First Day of School

today was the first day of school. while i was downright giddy to have 5 hours to myself i did worry about them the entire time they were gone. e awoke in one of her standard demanding moods. wanted to watch tv. shocker. she also protested a bit about going until we told her she could wear her brand new backpack. she picked out a very pink Hello Kitty back pack yesterday at Target. this backpack also holds her princess folder that took forever to pick out among the lesser folders. neal was none the wiser and just happy to be going on an outing.

we got to school which is literally 2 minutes from the house. joel went with me. we dropped neal off first and he became wise as to what we were going to do to him. they scooped him up and he began to cry. apparently he cried for a large portion of the day as indicated by the note in his folder. the note also assured me that it will get easier for him. talk about ripping out my heartstrings. i do hope he adjusts sooner rather than later. he has been in a mood since he has been back at home. i think bedtime will come a little earlier tonight.

we then dropped emerson off. she was excited to see her teacher and went into the classroom. however, when she sensed we were going to leave she latched onto my leg. she did this yesterday at church, too. so being the great mom i am i shook her off and RAN for the door. her note indicated she had a great day (great was underlined)! was there a doubt. not in my mind. she went to Bible class and Spanish today. she has been pretend playing as the teacher ever since she got home. she has been talking up a storm about the Bible and God. they learned the word for red today in Spanish, but i haven't heard her say it just yet. her age group does not nap and her behavior does not indicate any ill effects as of yet.

we also put up her big girl bed in neal's room on sunday. she was/is very excited about this transition. neal is a little confused as to where his toys went and why his sister is in his room. we are in a transitional period with them going immediately to sleep as you might imagine. she gets up a few times and makes up those precious lame excuses. i slept with her last night as she couldn't seem to settle down. within 5 minutes she and neal were fast asleep.

i love having a play room. ALL of the toys are now in her old bedroom. granted it has only been 3 days, but it is so nice not to look at a toy ever where i look. i spent all day yesterday and the better part of today organizing and rearranging. i think i might be painting on thursday. however, i might take that day and have lunch with and adult. i gaurantee you this restaurant will NOT have a playground and my lunch will not come with a toy.

Dog Days...

If you knew us pre-children you probably thought we were a bit crazed over a dear dog, Willie. He was a lap dog if ever there was one. He dressed up for Halloween and made it on the Christmas cards. We loved that dog as though it was an actual child. That is until we had a child and then two.

For the last 2.5 years Willie has been miserable. He hates his life. He used to be able to sit on a couch for 10 hours and no one bugged him. Now, he doesn't get a moments peace. Not only do they try and play with his grouchy self they like to share his food too. I would like to say this is not an inherited trait (I was a big fan of some Alpo) but I would be lying. I am not sure what it is about his dog bowls, but they love it. I often find morsels of Kibbles n' Bits in the clutches of Neal's palms. Neal also loves playing in the water. We have had many wardrobe changes due to this fascination.

Poor Willie.

Memories...

When I was but a wee child I remember wanting to have chores so badly. I remember watching my eldest sister pre wash dishes and load them into the dishwasher. Oh I so badly wanted to do the dishes. This memory came flooding back to me this morning as Emerson begged me to wash the bowl and spoon we just used to make Aunt Gee's birthday cake. I was hit with this memory and obliged her request. I scooted the chair over to the sink and helped her up. I thought I was creating a precious memory that will hopefully be etched in her mind too. It was a real Hallmark moment until she continuously kept turning the water up full blast and soaking everything in a 2 mile radius. And then screetched at me as I continually turned it down. This went on for a good 10 minutes. My ideas are so good at the time. I wonder if Joel will notice Emerson's 'help' in the next water bill?

Elmopalooza

Emerson used to be obsessed with all things Elmo. Then it moved to Zoe. Then it was all things Sesame Street. So, being the dopey parents we can be Joel and I got her tickets to see Sesame Street Live for Christmas. We went this past weekend. It was actually not so bad. In fact, I like kid venues. You can talk as loudly as you want, you can throw stuff on the floor, you can get up 100 times without making someone mad and you can always find a kid being worse than your kid! E had a great time. However, she screamed at Cookie Monster when he was on stage as she HATES him. Not sure why, but she has said he is, "trouble." And tonight she told us as we were putting her to bed for the 10th time that he was coming in his cookie van to get her. Joel assured her he beat him up outside and that seemed to pacify her as she hasn't yelled from her bed in the last 30 minutes...

the playdate...

i have been a member of a mom's group for a little over a year now. i wouldn't say i have been an active member, but a member nonetheless. i have picked up my involvement since january and we are having a wonderful time with all the various activities.

i chose to host a play date at our home. the weather was beautiful. 83 and hardly any clouds so we got to play outsides. 24 moms and children packed in our house for a potluck lunch, playtime and banana spilts. everyone had a great time. and, as you can see from the pictures, emerson was on hand for entertainment...hope this isn't
a career path!

strange things that lurk in your mailbox

you may or may not know that we banked neal's cord blood after the urging of our ob/gyn. it seems research (which no one told me this at the time) shows babies who have chemo while cooking in the oven can develop blood cancers later in life. nice. and people who receive chemo can also develop these said blood cancers years down the road. again, nice. so we banked the cord in hopes that one day we will never have to use it, but it is there if something does happen.

after losing my paperwork and the such the registry place offered to bank our blood free of charge for the rest of neal and my life. how nice! that saves us oodles of dough. so today i get a package from them in the mail. i open it and it is a present. hmmm... the front of the card says, "Happy Birthday! 1 today!" I think this is a little odd as neal will be 1 in 2 more months, but hey, they were a little early. i then opened the card and it says, "Happy 1st Birthday...to you and your belly button! From your friends at the Cord Blood Regisitry." the present is a children's board book appropirately titled- Where is Baby's Belly Button. I have attached photos of the card and book.

I just found this to be a little odd and too funny not to share.

more emersonisms...

she likes to wipe her bobo crotch with paper toilet!