I Miss Her

I think one of the most rewarding parts of parenthood is watching your children grow, learn, and mature.  Especially if this happens more or less as you would like it to.  The overwhelming pride you feel at times, and let's face it, we totally feel justified in this.  I mean, isn't your child just the best?  You know you think so.  I do.  Even though I am honest about her imperfections (right, like she has any! -J) and the natural kid things that happen (I did them too, although I'm sure my parents will agree that I was adorable while doing them... or not), at the end of the day I think she's perfect!  Or perhaps Mary Poppins said it a little more accurately: practically perfect.

So what is there to possibly complain about, really?  Well, this super rewarding part of parenthood?  It also happens to be one of the worst parts of parenthood.  At least for me. It's a weird paradox, but a true one.  Every moment she grows takes her further and further away from that precious baby and little girl she once was.  I still think she's precious, of course, but in a different way.  I hope you know what I mean.  I'm guessing you do.  There are times I wish I could go back and relive everything with her again up to this point.  And not because I want to do things differently, and not because I don't like how things are now, but just because.  I want to keep that little child version of her in my pocket at all times, and not lose it.

What brought all this on you ask?  Well, aren't you nosey!  J.  I was searching for a particular picture amongst our photo files when I stumbled upon a little video of Emma from a trip to southern California that took place exactly 4 years ago this week.  I watched it half a dozen times, either smiling or almost crying every time.  That makes me sound extremely emotionally unbalanced doesn't it?!  I thought I'd share it with you along with a couple pictures from the same trip.  For those who knew her then, please come reminisce with me.  If you didn't know her then, then here's your chance to meet my little girl from back in the day.  I can't believe how much she's grown and changed since then...

I love her squinty face in this picture due to the bright sun!

  By the way, in case you can't tell from Emma or my terrible introduction, she is singing I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home.

Toothless

Yup.  Toothless.  That's our new nickname for Emma.  Yesterday she lost another tooth, which has now left her with a rather big gap.  She loves that she can drink through a straw while clenching her teeth - thinks it's kind of like a magic trick.  So here are her before, middle, and after photos for losing her top front teeth.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just a fun holiday.  I love seeing how much fun Emma has on days like this.  This morning when she was getting dressed she chose her shirt because it was pink and has a crystal heart on the front, and she chose her jeans because they have a heart on the back pocket.

I went in to help with her class party.  The kids were having so much fun!  So many cute activities for them to do.  They had several different stations with different activities and prizes at each one.  One of the moms told me that at the cookie decorating table, when Emma was there, she said to another girl, "When I was little I had problems with sprinkles too, but I've practiced a lot."  Um, I don't know what she's talking about, because she's a maniac with sprinkles just like every other kid I've ever seen!  Too funny.  I tried putting a heart in Emma's hair based on a picture I saw.  I think it turned out fairly cute.  I need to work on it a little though.

Her valentine's were really fun to make.  She thought I was being really weird when I was taking her picture for it, because she was just holding her hand out.  But when she finally saw the finished product and understood what I had been doing, she loved them.  I saw the idea for them a couple years ago and have been meaning to do them ever since.

I was going to make a fancier sign for her to hold, but our printer decided to be out of ink.  I didn't feel like doing anything more elaborate than this at that point.

When Eric got home Emma promptly gave him a card she'd made for him a week ago.  She has been anxiously awaiting today.  She is so sweet with what she writes to him too.  Then we gave her some valentine presents.  She got some balloons, some flowers from Eric, some candy of course (even though with how much she got at school she definitely doesn't need more!), a new puzzle, and a Lego Heroica game.  She was very excited about all of it, but especially the Lego game because she has the other 3 and can now play all of them together in one huge game.  She had already been spoiled this past week with packages from both sets of Grandparents with some fun activity books and a couple darling new dresses.

I dont' know why the forehead is such a perfect spot for stickers, but apparently it is!

For dinner we had some delicious cheese fondue.  Eric and I love having fondue on Valentine's Day.  We don't do it every year, but we have done it several times, starting with our very first Valentine's Day 9 years ago when Eric made some for me as a surprise.  Love it.  For dessert we had some yummy marble cheesecake with chocolate ganache that I made this morning.

As you can see by Eric's apparel, this was most certainly not a fancy dinner.

On a day like this it's the little things that make the difference I think.  Just a break from the usual routine, even something small, is enough to make it such a fun day that stands out from the rest.

Punxsutawney

On Saturday we took a little trip that's been on our list since last year.  We drove an hour to the cute little town of Woodstock, Illinois.  This is where the film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray was filmed.  We wanted to go last year, but then a huge blizzard came.  We wanted to go last Saturday, but then Eric had to work.  But we finally were able to make it happen this last Saturday.

It's a really cute town too.  It doesn't take long to see practically all the sites from the movie because they're all within a few blocks of each other, and most of them are right around the main downtown square.  My only complaint was that it was FREEZING!  I don't remember the last time I was so cold.  The wind was blowing and made it feel even worse.  We weren't able to stay outside for very long.  But we grabbed a few pictures and then had some yummy hot chocolate in a cute little cafe.  It made for a fun Saturday excursion!

Cherry Street B&B

The Hotel (actually an opera house)

Where Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell danced

Movie Theatre

Emma next to the plaque outside the cafe location (it's not an operating cafe anymore).

Where Bill Murray repeatedly stepped into the slushy pothole.

Eric and Emma about to step where the pothole was (they've extended the sidewalk since the movie was made)

Eric doing his best Ned Reyerson impression.  

The actual Ned Reyerson, having just removed his hat.
He's actually holding it like Eric is, but you can't see it.

Shedd Aquarium

On Wednesday Emma had a great day.  At school they were celebrating their 100th day this year by doing several different activities.  Emma had two favorites though.  Everyone brought some kind of snack or treat to share and each kid had to count to make sure they had 100 pieces of food.  Sounds like a lot.  They must have thought they'd bee eating all day!  The first graders also made a human chain 100 people long around the halls of the school by laying down in a big long line.  I walked into the school in time to see this.  I didn't know they were doing it, and was just there to pick up Emma a little early.  I walked in and saw all the kids in Emma's grade laying down on the floor, including Emma.  It was a weird sight to see, but all the kids had huge grins on their faces, so I guess they enjoyed it.

Her class also had a party today.  The kids had decided on a luau party.  They were all supposed to wear hawaiian shirts (or as close to it as they could).  Emma wore her hawaiian shirt (it's actually a dress my sister got for her years ago in Hawaii that now fits her great as a shirt), but wasn't done there.  No.  She took her lei and her grass skirt too.  I decided not to let her take her coconut bra.  Thought it would be bit much.  I love how into it she got though.  It reminded me of spirit days at school when I was younger.  I always wanted to dress up and thought it would be fun, and didn't know why some kids thought it was dumb.  School was so monotonous I liked anything that made it seem different and unusual.

We hadn't told Emma what else we had planned for the day.  Eric's work is a sponsor for many of the museums in Chicago, and he can get various discounts at them sometimes.  All this month he can get up to four people into Shedd Aquarium for free.  That's major savings for those of you unfamiliar with their prices.  Not including gas and tolls, a trip the the aquarium for my little family would normally cost over $100 dollars.  So to be able to go and only have to pay parking?  Sign me up!  With how busy the rest of this month is going to be for us, we decided Emma's half day would be the perfect time to go.  So Eric took the day off.

When we told Emma we were headed to Chicago for the rest of the day her eyes lit up.  She knew we were in for an adventure of some kind.   She loves seeing the skyscrapers in Chicago.  What she didn't like seeing was Soldier Field where the Bears play.  It's practically right next door to the museum.  We of course pointed it out to her just to elicit a reaction, and she played right along.  The funniest thing she did was to hold her breath as we passed.  I guess she didn't even want to breathe the same air as them.  The Packers should pay her for amazing loyalty to them!

All throughout the aquarium she kept oohing and ahhing and grabbing our hands to drag us places to show us things while saying "oh my gosh oh my gosh."  She had so much fun!  She said her favorite part was the dolphin and whale show, but she also loved the jellyfish.  In fact, all she wanted from the gift shop was a purple stuffed jellyfish.  It was hard getting pictures of some of the fish (which you will see below) because you couldn't use a flash of course, and with all the glass there was a lot of reflection going on.  But I got enough to remember the trip by.  At the end of the day Emma told us it was the best day ever.  That's just music to a mother's ears!

Just outside the Aquarium. 

This eels eye was very creepy

Emma decided these were the smartest fish because their heads were so big - big brains.

I thought this crab was kind of creepy too.  Of course, I think all crabs and lobsters are rather creepy.

Loved the Jellies!

Emma enjoyed touching the star fish.

I found my twin in the gift shop.  What do you think?  I thought this fish was so funny - most of the stuffed animals for sale had smiles, but not this one for some reason.  I liked this one the best anyway.

Emma trying to be a penguin.

Climbing on some "river rocks".  And I realize that her arm looks like it's growing out of the middle of her back, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

Investigating the submarine.  It makes me laugh at how little thought she put into including Eric in this picture.

She's all ready to go out on the lake.