Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

What better way to celebrate than with some green eggs and ham for breakfast?

By the way, the crown has nothing to do with Dr. Suess.  Emma was just wearing it around this morning.

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.