ICE ART

I found this online and decided to try it with Emmery.  She really liked it!

Last night we filled a balloon with water and stuck it in the freezer.  Today we took it out and the first thing we did was cut the balloon and peel it off...

Before we peeled it I asked her what she thought would be inside.  She said a red ball.

Next we sprinkled some salt over the top.  This was supposed to make some craters and cracks for the food coloring to fill...

Next I let Emmery choose which colors she wanted to drip.  I told her to do it very carefully, not to squeeze too hard.

It turned out pretty cool!  No pun intended :-)...

Surprise at 3am

So last night (well technically this morning) Marc woke up and started crying, I think it was around 2 am.  i let him cry, as i have been trying to do. we just got a new monitor so i reached over and turned the sound off.  it rotates back and forth between the two rooms, and i could see that he was moving around, em was still.  even with the sound off, i can still hear him screaming down the hall.  so letting him cry it out really sucks because i'm basically awake the whole time.  it had probably been about an hour of this, and then i hear something strange….  the pitter patter of little feet!!!!!!!  emmery walking into my room!  she has learned how to easily climb into her crib, and she knows how to climb out but for some reason never really did it.  when she wakes up she usually just lays there and sings and talks until i come in.  so yeah, guess she decided to try climbing out, at 3 am!  meanwhile, marc is still wailing away.  so emmery climbs into bed between mikey and i, i bring marc in and nurse him on the other side.  once he's done i bring him back to bed and he goes right to sleep.  but emme is still in bed with us, tossing and turning, talking, etc.  we're like go the f to sleep or you're going back in your bed.  that didn't work. so eventually i just grab her and bring her up.  when we got up there she said she was scared of the "trucks."  only thing i can think of is one morning the garbage truck woke her up and scared her.  so i told her no, the trucks are all sleeping right now, like you should be!  so she lays down and i go back downstairs.  probably 10 minutes later, she's back.  she finally fell asleep, me too i think, and then minutes later mikey's alarm goes off : )  
this morning mikey asked her why she came into our room… "because i love you daddy"

So Let's Try Again

I've started a few blogs over the years but never keep up with them.  I'm gonna try again and see if I can do it right this time.
Today is Tuesday August 9th.  The kiddos are down for a nap so I have a few moments to get some thoughts down...
I decided to become a stay-at-home mom after my first year of teaching here in Houston.  I am loving it so far!  I feel like the kids are happier too, which is obviously the most important thing.

Emmery is almost 2 and a half.  I can't believe it.  At least once a day I look at her and go, weren't you just a baby yesterday?  How did I go to sleep last night and wake up to this little girl, walking and talking and thinking for herself?  In those moments I usually grab her and squeeze her and look at her face, studying every little detail, because tomorrow she may just look a little different, bigger, more grown up.
We have been working on potty training for a couple of months.  I wouldn't say that I am enjoying the process, but I would say that it has been relatively easy (insert lightning bolt here)!  Emmery is very cooperative, she likes to have her way, as most toddlers do, but she really potty trained her self.  All we had to do is tell her where to go potty and she did the rest.  She is so entertaining right now.  I don't know if that's the best way to put it but I don't know how else to describe it.  She has just recently gone from learning new words and saying one word at a time to saying full-blown sentences, and asking and answering questions.  It's so amazing what the mind is capable of.  One of the MANY cool parts of parenting is getting to witness that first hand.

Marc is 10 months old and has a smile that is pure sunshine.  And his giggle is infectious.  He is super attached to me.  And while I usually complain about it, I secretly thank him for it.  I know that soon he won't want to be hanging on mommy every minute and I'll wish for just one more day of cuddling and snuggling from my baby boy.  He is crawling and very close to walking.  He says "uh-oh" which is funny because that was Emme's first word too.  He loves his big sister and he face just lights up when he sees her in the morning.
They are so great together.  Emmery will go up and just give him a big hug and a kiss, and he'll coo and drool all over her.  I am so lucky.