Escape Artist

Well I think I cursed myself when I figured/said E would just be in a crib for a long time....

Last night around 3am i heard her crying, so i went to her room and she said "Mommy, rock you" (rock me). This has happened a few times recently...i wonder if it's her erupting canines that wake her up. I asked if her teeth her and she said "yes, mecine." I don't know how to take that cuz she really likes to take her medicine! So, are her teeth hurting or is she an advil junkie?! I gave her medicine, rubbed orajel on her gums and rocked her till she was about out. I put her back in the crib and she immediately stood up crying. I laid her down, sang about 12 songs as she requested and tried to leave. At this point I'd been in the room about 45 minutes.

Normally, I would just let her cry it out at this point, but my dad was in town on business...sleeping in the room next door so i didn't want her to wake him. I went in my room to see what Brett thought I should do (ok, I really went in the room frustrated and tired and told Brett it was his turn....which i don't do often since he has to get up for school...but i was at that point). Brett said to just let her cry for a bit. About 5 seconds later I heard a thud....and honestly i thought maybe my dad had heard her crying and he rolled off his bed or something! haha! THEN...I hear Emri say "Uh-Oh!"

I still didn't think it was her, but as i walked toward my door i heard her little hand on her bedroom doorknob and out of her room she came, whimpering....with her blanky and bear in tow. I thought i was dreaming! I took her into Brett and I think we were both shocked! I've never seen her even attempt to climb out....and then for her to do it in the middle of the night, it her dark room just floored me! Brett decided to take her back in her room and see if he could rock her to sleep. After about an hour of Brett rocking, singing, and trying to lay her back down (and me paranoid in bed wide awake)...and she trying to climb out with him right there I told him to bring her back into our bed so we could all just go to sleep. She was totally wired. Our pack n play was set up in our room from babysitting a friend's girl yesterday, so we put her in that and let her just cry. 5 minutes later she plopped over the side of that one too!

Finally, at 6am, Emri and I went downstairs and put Toy Story in, then watched lots of TV this morning.... I was delirious! Luckily at naptime she was so tired she fell asleep on my lap while i was reading to her (it had only been about 2 minutes after we sat down). That NEVER happens! It's been a long day!

As I type, Brett is putting Emri down for bed...i just heard some whimpers. I'm crossing my fingers she stays in tonight. It freaks me out because some of our friends had this same thing happen earlier this week with their little boy (who had also never attempted to climb out before), but he broke his arm when he fell out :( and I definitely don't want to do that again!! I guess we'll be taking the crib down sooner than planned.....

23 Months/35 weeks

WoW....next month we will have a 2 year old on our hands! That's pretty crazy!! We are really enjoying this little ball of energy! She has such a silly and sweet personality!

Lately, Emri:

• likes to count the pieces of food on her tray (even if there's only 3 left she still manages to get to 15 or so!)
• has added Dora and The Letter Factory to her list of shows she likes
• has decided to ban all silverware/plasticware and insists on using her fingers for all food, including yogurt, applesauce, and drinks (she prefers to dip and suck them off, or fingerpaint her tray). Drives mom crazy :)
• loves to see her shadow
• always helps carry "go-shees" (groceries) in from the car
• Thanks to "Letter Factory" she learned the sounds of all her letters in 4 days! SERIOUSLY! And can now recognize most of the letters when pointed to.
• Won't sing the ABC song when asked, but I catch her singing parts of it randomly throughout the day.
• Still enjoys nursery and calls it "Toys & Fun"....and asks for it several times/week.
• is getting more mischievious....and likes to test her boundaries and limits
• has a vocabulary that is growing daily. I'm always impressed what she remembers.
• Just got a new tooth (M) and the rest of the canines have been so close for a while I'm hoping they just come in already!
• likes to watch the snow plow come through the neighborhood....to which she exclaims "tracta goopin--no" (the tractor is scoopin snow).....her "s" never seem to come out!
• she likes to talk to 'baby bruddo' in my tummy and often gives him kisses.
• I've ALWAYS had to clip her fingernails/toenails at night while she sleeps. The past few weeks I've successfully done this while the TV is on if AND I promise her I'll paint them after! She loves to show off her "paint nails."
• she has perfected a sommersault! She gets so excited everytime she does one!
• can now reach the thermostat when standing on the couch. I didn't realize it was a problem till Brett and I were FREEZING last Sunday night. Ummmm, the switch was on "fan" and our house was 66 degrees (and probably had been for about 6 hours)!
• is getting/wanting to be very independent. She's always telling us "Emmi doo-eet"

I keep finding myself looking at pictures of Emri from newborn and up....it's crazy that next month she will no longer be the baby, but a big sister! We are so glad she's a part of our family!

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It's hard to believe that D-Day is just over a month away. YIKES! This pregnancy has flown by for me. I haven't been as good at recording stuff this time around...blogging about Emri is much more fun to me than listing my stats and watching the scale go up, up, up! But here's the latest:

• I'm to the point where I can't eat a whole lot at a meal; there's just no room! I end up feeling hungry about an hour or so after each meal. Brett laughs at me when I can't fall asleep at 11pm because I'm munchy...and then I go pour myself a bowl of cereal!
• I've been getting leg cramps lately. It seems they were a lot earlier on in my first pregnancy.
• Right now I'm loving Instant Breakfasts (chocolate), toast with peanut butter and grape jelly, cold cereal, and Simply Orange w/ Mango OJ...by the gallon :) I swear my weight gain is primarily OJ calories!
• I'm still sleeping pretty darn good....and in my own bed too! Hallelujah! Oh, how I pray I don't get to the point of moving to the couch again!
• My feet aren't swollen (yet)...and I pray I don't get to that point again (scroll down if you link)! haha!
• The other day I sneezed while Emri and I were snugglin' on the Love Sac watching TV....I was laying mostly on my back and when the sneeze came it made me do a little crunch very quickly. I felt like I was being STABBED over and over again on the right side, just below my belly button. I was rolling around on the floor moaning, tears flowing. Emri continued on with her show while I seriously contemplated calling an ambulance! After a minute the pain subsided, but it was so weird. I guess at this point I have no muscle tone and that little sneeze about did me in!
• I feel like I have carried this little guy a lot lower than I did Emri, although he definitely packs more of a punch than she did! He's constantly kicking my ribs! It's awesome (insert sarcasm)!
• The past few days I've been having a lot of regular BH contractions....not sure if it means anything....other than I'm getting closer!
• I am definitely a little nervous! I think it's because I know what to expect this time around.....but also excited to meet this new little person!

Wow, that was a lot of info.....but mostly for journaling on my part. If' you actually read it all, kudos to you. Hope you don't feel like you just wasted 5 minutes of your day :)

My mom's cousin, Anne, just sent me this pic last week that she found. I love it! Me and Momma Max riding a horse at the family reunion in Burley, ID. Probably summer of 1985. I would have just turned 3.

Anne said she can't believe how much Emri looks like me! Most of the time people say she's all Brett. I can see a little resemblance in comparison....what do you think??

Thanks for the picture Anne :)

New Years Eve 2010

To me, New Years Eve means hanging out with our favorite people, eating lots of crap food (for the "last time" before resolution time), playing lots of games, and getting a New Years kiss!! WE DID ALL OF THE ABOVE! The little babes got to bang pots and pans (well, pie tins really) around 7:30 before they went to sleep.

Emri and Sam making lots of noise! Emri was lovin it!

Then again around 10 (which Amanda always sets all the clocks to midnight so her bigger boys think it's time...genius) we go outside with the older kids to make some more noise...Amanda is always the ring leader! I love it!

After the kids were down we got a few "normal" pictures of the adults.

Jami, Rachel, Steph, Amanda, Krystal.

Dave, Josh, Brett, Brian, Dallin

I had to show you "NORMAL" first, because the following pictures are anything but that!!! We played a fun group charades game (I think it's called "Rollick"?)...we all look like fools, but these pics make me giggle! I think the first word we were trying to act out was

"black cat"

"superman" (wow, it's obvious why pregnant people shouldn't play this)!

"udders"....Amanda was really getting into it! :)

"White House".....not sure what's going on!

"tackle"

"Earthquake"....I love that Dave is heading for cover under the table! hahaha!

Thanks friends for the great night....and lots of laughs!!

Wildlights at the Zoo

The Columbus Zoo decorates everything in LED lights for Christmas. It had been soooo dang cold that we didn't have any desire to go out and wander through them (hence the previous posts about "drive-thru lights")! Finally, on New Years Eve day we welcomed a very strange day of 54 degree weather, so we took our chance!

We got there just before dark to take E to the polar bears, one of her favorites to see there.

Then wandered around a little once it got dark. There were a billion people there....probably because it was so "warm!" I forgot my tripod, so all the pics of the lights are blurry....

E trying to climb through the fence to get to the "kyiss-muss chee!"

There's a big pond/lake in the middle of the zoo. Most of the trees surrounding it were strung with lights and they flashed to the music playing. I'm glad we held out for a nice day!

More pics of New Year's Eve happenings to come....

Oh and go HERE for the yummy new Zuppa Toscana soup recipe (like Olive Garden's) I made last night. Even your husband will love it!

22 Months

I'm slacking at posting these on time, but I told myself I'd take the "chair pic" till she turns two....only 2 mos left! Well, then I guess it will be baby boy's turn and I'm sure E will appear in those too :) It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of the wiggly bug!

Emri seems so grown up to us lately!

• Shes putting more and more words together into "sentences," if you can call them that! It's really nice to have her communicate what she wants and feels to us. My favorite word she says right now is "bitey-wim"....go ahead...give it a guess? VITAMIN! I love it!
• With the cold she's had this past week and getting close to cutting her canine teeth we've had some crying at bedtime and through the night. ugh! She's NEVER had a hard time going to bed at night! Anyone else's child do this? I was asking the pharmacist the other day if there was anything I could give her to stop the coughing in the middle of the night?? She recommended Delsym, a very small amount, which has helped. And then she said "She's just preparing you for the baby!" Oh boy! Not really ready for the sleep deprivation just yet!
• She likes to pat my belly and say "baby bruddew;" now, if only she could tell us his name

What a little diva!

Tangled

We've been loving having Brett home during his break . We ventured out to the theater last week to see if Emri would sit through a movie. We went to see "Tangled" (which is darling, by the way)...and we actually saw the WHOLE thing! Emri loved the "BIG TV" (of course) and as long as she was snacking she was happy!

Her newest obsession is spinning till she's "deezy." She'll do it on her own, but prefers to have someone else's help (which always gets passed off to daddy)! Thank goodness I'm pregnant! :)