Emily's Artwork For Dad

 One of the things on Craig's Christmas list this year is an art project from Emily. I wanted it to be something pretty cool that he could easily display on his desk at work. I saw a few examples of this style of art on pinterest and so I thought Emily would have a lot of fun with this.

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Preschool At Home

Emily's Preschool Board/Center

Now that I am a stay at home mom now, I wanted to try and provide Emily with some sort of a preschool education a few days a week. Since I teach middle school, I really have no clue as to what is appropriate for my 3 year old to learn...so Pinterest to the rescue. 

In the corner of our dining room, we already had an IKEA table set up where Emily does her art: playdo, finger painting, coloring, etc. The thing I love about this table is the drop leaf. It is easy to extend when Emily works on her art, and easy to close up when she's done. 

I decided to spice the corner up a little bit so that it could evolve into her little school corner. I added two drawer sets from Michaels to organize her art supplies, school supplies, writing aids, etc. I found the perfect link to great preschool board, along with free printables at, "A Day In The Life of a Classroom Teacher". It's no secret that I like things to look pretty, so I immediately fell in love with her preschool board and I was on cloud 9 when I saw she included free printables for the days of the week and the months of the year. I already had a classroom calendar, and I found the counting straws piece at JoAnn Fabrics. 

The board quickly came to together. I laminated the free printables, cut them out and used puffy stickers to attach them to the board...to give it a little fun dimension. On the bottom left side, I attached flash cards that can rotate as we learn them: Letters, Numbers, and Colors. I also found a set of cards that focuses on 3-Letter words, which is what you see at the far bottom of the board. The fourth set of cards (that you don't see on the board yet, but I plan on putting them below the calendar portion) focuses on sequencing. They are sets of three cards with pictures on them and Emily has to figure out the correct sequence that they are supposed to go in. For example, a set of cards would have a picture of a girl planting seeds, then watering the seeds, and then watching the flowers grow.

So far, Emily LOVES playing school. I found some great songs to help her learn the days of the week and the months of the year from: ABCTV123. Emily learned the days of the week super fast and she won't stop singing the song...even late in the night when she is in bed alone. (Craig and I randomly hear her singing this song from our video monitor. It's hilarious).

Days of the Week Song

Months of the Year Song

Now, just because Emily can sing the days of the week, does not mean she knows what any of it means. At her bedtime, we always talk about all of the things that we did "today" and she talks about things from previous days..."No, Emily...we did that yesterday." "Emily, we didn't do that today." So there are three labels on the board for the days of the week: "Yesterday was", "Today is", and "Tomorrow will be". It is finally starting to make sense to her. To attach the labels, and be able to move them each day, I stuck them to the front of cloth pins. It works perfectly.

 I found some personal white boards for Emily to practice her letters and numbers. Right now, she starts off trying to trace my letters and write her own, but after about 30 seconds (if that) it turns into writing a ton of circles. A new product that I just found are the new crayola white board crayons. I started with her using white board markers, but that just turned into a disaster with her pushing way too hard, but these crayons are great. They even have a crayon sharpener on the back of the box! PERFECT!!

It is so fun watching her learn. She loves going over the board, singing our new songs, and practicing her writing.

Emily's A Pro!!!

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Andrew Is One Month Old

 

It's been one month already...I can't help thinking that if he came on his due date, he would only be one week old at this time. It has been quite the adjustment going from one child to two. Scheduling has been my lifesaver through this. Emily already has the routine down...she wakes up just as Andrew is feeding. Depending on where Andrew and I are at, she either comes upstairs to our bedroom and watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while he feeds, or we sit on the couch in the living room together instead. Andrew feeds every 3 hours...on the dot. At the beginning I nursed on demand just as he needed, and then once he started to follow a bit of routine, I started to implement the Baby Wise system: feed, wake, sleep...every 3 hours. It's nice for everyone this way because he has come to expect a feeding at a certain time and because it's routine he doesn't have to freak out and scream his head off to tell me he is hungry. As for me, I am able to schedule a bit of a life outside of the house because I know about how long I have before he needs to feed again. 

I have also begun to pump full time rather than nurse. At his two-week appointment I asked his pediatrician when I could start introducing the bottle to him and he said it would be fine at this point (two weeks of age)...so I did, and Andrew took to the bottle right away. I love feeding with the bottle because I can recruit help with his feedings. Daddy, Grandparents, and even babysitters can feed Andrew. Don't get me wrong...I love the bonding time with Andrew when he feeds and I feel like I still get that mommy/baby bonding moment with the bottle because I still hold him close and look in his eyes as he gazes back at me during his feedings, however...especially during the midnight hours, it is SO NICE to have Craig take over a feeding every now and again so I can get a few more hours of sleep. 

One of the biggest adjustments has been trying to get out of the house. WOW...what an ordeal this can be: trying to get Emily prepared with her shoes and whatever toys/dolls she is requesting to bring along, and then putting Andrew in his carseat (which he is no fan of at all = screaming baby)...and then grabbing the carseat, the diaper bag, and Emily's hand as we head out of the door. Then, trying to get everyone IN the car...OY!! I am not looking forward to the cold wet season that is right around the corner. I unlock the car and am trying to get Emily to be able to open her own door and get in her carseat all by herself (I don't think that I want her to be able to buckle herself in mainly because I don't want her to know how to UNBUCKLE herself). Meanwhile, I'm on the other side of the car opening the front door to put the diaper bag and whatever else I have in my hands, then opening the back door to put Andrew in his spot, then going over to Emily's side (who is most likely NOT in her seat because she sees this all as a fun game) to put Emily in her seat and buckle her up. 

This last month has been such a new experience...one that I absolutely cherish! I have so enjoyed being able to stay home with both of my kids. There are good days, and there are not-so-good days, but Emily's kisses and Andrew's cuddles make it all better at the end of the day! I have loved every moment with them. I am amazed at how well Emily has adjusted to having a new brother. Not only has she been extremely helpful with Andrew (pushing him in his swing, grabbing his binky for him when he cried, yelling out to tell me he is crying...as if I couldn't hear, singing him songs and reading him books), but she has also grown more and more attached to her baby dolls...mimicking what I do with Andrew: changing their diapers, putting them down for naps, feeding them a bottle, etc. It is so fun to watch her experience and grow this nurturing quality.

Bringing Home Baby...Emily Is Such A Proud New Sister

Emily is such a proud new big sister.

I was so unsure of the proper way to introduce Emily to Andrew. I have to say, I was actually nervous...not just for Emily's sake, but also for my own. I couldn't comprehend how I was going to be able love another child as much as I loved Emily. I wasn't sure about my feelings with a new baby. Don't get me wrong...I prayed for this child...and waited for over two years for this child. These confused feelings started to arise as the delivery date got closer and closer.
I started to realize that I was no longer going to have my one on one time with Emily. It was mainly my cuddle time that I was worried about because I know that Emily is going to outgrow that phase sooner than later. She has always been a huge "cuddler". We would cuddle on the couch as we watched a movie together. We would cuddle during her night time routine. We would cuddle...just to cuddle. I couldn't see this continuing with a new baby around and I didn't want to lose that.
On the other side...I was worried because I wanted to have the same amount of quality time with my newborn son as I had with Emily when she was a newborn. I wanted uninterrupted "snuggle" time, "cuddle" time, and "holding" time. I wanted to spend hours just staring back at my babies eyes. I wanted to sit and let my newborn son rest and fall asleep on my shoulder. I had no idea how this was going to happen, or if it even could happen. Would I be able to make the same connection with Andrew as I was able to make with Emily?
All of these questions/concerns overwhelmed me. I was terrified of this new change because I just couldn't see it working out perfectly for everyone. I just kept imagining someone's feelings being hurt, whether it was Emily's, Andrew's, or my own.

As far as Emily goes, I wanted to make sure that she did not feel replaced by Andrew. I wanted to make sure that she knew she was still such an important piece to our family. I read a couple of other blogs to see what they did for their first born to make them feel secure in this way and here is what we ended up doing:

• Long before Andrew's arrival, we started reading books to Emily from the Library about becoming a big sister, or what it was like to have a baby in the family.

• We made a small picture book of all of the pictures we took from her delivery. We read the photo album like it was a book and talked about how she arrived and how special she was and how excited we were to have her join our family. She loved this album and started looking through it on her own time...reading it aloud to herself. It was pretty special hearing her repeat all of the things that we talked about with her. 

• During her bedtime routine we listed all of the ways that she would be able to help out with the new baby: sing songs, play, find the binky, change his diapers (not really...but she loved talking about dirty diapers for some reason), etc. This helped her to become super excited about helping with her new baby brother. 

• We planned on her staying with my parents while we were at the hospital, so we talked about that with her a lot too. We had a practice "slumber party" at their house and also had Emily help pack her bag with the clothes that she wanted to wear and some toys that she wanted to bring over to play with.

 Here is how we prepared for the actual meeting of Emily and Andrew at the hospital:

• We brought a gift with us that was from "Andrew" to Emily. Emily is really into the Disney Princesses right now, so "Andrew" gave her a Disney Princess lunch box filled with snacks and some games to keep her happy and busy while she visited us at the hospital. 

• When my parents brought her to the hospital for the first time, we put baby Andrew in his bassinet so that Emily could climb into my bed and we could cuddle and she could tell me all the things she had been doing with her grandparents. We then told her that Andrew had finally left mommy's belly and IMMEDIATELY, she started looking around the room for her new brother. She was so excited to meet him. We told her that he was asleep in the bassinet and she quickly stood up to look inside the bassinet. She had the BIGGEST smile on her face and she couldn't wait to hold him. We had her sit down next to me and Craig brought Andrew to Emily to hold. I have never seen her so happy before (well...maybe when she got her big girl bed). It was such a relief to me because I had NO CLUE how this would all play out. (The total stinky thing that happened was we caught this most beautiful thing on video via our iPhone, and it froze up and ended up not recording a single moment.)

Once we were given the A.O.K. to come home, it was important to us to come home as a FAMILY. We drove to my parents house to pick up Emily and then drove home for the first time as a family of four!!! SO COOL!!
When we had visitors come to the house, Emily was always at the door to greet them. Our guests were always so great to first give Emily attention and ask her how she was doing and what she thought about her new baby brother. She would then introduce the company to her new brother. It was great because it gave her the control and didn't make it all about Andrew. She felt very important.

This entire process was an emotional roller coaster...but the words of my mother quickly made so much sense to me, "Your love doesn't divide with another child...it multiplies". I love that...it is so true. I don't love Emily any less, nor do I love Andrew any less than when Emily was a newborn. Both of my children are loved...and their cup runeth over!!! They are both so much alike and so unique at the same time.  Emily is head over heels for her baby brother...and loves to hold him, sing to him, and help in any way that she can. I love it!!

Potty Training...SUCCESS!!!

My first attempt at potty training Emily was when she just turned 2 years old. She had shown some interest in using the potty and so we bought the princess potty seat that sings when it gets filled. The odd thing was that her first success “filling” was with a poo-poo. We were so excited…we grabed the camera and took those embarrassing pictures that we get hold over her as ransom when she gets older.

Now, at first, we just let her sit on the potty whenever she wanted and we didn’t force her to use it at all. However, once I officially attempted to potty train, then she put up a huge fight. She wanted no part of sitting on her princess potty, on the big potty…nothing. I tried the candy method, my mom had a present wrapped and ready to bring over once she went potty in the toilet…but Emily just didn’t care. I finally threw in the towel and just figured she wasn’t ready.

Fast forward one whole year. Emily has been showing a lot more interest in potty training…I just kept pushing back the actual training because I thought it would be easier to train when I started summer vacation…and then I pushed it back more because we decided to take a vacation to San Francisco and I didn’t want to have to hunt down toilets every hour. Finally, the “right time” arrived and potty training began.

Now, you can laugh all you want…BUT…potty training TERRIFIED me!!! I was afraid of all of messes that I was going to have clean up. I am a clean freak and I so did not want stinky stains on our nice living room rug, and I just envisioned having to clean up mess after mess all over the house. So, to aid our potty training adventure, I sought out the help of Jen Lovelady and her “Pro Potty Trainer” System. Jen is an amazing mother of 4 and has an abundance of great wisdom! She gaurantees that your child will be potty trained within 3 days or your money back. That was the selling point for me. I didn’t want to deal too much with potty training past 3 days.

I bought the program (It was pretty inexpensive…I want to say about $30. I can’t tell you about the program because I don’t want to give away the tricks…just know that we were 100% happy with it and it worked 100% for us) and after the first day, I was ready to throw in the towel. Emily never once made it “in” the potty. She had an accident right NEXT to the potty, in the hallway after sitting on the potty for a good amount of time, etc. Luckily, every single accident was on the bathroom floor or on our wood floors…never on the rug! It wasn’t until it was time for bed, that first day…we put her back in a diaper to sleep in and once we finished her bedtime routine, she started to cry and cry and cry. She was saying that she had to go potty and she didn’t want to go in her diaper. I thought for sure that this was Emily’s way of trying to extend her bedtime, BUT being the nice mother that I am…I decided to let her out and try to sit on her potty chair one last time. And BEHOLD…the chair sang it’s potty tune as she WENT POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! We did a potty dance…we high fived…we were so so excited for her!!! We then called Nana and Papa to tell them the good news. It was the cutest phone call ever!!

Day #2 of potty training was practically perfect. The only accidents that we had on day #2 were when she started to go potty in her panties…but she was able to stop herself and run to the bathroom, so there was no clean up involved…just putting on new panties. That was it!!!! By the third day, she was potty trained pro. I am so proud of Emily (and so thankful I didn’t throw in the towel after the first day).

Getting Rid Of The Binky

 

WOW!!! Craig and I...OK...Well..."I" thought that it was time for Emily to lose the BINKY!!! It is way past due, and she had no reason as to why she needed it...so GOOD-BYE binky. I think that I was just so ready for the binky to go away that I didn't think about what would be best for Emily. I never researched it or talked to other people...I just figured that she should go "cold turkey". 

NOW...almost a week later...she still doesn't go down for a nap, or for bed time, very easily. At the very least, I have had to go in twice to calm her down from all of her crying. With that said...even before we decided to take away the binky, she started putting up a huge fight before bed time. She wouldn't open her mouth to let me brush her teeth, she fought me putting her pajamas on, she would purposely get in trouble and try to get into time out...just to prolong the inevitable of bed time. 

With that said...maybe Emily is just bored, not having a binky to suck on anymore, so she is just finding a new way to stretch out bed time. Every time I go in to her room to get her, she immediately asks to cuddle on her rocking chair. 

I don't know what to do. Do I give in and give her the binky back? What will that do to trying to get rid of it in the future? Do I give her tough love and know that eventually she will get over it? AAAaaaaa!!!!!

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Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

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My Summer With Emily...

This summer was definitely one of my favorites...regardless of the poopy scoopy weather. I cannot tell you how much fun I have had with Emily. This was my third summer with her. Her first summer was amazing because she was brand new to us and we were both just in awe of the gift that she had become. Her second summer was amazing because she was learning so many new things...still very dependent on me, yet, at the same time, she was trying to figure things out on her own.

This summer was nothing short of amazing as well. I have been crying for the last couple of days because I will just miss her like crazy...but I know that she will have SO much fun with my friend who has offered to watch her for me while I start another school year.

Craig has been so GREAT this weekend!!! He has gone above and beyond in making sure that I am relaxed and able to enjoy the last few days of summer before going back to work...fancy BBQ's with family, Sunday morning breakfast, dinner out tonight...the works. Tonight, Craig asked me this question: "What were some of your favorite things about this summer?" It didn't take long before I rambled off this long list....

~THE THINGS THAT I LOVED MOST ABOUT THIS SUMMER~ 

• The many walks to the park with Emily

• Our Starbuck treats together...they have enjoyed Emily so much that every now and again, they will give her a free cake-pop

• When Emily reaches out to hold my hand
• When Emily rests her head on my shoulder

• The times when Emily pats my back and ends with a small back rub...just like I do to Emily
• When Emily runs to me saying, "holdu holdu holdu" (Hold You...she says it as though it is one word)
• Her belly laughter
• Playing "Ring Around the Rosie" in the front yard
• Coloring on the front walkway with sidewalk chalk

• Playing "chase" everywhere we go
• Watching her face light up as we go to each animal exhibit at the zoo

• Listening to her read a book to her baby dolls
• Hearing Emily sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. (She just says, "tinkle tinkle" over and over)
• Watching her run out and greet her dad when he comes home from work
• Watching her take care of her baby dolls just as she has been taken care of

• Seeing Emily chase after random kids at the park
• Our morning cuddles on days she used the "I'm Not A Morning Person" card
• Taking Emily on her first camping trip...which she did so well at!!!

• Feeding the ducks together
• Listening to Emily as she pretended to have a phone conversation with each family member and friends
• Giving Emily her first pedicure

Emily,  you continue to bring me joy with each smile...with each hug and kiss...and with the sound of your laughter. I will miss you like crazy when I go back to work!!!

Emily's TUTU TWO PARTY

OH MY GOODNESS!! Emily's party is just a blur to me! Note to self...do not have a party during the week because you are all by yourself to set up, cook, frost, and at the same time...make sure that the birthday girl has a great day!!! I have already posted the tutorials on the crafts that I made for the party, so I will just post pictures from the party. If you have any questions about how I did something, or where I purchased things from, leave me a post.

DECORATIONS 

 

Click on this photo to get a closer picture of what it says. I basically took her invitation and changed some of the wording to give guests directions to take a tie, or bow, and head on to the back for the party. 

 I used the Cricut to make a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign that matched her invitations. Sorry, you can't see it really well.

FOOD

I used about ten yards of tulle to make the table skirt, then I pinned a sequined ribbon to hide all of the pins from the tulling. I purchased the tulle tent from Target. I figured I would reuse it for Emily's big girl room. 

The cook always has to taste what they cook before the guests arrive...and I have to say...they were DELICIOUS!!!

After everyone enjoyed their burgers, I cleared off the table to make room for the birthday cupcakes. The special cupcake stand is actually a candelabra that I have had for years. I don't remember exactly where I got it from. I want to say it was at a Christmas exhibit one year. 

Emily's Friends

CUPCAKES

 She wanted to see the pictures that I was taking of her. When she saw this photo she said, "Mess!!" LOL

Gift From Mom and Dad

 I am so happy with how much she loves her gift!! Unfortunately it has become a huge struggle to get her to clean up and get ready for nap time or bedtime. We placed this in the dining room so she can see us while we cook in the kitchen and she can cook in her kitchen at the same time. 

I can't believe that I have a two year old now!! I remember, as if it were just yesterday, bringing her home from the hospital! I look at pictures of her now and I just can't believe where the time has gone.

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