Noni and me
Noni is modeling her credo on her sweatshirt "Grandma's my name, spoiling's my game." Soooooo true. And we're both lucky to have her (AND Popi!)

Mommy and me
I never planned to do it...but here you go Sunita. I'm having a weak moment. ;)

It's finally here...
Our new kitchen table. Noni and Popi picked it up at the furniture place this morning and drove it over the mountains to us. Thanks so much Noni and Popi!

Ornament of the Day
This is another Hallmark ornament. He's special because he reminds me of the dog we had when I was growing up. He was a border collie named Sam. He LOVED to play frisbee. He'd wear the frisbee out until you had nothing but a ring and a flat round piece. He was one smart dog, had a vocabulary of words he understood that was well over 50 commands. Damn good dog.

Decoration of the Day
I don't even remember where this one came from. It's painted wood. It's hanging in my living room.

I need to get out more...
I got this from Christi's blog:
These are all the states in which I have set foot. You might notice that I've tended toward certain geographic areas. It's not intentional, I swear. ;)

>

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Thank you Allie for your help getting this right!
Friday, December 02, 2005
Proof I'm not snowin' ya
I've mentioned that Emma doesn't pull the ornaments off of the tree, much to my surprise. She'll touch them, turn them around, look them over and then move on. We seriously considered not having a tree because of our fears she'd destroy it. Or maybe only doing ornaments on the top half. But so far, our fears were unfounded.

Here's the proof:

Ornament of the Day
I really like this one. It probably came from Noni or SIL. The picture of Emma that's in it is from her first "studio" photo session. She was probably six weeks old or so.

Decoration of the Day
I made this one. When I was newlywed and new to the area I worked on the road and had no real way of making friends in my new hometown. I joined a group of Homemakers that my MIL belonged to. We held a workshop one Fall and made these. It's duct hose that you use to vent a dryer out of your house. We used a wire to shape it and then stuffed each end with a styrofoam ball. Then wrapped it with the garland. I made two of them. Fun!

Magazine fun
She's very entertaining with her fixation on dropping, picking up, dropping, picking up, putting stuff on her head, chattering, and on and on.





Here's video of it. It's long, 10mb, but pretty rewarding. But then I'm seriously biased.

Get real...
Emma contemplates society's impossibly high physical standards for the female form...

Thursday, December 01, 2005
Whew! Had enough Crabby Patty for one day...
she was in a pretty foul humor tonight. I think she was tired. She fell asleep on the way home from the babysitter's. I tried to let her sleep but she woke up when we came in the house. For the rest of our time together tonight she was bent on complaining at me. For a solid 30 minutes nothing would do but for me to carry her around. I tried to show good humor about the whole thing. I even gave her a "tour" of the Christmas tree, naming all the ornaments and pointing them out to her. When Daddy got home she gave him some hell too. It was one of those nights when a 6:00 p.m. bedtime would have suited everyone all around, except then she wouldn't have seen Daddy at all. Sigh.
Ornament of the Day
This one is in honor of Angie. I imagine she'll have a special appreciation for this little guy. It's a Hallmark ornament Noni gave me.

Decoration of the Day
This mouse I also inherited from my grandmother's collection. When she got this one she bought Noni one just like it. I always loved Noni's and was thrilled to have this guy. He hangs on the wall in my kitchen.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thank God the toilet lid was closed
I was working on my computer and Emma was playing in the drawer where we keep all our instructions for everything; electronics, baby gear, lawnmower, etc. She was pulling booklets out and handing them to me and I was making a pile. I was absorbed in what I was doing for a moment when I realized she wasn't handing things to me any more but was heading around the corner into the bathroom. Uh oh. So I got up and checked...sure enough, she was making a stack of booklets on the toilet lid. Thank goodness it was closed.





Here you can see the video if you like...

Today Emma was fascinated by...
An ornament of a dalmatian reaching for a ball on a little red rocking chair. Once again, she would grab it and turn it around to look at it, but didn't pull it off the tree.

Ornament of the Day
I made this ornament from a kit when I was 11 or 12 or so. I gave it to Bea Bea (Noni's mom) as a Christmas gift. When Bea Bea died in 1998 we ended up dividing up her stuff and I got this fella back. So now he reminds me of Bea Bea and Pa Paw.

Decoration of the Day
This was given to me by Noni. She made one just like it. It's cross-stitched. I think she bought this one from the cross-stitch shop she used to frequent. In case you can't see clearly, there is a character for each day with a plactic ring hanging under it. We attach Hershey kisses to each ring. M. and I alternate each day taking down the candy. He insists on the odd days like it's his God-given right. Suits me. ;) Maybe by next year Emma will be aware enough to participate.

Home sick today
M. took Emma to the sitters. I couldn't get out of bed this morning. Every time I sat up I got dizzy and a wave of nausea would hit me. I had to walk to the heating grate to yell down to M. for help and that trip about did me in, I was holding on the furniture the whole way for fear of falling over.

We guessed it might be sinus related. Something affecting my inner ear and balance. I took sinus medicine and stayed in bed till I could get up without feeling queasy. That was around 11:00 a.m. I still get hit with little dizzy spells, but for the most part I can function. I need to go grab a shower now, Emma is due home soon after 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Another series! Ornament of the day!
What other blog out there gives you TWO concurrent series? Today I begin with the ornament of the day. This ornament is one of my newest ones. I got it last Christmas. It was a gift from Noni & Popi's trip to EuroDisney in France. They went with my brother's family. I think it's a pretty unique "vision" of Tigger.

Today's Emma pics
It is rare that I get a picture of Emma where she doesn't have red-eye that needs fixing. This one was perfect the first time.



She got stuck. Blogger Mommy had to take the picture first and THEN help. All for you kids! ;)

Decoration of the Day
This is a winter scene I put together every year. The mirrors M. cut for me. The ceramic tree is something I've loved ever since I was a kid. Mom had one and when I grew up I had to have one too. The reindeer I inherited from my grandmother. The small glass tree all the way to the right came from a different decoration but I use it here now. I hang the snowflakes with fishing line. The whole thing doesn't translate well in two dimensions unfortunately. I looks much better in person.



And here are the two boxes in my entertainment center...

Monday, November 28, 2005
Christmas Decoration of the Day
This will be the first of a series. Believe me, I have enough stuff to get us through the holidays ;)

I received this creche as a Christmas gift many years ago. I love it. I like it better than any creche Costco has offered since they sold this one to Noni ;) I empty out two shelves on my entertainment center each Christmas and use the "box(es)" to decorate. I do the background with blue posterboard and foil stars. This is my nativity scene. Tomorrow I'll show you what's in the box underneath.

More tree exploration
About 80% of the time she will touch or lightly grab the ornaments without actually pulling them off. The other 20% we're working on...

Beyond book chewing
She's finally evolved past the book-as-chew-toy stage. It's really quite cute. She'll bring a book to me now with the expectation that I'll read it. If I'm sitting with my legs crossed she'll push the leg down so I can make a lap. Then she'll stand between my legs and grunt at me until I pick her up in my lap. Then she'll actually sit while I read. It still helps if the book is a lift-a-flap. It slows her down so that I actually have time to read the page. I've really been looking forward to this.
Today's outfit
I actually bought this one myself. I loved the little pants. The shirt fits her a little snug. She's starting to slightly outgrow her 12 mo. outfits, but is still too small for 18 mo. Sigh.

Sunday, November 27, 2005
Decorating for Christmas
We did most all of the indoor decorating today. M. was supposed to do the outside stuff, but it rained this afternoon. The only thing you can see from outside now is the tree through the window and four candles in our four front windows. I guess he won't try again till next Sunday. Bummer.

Emma was collecting the window candles and hanging them around her neck...

It happened. I was warned...
about two weeks ago. M. mentioned that his Mom might be buying us an artificial Christmas tree for our present this year. He said she hadn't said so explicitly, but she was hinting. She has allergies to the trees so she switched to artificial a couple of years ago. She said something to M. about it possibly helping my allergies. I thought about it briefly with a vague panic but then dismissed it.

When I came home from Noni & Popi's last night the gift was in our kitchen. For the first time in my life I am not having a real Christmas tree. Don't get me wrong, I can see the benefits of artificial, but it feels artificial too. It feels like we're cheating. M. wanted to put it up today. He figures if we have an artificial tree we might as well enjoy the benefits of it, i. e. being able to put it up early. We usually have to wait till close to Christmas with a real tree because our wood stove dries them up fast. Now it doesn't matter.

I spent the morning mourning the real tree we wouldn't have this year. It just made me really, really sad. Now the new tree is up. I'll have to get over it. It's smaller than we usually buy, but it holds the ornaments really well. It's heavily laden, that's for sure. I just made a promise to myself that when Emma is old enough to realize what's going on, and asks for a real tree, we'll definitely get one. This isn't the end of the world. And I really can say "Thank you for our gift, Grandma G."



This is one of the first of the millions of inevitable encounters Emma will have with the tree...