Vacation completion

We just got back from the family vacation...exhausted and poorer...but we had a great time.

First of all, a belated happy 4th of July from us!


We spent the 4th with my parents, who live south of Chicago. My sister and her family were there as well and we had a really good time swimming, shopping and eating. Emma loves hanging with her cousins!

Emma and I then headed to St. Louis for several days, where the temperature rocketed from the low 80s to high 90s on the day we arrived (naturally!) Fortunately, our first day there was spent at a water park, so we stayed fairly cool...


Here's Emma, post-water park, rockin' in her ultra cool mode...


The following day, we headed to the world-famous St. Louis Zoo. Now I love the St. Louis Zoo, but I have to say, I have never been there when the temperature hasn't been at least 95 degrees. It's a huge zoo and the trudging around in the heat can be pretty brutal. That said, we lasted about 3 hours and had a nice - and very sweaty - time.

Here's Emma at the zoo entrance, just a few moments before I noticed the huge "DO NOT CLIMB ON THE SCULPTURE" sign!


Here she is on the carousel...


And last but not least, an almost perfect photo of my girl, if a man hadn't wandered into the frame at the last second (sigh!)


We also hit a couple of museums in St. Louis, some of which were hits with Emma (City Museum) and some of which were not (Art Museum).

Anyway, back to reality. I have ton of things waiting for me at work and a broken toilet to deal with at home (trust me, you don't want to put that off!) Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

And we're off!

Emma and I are leaving today for our summer vacation. We're not going to Disney World or the Grand Canyon or anything fancy...just heading back east to visit family and maybe hitting a couple theme parks or zoos. The important thing is getting away for awhile (yes!) and spending time together.

Have a happy 4th and we'll be back soon!

The big gap

Last night, Emma lost her other bottom front tooth. It's been loose for a few weeks but I didn't think it was going to come out for a while longer. But Emma's friend Emme told her she should start twisting the tooth and it would come out sooner. Anyway, so we're getting ready for bed and Emma says "Mommy, my other tooth just came out!" After the initial excitement, I suddenly panicked - I didn't know if I had any tooth fairy money! After we put her tooth in an envelope and put it under her pillow, I went downstairs to see if I had a couple of one's in my wallet. But of course not! All I had was a $50 bill that I keep tucked away in my wallet in case of an emergency (I've had it in there for at least five years.) As much as I love my child, there was no way the tooth fairy was leaving her $50. I thought about leaving her an IOU from the tooth fairy or maybe telling her that the tooth fairy has Friday nights off or something. But what I ended up doing was calling my next door neighbor and she lent me a couple dollars for the tooth fairy.

The lesson here is, when you kid is in the "losing their baby teeth" stage, it is probably wise to keep an envelope tucked away somewhere with a few ones in it, just in case. Please learn from my shortcomings as a parent!

Anyway, here's my girl with her really big gap now...I'm kind a freaked because it's so big, but my mom says that's good so her permanent teeth won't be too crowded coming in (at least for now.)


And just a couple more photos I took this morning...




Have a nice weekend!

Our great wall photos

During my year-long wait to get a referral, I met three other single gals who were waiting as well and our DTC dates were very close together. We got together every month and really became close friends and a wonderful support system for each other. After we all got our referrals, we tried to get our girls together every month for a play date and, even though it seems harder and harder to coordinate these get togethers as our kids get older, we have all remained very close for the past six years.

Last week, our local FCC group had its annual charity walk and all of us have always made it to that. When the girls were two, we sat them together on this wall (don't ask me how!) and took their picture. And every year at the walk since then, we sit them on the same wall and take their photo to see how they have grown.

Here is the photo we took when they were two (from l-r, that's Emma, Jenna, Kimmie and Christina)


And here they are in 2008, all of them age six now...


It is so incredible to see how the girls grow and change from year to year. I so appreciate the friendship of these three women and their (not so little anymore) girls. As I said, it's become more of a challenge to get together with everyone's social calendars (or more accurately, our kids' social calendars!) But I'm hoping we'll be taking our great wall photos for many years to come.

My little Paris

For some time, Emma has been bugging me about lip gloss. Or I guess I should say "nip gloss" because that's what she calls it. She has about 155 tubes of chapstick, but I've never allowed her to wear the shiny stuff. Well, the other day we were scouring the dollar bins at Target and they had some "glearmy nip gloss" - "glearmy" being Emma's term for glittery shiny shimmering lip product. She BEGGED me for some glearmy nip gloss and, in a moment of weakness, I caved. I mean, she's six now...I guess it's okay if she has a little tube of shiny lip gloss.

Oh, how wrong one can be! On the way home, Emma smeared the lip gloss on her lips (and a bit on her face too.) Then I heard a little high-pitched voice ask "Mommy, does this nip gloss make me look hot?"

Are you kidding me?! Where is she picking up things like this? Has she been reading Paris Hilton's blog when I haven't been looking? GRRRR!!!

I told her very calmly, but in no uncertain terms, that she didn't look hot, that she was too young to look hot, and she wouldn't be looking hot for many years to come. When we got home, I confiscated her new nip gloss when she was distracted and it went into an inaccessible drawer. I would have thrown it away, but you never know when I might need some watermelon-flavored glearmy nip gloss.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of my definitely un-hot daughter taken last week..




May she be in a school uniform and pigtails forever...

The Defiant One

Now it's common knowledge that I happen to be the mother of the sweetest little girl on the entire planet. But that doesn't mean we don't have the occasional behavioral challenges. For example, we are going through a phase now where Emma pretty much argues with everything I say. Here is a typical exchange:

Mommy: Come on, Emma. You need to brush your teeth and get ready for bed.

Emma: In a minute

Mommy: No, now!

Mommy waits in the bathroom for obedient daughter to bend to her iron will. And waits and waits and waits.

Mommy: Emma, I mean it. Get in here now.

Emma: Just a minute

Mommy: (loudly this time) If I have to come in there, there's no story tonight.

No response

Mommy: EMMA!

Emma: OKAY...I'M COMING!

We do this nearly every night and it's wearing me out.

Tonight, after the inevitable struggle to get her ready for bed, she decided to do somersaults on the bed before I turned out the light. She did one and I applauded and said she could do one more. So she flipped over one more time and I said "Okay, that's enough." And she looked me right in the eye and somersaulted one more time and then started to do it AGAIN! I just flipped off the light and walked out of her room (I always like ending the evening on such a warm note!)

Blah! I know it's just a stage (please let it be a stage!) but it's really getting old.

Anyway, here's a photo of my great debater with her friend Kimmie. I took this at a splash park last weekend and I love this photo of them. It's hard to stay cross with someone so adorable!

Au Revoir, Maternelle

WAH! Yesterday was Emma's last day of kindergarten...I can't believe I have a first-grader now. It's just one year older, but the gap between kindergarten and first grade seems much more than that.

Anyway, the room parents organized a little party for the last day of school. I was so sorry to say au revoir to Emma's kindergarten (maternelle) teacher. M. Thomas has been such a wonderful teacher for Emma. He is so sweet and loves his kids so much. Plus, he's such a great instructor - I mean my child is fluent in French already, for crying out loud! And as a single mom, I'm thrilled whenever Emma has the chance to have a positive male influence on her life - and M. Thomas has definitely been that.

Here's M. Thomas giving Emma her "diploma" yesterday...


And here's Emma with her ex, Ocea (they used to be boyfriend and girlfriend but Emma tells me they are just friends now (whew!)


So now it's summertime for us, the time of year I'm insanely jealous of my friends who are teachers and get to spend a couple months with their kids. Emma's going to zoo camp for a couple weeks, then summer school and then we'll take some vacation time. I know it will be over before we know it!

Just when you think your baby is getting all grown up...

...she wants to spend all afternoon playing in the sand box at a local park...






I'm definitely going to cherish these kinds of days as long as I can!

FINALLY!

After being very loose for about four months now, Emma has finally lost her first tooth! That thing has been hanging by a thread for about a month and it was driving me crazy. I was so convinced it was going to come out when I was out of town a couple of weeks ago. I was going to be so bummed if that happened. Granted, it's a small milestone, but a milestone nonetheless and I didn't want to miss it. Thankfully, it didn't budge while I was away.

So anyway, after attending her school's annual picnic last night, we got home and Emma was sitting on the couch watching her favorite program "Saddle Club." She just looked up and said calmly "Mommy, my tooth just came out" and handed me this teeny tiny tooth. I think I was more excited than she was!

So here is my little gap-toothed girl...


That gap will probably get bigger soon....her other bottom front tooth is already loose too!

Emma meets her literary heroine...

...well, at least one of them!

Last night, the Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour came to our town. Emma LOVES the Junie B. Jones books. I know there are a lot of parents who can't stand Junie B. because she can be an obnoxious little girl at times. But we are one of those families who thinks she's a hoot. Sometimes when I'm reading the books to Emma, I'll edit out when Junie B. calls someone a stupidhead when she gets mad at them. And we talk about how, while we think the things Junie B. does are funny, that doesn't mean we act that way or say some of the things she says.

At any rate, we were very excited to learn the Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour was coming to one of our local libraries. I picked Emma up from school and we raced to Chipotle for dinner (conveniently located across from the library.)

Before the show, I took Emma's photo in front of the Junie B. Jones bus...


I'm glad we got there early because there were at least 300 kids there with their parents. They announced it was the biggest turnout so far for the tour. We ended up snagging seats in the second row. The show essentially consists of an adult actress playing Junie B. and an actor playing Junie's bus driver Mr. Woo. I was kind of skeptical that a grown-up could play Junie B., but the actress was amazing and totally captured the essence of this little girl. Here they are...


I don't think I've seen Emma enjoy anything so much. She laughed non-stop and was totally mesmerized by the show...


After the show, the kids were allowed to take one of their Junie B. Jones books up to get stamped by Junie B. I was hoping to get a photo of Emma with the actress playing Junie B., but they were rushing kids through there so fast. So I just got Emma getting her book stamped...


Here's what her book looks like...


Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we got to go. We started reading "Junie B. Jones: The Toothless Wonder" last night. It's about Junie B. losing her first tooth and the timing is perfect since Emma's about ready to have her first tooth fall out!

I know, I know...

...no blogging for more than a week.

I have a good excuse though...I was out of town for work all of last week. Five days on a bus trip around the state with about 30 of my fellow university employees. I know it sounds like a living nightmare, but it was actually a lot of fun. However, it was very difficult being apart from my girl for five days and four nights. She did really well with my parents and we talked every night. But never again, if I can help it.

But we've had a wonderful three-day weekend, just hanging out together. Emma went to a birthday party on Saturday...here's a photo of her with the Incredible mask she got at the party.


Anyway, glad to be back...hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

One of life's little constants...

...is that Emma loves to sit in our clothes basket. I have a photo of her sitting in it when she was about one, but my scanner isn't working so I can't load it. But I do have one I took when she was about two...


And last night, I was cleaning the house when Emma called to me from the living room. When I went in, here's what I saw...


I don't know why, but every time I leave the clothes basket upstairs for any amount of time, she makes a little house out of it, even at age six. Fortunately for her, she's such a tiny gal, she'll probably still be able to fit in it when she's a teenager!

A Star is Born - part deux

As many of you might recall (or more likely, none of you), Emma recently made her smash theatrical debut in a school play. Apparently word about her moving portrayal of Troll #3 has gotten around because she was asked to be in a television commercial.

Well, it was really a public service announcement for The Children's Miracle Network. She was in the commercial with Willie Wilson, a former All-Star baseball player with the Kansas City Royals. She had to run around and look like a baseball player and then recite some lines that were fed to her by the director. Here she is in her baseball stance:


And here she is with Willie Wilson after the shoot. He was so nice to her and kept asking her how she got to be so cute!


Anyway, she had fun and did a great job. So after conquering Broadway and television, I guess we'll be branching out into movies and a recording career now. My little Barbara Streisand is on her way, baby!

P.S. I hope you know I'm kidding about all this showbiz stuff!

Happy Mother's Day...

...to all the moms and moms-to-be out there!

Emma and I spent most of the day at a beautiful botanical garden about 30 miles from here. We had a wonderful Mother's Day brunch (I will no doubt dream about the fresh berry tart tonight!) And then wandered around the gardens and nature trails for several hours. Here are a couple of photos...



I know Mother's Day is a day when you're supposed to appreciate your mom, and heaven knows God was smiling on me when he gave me my mother. She is the biggest influence on my life and my best friend in the world. But this day also reminds me of how incredibly fortunate I am to get the opportunity to be a mother too. It certainly wouldn't have seemed in the cards ten years ago...but somehow it all worked out and it's the most magical thing that could have ever happened to me. Through the grace of God, I get to parent this incredible little girl...which, hopefully, I won't screw up!

The model of restraint

Well, I MUST be feeling the economic pinch because I bought just one measley dress during Gymboree's Circle of Friends sale (you get 30% off everything.) Here is my sassy little girl modeling her new outfit...


AARGH! Could she not look so grown-up please?!

I'm serious about the economy, though. I really sat down the other night and figured out that I'm spending about $15 more a week on groceries than a year ago and $10 more a week on gas. That's more than $100 a month in additional food and fuel expenses...yikes!

Although I'm pretty good about clipping coupons and buying groceries on sale, it hasn't exactly been a religion with me. But it is now. I spent an hour yesterday on the computer searching for and printing coupons for my trip to the grocery store this weekend. And I poured through the grocery circular and wrote down all the sale things and am planning our week's menu accordingly. I should save more than $10 if my calculations are correct.

We've also been eating out too much, which has to stop. Well, not stop entirely, but we have to be smarter about it. For example...we have a sub place (a local joint, not Subway or Quiznos) that we both love. But we would easily drop $10+ eating there. But this week, we went on Tuesday, when kids eat free. And a bonus...because our city's MLB team won the night before, turkey subs were $2. So we ate there for less than $4.

Anyway, not to bore you anymore about this...I just think the economy is not going to rebound for awhile and my 2% annual raise this year is not going to come close to making up for inflation.

Plus, I've been trying to save up money (slowly) so Emma and I can go back to China in a couple years. That's going to be a super-expensive trip.

I'm sure many of you are in the same boat, so any tips you have for saving $$$ are appreciated!

Three Word Sunday...

One crazy day

Today I had one rollercoaster of a day. The fun started at around noon when I discovered my wallet was missing from my purse. There's nothing like that wave of panic that rolls through you when you realized your wallet is gone. I pretty much think that when you lose your wallet, you might as well pack up and start a new life elsewhere...it's that traumatic.

There have been several purses and wallets stolen in our building of late. My office complex is on a busy public street and people can just walk in without attracting much attention. I keep my purse in the bottom drawer of my file cabinet and although I don't lock it during the day, there are a lot of people in my particular office space and I have my own office with a door, so I didn't think I was a prime candidate for a purse thief.

Anyway, when I discovered my wallet was gone, I asked around the office if anyone had seen anything. We had several people out today and while I was at a meeting, the office was unoccupied for a short time. So there was certainly an opportunity for a fast robbery. Before calling the cops, I ran out to my car to make sure the wallet hadn't fallen out of my purse in the car, and even dashed home to see if I left it on the counter or something when I got Emma's lunch money out. But it was nowhere to be found.

So I went back to office pretty much in tears over the awful mess waiting for me. I called the campus police and they came over and I filed a report (like that would help in a case like this.) Then I called the bank and credit card companies to cancel my cards. I asked my boss if I could have tomorrow morning off to go to the DMV to get a new driver's license. Then you start to make a list of all the things that were in the wallet to be replaced...insurance cards, AAA membership card, etc. Then you wail over the little stuff like photos you'll never see again. Not to mention the $50 bill I've had tucked away in my wallet for the past five years, just in case of an emergency. It was so demoralizing, but you just have to take a deep breath and tackle one thing at a time.

I had to leave work early because Emma had a dentist appointment. So I drove to her school (without a license, which makes me a nervous wreck) to pick her up. When I got to her classroom, Emma ran to me and threw her arms around me. Then she looked up at me with her sweet little face and said "Mommy, why did you put your wallet in my backpack this morning?"

I didn't know whether to jump for joy or burst into tears! I guess when I got her lunch money out this morning, for some unfathomable reason, I put my wallet in her backpack instead of my purse. I'm not a scatterbrained person...REALLY! It was just one of those total spaceouts - either that or I'm really getting old and my brain cells are dying off at an alarming rate.

Anyway, I was so overjoyed to be reunited with my wallet that I didn't even faint when Emma's dentist told me after her appointment that Emma would definitely need orthodontia and would probably have to be fitted with a palate expander in a couple of years.

I just hope tomorrow brings no surprises...I don't think my heart can take it!

Possibly the best photo I've ever taken...

I've had my new camera for about two months now and I probably take at least 50 pictures a week. But what I don't know about photography would fill the Library of Congress.

That said, I took a few pictures of Emma on Saturday that turned out very nicely. This is my favorite and I really think it's the best photo I've ever taken of her:


I know it's far from perfect...her face is slightly out of focus and I'm sure professional photographers would have a few things to point out. But for me, it's a pretty nice photo.

Of course, I had a great subject...that always helps! I like that I captured her dimple!

Just a little picture...

...of Emma playing in the back yard (okay, so we have a few dandelions this year!)

My other sweet girl

It was raining really hard early last evening and Emma and I sat out on the screened-in porch watching it pour. Out cat Sami wandered out too and I snapped a picture of her...


Sami is a very sweet cat, but like many felines, she has what might charitably be called a few eccentricities.

For one thing, she has meowed like three times in the year we've had her. It's nice that she's so quiet, but it's a little strange that she never meows. I've often wondered if I "accidentally" stepped on her tail, if she'd meow then. But I'd (probably) never do that.

I've also only seen her cleaning herself like two times. She's very clean, but she apparently thinks it is none of our business when she's giving herself a bath. If you walk in and she's cleaning her face or something, she'll immediately stop and stare at you until you leave the room.

She is also obsessed with licking plastic bags. I mean OBSESSED! I think she's getting a chemical high from them or something. Her favorite is Target plastic bags, which you can imagine, we have in abundance. But lately, she has switched her allegiance to these cheapo Tuffie bathroom garbage bags I bought in a pinch. She loves those and will sit next to the trash can and lick them for hours. I think she likes them because they're blue too (yeah, I know cats are colorblind, but I still think that's a factor.)

She's also a cricket killer. We get crickets in our basement in the spring and summer and she goes down there, captures them and brings them upstairs to the kitchen so we can see what a great hunter she is. There are usually at least two or three dead crickets in the kitchen every morning.

Anyway, I could go on, but hearing people prattle on about their pets is a little boring. Despite all of her weirdness, we love our Sami and wouldn't trade her for any other (normal) cat!

Equestrian update

I haven't written much lately on how Emma's equestrian lessons are going. She's been taking lessons every Sunday since January and is progressing nicely. She's really good at trotting her horse around the arena and is finally getting the hang of posting, which is a challenge for her because she's so small.

Yesterday, the place was pretty busy for a Sunday and there were quite a few people standing around watching Emma's lesson. I don't think most of them knew I was her mom and it was weird overhearing folks say things like "Look at that little girl!" and "That's amazing." One woman who is a trainer there did come over and ask if I was her mom and said "You must be so proud...she could be a champion some day!" I mumbled something about how I was just glad she was having fun, but inside I was bursting with pride, of course.

Because it was so nice yesterday, Emma did get to have part of her lesson outside, which was fun for her. And it was fun for me because I finally got a decent picture of her on her horse Abra...


So she just keeps getting better every week and still loves it, which really is the critical thing, in my book. It's a big sacrifice for us financially, but when you find something your child loves, you want them to have the opportunity to participate.

Besides, who needs to save up for retirement? I'm sure Social Security will still be going strong by the time I retire (yeah, right!)

The cutest dang swimsuit ever

How many swimsuits does one child really need? I'm sure that's a question many moms ask as summer approaches. Little kid swimsuits are so adorable that it's real easy to end up with like 10 if you're not careful.

Emma has grown just an inch-and-a-half over the past year and put on exactly two pounds, so two of her suits from last summer still fit her and I had bought another one this spring, so I told myself that was it. But I was at Gap this week with a 15% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I saw this swimsuit I fell in love with. So I bought it, even though it wasn't marked down yet (a rarity for me.)

Well, I am so glad I did...this swimsuit looks so cute on my little girl. Here she is, modeling it earlier today...


The print is a giraffe, but I think it kind of looks like the swimsuit Pebbles Flintstone would have worn! Emma was invited to a swim party this afternoon and wore her new suit. Here she is with her friend Amy shortly before they hit the pool...


I'm not exaggerating...at least 10 of the moms at this party asked me where I got Emma's new swimsuit. I felt pretty guilty about buying it, but now I feel a bit better about it. I don't know why I'm so excited about a swimsuit...I guess this is what thrills me these days.

BTW, Emma had a blast at the party!

What a difference...

...a couple days can make!

Sunday it was snowing and sleeting here. Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it hit 70. Emma and I went for a long walk after I picked her up from school. She wore a flimsy little summer dress that I figured she wouldn't be wearing for a couple of months.


On our walks, Emma has become a little obsessed with picking up flyers from all the houses that are for sale in our neighborhood (depressingly few, unfortunately, given the awful housing market these days). But she manages to find all the ones with "for sale" signs in their yards. She pours over the flyers, wanting to know how many bathrooms they have and how much they cost. Maybe a future real estate agent? Let us hope not!


Anyway, we enjoyed our walk so much. But, of course, the forecasters are predicting snow for this Friday. Yippee!

April snow showers...

...make mommy crabby!

After temperatures in the mid-60s all week, a cold front moved in just in time for the weekend. The temps plunged overnight and it's actually snowing and sleeting here right now. We were supposed to go to the zoo this afternoon with some friends, but ended up spending an hour at this indoor nature center instead, making Earth Day necklaces. Nice, but not the same as the zoo.

Here's the one decent photo I took today...


So hopefully the weather will break soon so we can do fun stuff like go to the grocery and hardware stores. Not the weekend I had planned, but what are you going to do?

I <3 Hugh Jackman

Okay, can I just say how much I love Hugh Jackman? I mean, he's an incredibly talented actor and singer, not to mention his sensational HAWTNESS!

And to top it off, he seems to be this wonderfully devoted husband and father. Just look at these pics of him dropping his 8-year-old son Oscar off at school...



I can hardly stand the cuteness. Of course, he could have done us the favor of dropping his son off while not wearing his shirt...but that would probably be too much to hope for.

A star is born...

Emma made her long-awaited theatrical debut this evening. It was in her school production of "The Silver Streakers Save the Day!" Emma took on the challenging role of Troll #3. Here she is getting her make-up on before the curtain went up...


Here are the results...


The play was penned by the kids themselves and to say that the plot was confusing would be a vast understatement. It was something about a dispute between pirates, aliens and, of course, trolls. I wasn't close enough to get any decent photos, but here's one of Emma in action...she's in the green pants and brown shirt.


The crowd went wild when the 14-minute production came to an end...here the cast is taking a well-deserved curtain call...



It was all very cute and I was so glad Emma participated and had a good time. She isn't the most outgoing child and I never thought I'd see her on a stage performing before a big crowd. So doing something like this was a big step for her.