Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Emerson - WEARING CLOTHES!

So, we realize a lot of the posts have Emerson in a diaper, or a diaper and shirt, or a pair of pajama pants, or sometimes less. And Andrew just told me recently that he doesn't think he's ever seen Emerson wearing a shirt.

A lot of the pictures we take are when we're at home in the evenings and on weekends, just before or during a meal, or right after bath before bed. This basically is me trying to justify why there are so many pics of Emerson in little to no clothing. I do love to pick out clothes for him, and he has an extensive closet, especially for a boy. Plain and simple, Em loves to be naked.

So, here is a blog with Emerson wearing some clothes!

(We got some GREAT hand me downs from Emerson's cousin Spencer...we have lots of fun clothes for Fall !)

Cracking up that he moved his chair into the kitchen!
Big boy! This shirt was a gift from his Auntie Jes...perfect for Em!

Monday, September 28, 2009

pumpkin cookies - saturday stuff - sunday dinners

Our weekends are crazy in the fall! With football, traveling, and other miscellaneous events, we are booked nearly every weekend over the next few months. And that doesn't even take Christmas into account! When we have a weekend at home with no formal plans, we relish in it!

After a rowdy trip to the grocery Saturday morning, Emerson had his first pumpkin sugar cookie!
Halloween cookies! It's the little things in life, isn't it?
"Um, mom...did you mean to give this to me???"
"Hm. Delicious."

Emerson is full of funny faces. He certainly expresses himself. Check out these couple of shots of him being a goof.

I picked up this chair for Em recently. I plan to get the bigger children's chair, but wanted to first see if he would even use it. In addition to throwing it around the room, he sat in it!

Would you believe me if I told you he was watching football?
Also good for climbing and standing!
Comfy, cozy!
And what's a Saturday without a repair or two...
Emerson is "helping" Jason with the pantry door... And apparently needed a closer look!
On Sunday, we had a group of friends over for dinner, including Em's buddy, Teddy! They had fun playing with all the outside toys, recently relocated to the basement. The boys were in awe of Andrew. We think it's because Andrew is as loud as the two little screech owls. The entire evening, Emerson was as wound up as we've ever seen him! He was running - yes, running - from room to room, and practically bouncing off the walls! We have company kind of a lot, so we couldn't figure why he was so wild! He crashed hard around 7pm after running for 3 straight hours.
Loving the ball pit...
They were watching Andrew, watching the Bengals game.

Another weekend gone. And so much pending! Em gets tubes on Thursday of this week. Hopefully that means no more ear infections. He's had 5 in 5 months. His ENT is confident he'll recover in no time.

We plan to spend this coming weekend in Toledo, for the apple butter festival, soccer games, cross country meets, and lots of QT with the Toledo contingent. Lots of updates to come...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I mell a gunk.

Translation = I smell a skunk.

But that is what it might sound like when said by someone holding their nose. Which is what we were doing this morning. I started a new job a couple weeks ago, which I absolutely LOVE. I am doing some really great things, for a very cool company, in the area of education. More to come on that in another blog. Anyway, I was up early today getting ready for a meeting downtown, and I really didn't want to be late.

A few minutes after 6, I went downstairs to let Sheff out on his chain in the backyard. Off he goes, and started barking at something. It was still pretty dark out, and all I could see was a white puff moving slowly across our patio. Hm, strange looking squirrel. OH MY GOD! It's a skunk!!! The reason I saw the white puff, is because it was SPRAYING! OK, maybe it missed Sheff. Hurry up Sheff...finish your business and get back in here. Well, as you can imagine, the moment he came into the house, I knew. I yelled for Jason, we hurried him into the bath, and I scoured the kitchen for anything tomato. Chili sauce? Sure. Well, that didn't really work. I get online and find a homemade remedy with peroxide, baking soda, and soap. Didn't work either. Now we're both gagging as the smell has completely permeated our house. I refused to touch Sheff since I had to leave in a half hour and could NOT smell like a skunk at this meeting! After I abandoned Jason just before 7, he threw up. Twice.

We called our groomer, to find out she's closed on Wednesdays. Of course. We got him into PetSmart, and $50 later, he smells decent. Not good. But decent.

I spent another $80 at Target buying anything and everything deodorizing and neutralizing. Now here's something else to add to the equation. We have to now be selective about which Target we go to. The PetSmart on Sawmill Rd. where I made an appointment is right beside Target. Jason, incredibly flustered, got Sheff out of the car, and walked straight into and toward the back of PetSmart, no Target, no PetSmart, no Target. Yes, Target. He was so flustered, he took Sheff into Target, on a leash, apologizing on the way for the stinky dog (and man). No one told him he was in the wrong place! He realized, when he saw the bra department instead of the grooming shop.

We think we've neutralized the smell. But how would we know? You know when you're driving, and smell a skunk somewhere and think, "Ew, that's kinda gross, I hope we get past that soon." When your dog is sprayed 15 feet from your back door, it's a combination of death, eggs, and gasoline in the absolute most intense way.

Apologies in advance to anyone we see in the next few days. And you probably don't want to come by our house anytime in the next week or so. We're still detoxing.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Road trip!

We've gone on a few vacations with Emerson, but never a road trip! Until now. We headed to Maryland for Emerson's great Aunt Lala's commitment ceremony. She and her partner, Beth, after nine years together, "tied the knot" in a beautiful ceremony, with all of their closest friends and family. This was Emerson's first wedding, and beautiful one at that!

Although he and Jason missed most of the ceremony, due to his current preference for running and talking at the top of his lungs, Emerson increased his fan club population over the course of the weekend. He was the youngest child, by more than a handful of years, and everyone fell in love with his wild personality, and ability to charm. We were so busy with Emerson over the weekend, that we took few pictures.

Emerson did AMAZING in the car! We stopped only once on the way back. Many thanks to Emerson's back seat buddy, Auntie Jes...

Testing his climbing skills in the hotel room

Can anyone guess what he is going to do with this mouthful of water??? Pre-mischief

Lala (Laura) and Beth

Mid-reception...

Having fun with a restaurant balloon
We had an opening morning and found a nearby park...

Family resemblance???

Loves music!

He's a little bit country...

It's true. We know Emerson loves to rock out to just about any genre of music...rock, classic rock, pop, country, rap. But it's a fact...he's "a little bit country"! I grew up in small town, Ohio, and every once in a while, get some of that Lancaster twang. Others from there know exactly what I'm talking about. If you are from Lancaster, and you are reading this, thinking, "I've lived here my whole life, and I don't have an accent"...you're one of the people that do!

I love country music, and Jason likes it. My Dad owns a feed mill and a farm. I wore overalls and worked at the feed mill, loading grain, horse feed, and driving forklifts and John Deere front end loaders. For Emerson's first birthday, he received from his Mia and Poppy, Auntie Jes and Uncle Jared a John Deere riding toy, John Deere book, and John Deere hat.

Check out our little farmer/cowboy/country boy...it was obviously meant to be.
"g'day!"
Ummm...WAY too cool for school.
GIDDYUP!
What's with this look? Apparently, cowboy boots make him way too cool.
And my favorite...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday mornings. Vacuuming. And DOOR KNOBS!

There's something really lovely about when the weather starts to turn. I feel a whole new energy in the air...there's a crispness to the mornings, a chill in the air...very soon we'll be picking apples, then pumpkins, and then raking leaves. The fall is our favorite season in this house. We love everything about it! Football, cool weather, the smell of leaves...

We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends. Saturday morning, Emerson, Jess and I headed to Lancaster for a great visit with his Mia. He always loves to put on a show for her. We had an unfortunate ending football game that night, and Emerson had a late enough nap, that he caught most of the first quarter. Today was a lazy Sunday...we honestly don't get very many of those. And those that we do, go so fast. The evening is spent getting ready for the week. Laundry put away. Lunches packed.

We are also getting ready to head to Maryland on Thursday for Aunt Laura's wedding! We've borrowed a friend's DVD player for the car to help us get through the long ride. I anticipate stops to burn energy. Lord knows this boy has plenty of that!


Emerson was especially ornery the last few days. Jason's best friend Craig was in town and stayed with us for the weekend. Em definitely found a new buddy! He also realized he can reach, and turn door knobs! And pull himself up to look over the baby gate. And open cupboards, and use the counters to pull himself up to sinks. WHAT!?!?! You're only 13 months, kid...give me a break!

"No, mom...you sit and enjoy your coffee, I'll get this..."


"And for your listening enjoyment...I'm going to sing while vacuuming!"

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Pasghetti adventures

A little bit of singing, a little bit of eating

Emerson has mastered sucking up a noodle!
From all angles...
Oh boy...
What's he going to do next?...
Probably just eat some more, right?
And there you have it.
"Who, me?"
A little more singing...

Crazy-man-spaghetti-face.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

GO BUCKS!

To you, it may sound like "hey-dah"...to me, it sounds like "GO BUCKS!"

Emerson feeding himself with a spoon...mostly.

Blanket monster

This is something that Emerson has done for quite a while, this was just the first time I actually captured it. When Em gets tired in the evenings, he'll often grab onto pillows and blankets and roll around the house, throw blankets over his head and walk around. Check out the video...

Storytime

Emerson doesn't always sit patiently through a book while we are reading to him, but he is definitely interested in books. There are a few favorites, including Lyle Lyle, the Crocodile. I keep books everywhere...in the car, in every diaper bag, in our room, in the nursery, in the playroom, upstairs, downstairs. I really want them to be a part of Emerson's play time. He's gotten so that he'll grab a book, and back up to sit in your lap for assistance turning the pages. This usually lasts about 12 seconds before he's off on the next adventure. Nonetheless, his interest in books makes us proud!