Road Trip to CA

We started our long drive at 645a on Friday morning. The girls did great for the 9 hour car ride and we only had to stop twice. Well, 3 times if you count the quick 5 minute stop on the side of the road. When we left, we put a pull up on Emery thinking she would fall asleep in the car and possibly pee while sleeping. We were about 2 hours into the drive and Emery had to pee. So, we told her to just go in her pull up. It took some coercing and she finally did it. Apparently, not a good idea since she peed through the pull up and a little on her jammies. Ivan and I learned something :)

Our last stop was in Baker for some lunch. As always, Paisley acted like she was starving and wanted to eat an entire piece of pizza.

As soon as we got into town, we went to see my family. We had a great time visiting and it was so nice to see everyone. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures. Here is a picture of my Great Grandma Ruth and Paisley .. soo cute!

Great Grandma and the girls (Emery is really in a stage where she hates having her picture taken).
Emery had a lot of fun eating pizza, playing games and eating junk!

Trip to the Zoo...

We went to the zoo on Sunday and had a great time. The weather was perfect and it was nice to get out and enjoy it! Plus, I got to finally try out the double stroller I just bought so I was even more excited.

Look at the baby elephant ... well, it sure isn't small, but it is cute!

The girls in the new stroller .. I LOVE it and can't wait to use it at Disneyland and Sea World
They had dinosaurs all throughout the zoo which was new and exciting. Some of them would spit out water. Unfortunately, Emery is a little too much like me and doesn't like getting her face wet. So, she would jump into the stroller, pull down the shade and hide from every dinosaur we walked by in fear of getting wet ..

Trouble, trouble ...

I've always talked about how good our kids are. I still think they are really good, but Paisley is showing to have a little personality of her own. When Emery was little and starting to crawl/walk, she was good and didn't really get into too much. We totally baby proofed the house, but a lot of the baby proofing would have been just fine if it hadn't been done.

Well, Paisley on the other hand is a completely different story. She will speed crawl towards outlets on the wall if she sees they are not covered. If there is a cord out, she will pull on it just to see what happens. This morning, she tried to pull the fan down on herself. Then, she banged a little snow globe against the door frame and broke it. (I know it probably wasn't the best idea for me to let her play with a little snow globe, but Emery as a baby would have been just fine with it). Then, as I'm trying to figure out where to put Paisley so I can clean up the water and GLASS from the broken snow globe, I couldn't find anywhere to put her where I knew she would stay out of trouble. I had to leave her in her crib! So, just a few pictures to prove my point ..

Paisley absolutely loves pulling all of the movies out of these baskets by our TV

She made this entire mess all by herself .. in less than 10 minutes!
I have these candlesticks on the floor by the TV in my living room. I will never forget the time that my friend Stacey came to visit me when I had just had Emery. She has a little boy 1 year older than Emery. Anyway, she said to me, "you will have to move those candles, they will never last". Well, Emery never touched them. Now, Paisley has been crawling for just a few weeks and one of them is broken already .. so sad!
And, just to show that Emery does have a crazy streak in her .. here is some proof of that. On my day off last week, I was in the computer room while the girls were finishing their breakfast. I left them for less than 5 minutes. When I went in to check on them, this is what I found. Emery got herself up onto the tray on Paisley's high chair. Oh my!!

Then What Happens?

Emery is all about asking questions and talking ALL OF THE TIME these days. Seriously, from the time she wakes up, until the time she goes to bed, she is non-stop talking. She really reminds me of Makayla when she was little. These girls can talk!

Anyway, Emery's big thing is to ask "then what happens?". Tonight, Paisley fell asleep in my arms after drinking her bottle. I was taking advantage of my cuddle time with my girls - Emery was cuddling with me watching Shrek 3. As soon as Emery noticed that Paisley was sleeping, she just could not keep her hands off. First it was kissing Paisley, then touching her hand, then tickling her foot. Our conversation then went a little like this ...

Me - "Emery, please don't touch Paisley, she's sleeping"

Emery - "then what happens?"

Me - "you will wake her up and then she will cry"

Emery - "then what happens?"

Me "then you will go to timeout"

Emery - "ok Mama, I'll leave her alone"

It's amazing what a little threat about timeout will do :)

Emery's 2nd big question is, "Are you happy or mad?" I'm not exactly sure where she got this from, but she asks it several times during the day. If we have to change our tone or facial expressions to get Emery to do something we've asked her to do, her response is always, "are you happy or mad?" I generally don't respond that I'm mad, but I will say that I'm frustrated and then explain why. It is usually because she isn't listening to me. If I say I'm frustrated, she always responds with "Mama, I love you". She already knows how to work us!

Emery's Dance is Over

I started Emery in dance last August. My sole purpose for the class was to get her to be more outgoing and to have interactions with other kids. For the first few weeks of dance, I had to go into the dance room with Emery and she was attached to me the entire time. She didn't participate in the class and was sooo shy. After about 3 weeks, I decided I needed to cut the cord. I had the owner of the dance studio go into class with Emery and I stayed in the waiting area. Emery cried for less than 5 minutes and after that she was fine and started participating each week.

We had a recital in December and Emery did great and enjoyed it. But, I think the season was just too long for her (long for me too). It went from August to June. She was supposed to be in a recital tomorrow, but I pulled her out of the class last week. She was over the classes and absolutely hated her costume. So, instead of trying to force her to wear the costume and then go on stage with it on, I just ended the misery for us both.

Emery knows some dance moves, although she is too shy to really do them for us. But, she is way more outgoing and my goal was achieved after one season of dance. I will not be signing Emery up for dance this upcoming year, but I will keep my eyes out for something I can enroll her in that does not last quite as long.

So, here is Emery's beautiful dance costume. I can't even get her to put it on to get one cute picture of it. Oh, and I paid $60 for the costume that she won't put on. If you are interested in buying it, let me know what your offer is :)

Liberty Park, Dr. Emery and Cantaloupe

Here is my attempt at keeping my blog going ..

Just Paisley being cute while eating. She loves all foods and at times, eats more and quicker than Emery. For a while, I dreaded feeding Emery and I have to say, I'm glad I don't think it will be this way with Paisley.

Paisley fell asleep in her big girl carseat.
My wonderful friend Meghan introduced me to Liberty Park last week. We've already gone twice since then. It has a ton to do and there is a ton of shade. I think we will be spending a lot of time there this summer.
Paisley's first time on a swing and she loved it!
Liberty park has this little "fair" as Emery calls it. Basically, it's a few rides, less than 5, that are old and ghetto. But, they are cheap and Emery likes them, so it works for us. She still gets shy each time we watch her on them though.
Here, I decided to give Paisley her cantaloupe on a plate. I'm not sure what I was thinking since she just dumped it all off right away. This morning, I gave her sausage in a bowl. As soon as she picked it up, she dumped all of the sausage on the floor. Needless to say, Carter got a good breakfast and I will stay away from plates and bowls while feeding Paisley for a while.
Paging Dr. Emery ...
Ivan was eating cantaloupe the other night and Paisley was freaking out wanting some. She finally got what she wanted and she loved it!

Paisley's 8 Month Update

Paisley is already 8 months old. She is the sweetest little girl and I just love seeing how her and Emery interact. Emery has dance every week and Paisley is always with us. All of the other moms comment every single week saying, "she never makes a peep, is she always that good". The simple answer, yes. She is such a good baby, very happy and goes with the flow. Ivan and I have been so blessed with good babies, I couldn't be happier.

Paisley's Accomplishments include:

• scooting backwards
• shaking her head no
• saying "dada"
• burrying her head into my chest - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!
• pulling down her mobile
• pulling hair - she tends to beat up on Emery just a little
• putting food in her mouth - she still loves her Cheerios
• rolling in a 360 degree circle in her crib
• rolling over, finally!
• so close to crawling the day she turned 8 months (she is now 8 months 1 week and still not crawling. I am 100% OK with it, I like being able to leave her alone for 5 minutes on a safe spot on the floor and knowing she will be there when I get back)

What we've been up to ...

Emery is all about playing with my make up these days. I have make up that I never use (eyeshadow, lipstick - who has time for that?) that I will let Emery play with. The other day, she came out of my bathroom with her make up on - I think she resembles a raccoon just a little

Here she is getting ready to play outside. She picked the outfit .. boots and all
We went up to our friends' house Sam and Meghan a couple of weeks ago. This is their adorable little girl Gracie ... soooo cute!
For Mother's Day we took my Mom bowling. Everyone had a blast, especially Emery.
Paisley is always entertained with keys, a phone or FOOD
After bowling, we played video games and Emery earned a bunch of tickets. She's been all about pirates lately, so she picked a pirate set that included a hook and patch. Emery wouldn't go near the patch, but Paisley seemed to enjoy itPaisely's first try at Cheerios. She loves them! She hasn't quite mastered how to get them into her mouth on her own, but Emery is always around to help her
We had a BBQ with the Dymock's last weekend. Here is Paisley with August. He is exactly 1 month older than Paisley. Aren't they sooo cute?

It doesn't get any better than seeing a sleeping baby ... Paisley isn't a huge fan of the binky, instead, she sucks on her index and middle finger on her left hand every night ..

I was playing with Emery today .. tickling her and such. She had these goggles on from her tool set and quickly said to me, "Mama, it's not time to mess around, you have to be serious". Really, who can be serious when you are looking at Emery with those silly goggles on ...

Paisley's 5, 6 and 7 Month Updates

I know I always say I'm amazed at how quickly time is passing me by, but really, I just can't get a handle on it. I feel like Paisley is growing up so quickly and I'm really not ready for it. I will do my best to remember 3 months worth of accomplishments all at once.

5 Month Update

Accomplishments: Sitting up unassisted, pulling binky out of mouth and loving baby food

6 Month Update

Height: 26 3/4 inches - 75th percentile

Weight: 17.6 lbs - 80th percentile

Sleeping: To bed between 8-10p - sleeping a solid 10-12 hours every single night. I really can't remember the last time I have had to go into Paisley's room after putting her down for the night. Ivan and I are so blessed with kids who like to sleep. She usually takes 2 naps throughout the day, but to be honest, they are all over the place. With me working a different shift every day of the week, it's nearly impossible for her to be on a normal schedule.

Temperament: Still very easy going. She loves to watch Emery and she LOVES to eat! Her sign of approval for the food you give her is that she will start to grunt over and over and over.

Accomplishments: Rolled over from belly to back on March 16th. Rolled from back to belly on March 17th. Hasn't rolled either way since :) I asked Dr. Ring about Paisley not rolling over and she said it's a motivation issue and not ability issue since she has rolled both ways before. Paisley would much rather prefer sitting up being involved in things than laying down on her belly or her back.

7 Month Update (really, already?)

Weight: it would require me to remember to get Paisley's weight when she is awake, and it never happens!

Sleeping: same as above

Temperament: We are starting to see a little attitude from little miss Paisley. She knows what she wants and is patient for a while with getting it. But, if you don't eventually give her what she wants, or if Emery takes something from her, oh you hear about it. Paisley is also obsessed with cell phones and remote controls. She has a way of finding the remote every time she is on the couch. Paisley loves all food - baby food, table food, you name it, she loves it. I'm not aware of one single food that she's been given that she doesn't like. Right now, her favorites are lentils and rice and salmon.

Disappearing Manners...

Is it possible that a 3 yr old can completely forget her manners? If it is at all possible, that must be what has happened to Emery. I swear, when she was 2, she had the best manners. I remember commenting to Ivan on a regular basis how well Emery did with please and thank you's. Every single request was started with please and ended with thank you.

Fast forward 1.5 years - it is a whole different story. Emery has absolutely no manners and is VERY bossy! When she wants something, not only does she not say please, she is demanding with everything that she wants. It goes a little like this:

"Mama, get me milk!"

"Mama, you clean up the mess!"

"Papa, carry me to the bathroom"

"Papa, feed me now"

Do you get what I mean? I don't know what happened to this little girls' manners, but I need to get them back, like, yesterday. She is driving me crazy and I'm not used to being bossed around this much. When I tell people at work about this, they respond with, "I wonder where she learned to be bossy?" But, in my defense, if I boss you around, I at least have manners and say please and thank you.

Oh, to make matter worse, the other day in the car, she says to me, "Mama, you are being bossy". Talk about ATTITUDE!

If any of my blogger friends have tips on how to restore manners, please leave comments ...

What does Adopted Mean?

Last week while Ivan was giving Emery a bath, she asked him the question, "what does adopted mean?" Now, I have no idea where Emery heard the word adopted, but it just shows how much she is growing up. Anyway, Ivan tried to explain what the word adopted meant to Emery. He gave the example of adopting pets and then started to talk about giving our dog, Carter, up for adoption.

Emery then came out of the bathroom and said to me, "Mama, we can't give Carter up for adoption" and put her arm around Carter and started to give him loves. I asked about giving Carter to Auntie Silv and Uncle D and Emery hung onto Carter even tighter and then started to cry.

So, moral of the story - I guess we are keeping Carter for as long as he lives as I'm not willing to break my 3 year olds heart over giving the dog up for adoption :)

Easter Festivities

We had Easter at our house this year and we had a great time. All of the family came over - we dyed eggs, BBQ'd and had several Easter egg hunts. As usual, Emery had a great time and got spoiled. (of course the pictures loaded the wrong order! I'm lucky to be posting on the blog, so I'm not going to spend the energy fixing the order of the pictures. We'll see if my OCD kicks in later to fix it)

Here are all of the eggs that we dyed. Now, keep in mind, this is from egg dying #2. We still have the eggs almost a week later. We are still hiding and finding the eggs daily. Emery even takes eggs to Grandma Lola's several times a week and I let her. If we have to suffer with the damn eggs, so does Grandma Lola.

Emery got a little bike for her birthday last year but she was too small to really enjoy it. We brought the bike out over the weekend and Emery loves it! She even knows how to pedal and bike around the back yard.
Getting ready to go out back to find the eggs - she was so excited!
She found all of the eggs!Then Ivan thought it was a good idea to hit the eggs like they were baseballs. Luckily, he just used the eggs filled with confetti.
Here is Emery's Easter basket from Grandma Phyllis. She got spoiled and Emery loved it. Thanks Grandma Phyllis for always thinking of the girls and spoiling them at holidays!
My Aunt Wanda was in town and we got to spend the day with her as well..
Emery and Grandma Lola dying eggs
Paisley, Grandma Lola and Auntie Silv
Cute little Paisley ..
This is the first year in several years that we did not go to California for Easter. I missed seeing all of my family and celebrating Easter with my extended family, but we still had a great time.