at the state fair.. and a video or two

so we went to the state fair on wednesday with our friends. it was a good, but long day! here are some pics from the day and a few videos at the end so you can see how big and grown up emerson is getting. hehe. i miss her being a baby blob!

she actually found a 4 leaf clover! but she ripped it apart before i could grab it and save it!

i get sooo many compliments on this dress. thanks auntie ashley!

at her first african drum circle... she loves to drum!

check it out! i have 2 teefers!

funny face...

birthday ideas...

okay...as i mentioned before, some people are asking what to get emerson for her birthday. we are obviously open to any ideas or gifts that you would want to get and even if you dont want to get any, thats fine too. but i did want to make a list of things in case people wanted ideas for her birthday, or even for christmas. some stuff is cheap, and others are probably something that people would pitch in if interested. her birthday is going to be the sunday of columbus day weekend, which i think is oct 11th or something.

anyway, her friend has a kitchen set and i think it would be cool for her to have one too. she liked to play with it and it would be nice for both her and new baby to play with as they get older. i did some research on different ones and wasnt so interested in the cheapie plastic ones since they crack and break and generally dont last as long....so here is the one i found (i love the color and that its a retro kitchen:
http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53156-Red-Vintage-Kitchen/dp/B001FP3WZO/ref=pd_sbs_t_5

and to go along with the kitchen, some pots and pans:
http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Toys-Super-Cooking-Set/dp/B000F3S0B8/ref=pd_sim_t_2
or
http://www.constplay.com/cgi-bin/constplay_cgi.sh/WService=constplay/constplay.com/family/product.htm?stateInfo=?&dept_id=26&pf_id=CHN-20L&utm_source=shopzilla.com&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=CHN-20L&utm_campaign=WEB+20090827
or
http://www.amazon.com/Junior-Chef-Cookware-11-PC/dp/B0001V3QUE/ref=pd_sbs_t_1

some food would be good too. i dont have any specific one chosen, although i like the wooden food more than plastic food with those cheapie cardboard boxes that last all of 5 seconds. i looked around on amazon but i didnt want to post a link because this is probably something that you could buy in a store, like a toy store or target, and not pay shipping. also, it would be good to see it in person and figure out whether its a choking hazard. since i couldnt see the sizes online i am not going to link to anything...but playfood is good.

this coat for winter...i love that it has built in mittens! she probably would be between 12 and 18 months so i would prolly go with 18 to be safe:
http://www.columbia.com/baby-jackets/kids-baby-jackets,default,sc.html?sz=1&start=1

emerson loves musical instruments, so age appropriate musical instruments are always good...things like maracas, tamborine, etc.

winter clothes in 12-18 month sizes. stuff like pants, sweaters, sweatshirts, long sleeved shirts, etc.

developmentally appropriate toys. toys that take brain power to figure out how they work.

please dont buy elmo or dora or any other "character" type stuff. we are trying to keep media exposure to a minimum. hehe. plus she doesnt care for any of those characters and we kind of want to keep it that way!

so...obviously there are a million other things that would be great for her as well but those are some suggestions if you cant think of anything. we appreciate anything you would choose to buy.

we plan to get her balls to make a ball pit out of her pack and play or her blow up swimming pool. she loves balls and the ballpit at the ymca so i think she will like it. i also might take her to build a bear so she can make her own teddy, although i have no idea how much that costs so i might skip that. hehe.

if you are coming to her bday party....and you are all invited, make sure you are thinking of what your costume is going to be! its a halloween party!

a peaceful moment...

ahhhhh.....all it at peace. hehe.. i woke emerson up bright and early today (8am..she usually sleeps till 9-930am) and got her all dressed and ready and we jetted out of the house to go meet with a certified car seat technician. did you know you are supposed to get your car seat checked? yeah, well apparently most people dont and up to 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly!! so anyway, i wanted to double check on her carseat and make sure we were all up to par and safe. so off we went to the police station for our 830am appt. turns out i had things pretty much okay...phew. there was one adjustment...instead of using the seatbelt clip to lock the seatbelt, the tech took it off and did some fancy tightening with the seatbelt that i wasnt able to master, so the carseat is now tighter than i could get it. she also mentioned that i should get rid of that mirror to see emerson in the backseat and also the side window shades. i kind of ignored that though. i cant NOT watch her in the mirror. it might be an addiction, and i knew those things arent supposed to be used. i wonder why they are allowed to make and sell them if they arent safe during a crash? i am super obsessed with carseats and carseat safety (so you would think i would take out the mirror...hehe) and i might look up what it takes to get certified myself. not sure if i can or what i would do with that certification but it seems like a good thing to get certified in.

anyway, we got home and i walked emerson over to starbucks for a little java fix....for me, not her! hehe. when e got back i figured it would be cheerios time but emerson decided that she had wnough of being awake this early and wanted to go back to bed. and who am i to stop a tired baby from sleeping so that i can have a hour or so of time to myself??? exactly....so i put her to bed and now have a few moments to breathe and chill...and enjoy my peppermint mocha from starbucks. not only that but since emerson hasnt been up long today, there isnt a mess in the livingroom prompting me to clean it. yay!! (granted there are dishes to wash but i am selectively ignoring them. hehe)

onto other news...i am now 21 weeks preggo. i am starting to get a little belly and its soo weird being pregnant again. i kind of keep forgetting and then the baby moves and reminds me. sometimes i am really excited about the idea of having another baby, since i never wanted emerson to be an only child, but other times i am just really stressed about the whole thing...especially money. luckily i still have most of the stuff for emerson, and there are some things i stupidly got rid of because i wasnt planning to have another so soon, and we had no where to store stuff. so i gave away some clothes, but luckily kept the stuff i really loved. i will probably need to get the stuff i stored down from the attic and see what we need. i know i gave away most of the onesies and the winter sleep sacks, so i will probably need to buy those again. all the other big stuff i can use again, although i hate the bouncer i have for emerson. its my own fault, since i registered for it, but you never really know what is good until you have a baby in it. i hated it and i want to sell it or something and get a papasan one that will actually bounce.

i already bought a double stroller, used off craigslist. i love it and used it with emerson and her buddy fletcher. it steers so nice but i know that it will be a pain to store since when its folded it takes up the whole back part of my car. i wish i could wake up one day and have my honda element back or another suv. i would consider trading my car in if i actually had a job. something tells me that they wont let me buy a car with no job. hehe. plus, thanks to working at whitesboro, my car has like 70,000 miles or something on it...and its a 2008!! i doubt i would get much for trading it in, even though a lot of people like honda fits cuz they are good on gas.

hmmm..what else?? oh, i am buying another dresser for the new baby's clothes to go in. i found it already on craigslist (someday i will be rich and actually be able to buy things NEW...and things that MATCH. hehe). its a baby armoire that has 3 drawers, 2 shelves and a part to hang clothes. so it will be nice to have....even though its white and totally doesnt match anything in the room (and you cant paint it cuz its got like that plastic veneer or whatever on it). i figure if i get stuff gradually then it wont seem as overwhelming of an expense.

anyway, this post is waayyy long. hope someone is still reading! hehe. in the coming weeks i am planning emersons bday party...to be held in ny (sorry massachusetts people! but if you want to come to ny, you are invited! let me know if you want to come and i will send you an invite, but otherwise, i am going to assume that ma people wont come unless they are family...). it is going to be a costume halloween party and i am keeping emersons costume a secret!! she is going to look adorable though and it has been really hard to not make her be yoda this year. while that would be awesomely hilarious, i figure i have to at least vary the ridiculous (lobster) with something a little more "normal"...although it is different and super cute!

also, people have been asking me what they should buy emerson for her birthday. i dont know how kosher it is to do this, but since people are asking, i am eventually going to make a post of bday gift suggestions for her. so if you are interested, that will be coming in the next few weeks, once i figure some more things out. i know a few things..and i know what i want to get her, but i want to make sure of some other things before i go suggesting it as a gift for those who need suggestions. (this by no means is implying that people buy her gifts!! this is just for those who plan to buy something anyway and are at a loss for what to get her)...

well, i probably should go tend to those dishes or maybe some laundry! hope you enjoyed my majorly long post!!

blogging protest!!

i'm not blogging anymore until i get some comments people! i need encouragement that people are reading this and i'm not wasting my time.....

but i will give you an update on emerson. she had her 9 month dr appt last week...just a few days shy of 10 months. she is now 28 inches tall (50th%), 18lbs 3oz (23rd%) and has a big ol noggin that put her in the 89th%! she is doing well and is hitting appropriate milestones. we are waiting for her to say more words and walk and stand on her own soon. she is eating us out of house and home...the girl likes to eat! you wouldnt know it by her weight but she will eat just about anything. yesterday she feasted on some hummus and pita bread with her mommy :) we both enjoyed it.

anyway, there is your update. i had some good posts recently and havent heard from anyone so comment away!

blogging protest!!

beach house and cat

it has been hot. like H.O.T, hot lately. actually, it hasnt been too bad outside but if you have been in my house lately, its like an oven....which is funny because we cant actually USE our oven. a little ironic. anyway, as most of you know, our central ac had to be disconnected because it was being crazy and stealing power from the rest of the house. well, it has been a mild summer, so i havent bothered to waste money to fix it. the result? it eventually got hot and we are dying. literally. yesterday i spent almost an hour laying on the floor with a fan pointed towards me and emerson crawling all over me. i didnt move for an hour. it was too hot. then i got a grand idea to walk to starbucks cuz it 1. has air conditioning and 2. has tasty frappucinos. it was a great idea....but i didnt want to leave.

anyway, i decided to beat the heat and visit my friend robin at her beach house on lake ontario. it was a multi-purposed trip. i got to get out of my hot house, go to the beach, let emerson play in the water and sand, see robin and one of the best things was i got to see her teeny baby ryan again! he is a super cutie and emerson loved his feet. hehe. anyway, the day was great, minus emerson being a crabby butt because she was on napping strike today (though once i got into the car to come back home, she passed out before we even left robin's driveway!)

here are pics from the day:

yo, what up moms?

one second before she put her sandy hand in her mouth
playing with her sand shovel

taking the sand out of her bucket

trying to cuddle with oscar

so..in addition to going to the beach today, when we got home tonight, emerson looked right at ophelia and said "cat!". i was unsure of what i heard so i said, "emerson, say cat!" and she did. i kept saying it and went to show brad, and told her to say it again and she did. sometimes she pronounces it a little better than others but she definitely is saying cat. and she looks for dante or ophelia when she is saying it. it isnt her first word but is her first noun that she is appropriately associating with the object. she says mama and dada but doesnt do it correctly to the right person and sometimes still just babbles the sounds. she has also said "stop" a few times and we are pretty sure she says "sh*t". hmm...not sure where she learned that. i wondered if she was saying that but doubted it, then a friend asked if thats what she said...so if other people are noticing it, i think she is saying it. hehe.

anyway, yay for beaches, babies and cats!

video of you know who!

rough housing with emerson. she loves it!