Daddy, Jeff!

This morning on my, "Hello, Mommy!" call from Emilia, Jeff shared some funny news... He had just been locked out of the house by Emilia who closed and locked the sliding door behind him when he went out to water! Ha ha! He was a little panicked at first, but, luckily - she knew how to unlock the door when he asked her to let him in.

When I got home tonight, I was in the kitchen getting dinner going while Jeff was outside sweeping up some of the seeds that are everywhere. I asked Emilia, "Can you call Daddy to come in and help us?" Well - she knew exactly what to do. This is a helpful and a little alarming...do I call for him so often that she knows exactly what it takes to get his attention? Don't answer that...

Check out this funny video of her yelling for "Daddy, Jeff!" and showing off her close the door and lock it skills :)

Memorial Weekend

We had a GREAT Memorial Weekend in Alexandria with Jeff's family. The weekend was filled with all kinds of excitement!

We started out with a fun Saturday morning at the city park. Emilia and I got to explore and play while Nana got groceries for the weekend. Emilia had her first ride on a merry-go-round. I spun her around VERY slowly! She tried every swing and slide the park at to offer - even the REALLY tall one that she climbed up all by herself. What a big girl!

Sunday morning, we got right to chalk art on the sidewalk. This activity was enjoyed equally by Emilia and Nana and all the onlookers :)

Laying down to be traced!

Two Emilia's!

Later that morning, Emilia got to try fishing off the dock. This one was a little more fun for Emilia, Jeff and Nana and a little more terrifying for me. I tried to hide my fear of the slimy, floppy little things so Emilia could be her curious self and enjoy a up close look and even a little touch before setting them free in the lake.

That afternoon, we enjoyed the warm sun on the pontoon and Emilia in all her cuteness. We had a great ride and stopped for lunch where we got to dip our feet into the, still very chilly, water. After lunch was just more relaxing - perfect. Emilia is a definite lake girl :)

Auntie Jill sharing the wheel with Emilia...or the other way around...it depends how you look at it...

In Papa's words, "enjoy the influence that a good looking two year old has on a mature grandfather."

And no weekend would be complete without some bubble blowing! Nana sure had all kinds of fun activities planned for the weekend and we loved it!

Of course, best of all is spending time with family. The hustle and bustle of summer traveling is upon us...but as we set off on our travels, we remind ourselves that once we reach our destination, it's going to be full of great times and priceless memories.

Two Peas...

We had a fun night with Janelle, Sergei, Mila and Eva tonight. Emilia and Mila cracked each other up the whole night and went full speed from start to finish. It's so fun to see the interaction between the girls who are just one day apart in age. Mila showed Emilia how to be a bit more daring by diving onto Daunte's dog bed and Emilia showed Mila how to be a good little housekeeper by cleaning up all the bibs and towels they had pulled out of the drawer before we left :) Their admiration for each other was so cute! They are such a great pair and we look forward to getting together a lot more now that the summer is here and the days are longer and warmer!

Puppy Pile!

Hiding

Meeting Tucker

This weekend, we met up with my cousin Shawn and his fiancé, Leslie to meet Tucker, Leslie's horse. We had heard so much about Tucker and his gentle spirit and how great he is with people so we were very excited to finally be able to take Emilia out to meet him.

All week, we had been building up the big event by telling Emilia, "We're going to meet a horsie this weekend! His name is Tucker." She had it all down. When we were getting ready in the morning, we asked her, "Do you know what we're going to see today?" And she replied, "HORSIE!" and then we asked, "Do you know what his name is?" and she replied, after giving it a little thought, "TUCKER!" So when we got there, she knew just who she was looking at :)

We came equipped with carrots for Tucker and, of course, a camera to capture the memory. Thankfully, Shawn also brought his camera and got some GREAT shots!! The pictures on this post are all his!

Emilia LOVED Tucker. She feed him carrots and horse cookies right out of her little hand. She stroked his gorgeous coat and was completely enthralled in all the newness around her. It took a little coaxing, but we even got her up on Tucker for a ride with Leslie. Emilia goes down as the youngest rider Tucker has had! How cool is that?

Thank you, Shawn and Leslie for sharing Tucker with us and creating this great memory.

Loving the little things :)

Being Emilia's Mom (that STILL sounds just crazy) means I get to know and love all the little things about her. I'll share a few of these ordinary and extraordinary things so you can fall in love with her a little more too...

The way she gets excited to go into a public bathroom so she can shout and hear the echo. Even while I'm trying to get her to shout more "quietly" as to not alarm the ladies that may be using the facilities, I'm smiling.

The enthusiasm she shows EVERY TIME she sees an airplane, announcing, "O-PLANE!" and then putting her arms out from her sides and pretending to fly while imitating the sound, "Ssshhooooo". And them spotting a second one, and with the same enthusiasm, saying, "There's another one! BIG ONE!" Or even better, hearing one from inside the house and saying, "I wanna see 'em" while running towards one of the windows.

The way she has recently added, "awhile" or "a bit" to the things she wants to do. "I want to play awhile" or "I want to read a bit" Or when she decides she's would rather have one of us over the other, she says, "Mommy's turn" or "Daddy's turn." I'm still trying to encourage her to think it should be "Daddy's turn" every time it comes to diaper changes.

When you ask her a question, to which the answer is yes, and she'll reply, "Yeah. Umm, hmm. Umm, hmm." while nodding her head.

How every time you're bending down and a little of your back is showing, she'll run over and lift your shirt and her's to give you a big bear hug, back skin to tummy skin. She just loves the skin to skin contact. It's the funniest thing and we're not sure where it came from? It's cute now...but Grandpa said it best..."It won't be cute when she's 15!" Ha ha!

Her fear of "stinky toe jams!" She will lift her feet right up to eye level and examine her little toes to be sure there is nothing hiding in there. If there is a tiny piece of sock lint in there, she makes a terrified face, says "I don't like the sticky toe jams" and grunts for your assistance until she has inspected them again and confirms they are free of jammers and it's "all better!"

Her requests for books and shows are not by the title, but by the phrase used most throughout. For example, the book "Love You Forever" has a little song that the mommy sings to her son every night. If you know the book, you know what I'm referring to. So when Emilia requests this book, she asks for, "Love you forever, like you always, my baby you'll be...!" And after naps, she'll come out into the living room and state, "I want Sunny Days - Clouds Away!" Yeah - we all want the same thing, right? Well - she's not referring to the weather. She wants to watch Sesame Street!

I could go on forever. Being a mommy is such an amazing gift. I am thankful everyday for this blessing in life and for the healthy, beautiful, smart and happy little girl I get to call my daughter. Each day is different than the last - many challenging and exhausting - but many more rewarding and incredibly wonderful.

Landscape Extravaganza!

This weekend was the much anticipated Landscape Extravaganza! We have been wanting to get a plan together and make something happen in our yard for as long as I can remember. Thanks to our parents, we had the expertise and man power to accomplish AMAZING things!

When I got home on Friday, the landscape beds had been laid by my darling dearest, a lilac bush had been cut down and a HUGE pile of black dirt had been delivered and covered by an equally HUGE blue tarp. I sat in the car with Emilia for a solid 5 minutes just staring and saying"Holy Moly"repeatedly until she started imitating me by saying, "Holy Moly" and then giggling.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed out with Pam to purchase the goods and then headed home to start digging in! There were projects happening all over the place. Out with the old and in with the new. Love it!

Emilia was, of course, thrilled with the rocks that she was able to collect over the course of the project. She also really enjoyed wearing her boots and stomping through the dirt. I have never seen her face dirtier and it was great. It was so fun to watch her observe you, kneeling and planting and then look over and see her position herself on her knees to imitate you. She's always watching; always learning...and so are we.

I'm going to make sure to do my research on how to care for all of these fabulous shrubs and perennials. And in the meantime, we'll keep enjoying all the smiles and thumbs ups from the neighborhood passer-bys who seem to be enjoying our new landscape as much as we are!

Next up - grow grass grow and building a fence! Woo hoo!

Show and Tell