A Big Girl, a Bed, and Bunches of Boo Hoos

I know it's been awhile now since I've posted. By the time I get home from school, I have no energy and I still have to take care of Emmerson. Believe me, she definitely keeps us busy. You'll see why soon.

But first...thought I'd update those of you who read my blog but don't get to see her often.

Oh our sweet Emmerson. She's twenty months and growing by leaps and bound...waaaay too fast, if you ask me. It seems like she adds a few words to her vocabulary every single day and it never ceases to amaze us how incredibly smart she is. I know I sound biased since I'm her mommy, but her daycare teachers and nursery workers have also said the same thing. Those kinds of things just make a mommy proud. Our little "Boo Boo" can say a few simple sentences like "Sit up", "Get down", No, no, Bay-yee (Baylee, our dog)", "I seepy (sleepy)", "Tiss (kiss) boo boo" and her newest from tonight, "I show Daddy" and "I show Mommy." She can identify all of her body parts and even a few animals and their sounds such as dog, cat, horse, sheep, and cow. We are working on her manners and she is getting pretty good at remembering to say please and thank you, which end up sounding like "Pees" and "Day-doo." Emmerson is very independent and loves to read and play by herself. We are SO thankful for that. When I read her favorite book to her, I'll leave out the last word of the sentence and she'll what they are supposed to be. She is truly a little comedian and will do anything for a laugh, even if it means repeating someone else's words. Currently, her favorite things include running, jumping, watching Praise Baby, singing, reading, being with family, playing peek-a-boo, and climbing.

Climbing. Like all toddlers love to do, especially her. Apparently, she loves it SO much, that last night, she decided to take it to the next level....FROM HER CRIB.

Yes, you read that right. If you know Emmerson at all, you knew it'd happen one day (and pretty soon, too). She didn't do it just once, mind you. The little escapee got out THREE TIMES.

The first time it happened, dh was in the living room and I was on the computer. Emmerson was in her crib and supposed to be SLEEPING. All of a sudden, I heard a "THUD" and ran into her room. "OH MY GOOOOOOSH!" was the first thing I said when I saw Emmerson standing on the floor looking at her crib with an expression of, "Holy Cow! Did I just escape?!" I asked her how she got out of there, but she ignored me and decided to lie flat on her stomach with her arms and legs spread out like she was swimming. All I could do was laugh. Dh came in and we just stared at one another, our eyes saying, "The time has finally come."


We wanted to see how the little escapee did it, so dh put her back in her crib and caught this second crib escape on video.

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Simple. Just like that. We've been calling her Houdini lately. She can get out of ANYthing. Just yesterday, she slid her way out of her stroller. Twice.

After realizing that she might be climbing out all night, we decided to tie her crib bumpers to the top of the crib rails and head/footboards to ban her from using them to climb out. Through the crack of the door and the lights off, we watched our little monkey swing her long leg over the crib rail and scale down the front of the crib with ease. UNbelievable.

What to do now? I regularly read a blog that a mother of quads writes. Once her little toddlers came to the age of crib-climbing, she got advice from other quad mommies to take the cribs out and just use the mattresses and get them used them as beds. Of course, everything not toddler-friendly had to be taken out for safety purposes. And so, even though we don't have quads (whew!), we decided to use this advice, and that is exactly what we did last night. We took out ALL of her baskets of toys and the bookshelf (that isn't bolted to the wall). We had to turn her nightstand around facing the wall so she wouldn't open the door. Her lamp was taken out too and any outlets were safety-plugged. We took her mattress out of her crib and put it in the middle of the floor. No sense in putting her back IN b/c she'd climb out all night and we wouldn't get ANY sleep. All that was left in there was the glider, nightstand, dresser, and crib.

Her bookcase, baskets, and toys were put out in the hallway.

Our little angel asleep in her new "bed".


All the extras were thrown into the crib.




Her room is starting to look bare.

It didn't take too long for her to finally go to sleep. Today we took the bed apart and it's going upstairs until it's needed again (not for awhile).

Emmerson isn't the only one going through change. SO AM I!!! I had a huge mommy meltdown last night! Hearing Em run to the door, screaming to get out, just broke my heart. I guess when she does it in the crib, it's not as bad b/c she can't get out. She literally pounded on the door. It's worse now that she can run to the door and I had to shut it for the first time so she couldn't get out. Oh, she finally fell asleep after about thirty minutes.

But it.was.hard.

I went to bed before dh and once he came to bed, he heard me crying. I vented to him the whole, "She's growing up so fast and is not a baby anymore. " Oh, I'm tearing up right now just typing this. I know with the first, everything is a huge milestone because you've never experienced it before. Don't even get me started on potty-training. Oh, I'll be a complete mess with that too. I was crying about that as well. What I'll miss most is patting her cute little bootie and hearing the little diaper sound.


It's funny that just the other day, we were like, "What are we going to get Emmerson for Christmas?" Now we know. A bed. We're going to go ahead and get a twin bed and get guard rails so we won't have to worry w/ spending money on a toddler one. Gosh, she's gonna look so tiny in that bed.


Putting her down for a nap today was a mess...more so for me. I told her to lay down on her bed (mattress w/ sheets and blankets...it's not like a prison cell....lol) and she wouldn't. I thought I'd try the hard way and took all of her stuffed animals and her lovey (she calls it Bun-Bun), thinking that she'd lie down right away if I did. Nope. It took about an hour and a half for her to finally get to bed, but she did and slept for about two and a half hours.



I thought tonight was going to be another hard night. Earlier we had moved her mattress where the crib used to be and made up her "bed." Once we started winding down for bed, we read a book in the rocker together and then all three of us said our prayers. I had a nice, snuggly blanket tucked underneath her bed and showed her wear to lie down on her pillow. She's only known the comforts of her crib. We did our hugs and kisses and then I quickly ran out of the room with an "I love you" on the way out. She ran to the door, screaming, but calmed down in a matter of minutes. We peeked in a little later and guess where she was...in her bed, under the blanket, head on the pillow, with a book on her chest. That's how I always fell asleep too...when I had been studying, at least.


Awwwwww, right?

The room is actually dark. I just had the flash on.

I gently took the book away and pulled the blanket up to her neck and tiptoed back out, closing the door behind me. Mission accomplished!! Let's hope this keeps up! Guess we'll need to tire her out every night before bedtime. hehe We decided that we're going to continue letting her get used to her own area and let her sleep on the mattress while we look for a twin-sized bed in the meantime.


Please pray for me, as it is harder on me than Emmerson, because I'm having to face the fact that she is growing up and not a little baby anymore. Transitions and new milestones are NOT easy for first-time moms, at least not for this one. I've been encouraged by a few to remember to take plenty of pictures and video and cherish the memories we have with her because they really grow up way too fast. It's a bittersweet feeling. When they're a baby, you want them to hurry and get a little bigger so they can do some things on their own. Once that time comes, you hate that they don't need you anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for her, but at the same time, I just want her to stay a little girl forever because I'll know I'll miss those baby "firsts." Sigh.



Does all this emotional babbling mean it's time for another one?

Wordless Wednesday

Time Out A.K.A. "The Corner"

Fearless got in trouble tonight for purposely dumping her milk on the living room floor. AS IF our carpet isn't dirty enough (and we're most likely going to get hardwood flooring soon...thanks Emmerson and Baylee), Miss Em decided to add yet another milk stain to the floor. She thinks it's a game since it comes out of certain sippy cups so quickly and easily. Time to put those away in the back of the cupboard, I guess.

She's been told numerous times that this isn't allowed and has been disciplined for it. Usually she doesn't cry.

Tonight we tried a different approach. Daddy made her sit in the chair for one minute and face THE CORNER. She hated it. And she cried her head off. Hysterically. You would've thought she'd been there forEVER.

I couldn't help it. I HAD to take a few pictures. Why? One, because I had to have proof that something actually WORKED with her.





And two, it reminded me too much of the countless times that I spent in the corner at her age...at least from what I've seen in pictures, specifically this one:



Like mother, like daughter. Notice any resemblance?

At the Fair

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the fair. It was Emmeron's first fair experience ever. (Little did we know that this also was the night before everyone but Emmerson got sick with the dreadful stomach virus. )

We all had a good time and Emmerson even got to ride a few rides. I'm sure she wasn't tall enough for most of them, but they let her on anyway, as long as one of us rode with her. We stuffed our faces with Pronto Pups, corn on the cob, Diet Coke, a bottle of water, and a funnel cake. Steve also had some kind of sandwich, but I forget what it's called. All of that probably added up to $27,362.57. Okay, maybe not quite that much, but you get the point; when you go to the fair, you're GONNA spend some serious dough.

We enjoyed ourselves at the petting zoo. Emmerson? Not so much. I'm surprised that "Fearless" didn't want to be near the goats. That's a first. We rode a few rides with Emmerson and we each had some tickets left over to go on a ride by ourselves. We both realized that riding by yourself at the fair is just not as much fun.

By the time 8:30 rolled around, we knew it was time to scoot ourselves out of there because the little one was getting tired. She laughed and smiled all the way to the exit. I think her first fair experience turned out to be a great one!

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"Fearless" Curious George Strikes Again

By now, you probably have a good idea of how adventurous Emmerson is. Do you remember this post? Since then, we have added to her list of nicknames-Fearless. She is hardly afraid of anything, which also includes spankings from her mom and dad. That is one strong-willed child.

This video clip was taken last Saturday morning. Let me set the scene for you.

Emmerson likes to roll her high chair into the living room. She can do it even if the wheels are locked. She had just done this and I didn't think anything of it because she does it all the time for her own amusement. I was sitting in one of our cozy living room chairs and was reading a magazine or looking at something else. I can't remember. The next thing I knew, I looked up and saw Emmerson sitting ON TOP OF the tray of her high chair. "OH MY GOODNESS!!!" was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I immediately jumped up because I thought she would fall at any minute. She didn't. I put her safely back on the floor and wouldn't you know it, two seconds hadn't even passed before the little booger started trying it again.

So this time I grabbed the camera.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

That girl...she amazes me. Fearless, I tell you.

I'm Baaaaaack!

That's right. I'm alive!! (Thanks to all THREE of you that have noticed I've been gone.)

I have been awakened from the dead....sort of. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a zombie-like state once I get home from school.

I had forgotten how long it takes me to get into a routine after being out all summer. No wonder my fifth graders can't remember what a VERB is in the second week of school. No wonder they forgot that you just can't get up out of your seat whenever you feel like it. No wonder they forgot that they have to say "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am", even if most of them have been required to say it at school from kindergarten up to the present. No wonder they've forgotten that you just can't YELL OUT the answers.

So what do you do when you forget about those things?

You have to relearn them.

And that's what we've been practicing since school started two and a half weeks ago...routines and procedures. Of course, we've thrown in lessons and homework and things of that nature. I started that on the third day of school. I, myself, am finding it difficult getting back into grading papers and sorting paperwork and the like. Sigh. Such is the life of a teacher. Our work is never done.

I've got two pretty good classes this year. I can tell that they'll be a lot easier than the ones I had last year. Let's just say that at the awards ceremony at the end of the year, last year's group was described by the P.E. teacher as the "most spirited" group they'd had since they've been at the school (five years). I'd have to agree. I remember when they started out as second graders. They were definitely "The Unshushables."

I digress.

Since I've had trouble getting back into a routine, I haven't had much time to blog. That would definitely explain why my last post was on August 12th. Sorry. NO TIME!!!

I also haven't really had much exciting news to share or write about. I guess I need to work on gathering up some stories for future posts.

I do have one video that is uploading this very moment and will be soon be ready to share. You're gonna love it.

Until next time...

~Shannon

I've Got Some Catching Up To Do...

....but I'm afraid I won't have a ton of time to do it right now.

Yes, friends, school is back in session. And I'm plain.WORN.OUT. (That's for extra emphasis, but it's really not even big enough for how tired I am.)

My days have been filled with ENDLESS amounts of paper work, taking up money and forms, and trying to get my kids used to school and classroom procedures.

I know there's more that I can name, but really, my brain is so worn out right now that I can't think, and also because...there's no time.

Why? I have Back to School Night tonight at 6:30. That's 40 32 minutes from now. And I'm on the computer.

So maybe one of these days I can actually sit down and write a good post...when I'm not laying out on the couch after a LONG day of work (which isn't often).

Sorry I don't have time to make it funny tonight.

Maybe next time.

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

And don't think I'm singing this tune merrily.

Today is the last day of summer vacation. I have to go to bed in an hour, so I can get up early tomorrow for school. Guess which dwarf that makes me. I'll give you a hint. It's not Doc, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, Dopey, or Sleepy (although I probably WILL be Sleepy tomorrow).


The only one left is this guy:

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE teaching and I LOVE kids.

I'm just not ready to start back so soon.

On a side note, I was looking at a clip on YouTube of that song from Snow White because I wasn't sure whether to spell it "Heigh" or "Hi" and I NEVER knew that they said, "It's home from work we go." I always thought it was, "It's off to work we go." Hmmm. I've sung it wrong this WHOLE time, like, for 20+ years?! Well...guess that explains the blog title.

Wordless Wednesday

The Dancing Queen

This is one of the video clips of Emmerson dancing it up during the water show at the Opryland Hotel.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hey, Tiger Fans: We Met Joey Dorsey!!

Well, that was the PLAN for tonight anyways. Too bad it fell through. And that really stinks.

Here's what REALLY happened:

FYI: We are Tiger fans! This year was the first time we had season basketball tickets and went to almost all the home games. I wore Memphis shirts to school on just about every game day that I could (and even wore one the day after the Vols lost to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen match up). We even bought CSTV (and canceled after b-ball season) just so we could see the games that weren't shown on the other available channels. THAT'S how dedicated we are to this team.

I have Joey Dorsey as a friend on my Myspace (not that he ever sends me a comment or anything, but shh...that's not the point!). ANYway, he wrote on his status thing earlier this week that he was going to be signing autographs at Circuit City in Collierville today (Thursday) from 5:30-7:30 p.m. It was for their Grand Opening.

Steve and I emailed back and forth today and I asked him if he wanted to go. "Sure, we'll go." Great! We wouldn't be able to leave, though, until he got home from work, which would be shortly after five sometime. He also wanted me add that he canceled a (potential) golf game for this afternoon so we could go to this signing.

We both had Tiger shirts on, Emmerson was wearing a cute blue and white striped dress, and we had things for Joey to sign. And we remembered to bring the camera.

So by the time we got everyone and everything loaded in the car, it was about 5:15. I'm glad I brought the snacks because Em was being crabby. I couldn't blame her. It was dinner time for her and we were quite hungry ourselves.

Fast forward an hour...because that's how long we had to drive to GET to Collierville.

We pulled into the Circuit City parking lot and noticed that it was pretty packed. A long line of people formed down the sidewalk and wrapped around the corner. "Goo! Look at that line, Shannon!" was all Steve could say. But we expected that.

What we did NOT expect is what is to follow.

After finding a close parking space, we decided that I'd wait in line while Steve and Em drove to one of the deli shops at the mall to bring us back something to eat. I grabbed my camera and purse and made my way to the never-ending line. That's when the not-so-muscular security guard stopped me.

"Are you coming for the signing?"

"Yes."

"Well, they told me to tell everyone else coming that the line stops at those people over there because he has to leave by 7:30."

Are you KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? is what I said...but only in my head.

Instead, I probably had a disgusted look on my face. And rightly so! Because you know why?

WE HAD JUST DRIVEN AN HOUR TO SEE THIS GUY!!

"Okay," was all that fell out of my mouth. I had more to say, oh did I, but nothing that I was brave enough to voice. I noticed people staring at me as I turned to walk away. They were probably thinking, "Aww, she can't get Joey's autograph? I should really give her my spot. Whew! I'm glad it's her and not us!"
No more? You're telling me that I came all this way and no more can get in line?! I wonder if that's how Mary and Joseph felt when everyone kept telling them, "Sorry, there's no more room." (Yeah, I know I wasn't about to deliver a baby, but still....I want you to understand how I FELT.)

Hey, advertisers! I've got a brilliant idea. Do you think next time in your radio ad you could possibly say, 'Be sure to get there early enough, like before sunrise, even if you have to drive from Timbuktu, or you just MIGHT be turned away by wimpy Circuit City security guards.'?

But I digress.

So I called Steve and broke the news. "Hey, they said no more people can get in line, so come and get me." As I watched the car turn back around, others who had received the same disheartening news headed back to their cars with heads hanging down, shoulders slumped.

Once I got in the car, Steve even tried one.more.time and drove up the guard and said, "We just drove an hour to get here. Can't we just get in line?" And then the guard proceeded to tell him the exact same thing he told me. It was no good.

Disappointed and disgusted, we drove away and went to Red Robin to eat dinner. It turns out that a group of girls who had just left from the signing sat down at the table next to ours. No fair. They must've gotten there early...or earliER than we did. Obviously.

Dinner was okay. We were both pretty bummed that Emmerson wasn't going to have a picture with Joey. He probably could've held her in just one of his hands. It would've looked pretty funny, actually. Funny, but cute. While we ate, the Red Robin (mascot?) was walking around the restaurant waving to folks and such. Emmerson waved to "it" and that's about it. As soon as it came near her, she would wrinkle up her face and almost produce some tears. She seemed brave, though, and kept waving, so Steve took her over to the Robin to see if she'd give it a hug. Nope. She clung to her daddy for dear life and turned her head. "It must be because it looks too much like a Jayhawk," he laughed to the Tiger fans sitting next to us. He got a good chuckle out of them too.

Pssst...In case you non-NCAA basketball fans don't "get it," he was referring to the Kansas Jayhawks. The ones who beat us in the national championship game this year.

We finished dinner and left around 7:15. We decided to go back to Circuit City to see if the line had died down at all. I sent Steve in with the camera and told him to call me if we could come in. He never called.

It turns out that all they did was move the super long line INside because it had started raining. The line stretched to the back of the store. No chance of an autograph tonight.

But here's where a little ray of sunshine dances into the story:

One of the security guards standing near Joey just so happened to be one of the guards Steve worked with when he was with First Tennessee.

"Steeeeeeeeeeeve! What's going on, man?" he said as he slapped his hand into a handshake. "Just brought the family up here to get a picture and autograph, but the line was too long." "Well, come on up here with me!" And Steve walked right up to the front.

He was about five feet from Joey when he took these pictures. Sure, that little boy doesn't look a THING like Emmerson, but that's okay. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Once we got home, I called my parents and told them our sad, sad story (sniff). Mom told me it would've been easier to have gotten a picture of him off the computer. Gee, thanks for the sympathetic words, Mom. But it's not really the same thing. And I don't know to Photoshop Emmerson into pictures. Dad was a little more understanding. He said I should've gone into the store, held out Emmerson in front of him, and said sadly, "Joey, that mean security guard said we couldn't get in line. Can you puh-lease take a picture with her?"

And in our what-we-should-have-done story....that Joey Dorsey...he would have.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I took these yesterday while Emmerson was napping. I had gone in to check on her and this is exactly how I found her. These pictures definitely go under the "Awwwww" category.

To Nashville and Back...and Everything In-Between

Summer has almost come to an end. It has flown by so quickly! Where did the time go? There are only eight more days of sweet, sweet summer left and it deeply saddens me. Do you know what that means?

We had to fit in just one more little vacation.

We had already been to Destin last month, so another big trip was out of the question. We like to take little weekend trips to Nashville every once in awhile because it's far enough to get to spend the night in a nice hotel, but close enough to home where the drive does not take a billion hours (like it seemed for Destin).

On Friday evening, soon after Steve got home from work, we packed the car up and left. Emmerson slept maybe an hour of the drive, while I stayed awake and kept Steve company. Oh, and it helped to listen to our Christmas cds too. (Yes, we basically listen to Christmas music all year round. We're dorky like that.)

We got to the hotel around 10 that evening. The place was crowded. Steve had to park in the way back...that would be the back lot. There was a big Premier bus parked in front of the hotel and about a million cars everywhere else. Do you know why? It's because of "the curse."

What is the curse? Well, without going into TOO much detail, let me just say that weddings and reunions (whether it be family or the 52nd Annual Class of 1956 High School Reunion with matching orange and blue t-shirts) always seem to follow us to the same exact hotel where we are staying. As a matter of fact, during our drive, we had just been talking about how many reunions and big events we'd encountered since we'd been married. I think this makes six. At least. But who's counting?

So back to checking-in...

We walked in and the first thing out of Steve's mouth in a sing-song voice was, "Matching teeee-shiiiiiirts!" Imagine that. I couldn't hold back the laughter and shook my head. UN-believable.

We got our room keys and went up to the fourth floor like they told us. We had to request a room change because the room SCREAMED coughed (get it?) of cigarette smoke. There was no way we would've been able to stay in there for two nights, let alone one. Steve was awarded the duty of going back down to handle it. He calmly told the lady of our situation. Rolling her eyes and letting out a huge sigh of disgust, the front desk lady said, "All of the rooms are non-smoking." "Well, someone definitely was smoking in this one,"Steve assured her.

A new room assignment and about ten twenty minutes later, Steve slowly walked off the elevator to the fourth floor where Emmerson and I had been waiting...and waiting....and waiting. Let me tell you, it's hard to keep an antsy toddler entertained, especially when it's way past her bedtime and her mama is tired. Do you know why we had to wait so long? While we we were waiting (again) on the elevator to go up to the 8th floor to our new room, Steve informed me that there were two girls, a middle school age and her seven-year old sidekick, riding up and down the elevator and pushing all of the buttons. I told him, "Wait 'til they get up here. Is that them?" In my best teacher voice, I politely but firmly said, "Hey, can y'all please quit pushing all the buttons? A lot of us have been waiting for awhile." They smiled nervously and nodded. I had embarrassed them. They knew it and I knew it. When we got to our floor, I looked down at the elevator. The girls weren't on it anymore. Hmm. Wonder why? *Shrug*


We had requested a baby crib and they had one, free of charge, waiting outside of the door to our room. We looked at it and laughed. It didn't come with all the bells and whistles of a new crib (which wasn't to be expected), but we knew it would manage for a couple of nights. It was also better than hauling the pack-n-play.

Once inside, I called my parents and told them we had arrived safely, while Emmerson explored her new surroundings. We got everything situated and got ready for bed. It was 10:40 by this time. Dad texted me and asked if Em was sleeping. "Not yet," I typed back and sent him this picture:

"Mommy!! I'm tired and this isn't my comfortable bed at home! Can't I sleep with you?!"


Let's fast forward a little...

We all FINALLY got to sleep and woke up the next morning early for breakfast since we knew it'd be crowded. One thing we LOVE about our favorite hotel is the free breakfast. It's not your typical doughnut and coffee type thing. We're talking omlets, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, fruit, and biscuits and gravy. Is your mouth watering yet?

After breakfast, the plan was to go shopping at Opry Mills and then come back to the hotel and rest, and then go to dinner and walk around the Opryland Hotel. I'll just tell you right now that we didn't go back to the hotel to rest because we spent all of our time at the mall.

I found a lot of great end-of-summer deals for Emmerson and a few things for myself. Steve was the great husband he always is and strolled Emmerson around while he patiently waited for me listened to his iPod that he brought with him. That's what he does to keep himself entertained when he goes shopping with me. He was even able to finish listening to the Harry Potter book. Emmerson totally missed her normal nap time since we got a late start to our day. Thankfully, she finally wore herself out and slept for about an hour and a half in the mall. Whew! Thank goodness for reclining strollers.

Around dinner time, we decided to just head directly to the Opryland Hotel. No time for rest.

Little Miss Independent. If one of us wasn't holding her hand, she'd run off.

It was getting close to dinnertime, but we first wanted to take Em on the little boat ride they have in there. We spent too much purchased on our tickets and waited about five minutes before boarding.

"I've got a Golden Ticket! It's all MINE and you can't have it!"

We didn't buy the overpriced photo of the three of us. I took our own pictures instead.

"Gosh, Mom, haven't you taken enough pictures of me yet?"

The Lochness Monster

After the relaxing ride, we found a place to eat and sit to watch the water light show that would start at 8 pm. Daddy went and got the food, while Emmerson entertained the family sitting at the table next to us by laughing at the teenage boy who was making funny faces at her.

The water show was very beautiful. It's set to fast-paced music and it was very funny to watch the little kiddos around dance crazy-like. Of course, Emmerson loved it and was a dancing queen from the beginning to the end of the show.

We took a few more pictures and let Emmerson walk around the garden path for a little bit without anyone holding her hand. She LOVED that and thought it was awesome that SHE got to make the ultimate decisions on which way to go.

I think the best part of the Opryland Hotel experience for Emmerson and for us...HANDS DOWN...was her toddling through the main lobby, crawling up the stairs, and running like a prison escapee in one of the big (and empty) carpeted ballrooms. Squealing and hearing her voice echo was so amusing to her. We definitely enjoyed that part the best because it was one of those happy moments that you etch in your memory and never, ever want to forget.

So....let's review the things we did there at the ol' Opryland Hotel that we've been to a countless number of times and what they were worth....

Parking= $16.00 + tax

Tickets for boat ride= $20.00
Greasy not-good-for-your-health cheeseburger and fries=$15.00

Light show= free with admission (so $17.42)

Watching Emmerson run around freely=Priceless

I wish I could get the video to load.

Once we were ALL worn out, we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed. No, not really. SOMEbody thought it was still play time. And I'll give you a hint. It wasn't me. Or Steve.

Future Gamer of America

"Ahhh! You found me, Mommy!"

I love to read books....upside down.

She finally was so worn out that she was literally crawling into her bed.

No, not really. She just likes to climb on things. That silly little monkey.

It didn't take too long before Em was out. We slept in later the next morning, but we still didn't miss out on our wonderful breakfast. We got everything loaded into the car and headed to a different mall in Franklin. I was good had spent almost all that I wanted to on Emmerson the day before, and I only bought her a cute pair of denim shorts that were on sale. Oh, and I couldn't resist the cute variety of hair bows being sold at a booth near the food court and snatched up twelve of those little suckers. They are totally worth the money and I even got a few to match outfits for the upcoming Tiger football season.

By 1 pm, it was lunch time. Late breakfast...remember? We went over to eat at TGI FRidays. Emmerson had cheese pizza and mandarin oranges (this is important for later). We enjoyed our meal, but we were all so very tired. Steve needed a pick-me-up to endure the treacherous drive home, so we were going to stop at Starbucks after filling up the car with gas one more time before heading home.

Emmerson was drinking her lemonade from her cup. Sometimes she drinks a little too fast and gets choked up a little. She did this a few times and I thought nothing of it. Then her coughs became deeper and stronger until it sounded more like dry heaving. Oh no, this is it! I thought. Somewhere between driving from the gas station to Starbucks, her lunch revisisted her....WHOLE. A big sea of mess covered her and her seat. I had to keep from gagging too. I told Steve to hurry up so I could get her cleaned up. He floored it and whipped into the parking lot, leaving me alone to clean up the grossness while he went in to get his drink and napkins..and some water. Gee, thanks a lot, I thought. By the time he walked back out, I was already done cleaning up E and had started on the seat. Thank goodness I had packed an extra package of wipes. Do you also know that Clorox travel wipes and travel-sized Lysol do come in handy in extreme emergencies? What life savers. The seat was cleaned up as best as possible. I had to have the windows rolled down to let some air in...or is it out? Anyway, regardless, Steve claimed he never could smell the stuff and said I have an extra sensitive smeller. I had to hold my breath to keep from doing the same thing. Emmerson was fine, by the way. I think she just ate too quickly and had more than her bitty tummy could handle. She slept for a good two hours. And just so you know, Steve scrubbed the seat and washed it with soap and water once we got home. Now it's Tide Fresh clean. Luckily for you, I didn't take a picture of that awful event. I wouldn't want to look at it and I'm sure you probably wouldn't either.

Because of our wonderful GPS system, we were able to shave off about half an hour off our drive home. It gives you the quickest route to anywhere, even it means taking you down the back country roads that don't seem to have much civilization. Steve started singing the Dueling Banjos song when we would see some not-so-normal things along the way. Thankfully, we arrived home safely late Sunday afternoon.

So.....we had an almost uneventful trip. Not too bad. We had loads of fun and made some more special memories on our vacay, even if it includes the dreaded curse and puking. That's what they're all about, right? The memories, I mean.

I can't wait to see what our next vacation brings.

PaPoo + Babysitting = Priceless Picture

My dad, who is also known as PaPoo, came over this morning to babysit Emmerson while I went and ran errands this afternoon. He always enjoys the time he gets to spend with her...as long as he doesn't have to change any stinky diapers!

As I headed out the door, I casually told him, "Oh, Emmerson's diaper needs to be changed."

"Noooo! You do it before you go," begged PaPoo.

"Nope! I gotta go!" I said as I was already halfway out the door by then.

Once I came home, I asked dad if he changed Emmerson. "Yep, but it was only a pee diaper." I'm sure he was relieved by that.

Jump ahead a few hours to about one o'clock this afternoon....

Emmerson had finished lunch, so the plan was bath and then nap. She's always so, so excited about bath time. I have to watch her or she'll step right into the tub...clothes and all.

Now something you may not know about our daughter...she does not like to be still or held down. So making her be still while taking her clothes and diaper off is not the least bit enjoyable....especially if she knows a bath is waiting for her.

Imagine, if you will, what my reaction was when I unbuttoned her

onesie and saw this:

Yup, you guessed it. Immediate laughter. Oh, and of course I just HAD to grab my camera. Why? If you can't tell, her diaper is on BACKWARDS!!! She was so upset about it that she threw a fit and cried hysterically. No. Not really. She just didn't want to be still for the picture.

Wait! That's not all! Let me give you the view from the other side.

At least she won't be able to take it off herself.

Sorry Dad. I totally couldn't pass that one up. Sure, we've all done silly things like that at least once in our lives. First time parents? Probably. Older sibling? Maybe.

But Dad...REALLY? Didn't you change enough of OUR diapers when we were little to know which is the front and which is the back?

I guess now you know what this means. YOU get to be the diaper changer EVERY time you're with Emmerson.

This is proof that you need the practice.

I'm Not the Only One After All!

Well, well, well. It seems like I'm not the only crazy one in the world who gives feelings to inanimate objects. If you are clueless to what I'm talking about, you might want to start here first. (It's #10 on the list)

I just so happened to be reading on the Post Secret site just now and stumbled upon this:

And then two people replied to that secret:


-----Email Message-----

Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 11:10 AM
I'm the kind of person who can't separate a bunch of bananas in the store because they'll miss each other. I have to buy the whole bunch, or none at all.

-----Email Messge-----
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 12:41 AM
i buy the saddest "charlie brown" christmas tree i can find every year because i feel sorry for it, knowing no one else would ever choose it.i love that part of me.

So there. I'm not the only one who does it.

And for the record, my sister and I were talking about this very same thing today and she said she does that too. When she said that, I raised both arms in the air above my head and cried, "YEEEESSSSSSSSS!!! I'm not crazy after all!!!" Of course, I did this while sitting in a quiet little coffee shop. Any one sitting near us who might've heard me probably thought otherwise at that moment.

Wordless Wednesday

In Her Shoes

Emmerson LOVES shoes. She inherited that from me, obviously. For some reason, she takes hers off constantly. We've cut down on the shoe battles in the car by just BRINGING them with us and then put them on her once we park the car.

While she doesn't keep hers on, she gets a major thrill of walking around in "grown-up" shoes. I remember that same excitement of wearing my mom's shoes when I was a little girl.


Here is some video of her from one day last week, clunking around in my brown wedges.


Those are some mighty big shoes to fill, little one.

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