Time flies

I have had pictures sitting on my desktop to post and there they have sat so I need to catch up.
Nothing new around here. John works. I take care of Emily. Nick is doing well in school.
Everyone is fine. The weather stinks but that will change and I will be complaining about the heat soon. LOL. Actually that isn't true. I rarely if ever complain about the heat. The pool is too much fun and without the heat it is nothing but a water hole in the yard. A water hole I have to take care of.
Anyway some catch up photos.

Chris and Becky took Nick and Emily someplace...sorry not sure where...that had tons of flowers and snapped some beautiful pictures. These are just a couple.

Last December...I do not get blamed for this timing since I just got the photos...Susie took Elliot and Nick to the zoo. Of course the boys had a wonderful time.


A friend made Emily a quilt that just arrived today. It is absolutely adorable and Em immediately started chewing on it so I think she likes it too. Also a surprise to us, was a pillow with a quilted story book in a pocket on the front of it. TOO cute. We all just love it and I am sure I will get a lot of use out of both items.


Thank you Paula!!!!

My beautiful girls.

Colleen and Maggie.

And can you believe this child is 5 and 1/2 and this is her first Milk Shake? She LOVED it they say. Odd...because Nick does not like them.

Just quick

Yesterday was Chris's birthday and this little surprise is what he came home to.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Always a fun time.

Snuggling in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Reading a good book together.

The ways they make me look silly.

My first pair of Crocs and they make a great chew toy.

Taking a bath.

Best Baby buy.

Sorry about the quality of the video. I am not sure why it came out so crummy. Em certainly has a wonderful time in this jumper seat I got her before she was born. Such a deal it was!! She is in the playroom with Nick who STILL loves to watch the Baby Einstein videos. Em loves to watch Nick and the videos. Now if I can get her to ignore the camera.

My soccer girl

FINALLY some pictures of Maggie!!! Yes I do have 3 grandchildren. Hard to believe. I cannot possibly be that old. Enjoy.

They have numerous break times and eat a "healthy" snack. Maggie and her bag of grapes are STILL on the bench after break time because Maggie does NOT leave food until it is gone. LOL.

NOT just another day.

It truly started out to be a super day. We started Em on cereal and she was a bigtime happy girl this AM. After a good AM nap she sat in her swing and did her delightful loud noises while watching Baby Einstein. After about 20 minutes I brought her in the kitchen for an afternoon bottle. I lay her on the floor in front of the sink, heat up her bottle but play with her while it is heating. We do this thing where I say I'm gonna get you and she has her hands in her mouth getting ready for it. I then grab her hands...bring her arms away from her face and give her kisses on the cheek, neck, mouth..whatever. She smiles and squeals with joy. Sometimes the hands come down to her tummy....if she has them apart they come down to her side. The third or fourth time I did it she freaked out crying. Every once in awhile we can do something that she laughs at and she will cry instead. Usually hungry or tired at the time. I guessed hungry. I picked her up and she kept wailing. I gave her the bottle...she kept wailing and I noticed the left arm hanging weird. Now I am freaking out. I went in to John...in a meeting and phone not muted...with her wailing and me obviously upset and worried. For 15 or 20 minutes we tried to calm her down to no avail. John called Becky and she and Chris got here about 1:00 with an appointment with the pediatrician at 2:00. By now I have calmed her down with the arm in an obvious good position and she had eaten about 4 ounces and passed out. John got me a pillow for under my arm because I was in an awful position and I did not want to move her again. We had given her a bit of tylenol and it probably helped.
I went to the pediatrician with them. I look like death warmed over and was still crying. God it feels awful!!! The doctor was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. He messed with her arm while I held her sitting on my lap facing out. Whatever he did fixed it. He said even though he did not feel a pop it seems to have been what is called nursemaid elbow. It may never happen again but she may be sensitive to it. We shall see. She is a happy camper again now.
After Becky dropped me back off at home with both kids...(we picked up Nick from school after the doctor)...Nick was telling us it was cold in school all day and cold in the house. Of course the air is on. It is almost 90 here today. He snuggled under a blanket on the floor in his room. Dead giveaway. He is running a 102 fever. BOTH kids will be here tomorrow. Under normal circumstances Becky would take a day off for sick kids but this is getting ridiculous and lucky her....we have no problem keeping kids...sick or not. Well, let me amend that. If they are barfing and running all over I do NOT want them. LOL.
I also have to add to put happy tears in eyes....did mine. When we picked up Nick at school he was surprised it was Mommy, Me and Emily. When we told him why...explaining it in detail so he understood the best he could...he said...."That's OK Gramma. You are still the BEST Gramma Ever!! It was an accident."

God I LOVE that boy!!!!

Bad day for Papa

Our sick little girl did not do well this afternoon and Papa was in charge while I went out. Poor Papa. Poor baby girl. I did take some video of her during some happy time this evening in her new favorite place to be while watching Baby Einstein Videos. I actually got a smile out of her but after the smile she just lays her chin down and watches.

Butt pictures. LOL

Now that Miss Emily has learned to roll in both directions we get to enjoy that cute little butt more often.

Sick day

Both my kids are sick. Emily has a cold. Cold's are so ugly on babies. Poor little girl. Nick's asthma kicked in bad for the first time in a long time. He is on oripred, which has the most awful side effects, like super hyper, swinging from the chandelier, crazy. Thank you Nintendo for the Wii and the portability of the Wii. It is saving the day. We are hoping to send him back to school tomorrow but bouncing like this could be truly ugly in school.
Months ago I bought this jumpy thingy for Emily on clearance at Kohl's. It was a steal and get's great reviews. We put it together last night and introduced her to it this morning. She loves it. Even at her young age she still moves it JUST enough to get the music and lights going. I would not leave her alone sitting in it right now because she is still a little unsteady but the support in this thing is great and I will probably tuck a blanket in the back for playtime right now. She thinks it is pretty darn cool.

Look at those weepy cold eyes. It is so sad. But Papa got a big grin out of her seconds after I snapped this picture.

Shoulda DID!!

Greatest Valentine.

I got this stuffed animal from Nick. It is a puppet and when you put your hand in his mouth he sings. You have to move his mouth to get the singing. But, he sings the following.

Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

Too delightful. Thank you my love bug!

As long as I'm here...I also will stick in what I think is the best picture I have taken of Emily yet. She is growing so fast and moving all over now by rolling and skootching around. What am I going to do with her when she starts to crawl? LOL. My sister Peggy always says "don't blink". She is so right.

Quick update

John and I had played host to an online friend who was here in Dallas on a layover. She was heading from Seattle to Mexico for a vacation and will return next Monday and visit with us again. It is so nice to meet women who I have talked with for so long in person. My number is now up to 4. A lot less then what is in the group and I look forward to meeting more.

Emily hates tummy time. Last week wonderful Dr. Rachel told us to let her fuss and cry but get her on her tummy. So....I did. The first time she gave up fussing and fell asleep here on the floor. LOL. She is determined to outsmart me.
She then rolled from back to tummy for the first time the end of last week. Some nerve this little lady. Fuss up a storm when GRAMMA puts her on her stomach...but she can do it herself. She has not completely conquered this move and I am struggling to get it on video but it will happen.
This morning I put her on her tummy and she instantly flipped back to her back. Again I put her on her tummy. FLIP....and then she smiles at me!!! I did manage to get that on video for Becky and Chris. LOL.

Sounds from our day

Emily changes daily and is becoming more chatty and expressive then ever. Example below. John gets to hear this more then me, since his work room is next to her room, but I tend to go down the hall and listen by her door. She was oblivious to me video taping her and my hand with the camera was at the foot of the crib.

All talked and sung out. : )

Across the Generations

Last evening, Saturday, John and I babysat for Emily and Nick while Becky and Chris did wine and cheese. Nick and I played Super Mario together on my recently acquired Nintendo NES. What a treat it was. And I will add, quite sad for me. I was WAY good at this game years ago. I have to build up my skill again. This 6 year old had no problem keeping up with me. LOL.

Crazy business

Starting Saturday afternoon. John is heating up a couple of leftover dishes and in between the two the microwave stopped. Power was fine but no waves happen when the timer is counting down. Cannot live without a microwave, so we quickly check online to do some price comparisons, knowing basically what we want. This is an over-the-stovetop. Decided to stay 5 minutes from here and run to Home Depot. They do not stock any merchandise like that. It all has to be ordered. Bummer. Time during the week time is limited and we were installing it ourselves to save on cost. We got in the car and started searching online and calling different stores in the area. Running to others. Not one place had anything we may have purchased in stock. Lowe's selection is really bad. Did not even ask about one there.
After running around and calling many places in two hours time we opted to come home and call Home Depot back and just order the original one we looked at. Come to find out when we called they ONLY deliver to your home at a charge of $69. No...I am serious...you cannot have it sent to the store and pick it up there. That is just insane. Why are we not surprised to read they are closing stores on Monday morning news spots. With customer service like that they cannot have my business. We went with our second choice and used that $70 dollars for some extra features. The new wave came in first thing Tuesday morning and we installed it Tuesday afternoon. Easy Peasy as Nick would say.

Yesterday, Tuesday, our school district closed because of ice warnings. It turned out to be unnecessary yesterday, but we did get the ice last night and school was closed again today. Becky brought the kids around 11:30 when the roads were all melted, and went to work.
However, at about 9:30 this morning I heard a noise while sitting here. At the same time Lucy came running down the hall growling and John was behind here. A car had attempted to turn our corner and hit the light pole. Flattened the sucker right into our grass from the base. The kid left but we found out after calling the police in that he went home 2 doors down and his father also called the police to report it. The police came here first then went to their house to get all the insurance info. About an hour or so after this happened the man and son came down and introduced themselves. They are new in the area. They apologized for the inconvenience and told us if they could do anything to help with the situation to let them know. They had been told the electric company would be out within 72 hours. Not 10 minutes later the big old truck pulled up and the next 3 hours was digging, breaking lines in our yard where the electric box is and in general reeking havoc. LOL. But the pole is gone and they say the new one will be up by the end of the week. I would love to know what the guys insurance is going to pay for that little mishap. Glad it is not me or my kid but also glad no one was hurt and the damage to the car is barely a dent in the fender. The poles are made of a special fiberglass and made to give easily to cause little or no damage.

Emily is growing fast and becomes cuter and more fun each day. Her brother still worships the ground she walks on. I wonder if the day will ever come when he will be crying because she has his stuff.
A picture of brotherly love and a video below. In the video Em is sitting in the highchair they have at the kitchen table while Nick does his homework. The highchair attaches to the kitchen chair and it reclines to about what a bouncer would be. Very convenient and space saving. Gramma has an old highchair up in the attack but she is thinking about this.
Enjoy.

Just love this picture

On Monday Becky and I went to the Mall shopping. While Becky was trying on some tops I was sitting with a tired Emily who just did not want to shut her eyes. Finding her thumb and keeping it is still a challenge and we need to hold the pacy for a few minutes before she latches on and falls asleep. I was noticing the contrast between her tiny little hand and my big hand and asked Becky to snap a couple of pictures.


We are settling in nicely around here. It seems Emily may be ready for 8 oz. bottles since she is sucking down the 6 ounces. Becky may need to get rid of her swing because Emily will not sleep in it...yet loves mine and sleeps great. Mine is faster. LOL. Becky is going to borrow mine this weekend and if Em sleeps she is going to hope for a trade or something with one of the resale kids stores. What a shame. The swing she has is beautiful and was expensive, but the little lady seems to like speed.
The weather was great again today so I put Emily in her buggy and walked to pick Nick up at school. He loves showing her off and pushing the buggy back home. Before Em was there in a buggy he would complain about the long walk. What a guy. It is kind of a lousy time of day to make that walk with the sun beating down and right in her eyes so I have to keep the sunshade up and can't see her but the fresh air is good and the walk is good for me. Before we know it the temperature will be too HOT to make that walk.
Nick was home with Strep yesterday so was able to watch the inauguration live with his mother there to explain what a great historical moment it is in history. Today when we walked home he told me all about it. I am so proud and happy he will remember the day in his future as a special one spent with his mother.
I am so glad I have the opportunity to spend this special time with Emily as she develops into such a happy little girl. Someday soon I will get a great picture of her smile that actually shows the dimple in her cheek.

Emily a happy girl this morning.

Not a great picture, me being so close. But she finally found her thumb.
A better picture below.

It is amazing how much she grows and changes in just a couple of days. I have not seen her since Thursday and she is so different and so new each time she returns.

We are all dressed up to go shopping at the mall.

What's Happening? Continued.

And at the end of the day as I say goodbye.