Mother's Day Top Ten

Top 10 reasons why I love being a mom:

10. There is a special holiday to celebrate me.
9. People stop me where ever I go to "ooo" and "aw" over my especially adorable child.
8. Making new mommy friends and learning from them and their babies.
7. If I am late, I can always blame it on the baby.
6. I get to play with cool toys and have a reason to go to places like the zoo.
5. Never a dull moment.
4. Understanding my parents like I never understood them before.
3. Watching my husband cuddle, entertain, clean, feed, love, adore, and play with our child.
2. Life has a new wonderful meaning and purpose.
1. Emmeline.

Happy Mother's Day!

Little mommy Emmeline

I took this video yesterday when we were in Pottery Barn Kids. Emmeline had a lot of fun pushing around this baby stroller. I can't believe how fast she goes!

Break on through to the toddler side...

So it has happened.  Emmeline is walking.  At ten-and-a-half months. Offda.

For the past couple weeks she has been taking an unassisted step or two here and there but tonight, I think, was a turning point.  Paul and I were urging her to walk in between us as we were seated on the floor.  She got up to about seven/eight steps on her own and she did it several times.  It was close to bedtime so it was hard to get her settled down after that.  She was pretty proud of her newfound skill!

For the next few days we will probably be safe from any daring escapes.  She still seems to prefers to crawl, as it is much faster from point A to point B than her wobbly toddling.  But we will probably not be safe for long.  I have heard that in many ways pregnancy lasts for nine months after your baby is born.  The baby still want to be held, cuddled and fed constantly.  I think we are officially past that stage.  Emmeline still likes to be held, but this is usually when she is tired, wants to nurse or is unfamiliar with her surroundings.  Yesterday at our Birth Center group there were more babies and toys than usual.  Emmeline was squirming to get out of my arms from the second we walked in the door.  When I put her down, she crawled right into the midst of it all and didn't look back (sniff).  Today when we were walking at the mall I had a hard time keeping her in the stroller or in my arms.  She didn't mind being put on my back in the carrier, though.  I am glad for that.  I will wear her as long as she allows it!

Emmeline and her friend Haley playing in

Bellevue Park last Friday

Whazup homey?

Practicing walking behind the

push-car

"I can do it, daddy! Let go!"

Taking a ride on daddy's shoulders...

Having fun in Pottery Barn Kids

today at the mall

"I'll make dinner tonight, mommy!"

Ergo Baby Carrier Contest

Click here for a chance to win a free Ergo Baby Carrier.

Photography faux pas

As all parents and grandparents are well aware, the professional portraits taken during a child's first year are very important.  Portraits are traditionally taken every three months, as babies change so much during their first year.  We have stuck to this generic schedule but up until recently have been extremely exasperated.

When Emmeline was three months old my mom and I took her to the Grand Forks JC Pennies to get her portraits done by a so-called "professional" photographer.  We were sorely disappointed.  We had fun and Emmeline was as cute as ever but the customer service was crap. Absolute crap.  Did you know that if you order portraits the moment after you leave the studio they count as "reorders"?  And they cost about three times more?  We were not explained this. For Emmeline's six-month portraits, Paul and I took her to a Sears here in Delaware (we are on a budget here people!).  During the session the seventeen-year-old photographer (very inappropriately attired, thong included) asked us if Emmeline was our biological child because she looked "chinky."  She even made a slanty motion over her eyes to emphasize her question.  Ah...what?!

These experiences (and the subsequent prices) have soured us to conventional "professional" photography.  Thankfully we have a wonderful friend, Kerry, who is a photographer.  Not one of these chain department store photographers...no, no.  She is a real photographer.  An artist.

One lovely day in April she very graciously agreed to take Emmeline's nine-month portraits. We went into Brandywine Park and she snapped away.  I have not seen all of the pictures yet but her very nice boy, Dave, snuck me a few via email.  I hope you love them as much as we do. Thank you Kerry!  These pictures will be truly cherished.

My favorite of the bunch so far.

He he!

Things that make you go "hmmmmm?"

She tried to eat these...

No words necessary

Isn't this the most adorable picture ever?  One of my friends just sent it via email along with some other pictures of the picnic that we attended on Sunday.  My friend Carla was trying to get her daughter Marysol to show everyone that she was "So big!" but she was a bit camera shy. Emmeline heard Carla's "So big!" prompts and decided to take over the spotlight... everyone agrees that she is such a ham.  I will add more pictures later once I get them downloaded onto my computer but I needed to share this picture with you all immediately.  It makes me smile.

What a Downer...

Today was one bummer after another.  I don't mean to complain, but why hide?  To begin, Emmeline woke up three times last night and was up and at 'em at 8am.  She did not want to eat her breakfast porridge (which is very out of the ordinary) and fussed until she finally went down for a nap (after several tries).  After all that work our alpha cat, Rudolph, pushed open her nursery door and woke her up with his 10 decibel "MEOW!".  Due to all the fussy hullabaloo, I was behind schedule and missed our appointment to get her new big-girl car seat fitted.  I had to reschedule for the third time!  Later in the afternoon we had a nice time at at our Birth Center group, but I spent the entire time chasing Emmeline around the room and trying to keep her from running over the other babies and away from exposed outlets.  She can be a bit of a bully but more of this has to do with her size, I think, than anything else.  She really is such a sweet baby but simply does not know her own strength!  When we got home from our play group, she went down for a nap right away.  This earlier-than-usual nap was great because it allowed me to watch most of Oprah's episode on the new Sex and the City movie coming out the day before my birthday!  I thought this early nap would make her go to bed early tonight but I was very wrong.  We missed Survivor because we were trying to put her down early (at about 8).  This did not work so she played and fussed for about another hour and a half.  She is finally down but I am wiped out completely.  The house is a mess: cruddy high-chair, Cheerios everywhere, cat hair everywhere, dirty dishes (though I just did them last night and this morning), etc., etc., etc.  What a day.  I hope tomorrow is a better, brighter day.