Who? Me?

 

This is a photo of Emma eating a rock. No, i have no idea why she would want to chew on a rock but i'm thrilled that she didn't swallow it. You would think that i didn't feed this child....

ALMOST finished unpacking! I may even be able to park IN the garage tonight! You never realize just how much stuff you have till you pack or unpack, do you? Nevertheless, many more things have made it to my donate pile and i've managed to sneak and throw out some of Robert's stuff. I'm planning on using that 'ol "We must have LOST it in the move!" line if he starts looking for something that i've 'misplaced' in the trash. The other house is on the market...i'm finished with everything so there isn't any reason for me to go back. But, i'm sure that i will; i can't believe that i'm so attached to this other house.

Over the past 5 days, Emma's vocabulary has changed and she is now REALLY taking in sentences and picking up words very rapidly. It's astonishing to watch and so much fun to see her put things together and speak in a sentence. My favorite line of hers so far is "Why Emma take long nap? Why??" and "Mama and Emma go pee-pee. Bye-bye, pee-pee!". Of course the last one is is usually said in a loud toddler voice in the middle of folks i don't know at the grocery store. Yeah, nothing like seeing folks giggle at you....

Off to see why there is yelling from Emma; it's suppose to be nap time...

In the back yard...

 

 

 

 

Still not home....

 

I know that we have been here at this new home of ours for over a month....but it still doesn't feel like home yet. My plants are happy as clams on the back porch area and Emma loves to 'wa-wa' them, and she has put little, tiny fingerprints on the windows so i'm hoping that any day now, it will sink in that i live here and i'm not just visiting.
I've found a Mother's Day Out Program for Emma for the fall that is very close by, but i (and Emma!) will miss her teachers where she is now. I'm also feelin' lucky that one of my MOPS friends lives barely 15 minutes away--and she took Emma and i out to show us that "No, you don't like in the sticks...."

The BEST news? THERE IS A SUPER TARGET ONE EXIT UP!!!!! WOO-HOO!! I love Super Targets! :) I can make friends with all of the clerks and service desk folks! ;)

This will be hard to believe, i'm sure....but i still have not met any of my neighbors. Not a one. I must stink and just don't realize it yet. Emma and i have been outside, but it is very quite here....except for the cool boxer puppy that lives next door that Emma thinks is ours. I'm not sure how it is possible that i haven't met anyone yet....i keep saying that i'm going to introduce myself and yet i haven't yet. So, no more complaining about not meeting my neighbors since i haven't tried, either. I'd bake something for them, but that's a sure fire way to never be friends with my neighbors seeing how i bake, lol...

Our old home is getting it's carpets cleaned today and i'm meeting our real estate person in the morning to take photos and to put the sign in the yard. Everything is blooming that i've planted there; the two Weeping Cherry trees we had plants last year are in full bloom....maybe i'll just go sit on the back deck one last time for a bit. I can't believe that i'm so sad about leaving that house and my neighbors. You would have thought that i've lived there for 20 years or something!

My friend Missy gave me her meatball and sauce recipe so i'm going to give that a try this weekend. Emma loves pasta (okay, so do i!) and i haven't really had good spaghetti since my Mom passed away. She made the best sauce....but she was one of those never-measure-anything-cooks. I haven't gotten her talent of cooking and baking, i'm afraid, but i haven't poisoned anyone yet, so it's good. ;)

Off to keep unpacking....what? You thought that i may be done? HAHAHAHAAAAA....sigh, not a chance.

Amazing....

Britains Got Talent 2009 Susan Boyle 47 Year Old Singer
Uploaded by kj1983

It's an Easter Egg Hunt....

 
 
 
 

...at Emma's preschool class. So much fun to watch the children look for eggs but it was even funnier that only one little girl truly "got it" and had a pail FULL of eggs. My Emma collected dandylions, rocks, a ladybug and only two little boxes of candy. The teachers were wonderful and gave everyone eggs to take home.

We are still planning our Easter dinner....i still have some time to plan! ;)

One little monkey jumpin'....

...on the bed. Mama just knows one day she's going to bust her head.

Guess who i just signed up for gymnastics? I tried to talk myself into signing up Emma for a dance class, but who am i kidding? She LOVES to run, loves heights, loves to climb on anything tall or high, loves to stand and walk on tables (yeah, i know, i know...), loves to be thrown up in the air (not by me, but by her Dad) and well, my little one isn't dainty. So, we are now signed up for our first official class! At least at the class, there are lots of mats in case my daredevil falls...

This photo was taken by my phone when i snuck in to see what she was doing (i still haven't found the box i stuck my camera in to 'keep it safe') and busted her doing her jumping routine. Those are diapers in her hands....she loves to walk around holding diapers. :)

Hopefully, diapers will soon be a thing of the past. After MUCH harassment from my husband and Emma's pediatrician (they both told me that i was "ruining her teeth" and that i "needed to let go", yada, yada, yada) i took her off the bottle. We've been bottle free for almost a month now AND we have moved from high chair to a booster seat. She absolutely loves that booster seat! It's sometimes an adventure eating with her at the table, but she's done well in the 'big girl' chair.

She's really growing up, isn't she?

Now if we could just figure out how to stop her from throwing herself on the floor, screaming like a wild child when Robert or i tell her "no", we'd be thrilled! I just walk away when she starts that....and then she follows me and throws herself in front of me onto the floor. This goes on from room to room and after the third room, it's really hard not to laugh at her. Maybe i should find a drama class for two year old?

Almost done....

 
...with our old home. I went today and got the rest of my plants and to pick up some of Emma's clothes that don't fit her any longer to give to a friend. Painting is done except for the garage; vinyl is going down on the kitchen floor and then it'll have a cleaning and carpet cleaning. It'll be on the market next Monday. I hope whoever buys it comes to love it as much as i do.

It's hard to go to the house...it's empty and it's sad to leave a home where i've had such good memories at. That home was our first home, Emma's first home. I did her room; i planted the weeping cherry trees in the front yard, i planted flowers and snowball bushes in the flower beds. Christmases and other holidays were spent there together and we became a family in that home. Yeah, i have a hard time letting go of things...

My favorite part of the house was the large windows that let out to the back deck. It's almost like being in a tree house when the leaves are out. The deck is high so it is very private. Just the place to sit and read a good book or daydream while looking at the trees. And the squirrels!! So much fun to watch! The squirrels would 'sun bathe' on the top rails of the deck and jump from the deck rails to the trees. I won't miss, however, racking all of the dang leaves up every fall! Last year, we raked over 35 BIG BAGS of leaves. While a lot of fun in the beginning, by the time the 15th bag rolls around, the fun has worn off, lol...

We (okay, "i"...) am slowly getting use to this new home of ours. Who knew hardwood floors were something that had to be dealt with daily?!? And i've never cooked with a gas range...let's just say it's a LOT different than cooking on an electric! But watching Emma and Robert enjoy the house is helping. I've found another Mothers Day Out program close by and i'm enrolling Emma in a gymnastics class in the hope that she will stop jumping off the couch, the end table and the bed. We've been invited to a church that is close by; it's the same church where Emma's class is at. I hope that the class and church will work out as they are so close to us.

Off to unpack some more..and to celebrate the snow flurries we had this morning, a photo of the old home.

Disturbing...

Statistics of Domestic Violence Victims
~In our country, battering is the single major injury to women exceeding muggings, rapes, and auto accidents COMBINED.

~The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 95% of assaults on spouses or ex-spouses are committed by men against women (Assessing Violent Couples, H. Douglas, Families in Society, 11/91)

~20% of female trauma cases are victims of intentional injury by an acquaintance, boyfriend or husband.

~Pregnancy is a risk factor for abuse.

~When abuse occurs during pregnancy it can cause miscarriage, premature births, birth defects and learning disabilities.

~$3-5 billion dollars is spent annually to treat victims of domestic violence.

~1.8 MILLON women are battered each year.

~Every NINE SECONDS a woman is battered.

~Within the last year, 7% of American women (3.9 million) who are married or living with someone as a couple were physically abused, and 37% (20.7 million) were verbally or emotionally abused by their spouse or partner (The Commonwealth Fund, N.Y. 1991).

~42% of murdered women are KILLED by their intimate partners (FBI's 88-91 Uniform Crime Reports).

....and it doesn't only happen to poor, uneducated women. With numbers like these, you probably know someone who is a victim. In fact, you may not even know that a friend is a victim until it's too late. Don't be afraid to reach out to someone if you think they are in this type of situation. Victims rarely tell friends or family what is going on...but you may be the one who could help her save herself.

Trust me on this one.

Does unpacking EVER end?!?

 
 

Who knew we had this much stuff?? In all honesty, most of this stuff that we moved to this new home is my husband's and Emma's....i have clothes (umm, yeah, a lot of those...) and shoes (okay, yeah, a lot of shoes, too...), my 6 precious llardo pieces and my cookbooks (i LOVE me some cookbooks, especially with photos!). Oh, and a painting that i bought for me with my Mom before she passed away. Oh, almost forgot, about 20 (yeah, yeah...) plants. That's it. Really. Never mind, i DO have a lot of stuff...but i've made a promise to myself that whatever isn't unpacked in three months is outta here. If i didn't need it in those three months, the chances that i need it are slim to none.

It doesn't feel like home here yet...i guess that will take time. Something has kinda surprised me, though....when i bought my first house, i had neighbors who brought me fresh baked cookies, a welcome basket and who offered friendship. I made many friends that i wouldn't normally have had the chance to make. I decided that i would do that, too, be a 'welcome to the neighborhood' girl for the next new neighbor. And i did. It seemed like the friendly thing to do: to welcome a newcomer into your neighborhood. And really, it was fun to get to meet my new neighborhood families. At my next home, i was happily greeted the same way and i did the same to other new neighbors. But here, well, i haven't seen anyone. No one. Not one person. Wait a second, i did yesterday-i saw a woman with a child in a stroller. Had i been dressed, lol, i would have ran out, chased her down and introduced myself. My husband tells me that the "Welcome Wagon" is a thing of the past and that most families are so busy working and taking care of children, well, they just don't have time to do the things that they use to do. Perhaps he's right, but i hope not. I guess i'm going to have to go out and knock on some of my neighbor's doors and introduce myself...

These two rooms are my favorite so far...but of course, how in the heck do you decorate on slanted walls?? The second photo is part of my (i mean, "our") bedroom--i love those windows. I should take a photo of the garage with all of the boxes stacked, just waiting for me....

Back to my boxes....