Saturday, November 12, 2005
My baby's gone...waaaaaaa!
Emma is at Noni & Popi's tonight. Even though the party was cancelled they get to have her overnight. I got a report with pictures of what's been going on since I left. Emma spent an hour on the riding mower with Popi. She had supper and they played on the floor for a while. She wowed them with her cuteness as usual. I told them they could keep her for the day tomorrow too. I was going to have them bring her home by noon so her daddy would have time with her this weekend, but Daddy is going to play free golf at 11:30 a.m. so there is no need for that. Popi is riding in a Veteran's Day parade tomorrow afternoon so I figure Emma will get to see the parade. She'll enjoy that.

As for me...I'll manage. I figure I'll probably tackle some tasks which are difficult to accomplish while she's here and then maybe...possibly...dare I dream it?...pick up a book to read.

Friday, November 11, 2005
Help me decide please...
I think I've narrowed my choice down to two kitchen sets. Here are the choices. I need a darker wood to go with my kitchen and these were my two choices...
This one is $386. It has the tile top and the construction seems to be better quality than the second one. The thing I really like about this one over the other one is the construction of the chairs. They don't have the little knobs covering the screw-holes in the chair supports.

This one is $216 for the whole set. The quality is not quite as good as the other one, but I can save $165.00 if I choose this one. This one has the knobs on the supports. But if I can get past that it's a great deal.

When we compared prices at another place we found out that these prices are quite good. So please help me...what do you think?

Just for the sake of argument these are the other two we looked at. Both have the leaf to expand the table and they're both $386. The big problem here is the color. I'm not fond of oak. I'd go for the white one before the monochrome one.

Progress report
We got a lot done today. We started at Target. I bought Emma's LittleTouch LeapPad. She also got keys for her car. Next we went to Goodwill so I could drop off some stuff and toss the infant bins for a few minutes. We met Popi at McDonalds for lunch. Next we went to TJMaxx where I bought my secondary Christmas cards. From there we went to a place called Finders Keepers. They get liquidation stuff and stuff Costco doesn't sell. They have a seperate furniture store we went by to look at kitchen sets. After that we headed to Walmart. Finally a stop at Schewel's furniture to compare prices and then finally home. We have more on the agenda for tomorrow; the mall for sure and maybe a few other places.

Here's a pic from Mickey D's:
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Big plans this weekend
Emma and I are headed over the mountains since I'm off work tomorrow for Veteran's Day. We plan to...wait for it...can you guess?...Shop! We'll be spending the night at Noni's tomorrow night. I don't have a big shopping list. I'll be browsing for Christmas gifts. We may have a look at kitchen dinette sets. I really, really, really want to replace ours.

On Saturday Noni finally gets her wish. I'm leaving Emma with them overnight. They finally get to have her without me hanging around. I'd like to say we have big plans; that was the idea to begin with. But no, after I made the arrangements the party was cancelled. Or postponed. Hosers. It would be cool to have a date night but the logistics are pretty nightmarish. I don't know if we can make it work. We'll see.
Wagons Ho!
Tonight we pulled out the box with wheels. Emma didn't seem too sure about being pulled around in it. She kind of liked being pushed back and forth. She loved having the wagon pushed to her. And she also found a use for the wagon that I could have never foreseen. You'll have to watch the last video to see that one.



Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Elmo is the man...or monster...or whatever
Emma loves his show. We have two DVDs with three episodes each. Once you get numb to his voice it's a pretty good show. A regular variety show for kids, with jokes aimed at grown-ups. The subject matter is right up Emma's alley. Babies, baths, families, dogs, mail and the farm. Some people claim to be creeped out my Mr. Noodle, but I like him, and Emma does too. But then I recognize the actors and it tickles me to see them doing this show. I've put more Elmo's World DVDs on my Amazon wish list for Christmas. I'm sure Emma would be content to watch these same two over and over, but M. and I need a bit more variety. Especially since the songs are burned into my brain now and I'm humming them at work.
FYI - Very Important
Nickelodeon has ordered 20 new episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants. I believe the first new one airs this Friday.

Since Nickelodeon is most certainly NOT commercial-free television you may rightly conclude that SpongeBob Squarepants is viewed by Mommy and Daddy, not Emma. Someday we'll introduce her to the DVDs.
Wednesday evening fun!
Emma loves her cat. The cat's feelings about Emma...not so much. When we first enter the living room in the evening the cat is usually snoozing in the chair and it's Emma's only chance to get close to her. She takes advantage every time...


This is a book I bought with lots of pictures that shows how to care for a newborn infant. It was actually quite informative. Emma just loves the "baby book"


Daddy came home with a box full of groceries. Then the box became Emma's new "car." I think Daddy was really wishing it had wheels by the time they were done...
Today's outfit
This another hand-me-down. It's very roomy on her so she'll be able to use it for awhile.


Here's the side view:
Monday, November 07, 2005
Emma E., Right Tackle
This morning when I dropped Emma off at the babysitter's she was ready to play. Her little friend Caleb (2 1/2 year-old) was sitting on the rug in the kitchen. She quickly crossed the floor and threw a full body tackle on him. This was quite shocking for Mama to see. Frankly, I rarely get to see her interact with other children, I was taken back a bit. To me it was cute and Caleb didn't mind. If Emma's doing something wrong I expect Mary will correct it.

I was telling someone about this later and they commented that she was giving hugs. Uh...a hug...yeah...I hadn't thought of that. I may be watching too much football.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Christmas DVDs we own
Since becoming a parent I've come to appreciate DVDs a lot more. While I'd never prohibit television all together, I tend to gravitate to the channels with no commercials. I'm trying to keep Emma from being bombarded by come-ons for items from sugar cereal to Bratz dolls. Therefore I let her watch either Noggin, or DVDs. Commercial free television is where it's at dude. This holiday she may see some of the classics from this collection. I need to find out if Elmo has a Christmas DVD...

Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation
Elf
Frosty the Snow Man
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey)
Jingle All the Way
Little Drummer Boy
Robbie the Reindeer (original British version)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa Clause

As a couple, our ultimate Christmas movie has always been Christmas Vacation. Dumb, I know, but we love it.
Gift ideas for Emma so far...
She doesn't need a lot. But it's necessary to come up with ideas anyway. Santa is coming. We'll celebrate Christmas morning with Emma's three cousins who are older and very aware of Santa, so she can't get shorted too badly ;)

LittleTouch LeapPad
Books for the LeapPad
Jewelry box
Cute and colorful tights (18 mo., for later)
Bath toys
Big ball
Elmo's World DVDs
"Bark George"

Who knows what else I'll come up with while shopping?
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...
Yep, there, I said it. I'm looking forward to it as always. Christmas is a big deal in our family. When everyone gathers we end up with obscene piles of gifts and tons of good food. What's not to like? I love planning for it. Making lists, checking them twice. We have approximately 15 boxes of decorations in storage so decorating is a big deal. I'll be sure and take pictures of some of it for you. Despite my love for the holidays I do manage to restrain myself from jumping the gun on decorating. Inside decorating waits until after Thanksgiving is over and outside lights cannot be turned on until December 1. At this point planning consists mainly of making my Christmas card list and my shopping lists. We're also under pressure to come up with Christmas lists for other family members to shop from. It's hard to ignore the impending shopping season when catalogs are piling up everywhere and the junk email is all about holiday shopping already.

Thanksgiving is important too, it's the official kick-off to the holiday season. No matter where we're going, Thanksgiving almost always begins the same. We get up and lounge around waiting for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to begin. Then you'll find me in the kitchen making my broccoli casserole. It's the dish I always bring because I'm always asked to bring it. It's that good ;) Then we get dressed and it's off to Grandmother's house we go.
Quiet Sunday at home
Daddy mowed the lawn for the last time this year. Then he "laid waste to entire regions" or weedwhacked. I did the laundry, washed the bottles and sippys, vacuumed, and did some tidying. Emma played, slept and ate, the usual. We did attempt to go for the two mile walk again. We got almost half a mile from home when it started raining. Thank goodness we had the jogging stroller with the windshield we could attach. Here are todays photos:

Playing with one of her favorites:


Toting both comfort items: