Boomerangs & Blowing Kisses

I'm enjoying some very rare "me time" right now, and chose to update this here blog.  Kory sensed that I needed a little time to get stuff done, so he took Emma out to get the car washed, return a shirt that doesn't fit, and to find her some short-sleeved shirts.  Yes, it has been that hot here.  I'll put her in a little pullover or sweatshirt in the morning for our drive to daycare, but otherwise, a short sleeve shirt is absolutely necessary, especially with as much as that little girl likes to be on the go.

Yesterday, we took a little time as a family and headed over to my favorite park in Anthem to enjoy this absolutely gorgeous spring day.  They have baby swings, slides that are small enough for Emma, and a huge swath of grass ready for almost any activity.  Kory stopped to get a Red Bull on the way (his weakness), and he picked up a boomerang on a whim while he was in Walgreens.  I'm pretty sure it has been forever since I've attempted a boomerang, so I was excited to give it a whirl.

We stopped first at Emma's swing....she LOVED it when Daddy pushed her hard.  She wasn't so into it with my soft pushes last time.  I guess she is a little daredevil and likes the thrill of the rush.

After a little bit of time on the swings and the slides, we headed over to this huge area of open field.  We felt bad about not bringing the dogs, who probably would have loved to run free.  Being leash-less isn't technically allowed, but I'm a little bit of a rule-breaker these days and was willing to take the risk.  But, the boys had had a hard week after getting their teeth cleaned (both had a ton of teeth pulled...lesson learned on brushing their teeth!), so we let them relax at home.

I set up a blanket next to the stroller, but Emma just wanted to run to wherever her Daddy was.  In no time at all, she knew to look up to watch the boomerang (still really difficult for me to get the knack of!) make an arc back to Daddy.  

I love these two pictures because you can really see just how tiny she is, even though she seems so big to me these days.  

 This girl just goes non-stop.  If she is fed, changed, and all milked-up, she can happily go, go, go for hours.  However, for my sanity, she usually stops and takes a nap mid-day.  I've noticed she takes two naps at Ms. Selena's during the week, but I think that may be because she wakes up extra early on those days, whereas she sleeps in to about 8am on weekends.  This morning, she slept in until about 9:30, which was great!  

Emma has been so busy this week.  She has started waving and saying "hi."  She has also started blowing kisses.  She isn't as consistent with it as she is with waving, but it is SOOOO cute when she does it.   On the not-so-cute side, she has started putting her finger up her nose, my nose, Kory's nose, etc.  I swear she touched my brain the other night when I was rocking her to sleep! Ouch!
She did suffer her first real injury at daycare.  She walked into the corner of a table, and got a pretty big scratch on the corner of her right eye.  You can't really see it in these pictures, though.  Anyway, I guess she just took the lickin' and kept on tickin'.  Didn't even cry.  

I don't have a picture handy, but our garden is doing great.  I had to thin out the spinach the other night. We planted them in clumps, and I guess you then thin out all but the strongest plant.  It was a little sad to have to pull up all those little spinach babies, but countless website and YouTube videos have told me it is all for the best. :)

Till next time!
Love,
Erica

This and that

Love these baby blues!

Hello, G Family followers....all three of you. :)

This has been a pretty uneventful week, at least for me.  Work, home, feed/bathe Emma, sleep and repeat.  Kory, on the other hand, has been very busy.  He worked his normal job in the classroom all week, his gig at the Fairmont three times this week (he is there as I type, actually), worked in a vineyard field for most of the day yesterday, and had classes on Wednesday night.  I honestly don't know how he hasn't dropped from exhaustion yet.  This week should be a lot more calm for him, though, so we are looking forward to that.

Emma has a bit of a tummy bug right now, I think.  I noticed yesterday that she was eating less than usual.  She ate a decent breakfast, throwing most of her Cheerios on the floor.  That little antic is totally normal, which the dogs are very thankful for!.  At l2unch, though, she ate her pears, but completely shunned the pot pie I heated up for her.  At first I thought she just might not be into two-day-old leftovers (it was homemade and really good, so I didn't want to waste any!).  I gave her some fresh veggies and she seemed to at least eat the green beans, so I didn't think too much of it.  It was a repeat at dinner: she ate her mandarin oranges, which are a big favorite, but didn't eat her pizza at all.  And let me tell you, that pizza was fresh and good! I even gave her extra pepperoni, which she loves.
Hmmm....I chalked it up to her appetite slowing down to a more toddler pace.  I also thought it might do her gut good to eat a little less.  I know baby bellies are supposed to be big, but that tummy is out of control.  

You wouldn't even know this little lady's tum-tum isn't feeling great. 

So, after a bit of roughhousing by Daddy, who was just happy to be home to see Emma off to bed, I made a nice warm bottle, sat in her glider with her, and started to read a couple bedtime books.  Daddy tickled Emma's tummy, but then got up and left so that she could finish her bottle, relax a bit, and then go to bed.  He had no sooner left the room when I noticed she was spitting up a bit.  I thought this was really weird since I haven't seen spit-up in about a year.  The next thing I know, she is projectile vomiting and we are covered with puke.  I'll spare you the details of what I saw.  You're welcome.

So, Kory ran a bath, we cleaned everything, and she went back to bed.  After staring at her on the monitor for about two hours straight to make sure she wasn't barfing in bed, I deemed her well and healthy and figured that perhaps the puking was more due to Daddy holding her upside down and shaking her right after dinner.  Kory vowed to never do that again, by the way.

So, this morning she slept in late, but had a very poopy diaper.  We went out to breakfast, where she was way more interested in checking everyone else out, smiling and waving, and just generally entertaining the restaurant.  The old ladies loved her, let me tell you. :)  We went on a walk at the park, let Emma run a bit in the grass, and looked at the ducks.  After that, we came home and I put her down for a nap.  She wasn't really sleeping consistently, so I went in to get her, and immediately could tell there was something sinister in that diaper.  Ugh...the dreaded diarrhea.  Again, I'll spare the details, but now I am positive she is harboring a little tummy bug.  :(

I was able to get some applesauce and toast in her for lunch, and she played like nothing was wrong after that.  In fact, she has been completely happy during the entire weekend, even during the crazy projectile puking episode.  She doesn't have a fever, and appears to be staying pretty hydrated, so I guess we will just have to let this run its course.

Love,
Erica, Kory & Emma

Emma loves to play with her Noah's Ark Little People set.

Andy is unimpressed by his sister's playtime.  Sidenote: this picture was taken an hour ago, and Andy is still in that position.  

Trying hard to get those darn animals out of the Ark

Look at our spinach coming up! Kory thought that the popsicle sticks that I wrote the veggie names on were a little ghetto, so he classed up our garden with some actual veggie-nameplates.  I have no idea what the technical term for those things are, obviously.

Our onions are making their way through.  These babies are growing fast.  They were definitely not there yesterday, and when I took this picture this afternoon, there were more shoots than there had been a few hours earlier.