Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Emma, Emma and More Emma

Seems like a while since I've posted about the happenings of Miss Emma.  So here's some pictures and tidbits of what's been going on the last couple of weeks in Emma's World!

Her new favorite word is 'uh-oh' and she'll say it now BEFORE anything happens to warrant the uh-oh.  She's completely my daughter - always putting things back where they belong!  I LOVE it!  Shawn just thinks he'll have another OCD woman on his hands - yup he will! :)  She's learning to catch, throw and kick her soccer ball and she now has this cute little 'I Dream of Geenie-esq' type head bob. 

Last week EJ got her first noticeable boo-boo at school.  She was running around the classroom, fell and landed on a toy.  She's a trooper though!  Here's the boo-boo! :(


                            Helping Mommy hang Easter eggs on the tree.


                                                                  

                                                          PJ Day at School



                            Thanks Miss Jennifer for these adorable pig tails!

Daddy finally got his iPad (after months of saving up!!) and Emma likes it a lot.  She thinks it's her new toy and gets made when Shawn puts it away.  Too cute!



And finally a pic of Emma lounging - she always finds the cutest ways to lay down and cuddle up, and a lot of times this involves a dog.  She tends to move too quick before I can get a good picture.  So this is the best I got.  Apollo lets her do pretty much anything to him.  She laid like this after giving him numerous kisses!!



Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Shennanigans

Yes we dress the dogs up at our house......Addison with a tutu necklace.  And no I'm not ashamed to admit it!



And yes Emma has mastered the iPhone.  She can turn it on AND slide the little arrow thing to get to all the apps.  Oh my - trouble in the future! :)  (She's a mover so I do apologize for the blurriness of this pic!)


Monday, March 21, 2011

Domesticated Mama? – A little bit maybe!?

So my claim to fame is definitely NOT my domestication!  I’ve had conversations with great friends about this and how almost in awe I am of them and their domestication abilities.  Oh how I wish I could be…… but ok.  So I have been doing very well lately with this self proclaimed problem of mine.  Shawn and I have been taking time each week to pick out dinner for every night of the week, and one of us have been getting the dinners ready to go as much as possible the night or morning before.  This has lasted about 4 weeks now, and is working out well.  It makes things SO much easier come 5 o’clock when we get home.  No more thinking about what to make at the last minute when everyone is super hungry.  I know I’ve told people before that dinner is the bane of my existence – I HATE picking it out and making it.  Hate, hate, hate it.  This new plan of action has taken away my hatred of dinner time!  I never thought that would happen!  I have to disclose that a lot of the recipes we are making are from a Crockpot cookbook, ‘Fix it and Forget it, Lightly’ by Phyllis Pellman Good (and a VERY big thank you to Miss Anna Caranci for letting me borrow it!)  Oh the Crockpot – a working mama’s BEST friend.  It does all the work for you while you are at work all day – oh if only it would serve the meal for you once you got home…….   J  

So with that said I thought I would share a bit of what’s been cooking at the Kiefer’s.  So far my favorite is the homemade mozzarella stuffed meatballs and spaghetti. This picture isn’t great but when you cut into these wonderful little meatballs out comes the wonderful mozzarella-y goodness.  Yum-o!  We’ve also done homemade turkey burgers with sweet potato French fries, extra cheesy grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup, cheesy chicken and BBQ chicken (and the recipe doesn’t even include BBQ sauce!!) I promise I don’t take pictures of ALL our dinners – but I do like to take them of ones I really enjoy! 
                                       
                                           Homemade Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatballs

                                                    Turkey Burger & Sweet Potato Fries

Now some non-domestication updates!

A quick house/DOT debacle update.   The appraiser came out to the house last Monday (March 14) to appraise the house.  He gave no indication of what he was going to appraise it for or when we would hear anything.  So I guess not so much of an update – but it’s all we have for now!  The house hunt continues however no one is getting their hopes up TOO much until boxes are packed!

Emma is still doing well with learning her body parts and saying more words.  She can now say ‘nighty night,’ ‘bye,’ ‘Gixxer,’ and ‘Amen’ along with the words she’s already picked up and uses regularly.  She’s eating totally on her own with a spoon and fork and can drink by herself from a regular cup.  She also likes to brush her teeth on her own, helps put her shoes on and is taking a slight interest in the business of potty.  Last week when she did a #2 in her diaper she went into her room, got a new diaper, and brought it out to me.  So, it’s a step in the right direction!  Since the weather has been absolutely gorgeous here lately I have found out that Emma loves being outside.  If I pick her up from school and they are on the playground it is nearly impossible to get her to come with me.  Then when we get home from school and I get her out of the car she runs into the front yard and doesn’t want to go in the house.  I can’t say that I blame her.  This weather is too nice to justify being inside!!!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Shake your Shamrock!

After speaking with a friend last night it prompted me to do a little Wikipedia seaching on the origin of the 'green wearing' day of St. Patty's Day.  I have some knowledge of the holiday since I was raised Catholic, however I found myself not being able to give a good description of the day when speaking with my friend, well aside from it's an excuse to party and drink lots of green beer.  So here is what I found on Wiki:

Saint Patrick:

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.[9] It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.[citation needed]

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing of the green:

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew.[10] Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century.[11] He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.[12 In the 1798 rebellion, in hopes of making a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching public attention.[10] The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from a song of the same.

And at last the shamrock: 

According to legend St. Patrick used the 3-leafed plant to explain the  Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people. (With this being said I'm not sure why or how 4-leaf clovers came to play in St. Patrick's Day.  All I could find is that the 4-leaf version of the plant is not found commonly - so when it is found it's considered to be lucky!)



Thanks for tuning in for a little 'History of St. Patrick's Day" blog!!  And you know I couldn't go without posting a picture of my "little clover" all ready for her St. Patty's Day party at school.  She was so proud of her t-shirt, pointing it out first thing to Miss Debbie when we arrived!





Monday, March 14, 2011

This is what Monday Mornings Look Like.........

Yup this picture pretty much sums up Monday mornings at our house.  Mama looks about the same, I just wouldn't dare take a picture of myself! Ha. Bless little EJ's heart - it's hard to wake up so early!  (and I know one day she will kill me for posting this picture!! but she's so cute, even when so incredibly upset!)


Happy Monday Y'all!!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Random Rant

Sorry to talk about a personal problem here but just need to vent, and this is somewhat humerous - at least to me! Annnd this is what my blog is about, randomness and venting!

Why is it that on a normal basis I pee like at least once an hour (no I am NOT even remotely joking here) and yesterday when I have an appointment with the lab for blood work and have to also submit a urine sample I CANNOT for the life of me pee??  First things first: I'm going to NOT give props to my doctor - on Monday at my original appointment he never once mentioned a urine test, only a blood test.  So like all other days I went "potty" (can you tell I am a mommy!) before I left the house so I wouldn't run into any problems. Then I get to the lab office, which is only about 10 minutes from the house, and am handed the 'pee cup.'  Since I'm an honest person I told her flat out - 'oh I just went, can I have some water?'  She gave me a cup of water, which I refilled 3 times, and then took my blood, giving that water a chance to work it's magic.  Oh, but it decided not to work.  Not at all.  Zero, zilch, nada!  So I left what I could in the cup and off to work I went.  Only to have to pee like WICKED CRAZY 5 minutes after I get in the car.  :) 

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Things are better miniaturized

Yes I do believe it's true - things are just much cuter mini.  This weekend I've had the pleasure of coming across two absolutely adorable things mini-sized.  We ate lunch at Chipotle and ordered Emma a cheese quesadilla kid's meal.  It cam with rice and beans and this teeny, tiny bag of chips. 




My second absolutely adorable mini item is the new mini Reese's cups.  I was confused how they could get much smaller than the miniatures and still have the peanut butter and chocolate goodness.  But they do.  And are only a little bit larger than a chocolate chip.  I'm thinking I'll figure out a yummy recipe to use these in - or just sit here and eat the entire bag!  Whichever happens first!!


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Emma-isms

Emma has almost reached her 17 month birthday and has grown into quite the "little miss thang!"  Although she's not really saying many words she babbles like crazy.  And i've taught her to say 'Sheesh' - which is my favorite word!  I'll ask her 'what does a duck say?' and she'll usually quack, and 'what does a dog say?' and she'll go 'woof, woof.' So my latest addition is 'what does Mommy say?' and she'll say 'Sheesh.'  I tend to go around a lot saying 'Ah sheesh' trying to cut out the not so nice words that might slip out every now and then and she has totally picked up on it!  It's the cutest thing EVER - yes i mean EVER.  I've tried several times unsuccessfully to capture this on video but she says it so quietly it never gets picked up by the recorder.  One of these days I'll get it though!!

She has also learned to point out several of her body parts.  When asked to point out her nose, eyes, ears, hair, feet, hands and belly she has no trouble.  What always cracks me up is when you ask her to point to her belly she MUST lift up her shirt to show you.  Her belly isn't her belly unless it's the exposed version!  She never ceases to crack me up. 

Her hair is getting so long that we are now to the point of a fight after bath time to comb out all the tangles.  I'm pretty sure at some point when I wasn't home Shawn combed her hair in the way only boys who don't have lots of hair would, and ruined her.  I'm slowly trying to undo that mess.  And what is the deal with detangler products?!?  I bought some, brought it home and on further inspection saw that it said 'Not for use on babies or toddlers.'  Ok so who can I use it on!?    Ergh for real.  But we are getting to the point where she'll let me comb it - only if I also let her do some of the combing on her own!

Quick story - I went to pick Emma up from school one day early and got there right at snack time to find her eating a bowl of cereal, with milk, with a spoon!  All by herself.  And drinking out of a cup with no lid or straw.  Thinking she was too young for that still I hadn't even thought to have her try that at home.  Well now she has bowls of cereal at home on her own.  Ok picture to prove!  Here ya go.  Since I took this picture she has gotten even better and is doing really well with a fork too!  She's getting to be such a big girl.


We all know I could blab for hours about Miss EJ but to not bore everyone I will end my blabberings for the day here and end with some pictures and videos.  Last Sunday we went to the Greesnboro Children's Museum to celebrate Sophia's 2nd birthday.  One of the coolest kid places I've seen.  We will most definetly be going back! 






Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Brrrr.....it's cold! SONC Polar Plunge 2011

For the last two years I have participated in the Special Olympics of North Carolina's Polar Plunge.  (This would have been 3 years running expect the first year i signed up (2009) I found out I was pregnant shortly before the jump and was told by my doctor 'no jumping in freezing cold water'!!)  This is such a great event and is for such a good cause.  Every year we have a blast!  Just wanted to share some pictures from this years jump, the water temperature was 38 degrees! Our theme this year was Hawaii Five-O.  Turned out super cute!!


                                     Renee Lewis & Fiance, JT Goodman and me
                                   Linzi Lee, Me and Stephanie Campbell-Crump
                                           Geanine Pregel, Me and Linzi Lee
                                                       All ready for the plunge
                                                                Eeeeek, COLD water!
                                        Captain Hamrick & the Coconut Bra girls!
                                             The whole HPPD group of jumpers
                                         Emma showing her support!