Our Weekend

Call me crazy, I know... I couldn't say "no". A friend of mine is a realtor and she is helping us look for a house. Saturday afternoon we were looking at some when she said that she was at a vacant house earlier that day where someone had left behind their fish. "I'll take them" came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I thought Eric might kill me. "It's not like it's another dog" was my excuse. I just agreed to take 3 VERY dirty and HUNGRY fish without thinking about the fact that we'll be out of town twice and moving all in the next 4 weeks. I've always loved fish and they are easy to care for... for the most part. Besides, Emory likes to make fish faces at them. Don't laugh, we named them Tennessee, Carolina and Arizona. Yes, we purposefully left out Florida, we didn't live there long enough to count.

Rescue animals make the BEST pets! Boomer was a rescue and I couldn't ask for a better puppy. I highly recommend this site for anyone that is even considering adopting an animal.


In other news, Emory, like her friend Nolan likes to shake her head "no" all the time. I'm beginning to think she really means "yes" when she does it however. This is her response to everything. "Do you like Cheerios?" "Are you silly?" "Are you a big cousin?" She's going to make herself dizzy shaking her head so much.


Speaking of the little cousin, Everett Reed is now at home and doing well, as is Sarah. Isn't he gorgeous?! I can't wait to meet him.

My Favorite Things

All of you know that my family and friends are the most important people in my life. This list is just for fun.

10. Hot summer days- We have officially hit triple digits! ( We are at 108 today, I might not be quite as happy when we hit 125.)


9. Eating a Hershey Bar and drinking a big glass of cranberry juice. The combination of sweet and tart is perfect!

8. Totino's Party Pizza

7. GetInHerHead.com - The best website ever! It is meant to be a way to send reminders to your mate (including your detailed where to buy and what size/color wishlist). However, it's a great way to also remember other important dates.

6. WhatShouldIReadNext.com - The other best website ever! I found it this morning, you enter some of your favorite books and it recomends others that you might like! How great is that?!

5. Yoga

4. Celebrity gossip

3. My bed - We have the most wonderful, comfy, cozy memory foam bed! It is sooooo hard to get out of in the morning...

2. Watching Emory and her friends play together and learn from each other. Playdates are one of our favorite activities. We're very lucky to have found such wonderful friends for Emory (and myself).


1. Getting new family members! I love my neices more than anyone can imagine and now I have a nephew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everett Reed Massini was born this morning, weighing 8 and half pounds. He is 21 inches long. Both Everett and Sarah are doing well.

Recap

Monday- Property manager calls, homeowner want to sell our house.

Tuesday- It rained. Looked for house.

Wednesday- Took Eric to airport at 5:30am. Looked for house.

Thursday- Emory's 9 month checkup. Looked for house.

Friday- Researched (and found)organic toddler formula. Found a house.

Saturday- Went swimming.

Sunday- Went to yoga, then went swimming.

What an emotionally exhausting week! On top of all our housing issues, Eric had to go to Denver and we found out that Emory is not gaining weight like we should. While I know that all babies are different and grow at their own pace, it is hard to hear that your baby went from the 90th percentile at 4 months to the 25th at 9 months. She eats, A LOT! However, she is very active. Developmentally she couldn't be better, though. The pediatrician suggested that I think about supplementing with a toddler formula. That really hurt to hear. After doing some research, I found that the World Health Organization developed a new growth chart for breastfeed infants. According to that, Emory's growth curve is closer to average, but still a little low. After lots of reading, I found that while all the major formula companies have toddler formulas, none of them offer an organic variety and my favorite baby product company doesn't have a toddler version. I finally found one that had the same (if not better) nutritional benefits. Now, when Emory doesn't eat very well, she will get a sippy cup of formula in the evening. Side note- My child does not like pizza. How can MY (or Eric's for that matter) child not like pizza!!!!!!!!!

Back to the housing issue...

Turns out that our county has the 3rd highest foreclosure rate in the entire country right now. (It's up 330% in the last year!) Turns out, homes are almost $100,000 cheaper than they were this time last year. In the grand scheme of things I'm really glad we decided to rent, even though I'm dealing with uncertainty this week.

Happy Birthday Kellen

Today is Kellen's Birthday! I can't believe that I have an EIGHT year old niece!

She is a WONDERFUL big cousin to Emory, I'm very proud of her. Happy Birthday to Kellen!

Pot Pie and Cheerios

Is it okay that Emory only ate Cheerios and Chicken Pot Pie for two straight days? I tried other foods, both purees and table food, she didn't want any of it. And yes, that is a chunk of food above her left shoulder.
Finally, she ate some chicken, peas and sweet potatoes for lunch today. She is usually a terrific eater, I guess we all have our moments. Boomer loves the rare occasion that Emory doesn't eat very well, he sits under her chair and just waits for food to hit the floor.

How do the Cheerios get stuck to the seat of her diaper? It never fails to amaze me. I have found them inside her clothes, under the highchair cover, under furniture in the family room. We have Cheerios EVERYWHERE!

Shake it up!

WARNING!!! RANT TO FOLLOW! WARNING!!!

Just yesterday afternoon, I was thinking that things were going a little too smoothly. Well, that feeling only lasted a few hours. As we were finishing a yummy dinner of chicken pot pie (a favorite of Emory's), our property manager called. Our landlord wants to sell our house. "Of course you will get the option to buy before we put it on the market" he says. Isn't that nice... Our lease is up July 1, that's SIX WEEKS from now! We are going to Los Angeles AND Montreal during those six weeks.


We decided not to buy when we first moved because of the dwindling housing market and our moving track record (3 states in 3 years). We still don't want to buy because we don't want to get stuck with a house when we get transfered again (which will happen). The search is on...




On a brighter note, little Miss Emory has found where we keep the cokes. She thinks that shaking and rolling them around the kitchen floor is more fun than just about anything else. I guess this serves as a warning to everyone... BE CAREFUL OPENING YOUR COKE (at our house anyway)!!!

One other piece of info... You can now read about all of my wonderful nieces. Bethany and Rebecca both have blogs... Sarah we'll give you a just a few weeks after the birth of Baby Massini to get started.







Sorry for posting the same picture twice. Can anyone tell me how to delete it?

Tunnel Vision and Balance

Yes, you are seeing correctly. Those are my hands, not holding Emory. SHE CAN STAND BY HERSELF! She has to be distracted in order to do it and as soon as she realizes that she isn't holding onto something, she sits down. I now have a picture to prove it (Eric didn't really believe me). My friend, Christa, took all of these wonderful pictures. We went back to the splash park Wednesday afternoon and she did it several times.

Emory went to play with Christa and Noah while I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday morning. She came home exhausted! Noah is a little older than Emory and is quite the teacher. Every time Emory spends time with him, or her friend Rohn, she picks up a new skill. Maybe I should schedule a playdate everyday until she goes to kindergarten.

Happy Birthday to Eric!

We went to 4 parties in 3 days this weekend! Starting with a cookout hosted by our friends Christa and Kevin (and Noah)at the splash park on Friday night. What a fun place! The towns around us have incredible parks and Friday was our first trip to the splash park. Emory wasn't really sure what was going on, but she didn't care because there was water involved.

Saturday morning was the first of what I'm sure will be many birthday parties of Emory's friends. This party was at one of the other parks in town, and the parent were so smart. They brought a gated play area for the kids (this park has a lake) and set it up under a tree for shade. The kids had so much fun, Emory loved the yummy peach-blueberry muffins. She ate one all by herself!

Saturday afternoon we had Eric's 29th Birthday Anniversary/ Kentucky Derby Party. Yes, that is right, Eric has decided to stick with 29 so we're celebrating the first anniversary of his 29th Birthday. He has the easiest birthday to remember, 5/6/78. Happy Birthday to Eric! I love you!

I was invited to an early Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. All I can say is YUMMY! I think I ate my weight in pancakes...And, I got to use both hands (the brunch was for Moms only)!

Of course today was Cinco de Mayo and we had to go out for Mexican food, a Gunter Family favorite. They brought Eric cake and sang to him, haha. Emory had a blast, she loves cheese quesadillas.

Now I realize why I'm exhausted. We did way to much stuff! May is a very big month for us, not only is it Eric's birthday, it is also my Mom's, my Grandmother's and my niece, Kellen's birthdays. What a wonderful way to start the summer!

Oh yeah, one more thing, Emory tried to climb out of the crib this morning.

It's Storytime!

Books everywhere, just the way I like it! Emory LOVES her books right now. Our favorite way to start out and to end each day is to cuddle up and read some books. She likes to turn the pages for whoever is reading to her, such a big girl. We even go to storytime at the library every week. As you can see, Emory thinks that Miss Kate,the librarian, needs help with the pages. I think her favorite book time is when Eric reads Goodnight Moon before bed.

Emory's Book List
Goodnight Moon
Farmer Says
123 (pop-up)
Is Your Mama a Lama?
Silly Sally
Emory's Family Picture Book

Uh-Oh!

I'm in trouble now! Emory has found the dog door AND learned to climb the stairs. Help! She hasn't tried to completely go out the door yet, but she thinks it is fun to open it. Boomer has done his best to teach her how to go out, however, so I know it won't be much longer. She can also climb all the way to the top of the stairs! Just look at how proud she was! We have gates that we use on the stairs, so I don't worry quite as much about that. I haven't found a way to block off the dog door to keep Emory away but make it accessible to Boomer. I'm up for any suggestions...