You know what I want????

It’s amazing how Emily remembers stuff and how she is able to use her language skills. She’s one funny little girl. Singing, dancing, being silly. I just love her to pieces. I just had to preserve a “conversation” that we had this morning and thought I’d share it as well.

“You know what I need Emily??”

She stops and looks at me with this sheepish grin, “a kiss.”

“What else do I need??”

Shaking her head, “a big hug.”

And then she come running over to me with her arms outstretched and knocks me over with the sheer force of her hug.

I love it!!!

Update: OSC

A couple of people have asked me how Operation: Skinny Chicks is going so I thought I would update!

OSC started on December 1. Since my first weigh-in, I have lost 4 pounds. I know that isn’t lighting the world on fire but I think considering it is December, with all the food that goes with it, 4 pounds is decent. I managed to not gain during the holidays and that’s the key.

I am ashamed to say though that I haven’t been to the gym in over 2 weeks. I was sick one week, last week Stephen was off and we had so much to do and I haven’t made it in this week. I am going to get my schedule of workouts back in sync and really eating better.

So, as you can see, OSC is plugging along, albeit with a slow start. But it’s moving right along!

Photos

Photos from the past few days have been uploaded into our Picasa album! You know I love my camera but don’t want to bog down the blog with too many pictures and make you cry!

Mmm, apple pie

I2 made my first ever apple pie! It was *almost* homemade. I didn’t have the time or the energy to make the crust but I did make the filling!

I think it turned out quite nice. It was very, very tasty. And pretty. My mother-in-law didn’t want to cut it and deface the lattice work. In fact, I think I’ll go have another slice of it now. Wait, I really need to get it out of the house!! Freezer maybe?

I tweaked a recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

My tweaks: I added a tsp of vanilla, 2 tsps each of nutmeg and cinnamon to the apple mixture before pouring it into the crust. I also brushed the top of the crust with milk to help it turn a golden brown. I also put aluminum foil along the edges of the crust to keep it from burning.

It turned out really well. The only thing I would do different would be to bake it a little longer and my bottom crust was a little soft. Other than that, it was delicious!!!

Help a mommy out!

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Emily’s favorite band is The Laurie Berkner Band. I always told Stephen that if she came to St Louis or Chicago- I was there. Well, she went to Chicago…. Dec 13. There was no way that we could guarantee what the weather was going to be like. I was so sad. Emily would have been so happy and had a wonderful time!

I think I might have found a way to help try to bring Laurie to the St Louis area. Please join with me in “demanding” a concert in our area!

Thank you so much!!!

Extra! Extra! Big news!!!

I have two pieces of big news in the J household to share!

First off, Emily is officially in a big girl bed! I was very, very hesitant about it. I wasn’t ready for her to move yet and I didn’t think she was ready to move yet. The funny thing is that I had JUST blogged about it. I think I jinxed myself! That little girl loved her crib more than anything. It was “her” place.

Why move her you ask? I still ask myself that occasionally. I chose to go along with Stephen’s idea with the understanding that the crib would go back IMMEDIATELY if needed. The reason behind the move is that Emily was showing signs of being ready. She had only climbed out once or twice so that wasn’t an issue. The issue was with bed time. She wasn’t wanting me to carry her to the crib anymore. She wanted to walk. That was fine until she didn’t want me to put her into the crib anymore. She wanted to climb in. And she wasn’t very good at it. She was wanting to be a big girl and Stephen thought it was time. I am still sad.

We chose to buy her a new bed because we didn’t think the converted crib with work. It was her CRIB and the railing should be ON. I think it was a wise move on our part. I personally think it would have been harder just converting.

I am happy to report that Emily has done really well with it though. She has had some night waking. I can’t say if it’s due to the bed transition or the fact that Emily is sick.  (We didn’t know she was sick when we bought her big girl bed- we probably would have waited.) We also bought a princess bedding set and I think that sealed the deal. She really seems to like her big girl bed after I named off her friends that slept in their beds. Thanks to Trinity, Kara and Chase for unknowingly making the transition a little easier!

She has not gotten out of her bed during the middle of the night when she has woken up or in the morning. She just calls for her mommy and daddy to come get her. I am sure that won’t last very long but I’ll take it while I can!  I have been sleeping on edge because of her being sick and I keep waiting to hear our door open and find her in my face!

I think she really likes her bed and is doing well for the most part. I am still sad that she making all of these transitions. Too soon if you ask me. I know she needs to grow up but she will always be my little girl.

My big girl in her bed

Snuggling in

 

The other big news!!!!

Emily went pee pee and poo poo in the potty! You know you are a mom when that’s a big deal and you make an announcement! I was planning on really laying the ground work after the first of the year with potty training. She has gone before but went on strike for quite some time. I caught her tonight before she “did her business” and asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. Stickers and money! (pennies and pooh stickers!) Shockingly, she said YES! And even more shockingly, she ACTUALLY went! I was so very impressed!!!!! Stephen even gave her a quarter instead of a penny! I am sure it was probably a fluke but I will take what I can get. It’s just one more step toward the potty training process and my little girl growing up. I would like her to slow down a bit. Although, changing diapers I could do without!

Christmas Day

We had to wake Emily up so she could open some presents and have breakfast before we went to church. She was always so scared of Santa that we didn’t press the issue a whole lot with her during the holiday. We told her that Santa would bring her presents but that was about it. She adamantly refused to sit on his lap and even covered her eyes while we walked past him in Dierbergs on Wednesday. So imagine our surprise to her answer to Stephen’s question: “Do you know who came last night?”

“Santa came. Left presents!”

She was very excited to see what he left her! It was so much fun seeing her really getting into it this year. Last year she would have been happy just to play with a box but this year the wrapping paper was FLYING! I think I would be lying if I said that Emily didn’t get a little spoiled this year but she was a very, very good girl! She got quite a bit of goodies and she didn’t know what to play with first!

After breakfast and church, we headed over to Grandma and Papa’s for lunch and more presents. She is going to think that she should open presents every day! Might have to wrap up some of the presents again and let her go to town opening.

It was a very good day. We had a good visit with family and everyone was happy. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family who is so loving and so generous. I couldn’t ask for anything more!

Trying to decide what to do

Playing with her new blocks after church

The loves of my life

How do I do this?

What a past few days…..

We had a very eventful past couple of days! I am going to have to do a couple of posts here so bear with me!

What to start with, what to start with…..

I guess I’ll start with our Christmas Eve and go from there. Emily wasn’t herself that day. Cried during breakfast, was puny during lunch and snuggled a lot. She woke up after an hour of her nap, screaming. I went to check on her and she said her ear hurt. I grabbed the thermometer and she was running 100.3. Unfortunately, the doctor’s office was closed at that point. That’s how it’s SUPPOSED to happen right?? Stephen found a pediatric urgent care that was open and we headed over. We didn’t want her to suffer all night and on Christmas day.

She did really, really well there. Impressed the doctor with her language skills and that she readily opened her mouth for a strep swab. I was impressed myself. Throat looked horrible, that’s why she’d been crying at meal times and when drinking. I thought she’d just bitten her tongue. Talk about feeling like an awful mommy…Her ears were really inflamed as well.

Strep test came back negative but we were given antibiotics for her ears. She’s still not feeling well today and her throat is still really bothering her. I think we will have to take her to her doctor tomorrow. I talked to the nurse and she said to bring her in on Saturday if she’s not doing better. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday……

Also, on Wednesday night, my sister called me to tell me that they admitted my nephew to the hospital. They thought they were going to have to put a breathing tube in because his throat was swelling shut. It was a pretty scary night for my younger sister. I know many prayers were said for Ben that night. Luckily they didn’t have to tube him and he was home on Christmas Day. They say he’s doing better and starting to eat again. I am very glad to hear that because Ben is one of the sweetest little guys you’d ever meet.

When we were visiting on Saturday, he’d take my face in his hands and draw it up to his and give me kisses. I could take that little guy home with me but I don’t think my sister or my dad would let me sneak him into my car!!! I am going to have to work on that one.

So all in all, things are better on the health front.  Although Emily isn’t fully recovered yet, her throat is still really yucky looking but at least she got some relief and wasn’t miserable for Christmas. She had too much to do!!!

Isn’t there anyone…

who knows what Christmas is all about??

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope your day is full of love, laughter and happiness!

That’s a lot of years…

Yesterday was Stephen’s grandpa’s birthday. He turned 96! He’s doing quite well for someone that age. We took a drive to celebrate his birthday with him. Emily lovingly calls him “Great Papa”. It’s so sweet!

We weren’t sure how she would do, as she is timid in new circumstances and being around people she hasn’t seen in awhile. It only took her a short time to warm up and then she was her charming self! We visited, had cake and ice cream and opened presents (not necessarily in that order).

Later in the afternoon, we headed up to meet more family for lunch. It was very nice to get to visit with people that we don’t see on a regular basis. Of course, Emily was the life of the party. Jingle belling all over the eating area and around the store. She was turning heads every where she went!

There’s never enough time to visit everyone that you want but we enjoyed who we saw. And most importantly, we got to wish Ray a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY and that’s what yesterday was all about!

Stephen and Ray with his beloved Cubs present!