Five Year Stats

Today was Emer's annual Well-Visit check up with Dr. O'Nan.  We were a little late this year b/c I waited too late to call and schedule it.  Ooops!  She's just so healthy and awesome and I didn't know they scheduled 2-3 months in advance...
We'll start with the stats:
Height = 43 inches tall
Weight = 40 lbs (45th percentile)
Eyesight = just fine!  (First time checking her eyes with the chart, she was a little nervous, haha!)
Diagnosis = "perfect!"

I asked about her car seat - turns out she can stay in it until she's 100 lbs.  Well that could be until she's 18 or so, lol!  So basically, we can get a booster seat for her which she can move into as long as it makes the seat belt hit at the appropriate spot.  I'm thinking, b/c she seems tall, she can probably move into that pretty soon.

She did have to get vaccine boosters today, which we were NOT expecting.  You will all be so proud of both of us!  This was the first time I actually stayed in the room with her (no choice b/c I was the only one there). I didn't look at either of the needles but instead held Emer's hands and helped her stay calm by talking to her.  The nurse had her lay down and wanted me to hold her hands by holding her down.  I felt terrible doing it but I didn't know what else to do.  Emer kept leaning her head on my arm so she could watch.  She cried when the second shot went in and was very sad for a short time.  That was also incredibly heartbreaking to me.  I know that vaccines are important and keep her healthy, but there has to be a better way to get them!

After the appointment we went for ice cream.  Because nothing makes a sad girl feel better than ice cream with her mom!  Love this girl  :)

Picture time!

We have made it through the first week of school! So I figured I should post a quick blog update on how things have been going. And I'm going to do it picture style!

 Here is just a cute little picture of Emer showing off her crazy curls with a goofy smile in her face. :)

 Waiting to start gymnastics! Since school started we have changed classes, again, to a Saturday class. Steve has to take her because it is the same time as my class at the Y so that's kind of a bummer. But she did really well last week so hopefully it's a good fit for her.

 As usual Emer and Kelli went with me to the PartyLite conference this year. One of the days I was in conference they went back to the Mall of America. Emer was soooooo excited to get to meet Uniqua from the Backyardigans! (Can you see the tiny Uniqua that big Uniqua is holding? Yep, that's Ems'!) My crazy girl loves everything pink...

 We made the annual trip to Colts practice again this year!  But, instead of driving and enjoying the drive-in root beer place, we took Owens'Air!  And yes, we got to see Pat McAfee kicking the ball and standing around chatting  :)  Go Colts!

 And just look at the sign Emer is holding.  Yes, it says, "Emer's First Day of Kindergarten!" Boo hoo hoo!  It's been a week of ups (jumping off the bus, smiling and laughing, telling us all kinds of wonderful things she did in school and all her new friends!) and downs (day 5 was the first day we didn't have tears when I left...) but she's made it to school and had a great time for 7 days now.  I say, "Stop growing up!".  She laughs and says, "I can't, Mommy. I'm going to keep growing until I'm a big girl like you!"  Ahhhh, love her!

To conclude the picture blog, we'll end with a video that Gigee sent me when Steve and I were in Jamaica: 

<3 beautiful="" children="" dance="" p="">

Five Glorious, Wonderful Years!

Here I sit, at the lake in Terre Haute, listening to the last of the fireworks from the 4th of July celebrations in 2013.  It has been a relatively quiet evening. We had some fireworks earlier in the evening for us - Steve shot the rockets off the end of the deck. These last ones aren't even from a show, I'm guessing, because they are random and not synchronized to anything. Still, they are fireworks all the same!
Five years ago I was in a hospital with my new baby girl. "Isn't she beautiful?" I said to my mom when she walked in. I just looked through my blog and found the pix from when she was born and yes, she was so beautiful!  She continues to get more and more beautiful every day! Today she has curly, unruly hair that we brush twice a day and it never looks brushed. (Pix will be posted in the next blog, I promise!) She is in gymnastics and loves it! She had the best year ever in preschool and is just so excited for kindergarten!
I cannot believe she is starting kindergarten. My beautiful, tiny baby girl is old enough for full-day school, away from me, learning new and better things.  She'll be making new friends, riding a bus home, and hopefully learning to be more confident.  She is super excited; I am super sad.
While I have not been a traditional SAHM, I have been fortunate enough to spend lots of time with Emer over the years.  And I wouldn't trade those times for the world.  Sometimes we practice school stuff such as writing, cutting & gluing, and reading.  She doesn't particularly like to read, but definitely enjoys when I read to her.  Other times we just play or she helps me clean the house (do you know another kid who will scrub the toilet but not clean the the sinks?). We go on adventures all over the city and the country! She is a delightful, fun, caring, and wonderful little girl.

*** Speaking of adventures, Emer will be in year-round school giving her nearly the entire month of November off! We are already planning what to do - NYC again? New Orleans to visit Uncle Kurt? California again? So many choices and she is just as excited as me to go "fly somewhere" again soon.
But for now, we spend the summer together, here in Indiana, swimming at the Y or our pool, fishing in our pond, traveling around the city, and partying in Terrre Haute for her birthday.
Yes, I love my Tiny, tons, & Tons, & TOns, & TONS!!!! Happy birthday, Emer!

I Love You...

I believe that "I love you" is the sweetest phrase a four year old can utter.

Lately I've been feeling very nostalgic about Emer's baby years. She is no longer a baby, though I constantly tell her she will ALWAYS be my baby. No matter how quickly she outgrows her pants...no matter how old she talks...no matter how much she wants to ride the bus to kindergarten next year...she will always be my Tiny! (Compared to many other kids her age she is Tiny. She seems tall to me but then these three year old kids will come into the Y for swim lessons and they are way bigger than her! I am curious to see where she is on the size scale this summer.)

And boy has she grown! It's so funny because we'll pull pants out of the closet for her to wear and they are almost all high waters. She prefers dresses so I don't have a lot of times to see her in pants. Just this weekend it was finally warm enough for her to wear a dress without leggings. I realized then that the dress was a mini skirt length! I just wish the weather would warm up so she could wear summer clothes and we can worry about pants fitting later!

Alright, back to the point of this blog. Emer is completely her own person and I love it. My best friend is pregnant and I am definitely a little jealous! Emer would be a fantastic big sister, and wants to be. But I understand that this is not an option, and the older I get, the less I can really argue for it. So I spend a lot of time reminding myself to be thankful for the beautiful Tiny I have. I tell her often that I love her. I remind her of her talents and the things she most enjoys. I remind myself that she is a happy, friendly, and well-behaved little girl. I cannot think of anything I would want more from her. I tell myself I do not need another baby. I tell her she can help with Auntie Kelli's baby. And we accept, love, and treasure each other. I can only hope that when the teen years hit she will remember this.

Emer is amazingly good at surprising me. My favorite surprise is when she quietly, completely out of the blue, says "Mommy...I love you". One of these days I'm going to just cry when she says it and she'll think I'm insane! It is the sweetest, most wonderful statement a four year old can make...

Quotes by Emer

History behind this one: Emer has become a Dolphin's fan.  We allow this b/c they aren't a huge Colts rival and she likes the Colts first.  However, the Dolphins are playing the Colts today.  Also, we go to Denny's every time the Colts win.
Me: Oh geez.  Your team just scored....
Emer: Huh?  Oh...
Me: The Dolphins just got a touchdown.  Aren't you excited?
Emer: No. I want to go to Denny's!

Hahaha!  I just found this blog.  Guess I never finished it...but it's too funny to not post!  Enjoy!

La, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaaa!

Emer is in music class!  I was looking around for something new and fun to do with Ems when I came across some information about the Indianapolis Children's Choir.  Well Emer loves to sing and is usually right on tune with whatever she's listening to or singing along with.  So I figured this would be a good fit for her!  I talked to Steve and we both agreed we'd give it a shot.  It's a 6 week class that meets one time a week at Butler.  Emer's first class was last Wednesday, September 19th.  Here's how it went:
* She was very excited to go sing!
* Once we got there she was pretty shy at the start (typical for her!)
* She sang all by herself!!
* She learned to drum with her hands on a brand, new drum!

I think it was a good experience and I can't wait to see what comes in future weeks  :)

**************************************************************************

In other news, I am sorry I didn't finish this blog in a timely fashion.  I started it 2 weeks ago b/c Emer has her 3rd music class tonight.  So I might as well post a few pics from our recent camping trip with our friends Amy, Alex, and Sammy.  It was down at Lake Rudolf in Santa Claus, IN.  We spent 3 days there enjoying all the festivities.  We will definitely do it again next year!!

Emer enjoying the campfire:

They had a carnival on Saturday!!

(Here is Emer and Alex sliding down the blow up slide!)

They have Trick or Treating on Saturday night!

 

And before we left Santa Claus, IN we stopped in the Christmas Store and met Santa!  He was working on his Nice and Naughty Lists:

Preschool!

Yep...Tiny is in preschool now...can you believe it?!  I can't!  She was so excited to start school.  I took about 10 pictures of her and I think this one sums up her feelings perfectly:

On Monday we went to her very first School Open House.  We got to meet her teacher, Mrs. Sorrells, and decided that we should enroll her in Spanish class.  The class is taught by a woman who Steve had 2 of her daughters in class; the time was perfect to help me get to work on time (new job teaching water aerobics!); and we thought it would be helpful for her to have exposure to a second language so early in her life.  She has been listening to my Italian CD's in the car for a while and so far I am realizing that Spanish is a lot like Italian!  So I'm actually going to add learning Spanish on livemocha as well as Italian.

Anyway, as of this writing Emer has had 4 days of preschool.  The first day (shown above) she was so excited and just walked into the room.  She wanted to show me her cubby.  We had found the cubby at Open House but Ems wanted me to know she remembered where it was.  She then settled in playing with playdoh.  On the drive to school had I taught her a few simple schools rules which she kindly repeated to Mrs. Sorrells. Apparently we were spot-on b/c Mrs. Sorrells gave me a big thumbs up and a Thank You before I left!

Day Two we began Spanish.  We were a couple minutes late (8:30 is more difficult to get to school than 9:05!) and Emer was a little confused.  We had talked about how her Spanish teacher would walk her to Mrs. Sorrells' room after Spanish but she was not sure about being left in this class.  She was crying when I left.  It was heartbreaking!  I did call later that morning, though, and was assured that she had settled down quickly and Mrs. Sorrells hadn't known anything about her being upset.

Day Three began with Spanish again.  Emer was a little reluctant and hesitant but her teacher took her by the hand and led her into class.  She seemed fine and later told me she learned "Buenas Nochas" today!

Day Four - While I was talking to Virginia (we asked what to call the Spanish teacher) Emer gave me a hug and kiss and walked past us into the room.  I think she likes it there!

I'm stronger writing this now than I was that first day.  I literally had tears in my eyes driving her there and had to fight to hold them back as I left the school.  The whole drive I was picturing her as a college kid and thinking how it wouldn't be that long from now that I would be driving her to some college and dropping her off at a dorm.  Why can't life slow down?  Ug, why do we wish it away as kid, especially as a teen, and then wish for it to slow down as an adult?  I distinctly remember being a kid and having adults in my life telling me to stop wishing away life.  It's a cycle that never ends, I suppose...and it has begun again with my Emerson.