The Downhill Slide Quickens (POSTED OVER A YEAR LATE. SORRY PEOPLE)

People, we are at T Minus 3 days. And counting. We, or rather, should I say, I have so much to do in this short time and yet so much has already happened.
Let me back up....oh how far to go??
For sanity's sake (both yours and mine), let me give you the Cliff's Notes version.
Last weekend, our beloved black lab Kylie Anne Manylie began to seriously decline in health. And I mean rapidly. What started off on a Friday afternoon as an "accident" that Jeff found in the dining room escalated to Kylie being relegated to sleeping outside Sunday night (I cannot believe I am admitting that I let, OK, forced, my precious four legged baby girl sleep outside, but there it is. The ugly truth for all of cyber world to read.) I wasn't sure she'd make it through the night as she stopped eating and drinking and wans't interested in moving. But she made it. By lunchtime Monday, after many many tears and many more "It's OK girl, you can go and rest now, we'll miss you but we'll be alright", Jeff said, "I think it's time for you to call your dad.
As ready as you think you are and as mentally prepared as you think you have made yourself, you're not. Not really anyway. As soon as that red pickup truck pulled into my driveway, I was hit with sheer panic and couldn't deal with the fact that this was it. It was really time. Jeff and my dad carried her, in the rain, to the bed of the truck and Dad drove her to the vet while Jeff sat in the bed of the truck with her, holding an umbrella over her head, and Emma and I followed in our truck. Good byes are never enough and as hard as it was for me to bid a sad farewell to my sweet girl and try to thank her for the last almost 13 years of her friendship, do not think for a moment that my sweet husband had an easier time. He knew her for less than half of the time I did, but that man loved him some Kylie-Mo. After our first date (when I was worried about letting him into my apartment - I mean what if he was a serial killer??) he came in and proceeded to lay on my floor and love on Kylie. First date. They hit it off from that first moment and she became his newest furry black love. With bad gas. Our sweet Emma asks about "puppy" but seems to be doing better than we expected.
We will be glad for this new baby to arrive and I am thankful that we were able to deal with Kylie's death before the baby arrives (oh goodness what if this had happened while I was in the hospital??() and have this exciting event to look forward to.

The Countdown Begins....

In the midst of my quest for the mother of all monitors, I neglected to post the following post. Please excuse the lateness as there really was a significance with the date originally intended for publication. (Publication. Does this mean I can call my high school English teacher – Hello Mrs. Grimes! – and tell her I finally got published??)

October 6th, 2009
Today my sweet daughter is 15 months old. I swore I was not going to be one of those mothers who insisted on keeping track of my children’s ages in months. “Oh look at my little Emma, up there graduating from High School. It’s so hard to believe she’s 215 months old!” - I bet you think I miscalculated, huh? Well, smarties, Emma will follow in her mamma’s footsteps (and her daddy’s for that matter!) and graduate at the ripe old age of seventeen. Assuming she will graduate in the month of June, that would make her 215 months old. BAM! I may not have been able to “prove” those darn honors Geometry problems, but I’d say I just did a bang up job on this one, huh? OK, back to how I was not going to be one of “those” moms. So apparently, I am. Sue me. I promise to stop when she turns two. And I won’t call her “the baby” for the rest of her life either. In the event I practice either of those two crimes, you have my permission to call me out on it and ridicule me accordingly. But back to my 15 month old. (I’m having a bit of trouble staying focused today…)
At 15 months, she has a new sentence, “Mamma, Daddy, Puppy”. It’s nice to know that her parents are finally important enough to be included in a sentence with the precious word, “Puppy”.
At 15 months, she is cutting yet another tooth. The bottom right incisor is making its way through her soft pink gum as we speak.
At 15 months, nail polish bottles are still so much fun for her to take out of my drawer in the bathroom and deposit all over the house.
At 15 months, she is getting some fun curls in her hair.
At 15 months, she says “baby” and points to my stomach.
Today also marks the official count down until Alex’s arrival. Exactly a month from today, at 8:00 am, he will be making his presence known.
I’m sure this will be a completely different experience and we are hoping a much more pleasant one, for me anyway! Little Alex is constantly moving and pushing against me and while I do enjoy this part, I’m also ready to watch him move and wiggle outside of my body.
So today we celebrate a new age for Miss Emma as well as moving into the final month before Alex arrives. Exciting times in the Parnell household, very exciting times.

My Apologies to my Sweet Canadian Friends...and SWEET VICTORY!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks to all who have been so concerned for me these last few days as I agonized over the Holy Grail of all monitors, the GRACO DIGITAL iMONITOR DUAL FOR TWO ROOMS. Thank you Tracey for offering your mother's sweet Canadian services, thank you Susan for suggesting our Maine peeps head over the border, and thank you Michelle, A. for bringing this much needed necessity to my attention, and B. for wishing me luck in my endeavors. Yesterday, I placed a few bids on eBay and found out this morning that I had lost. Probably just as well, I was bidding in Canadian dollars. They said they would ship to North and South America but I was a little concerned about converting from US Dollars to Canadian. Do I do that or would Paypal do that for me? Moot point, as I lost.

HOWEVER, I did another search and found My Precious as a buy it now item for less than I had bid yesterday! I clicked that buy it now button so fast...and received the following email from eBay:

You won this item on eBay: GRACO MONITOR 2794DIG iMONITOR DUAL- 2 rooms! LNIB!


So shipping is $22.00 (American) but all told, it's less than the other ones I've seen sell and much less than buying it in the store! So my new bff Genevieve Lacroix will be packaging up my newest toy and sending it with love from Toronto.

Sigh. I'd say a day's job well done. And it's only 9:04am. Thank you Canada for continuing to carry this product (is that better Tracey?) and thank you eBay. Michelle, you no longer have to guard your monitor with your life. I can guarantee that I will certainly NOT be skulking in your bushes waiting to ambush you and steal your precious monitor away. :-)

Canadian Frustration

Before I start getting bashed by my Canadian friends, I suppose I should have titled this “Graco” Frustrations. Let me backtrack. We’re getting down to crunch time people. November 6th, at 8:00 am, sweet Alexander Scott Parnell will make his arrival into this world. I have a small window of opportunity to “get ready” and I am failing miserably. Well, we’re getting there, but I am just remembering that with Emma, we were so ready weeks, months, even ahead of her arrival. And then she had the gall to arrive late. And not even fashionably late. Grr. OK, another story, another time.
So we’ve got most of the room ready – I mean I can certainly keep reorganizing (and don’t think I won’t!) but as far as the big things go, we just have the bedding and a changing table to acquire. OH! And a dual monitor. Hence this post. Please know that at this moment I have steam streaming from my ears. Truthfully, that is not good for my new haircut – surely my hair will flatten with such copious amounts of steam so close to those newly golden strands, but I am at the end of my rope.
Several months ago (I’m not even sure I was pregnant) we had dinner with some friends and Emma needed to go down to sleep and I put her in my friend’s son’s crib. And after my sweet friend tucked Emma in, she turned over what I have now begun to fondly (not really) refer to as the Golden Ticket. You see, her youngest two children are close in age. So close, in fact, that she needed a monitor that would allow her to continue to be able to hear her baby girl as well as the new baby boy that graced their family shortly thereafter. So as I am enjoying the company of our friends, I am listening to Emma sleep via this super cool monitor. Apparently it lights up and tells you which child you are monitoring, and it even lets you determine how long to listen to each child! Fast forward to Heather and Jeff finding out that they are pregnant again, and my first thought is “I’ve GOT to buy that monitor that Michelle has!” Oh what an easy task I thought that was.
So Jeff and I have casually looked and browsed for the last several months…I really wasn’t in that big of a hurry, I knew it lit up and had dual transmitters, I just figured that perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough. My mother in law joins the search. In fact, she calls one night to tell us she has FOUND IT! I truthfully was a little skeptical as we had searched high and low with no results and she had bought this one at Babies R Us. But nevertheless, I started to get excited. This was it! She was on the phone with us as she was talking to the store clerk and they were insisting that it was a dual monitor, blah blah blah. So she brings it to me the next day (and I cannot hardly contain my excitement – I might even have been doing the fist pump thing into the air on my way to work) aaaaaaaand it’s not what we were looking for. It’s got two receivers, but only one transmitter. Babies R Us clerks are so stupid. I HEARD her tell them what she wanted and they forgot to wash their ears that day because they didn’t hear what she was saying. No, we don’t need to have two parent units. I NEED TO HAVE A TRANSMITTER IN EACH BABY’S ROOM. I HAVE TWO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF TWO WHO I NEED TO LISTEN FOR AT NIGHT! So a very disappointed Heather went into work and a very disappointed Mom in Law took it back to the store. The quest continued. Finally last week I emailed my friend to ask what it was called. She sent me an email detailing the Holy Grail of all monitors and I go on an internet searching frenzy. Amazon, nope. Babies R Us, nope. (duh) Target, yes. I click madly on the link only to find out, “Oh, so sorry! This item is not in stock”. Wal-Mart – yes. [insert Pac Man dying music here] See above. NOT IN STOCK. Seriously? And the list goes on and on. Finally, I email Graco themselves. Within about an hour, I have a response:
“We regret to inform you that the product you are inquiring about has been discontinued”
Oh this is bad. This is very bad. There is NO other product on the market that will do what I need said monitor to do! How is this possible? You can buy a stinking WIPE WARMER and a robe for a baby (really? You’re going to try to put a 6 month old in a robe?) but I’m the only parent out there who has babies close in age and would like to monitor each of them??
OK, let me clarify one thing. Everything I read says that if I purchase an additional individual monitor, it will interfere with the one we already have.
We all know how the internet does not lie, right? Well I found the monitor. On the Babies R Us website. I hurriedly add it to my cart and then start to check out. I type in my address, I click “Continue to Payment” and it’s then that I get it. Remember that Pac Man music? Play it again. For the Babies R Us website is the CANADIAN version. And they will NOT ship, how did they word it?
We're Sorry. Due to shipping restrictions, the following item(s) cannot be shipped to the shipping address you have selected.Graco iMonitor Duo Multi-Child Digital Baby Monitor


To continue checkout, please remove the restricted item(s) from your order or enter a different shipping address. Click here to return to your Shopping Cart.
Restricted? Really Babies R Us? You are restricting the sale of a baby monitor across the border? I’m not trying to smuggle drugs across the border. I cannot imagine why they will not ship it to me! They directed me to the US Babies R Us website, and, sadly, we know THEY don’t carry it. I have sent an email to Babies R Us Canada and just received the following response:
Dear Valued Guest,
Thank you for contacting RUs.ca Guest Service
Your email has been received and you can expect a response within the next 48 hours. Your feedback is important to us and we are dedicated to assisting you in any way possible. If you should require immediate assistance, please contact our Online Guest Service Specialists at 1-800-ToysRUs (1-800-869-7787). They would be more than happy to help and are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week!
Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business.
Sincerely,
Guest Service Team
www.ToysRUs.ca / www.BabiesRUs.ca
1-800 - ToysRUs (1-800 -869-7787) Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!!
-------------------------------------
Chere cliente, Cher client,
Nous vous remercions d'avoir contacte le service a la clientele RUs.ca.
Nous avons recu votre courriel et vous devriez recevoir une reponse dans les 48 heures. Votre retroaction nous importe et nous nous engageons a vous aider de toute facon possible. Si vous avez besoin d'aide immediatement, veuillez contacter nos representants du service a la clientele en ligne au 1-800 - ToysRUs (1-800-869-7787). Ils se feront un plaisir de vous aider et sont a votre disposition 24 heures par jour et 7 jours par semaine!
Merci de nous avoir contacte. Nous sommes heureux de vous servir.
Cordialement,
Equipe de service a la clientele
www.ToysRUs.ca / www.BabiesRUs.ca
1-800 - ToysRUs (1-800 -869-7787) Disponible 24 heures par jour, 7 jours par semaine!!


Thanks for the French version, there, people. You are able to create bi-lingual messages for your people up there in grand ole Canada, but you cannot ship to Texas. You even offer me the option to select “Texas” in your drop down “Ship to” box, however, that must be a cruel joke. Thanks Canada, you didn’t make me laugh. I know when I told you that you could keep your atrocious healthcare system, you were probably offended and now you are getting me back by withholding this baby item from me.
I’m wondering if Jeff can fly up there, buy one, and (smuggle it) bring it back home. Wonder what customs people would think. It does not fit the restricted categories of meats, veggies/fruits, or animals…wonder if he could get it through?
If Babies R Us Canada doesn’t come through, I’m cyber stalking 3 of them on ebay. Somehow, someway, in the words of Mike Meyers in Wayne’s World,
It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Two Very Important Lessons

So I’ve learned a few lessons in the past few days.
Lesson Number One:
Do not watch The Notebook when your husband is out of town. This may result in a deluge of waterworks and hopeless blubbering on your couch. It wasn’t a pretty picture. James Garner, I felt every twist of emotion you went through, and enjoyed every minute of it.




Lesson Number Two:
Do not compound the cinematic culmination of a beautiful love story with footage and memories of Patrick Swayze.
It took me a while to be “allowed” to watch Dirty Dancing. The title was enough to send Mrs. Cameron over the edge and ban it from the get-go. Then she rented it and I’m sure the near-miss of Johnny’s bare backside (no matter how many times I rewound it, the camera always seemed to juuust miss it) was enough to place this movie in the permanent pile of banned movies Heather was not allowed to watch. But oh Mrs. Cameron, the day I found myself at a friend’s house whose mom was cool enough to not care about preteens watching a tale of coming of age parental defiance with a smattering of abortion thrown in was the day I had the time of my life. Hello Johnny Castle. May I carry some watermelons to the secret dance lair for you? Would you please instruct me on where your dance space ends and mine begins? Please teach me to work on my spaghetti arms and please, for the love of pete, float me up in the air for The Lift! Sigh. I have spent the morning googling clips of that beloved movie and reliving fond memories that I associate with that movie. My best friend Laura introduced me to dipping pretzels in vanilla ice cream during one of our many Dirty Dancing viewing sessions. (Seriously, I thought it sounded disgusting, she twisted my arm, and the combination of salty and sweet turned my attention away from Bobby the disgusting waiter long enough to try the delish combo. Try it. You’ll thank me.) Or how about the time our sweet friend Robyn asked so innocently during The Lift practice scene

(you know the one, it’s raining, and Johnny kicks that stump out of the ground to break the car window so they can run off to the lake to practice lifting in the water – where miraculously it’s not raining), “Do you think her bra strap was supposed to fall down her arm? Was it scripted that way?” Thank you Robyn, I will forever think of you and smile when I watch that movie. Or how my friends Angela Cicirello and Libby Blanford and I would discuss the inner working of the movie during ALGEBRA II class? It just goes to show you how wondrous the movie was if it still captivated us as seniors in high school. We were forever quoting the movie, (“Sweet gherkin?”) during class. And honestly, the whole “sweet gherkin” line still cracks me up.
Years later, I was at a happy hour event with some friends and we were sitting at a table watching the night unfold on the dance floor. There was a couple dancing, who, let’s just be straight out honest here, had to have been taking ballroom dancing lessons and were anxious to showcase them at the local bar. So, to make my friends laugh, I admit I might have heckled them. Not so loud that anyone other than my friends could hear, but sadly, I did make fun of them that night. As they were counting their steps around the dance floor, I called out “DO THE LIFT!” They didn’t hear me but my friends laughed and laughed. And seriously, if you had watched them practically mouth the words “one-two-three-step together” you would have seen the need to say what I did. If you were a member of that ballroom dancing super couple, I apologize. But it was really funny.
I wanted to have those silver shoes that Baby and Penny had. I wanted to get called up on stage and have Johnny Castle tell everyone that “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” and then dance our special dance. Ending with the lift of course. While he mouthed the words to I’ve Had (The Time of My Life). Swoon.

I think this weekend, I will have to view the movie and force my dearest hubs to endure my countless quoting and dancing. Although, I am not sure how successful a 7 month pregnant woman will be at keeping up, but I’ll give it a shot. But don’t count on me getting down on the floor when Lisa does her crazy wacked out choreography while singing

and you can wackle all you wanna, you can wackle while I walk away, away, away, away!

Logic Puzzles

I admit it. I am completely addicted to logic puzzles. Remember those from school where you are given some clues and based on the clues, you have to figure out which first name goes with each last name, what each person's favorite color is, where they were born, etc? Yeah, those. I love them. I print them out daily and become engrossed in whose last name isn't Smith, or who did not choose the putt putt golf game. I printed some out this weekend to work on while watching football (my fantasy team BLEW UP - thank you Drew Brees!!!) but Emma had other ideas. Have you ever considered the thought that two pieces of paper, when clutched in 14 month old hands could make WINGS? When said little 14 month old hands flap up and down, the paper makes a really fun noise and it's sort of like trying to fly. At least I imagine that might be what she thought. Either way, she laughed uncontrollably and thought she was having a great time. Needless to say, those wrinkled puzzles will need to be downloaded again and completed at work. But ONLY when I'm caught up. :-)

Check this link out if you'd like to see what I'm talking about...
http://www.puzzles.com/Projects/LogicProblems/SlumberParty.htm

The neatest thing? You can either work the puzzles online or print them out and use your pencil. Since my poor pencils don't get any use anymore, I prefer the pencil and paper method. Well, that and I look busier when "figuring" at my desk rather than staring at a computer screen clicking away at my mouse.

..........Drumroll Please

We interrupt your daily activities to bring you the following breaking news bulletin:

Ladies and gentlemen, wait, do any gentlemen really read this? Hmmm. OK, whatever, I have news!!

I HAVE OFFICIALLY PASSED MY GLUCOSE TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you. That concludes this breaking news story. Please feel free to share your well wishes and congratulations below. Or get back to your regularly scheduled lives.

The Elusive Perfectly Folded Fitted Sheet

I find more and more that I am a perfectionist. For those of you who know me personally, you will not be shocked by this statement, although you might be shocked at my late admission. OK, so I admit it. I think there is a right way to do everything and I strive to do things that way. It just makes more sense to me. Why do a job unless you do it the very best you can AND with the most efficiency. With working full time, being pregnant, and chasing a toddler, efficiency is the key to my life.
Alas, there is one mythical creature, my unicorn, if you will, that I cannot “catch”. The elusive perfectly folded fitted sheet. You know when you first purchase a new set of sheets how lovely they look in the package, all folded up nice and neat. Four pieces of fabric arranged just so inside that sleeve of plastic, waiting for you to take them out and spread them out on your bed. Oh yes, let’s just admit one more thing while I’m at it. I am such a nut for perfect unwrinkled sheets, that I unashamedly spread newly purchased sheets on my bed without washing them! Because, friends, when you wash the sheets, although they smell delightful, they are not as perfectly smooth as they would be out of the package. I have been known to iron sheets (please stop screaming at me – I realized what a wasted effort that was while still in college and allowed to make stupid mistakes) but when you own a king sized bed (which I have since I was in the 7th grade), ironing those monsters is too time consuming. Coupled with the fact that I have owned a black lab for almost 13 years, ironing was good in theory, until you factor in the black dog hair the clean sheets would inevitably pick up from the floor.
So we’re back to the perfection that comes out of the plastic package. I have always wondered how “they” managed to get such straight lines and how everything fits so wonderfully. Enter my mother in law. Seriously, she is amazing at folding fitted sheets. Like she could fold professionally for those brand new sheets shipping out to all of the Bed Bath & Beyond locations nearest you. It’s amazing; her handiwork is the likes of which I have never seen. I will feely admit that there may have been a time or two when she was coming to our house to watch Emma that I may have left clean sheets on the breakfast table, knowing she might just fold them for us. And then, honestly, if she does fold them, I don’t want to put them on the bed. I’d rather just wash what’s on the bed and put them right back on rather than “waste” the perfectly folded sheets that have been put away. Because they are that pretty. When I finally do use them, I fully expect those little cardboard pieces to fall out as if they were brand new. Now I have asked her to show me countless times how she achieves such magic and she has obliged. I just don’t get it! I have tried and tried and no matter what I do, they end up crooked and looking like I’ve just rolled them up in a ball. Which is what I’ve resigned myself to doing. Seriously. Sure, I fold the flat sheet and the pillowcases and they are beautiful. But the fitted sheet gets rolled up and smashed down as small as I can make it (which still leaves it ten times bigger than the flat sheet) and I stuff them all into the cedar chest at the foot of my bed. I am an official fitted sheet folding failure. Do you have that elusive task that you just can’t make happen? No matter how hard you try? Please tell me I’m not the only one who is faced with such a situation.


…and for all of you who are going to tell me to lighten up, they are just sheets, I know. I get it. I’m way more driven to all things neat and organized than the “normal” person. Heard that more than a few times in my life. So that being said, let’s all just thank Jesus for sending me such a man as Jeffrey Scott Parnell who will not only put up with my quest for household perfectionism, but who also was born to a mother who has perfected what I cannot. Here's to the hope that someday I'll finally grasp what she's saying. [grin]

At 31 Weeks and 13 Months

OK, so technically, Emma is now 14 months, but I started this when she really was 13 months old. And I liked the whole 31 vs 13 thing.



At 31 weeks, I definitely look pregnant.
At 31 weeks, I not only have a name picked out for our son, but we also know his birth date!
At 31 weeks, we have a crib, but no mattress or bedding.
At 31 weeks, I love to go into Alex's room and enjoy what it looks like so far.
At 31 weeks, I'm still exhausted. So much for a second trimester burst of energy. I've now given up hope.
At 31 weeks, I let Emma crawl up the stairs by herself and save my strength for giving her a bath. :-)
At 31 weeks, I now go to the doctor every two weeks.
At 31 weeks, Alex's presence is a constant reminder by his kicks and pushes against my belly.
At 31 weeks, I am both intrigued and frightened at the possibility that I might actually see the outline of his hand pushing out against my tummy.
At 31 weeks, I'm relieved we are passed the heat of a Houston August!
At 31 weeks, I wonder how it is that super-organized Heather is so far behind in her preparation for this baby.
At 31 weeks, it is fun to watch Jeff speak to his son through the "speaker".
At 31 weeks, I still haven't gotten swollen ankles and I'm still wearing my wedding rings!!!
At 31 weeks, I think Emma still thinks I am having a puppy instead of a baby. :-)



At 13 months, Emma got her first haircut but probably needs another one!
At 13 months, Emma's favorite thing is still the puppy.
At 13 months, she loves splashing in the bathtub and I am proud to say that I let her!!
At 13 months, Emma is a walking, squealing delight.
At 13 months, she has been moved up to the toddler class at church. (what, already???)
At 13 months, she has outgrown footie pajamas and now wears separate jammies to bed.
At 13 months, Emma knows when her daddy is gone and will call his name as she walks from room to room looking for him.
At 13 months, Emma cut four molars. All at once. Almost completely painlessly. Almost.
At 13 months, she needs new shoes, but apparently has a tiny foot that complicates things. Well, that, and I refuse to buy plastic shoes or shoes that are all pink sparkles or light up or have a heel on them. Can I just buy a pair of plain white sandals?
At 13 months, she loves milk. She is her mamma's daughter.
At 13 months, she is still a good eater, and will eat most anything we give her. Including beets. (UGH!)
At 13 months, she knows her shoes go on her feet and the brush goes in her hair, but she hasn't figured out how to really accomplish either.
At 13 months, she prefers to feed herself and will generally refuse food if you are trying to feed her.
At 13 months, she loves Little People, my nail polish, and music.

The Return of the Glucose Test

Well this morning was my glucose test. There is no way on this whole earth that I could not eat. It's just not happening. This little mister inside me demands it. I talked with my ob nurse last visit and she said I could eat. Just nothing with sugar. So I made two eggs this morning and drank a glass of water. Because it was a necessity. I admit I thought long and hard about a glass of not just milk, but chocolate milk, but when I took the milk jug out of the refrigerator and read that there were 11 g of sugar just in the milk, I slowly put it back. (But you had better believe that I either need to stop for a chocolate milkshake on the way home or I'll need a tall glass of chocolate milk when I get home.) So I go in this morning, armed with a straw (thanks Grannie, for the fantastic suggestion last time!) and my sweet husband who agreed to go with me for moral support. The girl gave me a bottle of orangish liquid and told me I had 5 minutes or less to down it. In walks another girl, here for the same thing. She gets a red one. It is at this moment that I realize I had red last time. Red is fruit punch flavored. I have started sucking down orange. The only flavor worse to me than orange would be grape. I really really wanted to offer some to Emma, but I figured we'd pay for her sugar rush later and I should just suck it up and suck it down. In like three swallows the other girl is finished. I'm barely below the top of the label. Grrr. Meanwhile, the two husbands are talking and I am mystified at how she is guzzling her drink so quickly. I keep sucking that straw and after they leave (of course) I finally finish. Let me pat myself on the back for a minute. I did not have to be told I was running out of time by a nurse this time. Last time I was spoken to several times about how I needed to speed it up, so that was a good thing. I went upstairs to my ob visit, but they didn't call my name before my hour was up and it was time to head back downstairs again to have my blood drawn. Now let me just start by saying, for those of you who don't know me well enough, I don't do blood. I don't want to see it, I don't want to talk about it, and I darn sure don't want to give any away. I have this theory that my body makes X amount of blood that happily circulates around in my system for a reason. Take any amount away from said happy little system, and I think there should be a problem. So this has always been a problem for me. Add to it that one of the ladies who does the draws has been wonderful every single time I've ever done this (with Emma and now with Alex) and there is another woman who I did not care for when I was pregnant with Emma. I have a friend whose doctor is also in the same facility and she and I have compared notes several times about how we like the one but not the other. Well don't you know this is the second time I get "the other". She was fantastic. I told her I was probably her worst patient and that I would please not like to see anything. Please. She said I wasn't even close to being her worst because I didn't flinch when she [AUNT JAYNE STOP READING] put the needle in. She took her vials, band-aided me, and sent me on my way. [AUNT JAYNE YOU CAN READ AGAIN]
So back upstairs we go and get called. The little man's heart rate was 153. I gained 5 lbs. All is well with both of us and we've now entered the bi-monthly visits. 63 days to go. By the way this little boy is pushing on my stomach all the time, you can bet I'm counting.

Side note: Aggie football starts this weekend. WHOOP!

We Have a Date AND a Name!

November 6th. Mark it on your calendar. Baby P will make his appearance that morning. Now that we have a date, the time is quickly pressing upon me. With Emma, we had a crib set up before we even knew she was a girl. That nursery was painted pink practically the day after we found out she was a girl. Baby P however, well, that has been another story entirely. I am realizing that chasing a one year old (holy buckets, how did my sweet baby get to be one year old??) is more time consuming than I thought.
Three weeks ago, while Emma was down for a super long Children's Ibuprofen induced nap (she had a fever and was cutting 4 molars, what do you want me to say??), Jeff and I power painted the nursery. And when I say power painted, I mean it was fast. We spent the best $4.79 we have ever spent and bought one of those edge painter thingies. Think As Seen On TV. Billy Mays in his blue shirt at his finest. I tossed the gadget in our basket hoping it would pay off and not be wasted money. Oh BABY was that thing worth it! See, when Jeff and I paint (which we have done numerous times together) I’m the detail girl and he’s the bulk guy. I do all the cutting in and “hard” parts and he covers the masses. It just works better that way. But usually I end up taking forever because of that whole perfectionist thing I’ve got going and he’s standing around waiting for me so that he can cover the walls and do his part. Not so this time my friend! I had to wait for him! That four dollar gadget saved me time and made my edges look amazing. Not so much paint on the ceiling this time, which is a bonus, and we have a chair rail in this bedroom so you can imagine what that would have taken to accomplish with a brush. We will be keeping the Shur-Line Paint Edging kit my friends, and using it every time we paint. Worth more than its price, it is one of those things that everyone should own. I’m just saying.



So back to the actual nursery. We’ve gone with a very masculine sports theme and we love how it’s coming together. The walls above the chair rail are khaki, the walls below ended up looking surprisingly Aggie Maroon (I promise I didn’t do this on purpose, but now that we’ve got that element added, I’m thinking some Aggie stuff may have to make its way into the room! WHOOP!) and we’ve added navy accents. We painted the dresser navy blue with white drawer pulls and I painted red stitches on the drawer pulls so that they look like little baseballs. Totally Jeff’s idea. Isn’t he creative? I’m so proud.
Last weekend we got the crib and it’s all assembled, waiting for a mattress and some bedding to help finish it off. We also lucked out by overhearing a lady at Babies R Us say that she heard of a promotion to get 20% off of a new stroller by bringing in your old stroller. Jeff’s radar ears snapped to that bargain and we stopped to listen to the “fine print”.
Bring in your old stroller to Babies R Us. Check.
Choose from a select line of vendors. Graco is included, that’s what we wanted. Check.
Cashier issues a 20% off coupon. Wait, that’s it? All we have to do is turn in our old stroller and we can get 20% off of the double stroller we want?? SWEET! Put that box in our cart kind sir!




So with Jeff’s wheeling and dealing, the ongoing furniture sale, the stroller deal we stumbled upon, and our official discount for buying off of our registry, we ended up making out like bandits! We’re super happy with our stroller (we took it on its maiden voyage last night and Emma seemed to enjoy it – Mamma certainly enjoyed the ease with which it steers!) and bed. We’re getting closer to being ready for this sweet baby to arrive.
So to address the name portion. He will be named Alexander Scott Parnell and we shall call him Alex. Alex and Emma. Alex Parnell. We love it. Now I just need to get some letters so I can put his name over his bed like we did for Em.

Now let me end on this humorous note:
A Daily Conversation in the Parnell Household
Heather or Jeff: Emma, I love you!
Emma: [grin]
Heather or Jeff: Emma, I love you!!
Emma: PUPPY!!

Baby Kisses and Funny Outfits

Emma has learned to kiss y'all! If you ask for a kiss, she will bring her head towards you and open her mouth. Most of the time, I end up kissing those adorable teeth, but I love it nonetheless. Jeff and I ask her for kisses over and over again. And again. It's adorable.
She's been staying with Nanna while Jeff and I are at work and for the past two days, she's had, well, um...lets just call them "diaper malfunctions", OK? Such that Nanna has requested an extra outfit in the diaper bag. I think we might have to opt for two changes of clothes. After the Pediatrician Mess of 2008 (In which Emma threw up on me and then immediately exploded her diaper down the front of me - to the extent that I had to borrow Jeff's undershirt - he unexpectedly showed up at the dr's - just to make it out of the exam room and home. It was one of those moments where you wonder if there is a back door you could sneak out of and could you REALLY make it to your car before anyone realized you had left your t-shirt behind in the trash to die a rather smelly death.) I used to carry not only an outfit for Emma but a shirt for me. I suppose I've become complacent as we haven't needed an extra outfit for either of us in a very long time. Needless to say, after yesterday's "incident" there was an extra outfit in Emma's diaper bag this morning. And at 8:37 this morning Nanna called to say Emma was already in said replacement outfit. Sigh.
Enjoy Emma's makeshift outfit from yesterday.

Baby Steps

Friday after work, both Jeff and I were at my mom's house to pick up Emma. I wasn't sure if he was picking her up or if I needed to and he wasn't answering the home phone. Turns out he was at Mom's. But I stopped by her house before I got home and the three of us visited while Emma cruised around the coffee table. My mom got Emma the cutest stuffed elephant and she loves it. She kisses it and grins at it and carries it around.

Well we three were sitting there chatting and Emma, clutching Elephant, took two steps from the coffee table to the couch. The only thing she was holding on to was Elephant, so it's official. Write this down in the books, people, June 12th, 2009, Emma Elise Parnell took her first steps.
She has yet to have a repeat performance, and I'm wondering if she even realizes what she actually did since she was holding onto the stuffed animal, but whatever. I saw it. Jeff saw it. Nanna saw it. She walked.

17 Weeks and 11 Months

At 17 weeks I am occasionally tired but I think it has more to do with juggling Emma, work, Jeffrey, myself, and the house.
At 17 weeks I definitely need maternity clothes but I think I'm still in that "is she fat or is she pregnant" phase.
At 17 weeks, I am noticing it is harder and harder to get Emma out of the tub or her crib. Especially if she's not really ready to wake up and I have to lean in and get her. Someone tell her it's easier if she stands up please?
At 17 weeks I am beginning to feel Baby P moving. While it's not regular, I enjoy it immensely when it happens.
At 17 weeks, I am counting down the days until July 10th, when we will find out what color we are painting the new nursery.
At 17 weeks, I think about what will it REALLY be like to have two babies.
At 17 weeks, I now have to take a thyroid pill since I have hypothyroidism. It's not a big deal and the doctor doesn't seem worried about it.
At 17 weeks, sleeping is becoming more uncomfortable, but I have a sweet husband who lets me get lots of it!
At 17 weeks, thankfully I am still sleeping through the night!
At 17 weeks, it's thrilling to think of expanding our family of three to a family of four!


At 11 months, Emma is pulling up on everything and surprising us with her strength.
At 11 months, Emma crawls quickly and will be off and around the corner before we know it.
At 11 months, Emma stands on her own for long periods of time without falling.
At 11 months, Emma is able to simply sit down from a standing position instead of crashing down to the ground and crying.
At 11 months, Emma enjoys her toy that spits balls out of an opening while playing music.
At 11 months, Emma also realizes that she can put the balls back through the opening where they shot out of all by herself.
At 11 months, Emma enjoys going to the pool and splashing in the water and looks mighty adorable in her bathing suits!
At 11 months, Emma now has 4 upper teeth and 4 lower teeth, although some of the teeth are at varying stages.
At 11 months, Emma says things like "mama" "dadee" and "nananana" as well as nonsense words that sound very similar to words we use. She "talks" all the time and we are fascinated by her use of different tones and the inflection in her voice. She speaks beautifully, we just don't really know what she is saying!
At 11 months, Emma will eat anything you feed her. She loves beets, lima beans, squash, and all kinds of fruit. This weekend we are planning on trying mini Emma sized burgers to introduce her to beef.
At 11 months, Emma adores Kylie. I mean adores. If she is crying, we ask her "where's the big fat dog?" and she'll stop and look for Kylie. She crawls to Kylie and buries her head in Kylie's fur and squeals in delight.
At 11 months, Emma is tolerated by Kylie. :-)
At 11 months, Emma's first birthday and first steps are just around the corner.


At 17 weeks and 11 months, it seems impossible that Emma was once a newborn and that in a few months, we'll be starting the process over again with a new baby. YAY!!

Pretty vs Preeee

My little Emma Bug enjoys talking to all things outside. She has this adorable little whispery voice (which I can only assume means she is full of secrets, just waiting to come out) that she uses and it is so fun to watch her stand in the window and talk to the flowers outside. Or the squirrels, or the birds, or whoever her friends are out in the back yard. But we've been saying "pretty" to her quite a bit. Pretty flowers (consequently my first words), pretty necklace, pretty hair, you get the picture. So yesterday morning, before I had to hustle off to work, Emma was looking outside and I said pretty flowers. She mimicked me and said "preee". OK, so I know what you're thinking. Preee is a far cry from "My, look what pretty flowers are growing in our garden, Mamma," but she repeated after me 5 - 6 times.
Heather: Pretty
Emma: Preee
Heather: Pretty
Emma: Preee
You get it. So if you were MY mom, you'd say to run to the baby book and write that one down officially in her book. I'll wait, because I'm trying to be objective. But inside I'm stoked because conversation is around the corner folks! I'd much rather my sweet little girl be able to converse first. We can work on walking later. Bring on the words!!

10 Weeks and (apparently) Counting

I receive weekly updates from a really cool website, babycenter.com. They send out a picture of what little Baby P probably looks like and each week, I am given a better idea of how big Baby P is by a comparison to a food. It is always food. At week 9 Baby P was the size of a grape. This week, it's as big as a kumquat. It's fascinating to read and be able to visualize how big that little baby is getting.
By now, our little kumquat Baby P has completed the most critical part of his or her whole development! Isn't that amazing? At less than a quarter of an ounce (LESS THAN ONE OUNCE!) Baby P is a baby. Just a teeny, tiny, here come the Littles, baby, but a baby none the less! At this point, Baby P will just get bigger and more developed. Tiny finger nails and toe nails are forming and it's little feet are no longer webbed. There are tiny tiny baby toes in my belly! Can you even imagine?
I also noticed the banner at the top which touts: You are ten weeks pregnant! Only 210 days to go! Seriously? We're excited about 210 days to go at this point? I'm thinking we shoudl slow down a bit and, say, wait until we get down closer to the due date before we get all worked up about X number of days left. Are you with me? I mean, lets be honest, I am excited. Over the moon. We are ready (well, not physically ready like the room isn't ready) but we are ready to have baby # 2. But if I'm counting down from 210 days, it's going to be a looooong wait until November. We all know how patient my sweet Jeffrey can be...let's not make matters worse for him by starting the count down today.

And because I am a super proud mamma of a beautiful little Emma, here's my new desktop picture. Love her!!

I wonder.....

If I'll ever get sick of watching this. Or of wishing I could have participated. Hmmm....

Family Portraits and the Deluge of 2009

This was an old post, originally started two weeks ago...


We had our family portraits scheduled for today. Our church is doing a directory for the first time in a while and I scheduled this appointment about a month ago; carefully choosing a time that wouldn't be during the week - trying to look our best after a long day of work didn't seem smart. So a weekend it must be. Not too early - I am not good at getting up and ready and getting a little monkey ready as well. Not too late - we need to respect Emma's bedtime. But can't make it too close to a meal, that way she won't be hungry and fussy...not too close to naptime...so I picked 12:20. After lunch, before a nap, plenty of time for Mamma to get ready and PACK the dress to change Emma at church. Perfect. I knew what we were wearing, we matched, should be a good day. Until the deluge of 2009 started. It was just a beautiful rain. Some thunder, a few strikes of lightning, but mostly just good, delicious rain. Now that PG is hungry all the time and exhausted (should I confess that after Emma went to bed at 7:30 last night I was not far behind, falling asleep at 8:00??) a snuggly, sleepy, rainy day was perfect for reading and falling asleep on the couch. Hmmm...seems quite parallel to last night. So I fall asleep reading during the wondrous rain only to awake and realize that it is 11:30, Jeff and I need showers and Emma needs lunch. We managed to get everyone ready and be out the door ontime. And then we backed out of our driveway. The rain had fallen so much y'all, that it was OVER OUR CURB! I have not seen so much moisture collect - even during hurricane Ike! I worried as we drove away what our 10 minute commute to church would look like. The roads were soaked. Drenched. And filling up fast. We picked our way to the church while others were pulling over and managed to get inside relatively unscathed. Jeff dropped Emma and I off under some covered parking so the two of us ran in while he repositioned the truck so that the next car could drop off their passengers. We made it inside at 12:15. Looking good. Until we found out that one of the other couples there for pictures had an 11:50 appointment time. Yikes. I hadn't eaten lunch, I realized we somehow forgot to refill the wipes in the diaper bag, and Emma was drooling on her new dress. I pulled the dress back off of her and let her run around in the bloomers and no shirt. She was a hit and was very well behaved while we waited. I didn't keep track of the time, but when we were completely finished it was 2:05. Our friend was having a Sundae party for their daughter who will be baptized tomorrow. They live right by the church, so we drove over there for some delicious ice cream (and berries and sauce and whipped cream and sprinkles and candy...they had the SPREAD let me tell you!). One of their neighbors had to move their car because it was flooding! We had a lovely time, and by the time we decided to leave, the water had receeded. The drive home was just like any other wet drive home after a rain storm. What a weird weather day! Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful...

UPDATE:
The weather the next day was beutiful. We saw our pictures, however, and they are NOT beautiful. With the insane weather, my attempt at curling my hair fell flat. One just one side. And I don't really look pregnant yet, just a lovely sort of fat. Jeff, however, looks handsome and I think Emma looks adorable. I would post the link for you to look at our pictures, but I think I am too vain. You will have to wait and see us in the directory.
...would it be too much to ask the church to put a small asterisk by our picture and note that it was a horribly wet/windy/floody kind of day when we took our picture AND that Heather Parnell is expecting a baby? Too vain? Sigh. OK. Laugh it up people, it's gonna be one for the books.

Oh the Joys of the First Trimester

Lord forgive me, but I was not a happy Pregnant Girl this morning. I thanked Him profusely for this sweet Baby P that is growing and for the beautiful baby girl He has already given us. But darn it, I (blissfully) had forgotten these feelings that accompany the first trimester! I think I touched on the queasiness yesterday so I'll leave that one alone this morning. But the hormones. And the endless hunger! I think I did mention hunger yesterday, but it bears repeating. :-)
See, I have several blogs that I follow and this morning, I was reading one that discussed the delicious spaghetti recipe she made last night. Y'all, I don't like mushrooms, but her recipe sounded good. And to make matters worse, I checked out another blog which detailed the culinary discoveries of a recent trip to New Orleans. Think warm french bread, crawfish poboys, and other yummy delights. So I'm reading along, and it's 8:57 in the morning and now I am craving a crawfish poboy. Or shrimp. I could do shrimp, too. Yummy french bread, fried shrimp...oh baby there is a Rajun Cajun within minutes from here...what are the odds they are open at 9 am? None. So there will be no poboy this morning. Sigh.
But on a better food note, my sweet husband had dinner with the board members of We Care last night. At Chuy's. Really? He got Chuy's?? There used to be one of those by my office but for some reason closed about 3-4 years ago. I never understood because it was always packed. Always. Like you'd have to take an early lunch to make sure you had enough time to eat and get back before the office shut down at 5:00. So why close such a booming location? I haven't had Chuy's in years. But their queso blanco quesadillas...oh baby!! So anyway, as I struggled to feed Emma and get her to bed last night (our evening was shortened and it sort of got away from me) by the time it was my turn to eat, it was almost 8:00 and I was beyond hungry. Nothing sounded good anymore, I was too tired to cook, so I had a bowl of cereal. I know, lame. Particularly in light of this morning's post! But get this. My man is the best! He finally gets home right before 9:00 and says he has something for me. It seems they were given a sack lunch and he saved his sandwich as long as possible so that he wouldn't be terribly hungry for dinner. And he brought me his leftover fajitas. Thank you Jesus for this sweet man who would be so selfless to prolong his lunchtime hunger just so that he could have extras to bring home to his wife. Lord, if I haven't thanked you today for the sweet man you prepared for me, Thank You!! So as I sit here drooling over shrimp poboys that are not meant to be today, I have beef fajitas waiting for me in the refrigerator just down the hall. [insert LARGE grin here!]

And The Parnell Three Become The Parnell Four

We have a joke with Jeff's brother Rob and his wife. They have three kids and so are "The Parnell Five". Jeff and I, once we had little Emma, were renamed "The Parnell Three". With our exciting news that we do, in fact, have Baby Parnell #2 on the way, we get ready to leave behind The Parnell Three and embrace The Parnell Four.
Four. Wow. I will have a family of four. Two babies. One husband. (OK and a Kylie-Mo if we can count her. Which, if you ask Emma, she will squeal with delight as she ADORES Kylie) Four Parnells.
I need to upload the ultrasound (don't lie, you know you want to see our little Baby P in all of it's infinite glory.) but I haven't had time to scan it. It hasn't hit the top of my To Do list yet. It's sadly behind
1. Buy more diapers
2. baby proof the house (Need to move this one up to #1 - see below)
3. laundry
4. find some time to spend with Jeff
5. spend some time being creative!!
...so you see my list grows and as I cross one thing off, four more appear. I almost wrote "apperate". I am rereading the Harry Potter series right now, so you'll have to forgive me as Harry-isms pop into the forefront of my mind.
OK, so in case you are wondering as to how Mamma is doing this time around, I'm fine. Thankfully, no morning sickness, although I do feel slightly queasy from time to time. I have discovered (thanks to my SIL Sally during my pregnancy with Emma) that food is they key to ending that queasy feeling. I'm overly hungry. And, while food doesn't even remotely SOUND appealing, it's the key. I start to eat and all is well! So other than that hint of queasy that lurks beneath the surface of my days, I'm just utterly exhausted. Like may I please take a daily afternoon nap exhausted. Saturday I fell asleep for about an hour on the couch (while Emma composed her newest concerto on her piano - how I managed to sleep during that must be a true testament to my exhaustion!) and yesterday I woke up at 6:38 am (I KNOW that's too stinking early for a Sunday!) because I was hungry. Pregnant Girl needed some food and she needed it now. So I made pancakes. They were delish and after eating, I laid on the couch, presumably for just a moment's rest. I had at least an hour before I needed to really start getting ready for church, so I closed my eyes. I even kept my glasses on because I guess I intended on resting and watching TV. Emma was playing and Jeff was watching something. I guess I should have known I would have been down for the count if I can't remember what we were watching, huh? So apparently I fell asleep (and Jeff was a dear and took my glasses off and covered me with a blanket) and woke up what seemed to be mere minutes later. Nope. It was 11:30!! I slept almost completely through church!! Really? I called out to Jeff who was no longer in the living room and he was upstairs on the computer and Emma was napping as well. So the Parnell girls needed their beauty sleep and Mr. let us have our way. I couldn't believe I had slept for so long and I couldn't believe Jeff didn't wake me! As one of my dear friends put it this morning, "Um, hello Heather? You are growing a CHILD inside your body. You need some rest!!" OK. Point taken. It's all coming back to me now...how when you are Pregnant Girl you need to ask others for help and rest your body and make sure to take extra time for yourself because you are growing a new baby. That folks, takes work. I just think I am superwoman and can do it all. By myself. Guess I was wrong. Again. [grin]
So this blog will morph again into a Pregnant Girl's journey to becoming a mom of two.
And because I could not end this without extrapolating on the "baby proof the house - see below", Emma is crawling. Sort of. She takes two or three "steps" and then sits up and claps at herself. She's super proud of herself. She's even gotten onto her knees and, while holding on to her piano, knee walks herself closer to it. Amazing. So I had her upstairs yesterday in my scrap room while I tried to make a quick card for a party we were going to and my lovely daughter tried to discover the electrical socket. So see, baby proofing needs to zoom up to #1. Today. OK, Jeff is having dinner tonight with the We Care board (of which he is the board of directors) for his last round of interviews for the new board members, and so this shall become my project this evening. There's no telling when he'll be home, so I should have time to at least plug some of those ugly plastic caps in, right?

Hats off to Ya!

OK, here are the hat pictures as promised...the adorable pink hat really doesn't match the dress, but it's stinking cute all the same.

We're Back People!

I'm serious. I have a new found zeal for blogging. Maybe it's because Emma is changing so much and I can't keep up. Maybe it's because I realized THIS is a history of our lives, her life, what goes on, and I don't want to forget it. I have already forgotten so much. It's nice that pictures can remind us of forgotten memories. I was reading through old posts earlier this week and stared in amazement at how much Emma has grown. I mean, look at those old bathing suit pictures! She is positively tiny! And that hair! Soooo dark. I love how it is lightning up and curling at the ends now.

So Emma's newest thing is that she loves to stand. She loves to be propped up at the foot of the stairs or in front of the couch or chair and she stands and plays. And by plays I mean she bangs her hands against the cushion (or floor depending on where she is "standing") and squeals in delight. She is dying to be mobile, people. I just don't think she knows how to crawl. Or has any desire to for that matter. She gets up on her knees and plays the piano on her knees. Take that step baby girl!! She's pulled the piano over onto herself many times and surprisingly doesn't always cry. She does, however, lay there until you come and rescue her. Silly monkey. She loves to sit up and play and reach for things, but if you put her on her stomach, oh help her she gets mad. Sure, she'll play there for a little while, but then pu-leeeeze get me back up Mamma!! She is getting that nasty cry (you know the one - the attitude changes and you can tell she's mad) and we've had to have a few conversations regarding that.
Mamma: Emma, we don't talk like that in this house.
Emma: nananana
Mamma: OK, Emma, I know you want the remote control, but it's not for little girls.
Emma: NAnanana
Mamma: [hides the remote to curtail further dissatisfaction]
Emma: NANANANANA

She's not happy. So we're trying to just keep the TV off and then the remote becomes less of an issue. However, the other day, Jeff was watching something [read: NFL Network - see we need to always be aware of what has taken place at the Combine (please don't ask me to explain the Combine - I feel like it should be capitalized but I'm not sure. I think it's some sort of pre draft qualifying events like lifting weights - sort of like an opportunity to show what ya got to the prospective teams so they know how, if, and when to draft you.) Side note: I just looked it up and the draft starts April 25th. But seriously, the Parnell household should know what is going on at any particular moment in the NFL. Because you know, it's all about the Fantasy Football draft. Which will be in like AUGUST or SEPTEMBER!! And you know, things DO NOT change over the course of time. Whatever, it's my husband's passion [obsession] so we'll let it go at that.] Really, that just got too long. The point was, Jeff was watching TV and Emma was on the floor in front of him IGNORING the TV and playing with her books. Mamma was so proud. :-)

So here's Emma this morning...




...doing what she loves.
My cute little monkey who isn't so little anymore...

Teeth, Teeth, and more Teeth!

I had my semi-annual dentist appointment yesterday (and, yes, for those of you wondering, I am still a proud member of the no cavity club!) As Emma's care giver's son has pink eye, I was lucky enough to stay home with her yesterday so she got to accompany me to the dentist. All the way there I kept telling her little eight month old self that only big girls are lucky enough to get to go to the dentist. I personally love the dentist - the no cavity thing may perpetuate that and perhaps if I had encountered the drill at a young age my tune might be different; however, I love the dentist. And the fluoride. OK I'll admit the fluoride part is a little weird. The hygienist admits something to me right after I once again profess my love for the obligatory minute-long swishing and toss back the tiny cup. She tells me that the brand is different and it is more of a baking soda, salty taste. And that I might not like it. Not what I wanted to hear after I start swishing - especially when I had been looking forward to this part! However, the taste wasn't that bad and she hurriedly assured me that they were switching back. Phew.
Anyway, back to my story. While I am being cleaned, flossed, examined, etc. Emma is happily sucking on her Colors book while sitting in her stroller. Until she becomes bored and starts squealing. Luckily, I have been going to this dentist since I was about five years old and they like me. They adore Emma as this is her second trip with me and she seems to gather friends everywhere we go. So thankfully, instead of garnering steely glances from both employees and patrons alike, she got smiles and laughs which made her laugh. And show off her tiny little teeth. I truly turned into Ultra Proud Mamma as I coaxed her to show her 4 adorable teeth to the doctor. It was silly on my part. But I managed to keep her somewhat happy (thankfully the squeals were more of "Hey look! I have vocal chords and I know how to use them! Would you like to hear me?" instead of unruly, nasty screaming. Thankfully. And figured out how to get a dental exam while pushing a stroller back and forth with my foot. The epitome of multi-tasking.
The little love bug fell asleep on the way home but was instantly awake when we entered the house. See, Kylie heard us come in and was sitting next to the washer and dryer by the back door. In front of her food bowl. Like there is anyway on this great green earth, we would ever forget to feed her. But her tail, loudly thumping on the dryer woke the little princess up. So much for an afternoon nap. But when I took her to the changing table to change what I figured surely was a wet diaper, my daily task took on a much more exciting role. For as I laid the little miss down, I noticed that not only were the top two teeth almost the same length now, but a new, fifth tooth had made an appearance with absolutely no fanfare! I had no idea she was even working on a new one! She beamed at me and flashed her now five teeth, and I squealed with delight. After I excitedly told Jeff, we called our moms (please don't be offended if we didn't call you. We thought we were a bit over the top to even call our moms but someone had to share in our news and who better to appreciate the news than a couple of seasoned moms??) and did a little happy dance. New parents are silly, aren't they? I'm a grown woman excited about four tiny white ridges of a newly formed upper left tooth. And PROUD of it!!

Our Pianist

My little Emma Bug loves her some piano. Mamma and Daddy love to listen to her play! My mother in law bought this fun piano for Emma and it has brought her so much joy. I'd say money well spent!! She plays delicately with one finger at times, and then other times, she is rockin' like Sir Elton John. She loves to turn the plastic pages (which make a swoosh sound like papers turning) and has started “singing” as she plays. She also has started swaying back and forth as she plays. She’s a very rockin’ chick! We tried to get her on camera singing and composing, but I think it was too close to dinner time because she wasn’t that happy. So this video doesn’t show her to be the amazing prodigy that I’m sure she is (ha ha), but you will at least see her enjoying playing some of the time.


She has a trip to the zoo planned today with some friends, so we wanted to make sure she would be protected from the sun. Of course, this doesn’t mean slathering her with baby sunscreen (which, note to self: we need to get!) but instead picking an outfit that had an adorable matching hat. And because I thought she was so adorable, I had to take some pictures. She’s cute, admit it.

She’s got a fourth tooth coming in which has resulted in her constantly grinding her teeth together. That sound is like nails on a chalkboard to me. My brother used to grind his teeth and I hated it. Fun that this is Emma’s new favorite thing to do. ARG!

We graduated to a new big girl car seat this weekend. It was sad to see the carrier at the end of its use for Emma, but exciting that she now can sit up farther! We also got a mirror (I know, how have I been a functioning mother for the last 8 months without being able to see my baby while I drive??) so I can now see her. It was hard to find a mirror that will fit in the back of the Hummer. See, the back seat has headrests, BUT they do not move. So that makes finding something that will fit/work/do what I need it to do, nearly impossible. Hence she is 8 months old and we just now are installing this. BUT, that being said, I LOVE to be able to see her. It’s sort of disconcerting because it looks like she is facing forward which she cannot do until she is both 20 pounds AND one year old. So I keep freaking out a little bit until I remind myself of the properties of mirrors and that we’ve got a double mirror action going. But it’s fun to watch her look around and seem to enjoy the scenery. My little baby is growing up.

With the new car seat, she’s also graduated to her new stroller. Jeff’s sister gave him a stroller for Emma for his birthday (some said that was an interesting birthday present for him, but he and I were – and are – tickled pink!). It folds up like her baby stroller and even has cup holders for Mamma. That is key. I need a place to stash my keys and phone and drink if I have one – digging in a Mary Poppins-esque diaper bag for keys or a ringing phone is not my idea of a good time. She loves being able to look around and see everything but Mamma’s only regret is that I can no longer see HER! I miss those little brown eyes gazing up at me as we wander through the grocery store or Home Depot or wherever we happen to be. But it’s good for her to enjoy the stimulus around her. I’ll get over it.

Emma continues to be a joy – she’s not crawling yet, but she does get up on all fours and rock back and forth. She also has figured out how to push herself backwards. And somehow, she sits but spins around 360 degrees, so she manages to “get around” just fine without actually crawling. I’m fine that she isn’t crawling yet – I figure it’s only a matter of time before we have to install the 4 gates I figure we need.

1. Top of the stairs
2. Bottom of the stairs
3. Entry into the kitchen from the living room
4. Entry into the dining room from the entry way

Kylie is going to be some confused when her paths around the house are blocked and she can’t get from A to B. Hmmm….that means we may have to rethink the placement of her water bowl. She’ll need access to that all the time. Secondary water bowls around the house? OK, I have to rethink that one. Didn’t count on Kylie’s hydration needs. Darn it!

We had to get some more 6-9 month clothes for Emma this weekend. She’s got a closet full, but we are very skinny in the 6-9 month size. I had to put more of the smaller sizes away again, which left it blaring clear that she was in need. Because we were so blessed with clothes before Emma was even born and I literally have a closet full of little girl clothes – I think I have stuff up to 3 or 4T – I haven’t had to purchase much. Jammies are hard to keep her in – she seems to outgrow those and socks most frequently (which, can someone explain that to me! How do day clothes fit but jammies don’t! Does the washing machine shrink jammies more?). So it is fun when I get to actually pick out and buy sweet little pink clothes for her. Unfortunately for Emma, her mamma loves the color pink and so we buy a lot of it! We managed to pick up about 6 new onesies and 6 pairs of pants. Most of which are interchangeable. That should make Daddy’s life easier. Pick a onesie, and it should go with any of the pants we bought. Now if we could just get him to coordinate socks…and brush her hair before a bow goes into it. Baby steps.

He’s such a wondrous help getting her ready in the morning so if socks don’t exactly match or a bow was hastily clipped into a head of unbrushed hair, I really have no room to complain. Jeff is so good with Emma. With my work schedule, he is the one who drops her off in the morning and is it Jeff who picks her up in the evening. He feeds her breakfast and usually has fed her dinner by the time I walk through the door. I hate not having as flexible a work schedule as he has, but I have to remember that I am blessed that one of does. He’s very hands on and she adores him. Nothing is sexier than a man with a baby. I have told Jeff many times that on July 7th, when little Emma was just hours old, I remember waking up in my hospital bed and he was sitting in the chair next to my bed holding Emma. He had a stubbly face (July 6th was a loooooong day if you remember) and was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Crazy second day hair and his feet were bare, but he had this tiny pink bundle cradled in his arms and was looking at her with wonder and amazement. He was so handsome. Almost beautiful. I know you shouldn’t say that about a man, but he was. I fell more in love with him that morning when I didn’t think that was possible. Just tumbled right over the edge. I knew he would be a good daddy early on in our dating relationship and he has done everything to prove my suspicions correct. To see that little girl adore her daddy is priceless to me. We are a very blessed family of three.

Crazy Hair Day

I know I JUST updated the blog, but this was Emma's hair this morning. I felt it deserved a post all by itself.