Bailey's Kitchen Antics

I had to laugh as I was washing some dishes before dinner yesterday. Bailey is enamored with the dishwasher; not only can she open it, but it also has a switch she can flip and a dial she can turn (hooray!). So needless to say I wasn't surprised when she came into the kitchen and started playing with the dishwasher. But I WAS surprised at what she did: first she took two spoons and a fork out of the silverware tray, then she headed over to the kitchen table. She carefully placed a spoon in Daddy's spot, a spoon in Mommy's spot, and a fork in Emmy's spot. Then, satisfied that she'd "set" the table, she went back to the dishwasher, took out a cup, went over to the refrigerator, got up on her tippy-tippy toes, and pressed the cup onto the water dispenser. After she got about a tablespoon of water in there, she drank it! Just like a big girl--and she didn't even drip! So cute!!

Ariel panties...

I tossed Emmy a pair of Ariel panties to put on after her bath. She looks at the picture on the front (which I have to admit IS a sort of odd-looking Ariel) and says, "Mom, why Ariel looks like that?"

"I don't know honey."

"I think she's frustrated because King Triton won't let her go to the mall."

HAH!

...that will hurt!

I took Emily and Bailey to the park today, and after we got home I was wiping Emily's hands and face when I noticed a huge smear of dirt on her arm. I said,"Man, Emmy, you are a MESS. I should just throw you and your sister in the bath."

Her reply? "Mommy, you can't 'frow' us in the bath. That will hurt!"

Just like Mommy

Bailey really had me laughing on Monday night when she disappeared into Emily's room, found the "princess" shoes (hot pink plastic high heels with silver stars on the tops), put them on, grabbed a shopping cart loaded up with two babies and all sorts of groceries, and paraded out into the living room. I'm surprised she didn't have a purse, too; she usually makes sure to grab one when she plays "shopping"! Hearing her clop-clop down the hall was so cute, too. I'm still amazed I was able to get a decent picture--she usually takes off before I get the camera ready! She's SO cute!

Just for laughs

Lately Emily has said a few things that have really had me laughing. Here are some of them.

We were watching Food Network together, and Tyler Florence was talking about herbs that would work with the particular dish he was making. He mentioned "bay leaves," and Emily said, "Mom! He just said 'Bailey!'"

Yesterday Emily wanted to watch Pinocchio. She came running up to me with the DVD in hand and said, "Mommy, can I watch Dopey-o?"

After Emily and I had finished brushing our teeth one morning, she helped herself to my lotion and started putting it on her arms, hands, and face. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "You have to put lotion on every day, okay, Mommy? It makes your skin nice and 'hell-fee.'"

And finally, I asked Emily if she wanted to do something special with Mimi over the weekend. She said, "Maybe I can go to Disney World with Mimi!" I replied, "Mimi doesn't have tickets to Disney World. She won't be able to take you there." Her reply? "Well, then where does Mimi go to play?" I said, "I don't know. You'll have to ask her!" LOL!

Sad News

Dear Family and Friends,
We went for our first ultrasound today and were devastated to learn that our baby had stopped developing at 8w5d and did not have a heartbeat. On Monday I will go to South Seminole Hospital to have a d&c done. We are heartbroken and grieving the loss of our child, but we thought it was important to tell you what happened.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Love, Will and Jennifer

"I didn't like the shocks."

Emily had her 4-year-old checkup today. She is usually great at the doctor's office. She's such an easygoing kid and she doesn't mind getting her ears checked or temperature taken or anything like that. She hopped right onto the scale ("Mom! I weigh "firty-eight" pounds!) and suffered through getting her blood pressure taken twice because the nurse pushed the wrong button on the machine. But then the nurse did the finger prick to get a blood sample to test her hemoglobin. Well, she was NOT happy about that. She cried, "Mommy, the poke hurt very badly!" I finally got her calm and she had a nice visit with the doctor, who said that Emily is growing well and she looks really healthy. Then she told me that Emmy was due for four immunizations. If I'd had any idea that it was going to be nearly 20 minutes before the nurse came back, I wouldn't have said anything to Emily. But when the doctor left the room I told Emmy that she was going to get another poke. I didn't want to use the word "shot" because she was already upset and I didn't want to make it worse. And that was probably good thinking, because the word "poke" was VERY upsetting to her. She immediately started crying, "I didn't like the poke! I don't want any more pokes!" I'd calm her down and then she'd start crying again. This from the child who, at her 3-year checkup, barely blinked for the shots! She just looked down at her arm, looked at the nurse, and said, "Thank you." But this year, trauma!! The poor kid was hysterical after getting the four shots. I couldn't get her calm so I offered for her to call Daddy. She said that would help so we gave him a call. As soon as I handed her the phone, she started crying again: "Daddy, I had to get four shocks. I didn't like the shocks!" The good news is that she won't have to get any more "shocks" until she's 11 years old!

Name that Baby!

Emily and I had the funniest conversation on our way home from Publix today. She asked, "Mom, when the new baby comes out of your belly, will he have a name?"

"Yes, we'll give the baby a name."

"Is it gonna be Bailey?"

"No, we already have a Bailey. I think we'll choose a different name this time."

"Well how about [mumbles something incoherent] or Julian?"

"Julian? I don't know."

"How about Bolt?"

(Trying unsuccessfully not to laugh) "Bolt is a very good name for a dog but I don't think it's a good name for a kid."

"How about Mittens?"

"Mittens? No."

"I know! Penny!"

"Mommy doesn't really like the name Penny."

"Well I like the name Penny. How about Dora or Boots?"

"I think we're going to choose a name we all like. And it isn't going to be Dora or Boots. If the baby is a boy, we already have a name. He'll be named William, same as Daddy. But we'll call him Liam. Can you say 'Liam'?"

"No."

"You won't even TRY?"

"No."

"Well you can say William, right? Liam is just the end of William."

"Oh. Liam."

I think she's still pulling for "Bolt."

The Naughty List

I just overheard the funniest thing. Emily was writing in her notebook (okay, scribbling) when Bailey came over to check it out. Emily looks up, holds her arm out in front of Bailey, and says, "No, Bailey. You're on the NAUGHTY list." Hah!! I have no idea where this kid gets it!

Cookie Decorating

Today we invited our friends Isabella and Lydia over to decorate sugar cookies with us. The girls all had so much fun! I don't think I've ever heard them be so quiet! It was really interesting to watch them decorate; I thought each girl's decorating style was indicative of her personality. For instance, Emily, who is sort of fearless when it comes to just about anything, who will try anything and isn't timid, decorated a ton of cookies because her philosophy was to just smear a bunch of frosting on there, dump on some sprinkles, and viola! Done! So her cookies were messy and creative--she had blue, green, and white striped Christmas trees, green stars, you name it. She just did whatever she felt like doing!

Bella, on the other hand, is a much more careful, deliberate child than Emily is. So she didn't decorate nearly as many cookies. She carefully spread icing in an "appropriate" color on each cookie, then added sprinkles like a surgeon--delicately and one at a time! Her cookies were beautiful and absolutely nothing like Emily's!

Lydia was having a grand old time decorating until her cookie broke. She was very upset about it and she was crying until I whispered, "It's okay; just eat it!" She said, "Okay!" and that made everything better!

Bailey napped through 90% of the cookie decorating but she was very excited to do a cookie when she woke up. She was eating the cookie and the frosting while she was decorating it. Emmy helped her with her frosting.

We also listened to Christmas music and drank hot cocoa, thanks to Susan's hot chocolate machine! It was delicious and it really felt like Christmas. What a great day!

A FANTASTIC Birthday Party at My Gym!

Emily's 4th birthday party was a huge success. I was so pleased with the many fun activites that the My Gym staff had planned for her and her friends. The kids had lots of free time to play and explore the gym, and they also got to participate in singing and dancing, a "snowball" fight, color tag, ride a spinning swing, and take a "space flight" on the zipline! Emily was dressed up and paraded around (which she LOVED), and when we had birthday cake everyone got a candle to blow out and make a wish for Emily. It was so much fun. I was exhausted after it was over but I know Emily had a super special day!

Emily's 4th birthday!

Oops--I haven't been on here in a while! We have had some fun times lately. Most recently we celebrated Emily's 4th birthday by taking her to the Magic Kingdom and having a special dinner in Cinderella's castle. Emily LOVED it. We got to meet Cinderella, and then during dinner the Fairy Godmother and some of the mice came to wish Emily a happy birthday! She got a special cake and the Fairy Godmother sang to her. We also got to watch the fireworks from inside the castle, which was like our own VIP private viewing area. Besides that, we also went on every ride that Emily wanted to do, including the race cars, teacups, magic carpets, "Philharmagic," and her favorite of all--Buzz Lightyear. She used her birthday money to buy a Cinderella gown and necklace. It was a wonderful day.

Visit with Santa

Tonight we were in the mall and as we were walking, I said to Will, "You know who's here, right? S-A-N-T-A." Emily looks up and says, "You said Santa, Mom?" LOL. I guess our days of spelling things out are O-V-E-R!

Emmy did get a chance to see Santa (Bailey, shockingly, wanted nothing to do with him), and she told him that she needed a teddy bear, because she has three friends but not a teddy bear. Her "friends" are big Jaguar, Baby Jaguar, and Puppy, who sleep with her every night. I guess she wants to add a teddy bear to the mix. Then she asked for a scooter. Santa said, "Anything else?" And Emily replied, "Mommy likes peanuts." Hah! I have no idea where that came from!

Baby #3 on the way!

We recently found out that our family will be expanding once again! Our new baby will be due sometime around July 14, 2010. We had the funniest conversation with the girls about this. Will said, "Emmy, do you remember when Mommy had Bailey and you became a big sister?"

Emily replied, "Yeah."

"Do you think Bailey would be a good big sister?"

"Yes."

"Well, what would you think of having another baby sister or maybe a baby brother this time?"

"Noooooo." (in a voice that says, "You guys are pulling my leg!")

"But what if you had another baby sister or brother?"

"Nooooooo. I already have Bailey."

"Well Mommy is going to have another baby."

"Noooooo."

"Bailey, do you want to be a big sister?"

(Shakes her head no).

LOL!

I still don't know if Emmy understands or if she thinks we were teasing her! I guess she has lots of time to adjust, though.

Halloween

We had SUCH a great Halloween this year. I think it was even more fun because Emily anticipated it so much; when she woke up on the 30th, her first words were, "Mom, is it Halloween?" We also did something special this year, which was to have our good friends and Emmy and Bailey's Mimi over to share dinner, go trick-or-treating together, and then have dessert. It was a blast.

Bailey quickly understood the concept of trick-or-treating, and I was impressed that she walked the entire half-mile long block! She threw a bit of a fit when I was dressing her in her costume, but we were able to distract her and I am so glad she wore it because she looked SO cute!! Emily was so funny; after every house, she'd run back to me and yell, "Mommy! I got CANDY!!!" She also delivered this monologue: "Mommy, I didn't like the scary things. I saw that 'skilly-ton' and it was scary but it's ok because it 'haves' batteries. So it is only pretending. But I don't like 'skilly-tons.'" LOL! It was sort of a hard year with the "scary things." There were entire stores she wouldn't enter and aisles she wouldn't venture down because of a costume, mask, or decoration that she found disturbing.

All in all, I have to say this was probably the best Halloween I've ever celebrated. There is nothing like experiencing things through the eyes of your child.

Anticipating Halloween

This morning, Emily came running out of her room--she is one of those people who wakes up raring to go--leaped into my arms for a hug, and said, "Is it Halloween?" She can hardly wait! I told her she'd have to wait until tomorrow, but that today we would make chocolate covered spiders. She LOVED that idea. We just finished making them. I saw Sandra Lee make something like this on Food Network yesterday, but I changed the recipe a little.


Chocolate-Covered Spiders
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter
6 C Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 C white chocolate chips
thin pretzel rods

In heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt together semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter. Reserve 2/3 C mixture for "gluing" and decorating and pour remaining mixture over cereal. Stir to combine. Spoon onto waxed paper and add pretzel "legs" and white chocolate chip "eyes." Coat tops of spiders with additional chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Allow chocolate to harden (place in refrigerator or freezer to speed up the process).

We also made some spider "webs" which were just balls of the cereal mixture decorated with the chocolate. The spiders were taking a while to assemble, especially with my 3-year-old helper who kept eating the pretzels and white chocolate chips!

Imaginary Friends

Emily all of a sudden has an entire cast of imaginary friends. A few days ago, she came parading into my bedroom and announced, "Mom, see all of my friends? This is Charlie and that's Neefan (I guess she meant 'Ethan' but she said 'Neefan'). See? They are all behind me!" Well that was the first I'd heard of Charlie and Neefan. Today Jolie joined us in the van on the way home from Target; she wasn't sitting in her seat or wearing her seatbelt. She was being a funny clown. But Mommy laid down the law: if Jolie was going to ride in the car, she had to sit in her seat and wear a seatbelt. Emmy assures me that she got right into her seat and buckled up, but she was still being a funny clown. I wonder how long this phase will last? :)

To the mall!

Today I had some errands to do so I told the girls I'd take them to the mall for a snack and to play a bit. They usually enjoy that and the bonus for me is that it is inside and air-conditioned (still in the 90s here in Florida in October!!) On our way to the playground, we passed the Disney Store, so Emily wanted to go in and look around. We checked out the princess costumes and shoes and looked at the toys and clothes. Then we headed over to Auntie Anne's to get a pretzel. Emmy was so sweet; she shared her pretzel sticks with Bailey and me. When she got to the last one (which really should have been hers), she broke it into three pieces so we could all have some. What a sweetie.

Then we headed downstairs to play. It was a quiet morning, with only a few young children around, so I had a seat and let Emmy and Bailey play for a while. After a few minutes a couple more families came to play, so the area where I was sitting started to get a little crowded. I scooted down a bit to make some room. Then I noticed Bailey looking for me. She was playing on this toy rocket, a huge smile on her face, and she wanted to show me that she had climbed up there by herself. Well, when she looked over to my seat, I wasn't there! I'd only moved down a couple feet, but I could see the panic rising as she looked at the faces of these other women: "Not Mommy, not Mommy, NOT MOMMY! Where's MOMMY?" But then she saw me and all was right with the world again.

There was a little boy in the playground who kept trying to hug Bailey for some reason. She IS super cute so that may have had something to do with it! Emmy goes up to him and says, "Be gentle to my little sister!" That made me laugh--if only she'd follow her own advice!

Finally, on our way out of the mall, Emmy said my favorite thing of the day: "Mommy, maybe I can find some pennies or pickles for my piggie bank!" So funny!!

Bedtime stories

Will usually reads Emily her bedtime story; he's really good at it and I like that they have that time together. A few months ago I checked out a library book called I Will Surprise My Friend by Moe Willems. Well, both Emily and Will loved it. In fact, Will has declared Moe Willems his favorite author. Now, every time I go to the library, I look for a Willems book that we haven't read yet. Unfortunately, I think we've exhausted our library's supply. So the other night Emily chose a book from her own bookshelf for her bedtime story. Then she took it to Daddy in the living room and said, "It's The Giving Tree [by Shel Silverstein]. But it's not by Moe Willems." Hah!!

Also on the reading front, Emily is doing so well learning how to read. She checked out Go, Dog, Go! from the library and when we got home, she started reading it by herself! This is a book she's never seen before, and she just cracked it open and started reading! I was so proud.

Bailey also loves books although she rarely sits through more than a couple pages. She is just too squirmy right now! But every time she disappears, it is into Emmy's room to pull books off the shelf and look through them.

Shower Time

When most people take a shower, they are alone, enjoying the quiet, relishing the warm spray, possibly planning out their day or maybe unwinding from it. Well, I am not most people. When I take a shower it is like a three-ring circus. Those ten minutes are virtually the only time (except nap time and bed time) that my children are unsupervised. I have my shower down to a science, and I am rarely in there for longer than ten minutes, but BOY, the heck that can break loose in ten minutes never fails to amaze me.

First, Bailey comes in with a toy, which she starts banging on the shower glass. Once I get her to stop doing that, she plays peekaboo with me by looking in the door, then looking in the panel right next to the door. (Mind you, this is all clear glass so it's not like she can hide behind anything.) She leaves and Dioji comes bounding in. He likes to check things out. He usually sits guarding the door for a few seconds, and then he's off again. Next is Emmy. "Mommy, can I take a shower with you? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?" Me: "No, you are already dressed and I am almost done." (Leaves, pouting. Sometimes manages some crocodile tears.) Then comes the really fun part. Now everyone is out of the bathroom, and I can't see them, but I can hear them. And what do I hear? Thump. THUMP. THUMP THUMP. "WAAAAAAAAA!" Never fails. Every day. I yell, "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?" Emily yells back, "NOTHING" (which she pronounces "nuh-fing"). Bailey comes back in, crying. I say, "What happened?" Bailey doesn't really talk yet so she just cries some more. Then she leaves. Emily and Dioji run back in. Emily has Dioji's toy. She starts bopping him on the head with it. He jumps up and grabs it, and she runs out, dragging him behind her. Bailey comes back in. She's happy again. I turn off the water. She starts trying to pry the shower door open. I open it, and she gets so excited like she hasn't seen me for a week. I'm wrapping my towel around myself and she's practically jumping up and down, arms raised, yelling, "Up, up, up!"

Nine minutes have passed since I turned on the water and got into the shower. It's no wonder I am exhausted! :)