Presents....

 

 

 

To remember to charge your battery camera is extremely important. If you forget, well, you then miss lots of photo taking opportunities. How do i know this? Don't ask... ;)

But here are three of Emma before the ol' battery in my camera decided that it had enough photos. Never mind that i wasn't done yet...thankfully, the video camera captured what i didn't.

Emma got the hang of unwrapping presents pretty quickly. She loved the Little People Nativity Scene and the Inn Scene with the three Kings and all of the wonderful animals that are now scattered throughout the house. Robert found a donkey in the shower this morning....and i found baby Jesus perched on the lid of the toilet so i was able to save baby Jesus from drowning. The excitement of seeing the tree, all of the lights, the presents was even better than i had imagined it would be. Truly a magical day that i will never forget.

In all, it was a wonderful day...but i missed my sister and my Mom a great deal. I missed the three of us in the kitchen, talking, laughing and listening to Christmas music and singing together in our off key voices. I miss the Spanish cookies and meats, i miss my Mom's wedding cookies. I know how to make these things, but for some reason, well, they don't turn out the way that they did when she made them. With my Mom gone and now that i have a family, new traditions are now being added....Robert and i made the best lasagna with fantastic garlic bread for Christmas Dinner. I imagine that we will be adding some Guatemalan touches to our Christmas in years to come. This year i managed to order some really beautiful ornaments from MayanFamilies along with our new tradition of getting Emma a new ornament every year. Last year was the traditional "Baby's First Christmas" and this year? Elmo, of course!

Off to pick up Little People.... :))

Hangin' with Santa....

 

We braved the mall traffic today to take Emma to see Santa. She did very well....i felt sorry for the two mothers ahead of us whose children were not in the Christmas spirit and let everyone know it. I have to say that seeing Santa on Christmas Eve is the way to go as we were in and out of the mall within 45 minutes! This will be our tradition, i think...taking Emma to see Santa on Christmas Eve.

The photo on the left was taken on Christmas Eve last year....

My little one isn't so little anymore, is she?

For some reason, my scan didn't come out too clear, so click on the photo and you can view the photo a little better.

Merry Christmas, everyone...

A Christmas Photo

 

I am 'almost' on schedule....my Christmas cards have all been long gone, all presents except two are wrapped, i've taken care of the mailman (he's really the best mailman i've ever had), the babysitter, Robert's office sales folks and his account reps and our neighbors. All i have left is some baking to do....and it's for enjoyment more than anything. So, i'm feelin' pretty pleased. Of course, after i bake, i'll be making the rounds back to my neighbors to pass out my goodies as i have no willpower when there are Christmas treats around! :)

Seeing the magic of Christmas through Emma's eyes has been nothing short of amazing. She loves our tree with all of the colored lights and has only taken one candy cane off the tree. To our great surprise, she's also left alone the packages that are under the tree! Emma and i have done lots of visiting stores to see the "twees"...she gets so excited and points and shouts "TWWWEEEES". What a perfect, special Christmas it has been! Emma has shown Robert and i the magic of Christmas that i think as adults, well, we sometimes forget. We haven't visited Santa yet but plan on going on Wednesday morning. Last year's trip to see Santa went really well, so i am hoping for the same magic again.

A MOPS friend and i 'adopted' a family this year that she knew who was in need. It was really nice to be able to go to the store and get the things that she knew that they needed. A bunch PJs for the children, gloves and scarf for the mother, and of course, toys for the little ones. I was lucky enough to go with Marci to the family's house to meet them. Such a young family with two beautiful little children. I am hoping that the New Year brings only good things to this family....

My Dad will be spending Christmas in FL with my sister and her children. My sister and her husband are still in the mist of uncertainty of their marriage. I hope that they will get some clarity and be able to work through their many issues. I am sometimes happy that my Mom isn't here to see how things have worked out for them this year-she truly would have been very, very upset. But then, maybe she could have offered some help to get them through this difficult time. I miss my Mom so very much....

Off to try a new candy recipe.... :)

Guess who is 22 months old today?

 

Yep...my little Emma is 22 months old today! She had a big day out at her Mother's Day Out class today, too....they had their 'Christmas Party' and had presents and they ate Happy Meals. It was her first Happy Meal, too! I am told that she enjoyed her fries (what a surprise, eh?) and played with her hamburger and ate all of her fruit. Robert and i were given a present from Emma which is under our tree. It's killing me not to sneak a peek, but i promised Robert that i would wait~good luck to me on that promise!

At 22 months, Emma is 24.5 pounds and 31.5 inches high. She can open doors, go up and down all of our stairs with ease (crawling or on her bottom), play in the toilets, almost climb out of her crib and is able to talk in sentences like "Where's dada?" or "Where's mama?". It seems that every day, i notice something new that she has learned...we are working on colors and she can hand me her five blocks by color when i ask for them by color. She is hugely attached to "Cupcake" who is her pink stuffed elephant. She can also say "abuela" when she looks at my Mom's photo on the frig. I'm sure that like most parents, i have conversations with her that only i can understand, lol...Robert sometimes looks at me when i 'translate' for him. And she loves to play "Weee" with Robert. The game consists of his putting her on his shoulders and prancing through the house or swinging her in his arms. The giggles from both of them are truly cute and this game is played out every evening when he comes home from work. I don't know who looks forward to this game of their more...Robert or Emma.

Happy 22 months, dear Emma! We love you so very much....

Hangin' around...

 

....the Christmas tree, what a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

You know, pulling ornaments off the tree, hiding them in the couch so someone will sit on them? Or maybe putting your own special ornaments (like a diaper, a Dora cup, and little people....)into the tree to create your own special touch?

Of course, all of that brings smiles, especially when it comes with a little toddler saying "MAMA!" :)

"I stinky"

 

A about 2 weeks ago, i was cleaning up, and Emma toddled over to me and tugged on my pant leg. Looking down at her, she looked up at me and uttered these words:

"I stinky"

I had to smile as this is what i ask her when she has a stinky diaper and the words "Are you stinky?" makes my husband roll his eyes towards the heavens. He would rather i use 'adult' language...other than something like "are you stinky" (something along the lines of "did you have a bowel movement?", i'm sure) but for me, well, it works. I know, i know, it's amazing how my adult language skills land in the toilet while communicating with my daughter. ;)

Imagine my surprise three weeks ago when i understood exactly what Emma meant--she WAS stinky!

The best part was this morning when Emma went into the bathroom to where Robert was brushing his teeth this morning and she announces to him "i stinky". I was making the bed and i hear her and i had to giggle because she kept telling him over and over (and over....) again "i stinky". My new rule was quickly born to "who ever she goes to with the i-stinky-speech gets the fun job of changing Stinky". Brilliant, eh? I'm quick like that sometimes....

And this pattern has continued....sometimes (and most of the time) she'll come up to me with these magic words. Of course, i can usually smell her from the next room (who am i kidding, i can smell her two rooms away), but how amazing is it that she gets it??

So, i'm dragging out our new potty seat and reading up on potty training. I thought that 21 months was a little early, but heck, what do i know? If she's ready, then, by golly, i'm ready, too....i think. It's nothing fancy, this new potty seat. It doesn't sing when you do anything on it, it doesn't clap and cheer nor does it dispense M&Ms. It's just one of those ones that you place on top of a regular toilet. I also found a cute stool for her to climb on so she is able to get to the toilet all by myself. See? I'm getting ready for the "i do it" stage!

I do know that Emma continues to grow and learn quickly....i know that this is how it works, but i just want this process to slow down a little bit. I want to remember all of this growing up in great detail so i can tell her what kind of wonderful child she was when she grows up. I know that this growing up is the way that it is suppose to happen and as a Mommy, my job is to help her be independent and learn to take care of herself along with so many other things. I am sometimes overwhelmed with all of the things Robert and i need to teach her: how to have a caring heart, how to respect other's, how to follow her dreams and dare to try new things, how to be a member of a community and a church, how to serve her fellow man, and how to love others. It's quite a list, isn't it?

It's quite a list, indeed.

"All i want...."

I refuse to give up....

 

...on getting the "perfect" photo of Emma for my (opps, i mean OUR) Christmas cards. I've tried.

Short of tying her cuteness to the Christmas tree, well, i'm just about give out.

This photo here is the best out of oh, say, what felt like a freakin' hundred shots. I spent most of the weekend, camera in hand, chasing my little ray of sunshine around. I am usually a good shot in that i can get at least five good shots...but destruct-toddler will not sit still. At all. None. All weekend long. Unless, of course, she was asleep....hey! That may be an idea! I'll sneak a Santa hat on her while she's sleeping....yeah, that's the ticket. NOT.

I actually woke up Robert on Sunday morning with "EMMA! NO! NO!!! DO NOT LICK THE LIGHTS ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE, PLEASE!"

And then i tried the worse thing you could possibly do with a 21 month old: i tried to reason with her.

Yeah, yeah, yeah....what can i say? I'm still a newbie at this gig.

Me: Emma, Mommy wants to get a pretty photo of you for our Christmas cards. Can you please sit still in front of the tree?

Emma: Elmmo? WEEEEEEE....kittttyy? meeeoooowwwww.....KITTTTYYYY!!!!!!!!!

(Emma is now pulling up her dress so i can see her belly.)

Me: Emma, sweetie. (okay, my voice was straining at this point....)

(Emma is now sticking her finger in her nose....)

Emma: dadadada....LEAAFFFFSS!!! woooffff, woooofffff (they are learning animal sounds in preschool, sigh....)

Me: Emma, let's sit in the Pooh chair!! (yes, i was using that fake-patience sounding voice...)

Emma: Soocccks go on feeetttt! Dooorrrrraaaa!!

(Emma has gotten off of the Pooh chair and has run away into the sunroom, lifting her dress up as she runs away...)

Me: EMMA MARIE JOHANNES! COME BACK HERE NOW TO MOMMY!!!!!!!!

Robert: heheheeee....

Me: That's fine, Pooka. (side note: i call Robert "Pooka" and he HATES it. hehee...) I'll just send out this photo of her sticking her finger in her nose to your side of the family.

Robert: I don't think that you're going to get a photo of her sitting still, sweetie.

Me: Oh, yes i will. You'll see.

Famous last words, i'm sure....