Shake, shake, shake!!!

We had a busy day today. I took Emma to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston to have some bloodwork completed. It should be illegal to draw blood from a baby/toddler with all of the pain and suffering it caused not only Emma, but myself. The phlebotomist had me lay Emma down on the table with me laying directly on top of her to hold her down. Another worker held Emma's arm down while the third lady tried to stick the needle in her arm. Emma was screaming at the top of her lungs, trying her hardest to wiggle free, her head was beat red and her hair was soaking wet with sweat. All the ladies could say over and over was "This girl is strong! This girl is strong! She's gonna be a softball player one day!" Needless to say they couldn't get her vein and had to pull the needle in and out and in and out and in and out trying over and over. Eventually they gave up on that arm and let my poor, sweet baby rest a minute.

The next arm we had her sitting on my lap and I was literally holding her down with all my might while one lady was again holding her arm down. Again - it wasn't working. I said a little prayer to the good lord above that these two ladies could figure it out because there was no way on God's green earth that I was driving all the way to Houston again from Beaumont to go through this misery. Finally, after pulling the needle in and out and in and out they reached blood! Whoo Hoo! Emma gave her two vials and we were happily on our way back home. Emma was so relieved to be away from those two ladies that she didn't even cry on the way home - she was rewarded with a full sippy cup of apple juice which she happily gulped down.

I will say that walking through the halls of Texas Childrens Hospital is a very sobering moment. It is heart wrenching, to say the least, to see all of the sick children in the hallways. I saw kids without hair who had obviously had chemo, kids with masks and IV's, and even a baby with a trach. Once we got into the car I couldn't help but cry a little for the sick children and for what they and their families are enduring. We are so extremely blessed to have such a healthy family!

Later this evening Emma was helping me to fold the laundry. She loves to take the clothes that I have already folded and shake them all around. She is imitating me shaking out the wrinkles. It is so cute. I posted a video of her below.

I will be driving with a couple friends tomorrow to go shopping at the outlets in San Marcos. I am very excited to have a girls weekend, but will miss my hubby and Emma. It will be good bonding time for them. I am trying to enforce the rule that Emma must get dressed on Sat/Sun. Jay loves to let her wear her PJ's all day! Enjoy the video.

Uneventful Weekend

We have had a rather uneventful weekend. Emma lost the remote control to the TV a couple times, which is always fun to try and find. She also managed to lose a sippy cup full of whole milk. I knew I had to find that one or my nose would eventually lead me to it. I didn't want the smell of sour milk throughout the house. UGH!

We ran a couple errands, went out to eat, and did some yard work. Emma loves brushing her teeth so there are a couple pictures of her with the toothbrush. She actually cries when I take it away. I wonder if this will last into her childhood?

Next weekend I am going with a couple girlfriends to San Marcos on an adult only shopping spree. Yeah! I am very excited - Jay has daddy daycare duty. It also happens to be his fantasy football draft weekend so I wonder how much attention Emma will actually get.

On Thursday I have to drive Emma to Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston to get blood drawn for a blood test. I am not looking forward to this because it is pure misery trying to hold her down to get blood drawn. I don't know how Jay managed to get out of this one!

Our love bug brushing her teeth

Brushing teeth with mommy

Hi everyone!
She has to be entered into a cutest baby alive contest! ( I'm not biased, am I?)

Kisses from mommy

Before dinner on Saturday

15 Months Old!

Emma had her 15 month check up with her pediatrician this past week. She weighs 21 pounds and 13 ounces which is in the 25th percentile and she is 31 inches tall, which is in the 70th percentile. Basically, this means that she is tall and skinny for her age. She doesn't seem too skinny to us - she still has her adorable chunky thighs. She is definately getting more slender in the belly though. Her doctor said that everything looked great and we will see him again in 3 months for another checkup and yet more immunizations.

A funny story from her pediatrician visit came when the doctor walked into the room. I was holding her in my arms and she immediately looked him in the eye and started ranting and raving at him in her baby jibberish. It was totally as if she said "I know exactly who you are and don't even think about touching me. I don't want anything you have for sale, buddy!" Later, when I asked him a few questions about her language development he laughed and said that based on what she had to say to him that she is doing great. He also went on to say that she seems to be a bit "assertive" and she may give us a run for our money in the near future.

We had a relaxing weekend. Emma has been trying more and more food over the past couple weeks. This weekend she discovered that she loved quesadillas ( a girl after her own moms heart!), homemade blueberry pancakes, french fries, toast - with jam of course, and watermelon. She could take me on head to head in a watermelon eating contest she loved it so much! She also learned the word "toe." Her version sounds much more like the Homer Simpson "doh!"

We said goodbye's to two different couples this weekend. Saturday night we went out to dinner with our friends Brian, Jamie, and their daughter Avery. They are moving with Exxon to Houston in about a month. Today our good friends Nathan and Anni came to visit for the day from Houston. They are moving to Qatar with Exxon next month. This was an especially sad goodbye as they are from the UK and we aren't sure when we will get to see them again. They have been our family away from home every Thanksgiving and we have celebrated several Thanksgiving Days with them. We will miss you!!!

Looking out the back window at Daddy

Nathan, Anni and Emma (and Eddie, of course)
Look at the camera Emma

The official 15 month picture - believe me I had to be quick on the trigger to capture a picture of both her and the card turned toward the camera - a true miracle!

Look how long her piggies are getting!

Precious sleeping position I caught one night with her leg in between the rungs sticking outside of the crib!

Emma at the Splash Park

This weekend Jay and I took Emma to a local park. They have a huge playground and splash park. Emma had a blast. She loves being around other kids. Daddy had to be her bodyguard at the splash park because there were so many other kids. They were running everywhere and Emma was so tiny compared to them - they were sure to knock her over.

She is also so very smart. I have been teaching her where her nose, ear, eyes are. Yesterday I asked her where mommy's nose was and she pointed right to it! It may have been a fluke, but we are working on it!

Crawling through the tunnel

Swinging wih Daddy
Picture of about half of the playground

The huge splash park

Look at all these kids mommy!

She insisted on carrying a little magazine AND sippy cup around with her all afternoon

Video of her and Daddy playing ball

2 New Teeth!

That's right. I peeped into Emma's mouth yesterday and there, way in the back, on the top, were 2 more teeth! It is very hard to tell if they are molars or incisors. No wonder why she wouldn't nap for Jeanette on Friday. Poor thing! Teeth count is up to 6.

Cute story from yesterday. I was folding laundry and "shaking" it out. I am sure most people do this, but I always shake the laundry before I fold it to get out the wrinkles. Emma had found a pair of my shorts and was walking all around the room while I was folding. The next thing I know I look at her and she is shaking the shorts just like I am! I about fell over laughing so hard! She kept doing it too - everytime I would shake she did too. It is amazing how fast children can learn things! This was definately my "warming of the heart" moment with Emma that day. Do other moms have those? There is at least one thing that she does everyday that to me is so spectacular and heart warming that I wonder how I ever made it through without her in my life!
This morning I spent about an hour blowing up her baby swimming pool (using the air compressor and my own hot air). It was so extremely hot outside and I thought she might enjoy a nice swim. Of course she hated it and started crying everytime I put her in. Instead we ended up playing with her water table and used her swing for a bit. I made some awesome shrimp and veggie kabobs for dinner and apple pie for dessert while she napped this afternoon. The worst part of the day came when we were outside in the backyard just before Jay got home from work. I thought we would kill some time just walking around in the backyard since Emma LOVES to be outside. She started running for the pond so I picked her up and was pointing to the ducks in the pond. Next thing I know I am swarmed with red ants! UGH! I got about 10 bites and my feet were on instant fire. Worst thing is that I know better than to not watch where I walk. The golf course crew came and mowed this morning and knocked over all of the hills, therefore I didn't see any! I was so mad that I instantly opened a bottle of wine. A couple glasses of Chardonnay does take the edge off from the bites!

Jay and I don't have too many plans for the weekend. We may take Emma to a local splash park tomorrow just to get out. We have our British friends, Nathan and Anni, who live in Houston, coming to visit next weekend. We always enjoy spending time with them and they just found out that they are being transferred to Qatar. It will be nice to see them before they go.

Emma's lonely kiddie pool. She had no interest in playing in it.

Favorite new play space - in the snack drawer. She loves to take the clips off from the cereal and chips. Notice all of the bags I had to take from her and put up on the counter on the right. She thought it might be OK if I let her walk around with the Raisin Bran bag without the clip on.

Bath time!

Trip to Galveston

Jay was in Las Vegas this past weekend so Emma and I went to visit our friends at their beach house in Galveston. We had a great time.

We left Friday afternoon and Emma started crying exactly 12 minutes into the 2 1/2 hr drive. Now that she is walking everywhere she HATES being confined to the carseat. I had to sing all of her songs to her and she finally fell asleep for the last 30 minutes. We grilled out Friday night and I chased Emma around. We were all sitting outside downstairs and Emma either wanted to go to the stairs and climb up (there were 15 steps of which she could climb up all of them!) or head directly towards the water. The beach house is right on a canal and there wasn't a fence, so Emma would have fallen down the big drop off to the water and mommy didn't want to risk having to jump in after her! She was tired and went to bed at 7pm!

Saturday we woke up and let Emma take her morning nap. We all packed up and went to the beach. Emma had so much fun playing in the sand and water. She immediately ran for the water. The waves kept knocking her over and she would get right back up and head into the wave again. One wave really knocked her over and pinned her under the water. I was right next to her but she had a terrified look on her face that I will never forget under the water as she took a couple gulps of saltwater. After that happened she stuck to playing in the sand. She had so much fun with the shovel and bucket. She had sand in every crevice of her body after the beach. It is still coming out of her ears and nose! Needless to say, we went back to the beach house and she was down for the count for her afternoon nap. All of us girls went next door to swim in the pool for a little while. We grilled our for dinner again Sat night.

Sunday we pretty much cleaned up the house, had lunch and got on the road at about 1. Again, Emma wouldn't sleep on the way home and was extremely fussy for 2 hrs. I kept singing to her and she loves that. I was never happier to see our house because I just couldn't sing another "Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed" verse.

Jay got home at 4am this morning. Yes, we did have to go to work this morning because he only came home up 18 bucks. Not enough for even a nice dinner, but I guess better than losing! Enjoy the photos!

Part of the crew going for a boat ride

Laura and GraceGrace and Emma

Sam and Jenni and baby Ava/Deaton!

OMG - is she not the cutest baby ever?

Mommy - look at me!

Sam and Jenni playing with Emma

Jenni and Grace

Emma with her shovel and bucket

Grace with her normal mauling of Emma

Now this is pure heaven - sand, sun and water

What is all this fuss about?

I can't see - which way is the water?

Emma with her two best pals - Grace and Eddie

The beachhouse

Modeling her cute crocs

She knows that she is supposed to point the remote to the TV. She even manages to change the channel occasionally.