Emerson and The Parrot

Monday we had snow day although we didn't actually have snow. The schools here closed in anticipation of a snow event and therefore the kid's daycare was closed, absurd I know! That meant that I had to find some place for the kids to stay yesterday since I didn't get the day off. Oma and PaPa graciously offered to let the kids stay there in the morning and Aunt Judy (renowned animal rescuer!) came to visit with her new friend. Emerson has consistently said for several months that she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up although the child is more of an animal observer than an animal lover. So you can imagine my surprise when I see this picture! At first glance you may be thinking that she looks just like a future veterinarian but if you really look at it I think you will see that look in her eyes that is shouting "I am brave. . .I can do this. . .this bird is creeping me out. . .oh goodness, don't move bird. . .wonder how long I'm going to have to smile for this picture. . .I hope this is almost over. . .what was I thinking when I said I wanted the bird to sit on my shoulder?" thought process that was truly going on behind the toothy smile! However, I'm pleased to say that according to Oma Emerson really was brave and admired herself in the mirror, let Oma take a picture and at that point she was, as Oma put it still "unbitten innocent". Can guess what happened next? Yep, the bird thought Emerson's fingers looked like a good snack and OUCH! that was the end of the bird interaction! Looks like Emerson's going to have to look for a different future profession.

Alive

Yes, I am still alive. I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts but sometimes inspiration is hard to come by. However having 2 adorable children means inspiration is only an tiny hug away. I think that I will start to try to blog again although I'm not sure what the content will be yet. I'm sure that most of it will continue to be silly stories about life with 2 young children though. And I promise to get some new pictures up soon. Sorry for keeping everyone out of the loop for so long.

Okay so on to updates on the kiddies. I enrolled Emerson in Pre-K starting in August. This was really hard for me and really exciting for her. I know most people say that letting go of the last child is the hardest but with Emerson being dubbed the NICU baby she is the hard one for me to let go of. Emerson continues to be my "girly" girl wanting to wear high heels, jewelry, dresses and most importantly lipstick! She loves her teacher at daycare (what a blessing!) and loves all things school related. She has continued to come out of her shell and plays with several children now and even has a boyfriend, yikes!!! She is my typical 1st child enjoying structure and routine and I love her for it. I love her sheer determination and stubborn streak although it makes parenting difficult at times. One of my most favorite things about her is that she really does love all things girly and isn't afraid of what anyone else says. She is confident in her cuteness and will not hesitate to agree if complimented. I love being a mommy to a frilly little princess much more than I ever could have imagined. Cullen is Emerson's complete opposite as a boy in every sense of the word. He loves to be rough, pretend to be a monster, jump from high places and do anything remotely dangerous. He also is my quirky child carrying around and sleeping with a silver slotted serving spoon as long as his arm which morphs into anything his mind creates. . .sword, gun, baseball bat, golf club, etc. He also loves money and was recently carrying around his "pigga" bank as he calls it until it had a tragic accident and broke spilling it's pork bellies all over the floor of Olive Garden. Now his "monies" are contained in a plastic 1 cup measuring cup which he tells goodnight each night and wakes in the morning to immediately retrieve even before he snuggles in the bed with me. I love that he has such a fun personality. He is the jokester of the family always making us laugh with his extreme silliness. I love that he is such a "boy" he cracks me up with his constant activity but wears me out too! But my favorite thing about Cullen is his kind heart. Although he can be quite a difficult, very strong willed child he is my most sensitive child. He is genuinely concerned if someone is hurt or upset and he loves to show his love with words and hugs. He is unashamedly honest with all of his emotions and will immediately tell you if he is upset but in the regard he is just as expressive when he is happy. He truly is a mama's boy!

Now that we're all updated I'll make sure to post a silly story soon!

Hope she doesn't repeat that!

For some reason Tripp and I allowed the kids to stay up and watch the new show "Wipeout" on ABC last night. If you know us well then you know that Tripp and I hardly ever watch TV in the evenings and never let our children watch. This is mainly because Tripp has lots of studying from school, I don't really like shows I have to keep up with every week and the language and subject content are just a little too risque for our tastes. If the TV is ever on in the evenings while the kids are awake we try to keep the volume low so no one learns one of those words. Last night we didn't think we had to worry, wrong! Here's what happened:

Girl on TV on game show as she jumps over obstacle: "I'm kicking my own ass."
Emerson, who ironically hasn't repeated anything from the show up until this point: "I'm kicking my own add."
Me: wide-eyed look at Daddy hoping he can come up with something clever to say
Daddy: wide-eyed look with hand covering mouth as he tries not to belly laugh.
Me: eyes widen more and look of "oh my gosh, why did we let her watch this?! look"
Daddy to Emerson: "Yea, add (emphasis on the D) like add and subtract." laughs to make Emerson think that add is indeed a funny word
Emerson: "Yea, add." then giggles to indicate she sort of thinks it's funny but isn't sure why?!

Whew, one crisis diverted only a bazillion more to go!!! :)