learning about tally marks and they took a tally of all the kids that lost 1, 2, 3 and 4 teeth. Emma was the only little kid that hadn’t lost any teeth yet! So these last few weeks she’s been sooo excited that she was finally going to lose a tooth. Only it just kind of hung on, and hung on… and hung on. Eventually while I was grocery shopping with her she asked me to buy corn on the cob – she’d seen an episode of iCarly where one of the characters lost a tooth while eating corn on the cob. Luckily she didn’t have to wait too much longer (and no, the corn on the cob did not work, despite Emma’s best effort, LoL). A couple nights later, voila! Her tooth came out! Talk about a happy little girl!
Tags: milestones, personal
21Oct
Tags: adventures in parenting, children, family, personal
22Sep
Tags: family vacation, personal
17Sep
Tags: family vacation, personal
18Aug
For the first time in months the alarm clock woke me up first this morning. Normally it’s the sound of Elizabeth crying that wakes me up… but this morning started a new routine. Back to school. How did the summer end so quickly!?!?!Â
Anyone else feel like the time has gone too fast! This morning Emma was clearly excited and nervous to be starting first grade. When I whipped out the camera – oh how embarassing, I’m sure – in front of her friends I got some eye rolling action from her. Last year it was exciting and fun to have Mommy out at the bus stop with her… and now I’m the embarassing Mom with a camera. LoL – I guess she’ll just have to get used to it because I’m not putting my camera away anytime soon. Miss a single moment of firsts for my children? I wouldn’t dream of it.  ;)
Tags: back to school, parenting, personal
23Jul
What have I done? I’ve posted before about Emma growing up (check out OMG She’s SO High! ), but this one takes the cake. Let’s rewind a few years. My mother-in-law started Grandma Camp as a tradition for her daughter’s girls when Emma was just a baby. She takes the girls for a few days to some age appropriate out of town location for a little mini- Grandma-vacation. By the time Emma was only two she’s been asked, and asked…. and asked to go with her cousins (whom, I should mention, she adores) on the yearly Grandma Camp adventure. And every year we’ve politely said no, Emma is just too young right now. And then this year rolled around. Oh, what was I thinking?!?!? Emma has matured quite a bit this year and she’s expressed shall we say a LOT of interest in going on Grandma Camp. So we did trials runs – she stayed the night at Grandma’s house quite a few times and she loved it everytime!Â
So…. with much hesitation… I said yes.Â
Logically I know that Emma is fine. My mother-in-law is an accomplished pediatrition, raised 5 kids of her own and, best of all, she loves Emma to death. But emotionally it’s a whole other story. I come from a family that is close – extremely close. The word camp itself didn’t exist in our house – camping was really nothing more than a theory. The closest we ever got to typical kids summer camp was with all my brothers and sister, Mom, Dad and Grandparents in the back of my Grandpa’s produce truck (which was, I have to admit, super exciting to hang out in)… parked in the backyard… with a TV… and it only lasted until the youngest kids started to fall asleep. Sleepovers were practically nonexistent and actually going away longer than a night was very literally unheard of. And now here I am – breaking all my Mother’s rules. And it’s making me sick!
Good or bad, it’s done now. Emma is officially away at Grandma Camp. I can’t complain about it now- as much as it pains me, I’ve made my choice. This is just one more adventure in the grand tale called Parenting that I’ve long ago chosen to live by. So the best I can do is to take a big breath and analyze every little detail found in the pictures I’m sent every night. 
 Is that obsessive? LoL – I certainly hope not!
Tags: parenting, personal
25Jun
I agree – it doesn’t really sound like much. A baby sitting up in an everyday cart in Target. Nothing big, right? Well I’d beg to differ. Hugely differ, actually.Â
In the days past (as in the last 3 months) if I needed to go to the store I had to first make sure that I had a few blankets on hand to make a little bassinet out of the cart for Elizabeth. Getting out of the car meant setting up the “big kids” (yep, I lump my 2 year old in the big kid category) and Elizabeth in shifts and then going through the store expecting to receive some rather funny looks at times. As it turns out most people do not use the carts as beds for their babies… But I ask you, how else do you plan on bringing 3 young kids plusinfant through the store single-handedly and expect to actually use the basket for anything other than holding your children?? Answer:  you get creative. For me using the toddler seat as a bed was a given.Â
Well, as of yesterday I will receive no more funny looks. No longer will I have to be prepared to enter the store with scores of extra blankets. I don’t have to get the kids out of their seats and setup in shifts. Nope. From now on we can just run to the store and jump out of the car without hassle. Seems like such a simple thing really, but for me it’s definitely a milestone worth noting.
Tags: baby, milestones, personal
21Jun
Well, as seen here, my husband is anything but the typical father of the day’s of old. Nope. No 1950’s Dad would be caught carrying a diaper bag, wearing a baby (with a flower blanket tucked in there for Elizabeth’s comfort no less) hiking with his little ones.Â
And I could never be more grateful for it!!!!!
This week my dear husband was out of town with his brothers and his own Dad hiking in the Colorado mountains. Quite the manly trip.  I mean while stayed at home with the kids this week. I liked to think that I would have everything under control and things would be fine.. but when it came right down to it, I really needed my modern man around the house! He’s my source of adult conversation, the doctor when the kids take a fall, and the amazing baby whisperer (you laugh now, but seriously, you should hand this man a crying baby at 3 am… he should be a national treasure!!) in the dark of night. He’s the play horse for the kids, our personal Mr. Fixit when something is broken and a warm arm to snuggle up in when a little one is too tired to make it to bed.  All this and so much more.Â
So I say no laughter about the diaper bag toting, baby wearing dads out there! Because behind him is a family that appreciates him more than maybe even he could ever know.
Tags: personal
Back at home at last! Our trip was so much fun! The kids had a blast every single day and it was great to hang out with my brother and sister-in-law! Little Henry had some trouble with the characters though - I can’t say I blame him too much. The scary picture was from the Tiki Room in the Magic Kingdom… really what small child wouldn’t be afraid of that popping up in front of you?? From that point on when the lights dimmed no matter where we were he went into a panic. Poor little guy. 
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