Building a Cushion Fort with Dad

Ben had a great time building a cushion fort with E. Emerson's favorite part was destroying it, and as you can tell by his face, it was serious business.

Little E at the Park

He LOVES the slide. He can't help but smile on the way down.

I like that he looks like the bear on his shirt

My big boy on the swing

He still has the same arms hooked around the swing as a few months ago but he looks bigger!

We've had some nice springlike days around here the past while, so E and I have made lots of trips to the little park in our neighborhood. It's so much fun! I love that he's getting big enough to play. I think it's just going to get better, too. He just loves being outside.

Baby Einstein

Baby Einstein and I have a love/hate relationship. But let me back up. I'm blogging right now at 8:04 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and I've been up since 6:30 when my child awoke screaming. He cried on and off for about an hour and screamed bloody murder when I put him in his bed because I mistakenly thought he had calmed down enough to fall back asleep by himself. Silly me. I finally decided to come downstairs and give him some breakfast which consisted of rice cereal and some banana. (His new thing is taking bites off the banana while I hold it. That's much cooler than picking up diced pieces of banana off the tray.) Lately he's been downing bananas like mad. He cries whenever he's done.
So back to Baby Einstein. I turned it on for Emerson after breakfast so I could do stuff. This is the main reason for even owning Baby Einstein. I have no idea whether it makes kids smarter or dumber, but it keeps them occupied...whatever. I love the fact that his face lights up and he makes excited babbles when the music comes on and the caterpillar crawls across the screen. And I think it's adorable that he sits down and folds his little hands in his lap and pays careful attention to all the puppets and toys they show. I like that they have some mesmerizing things on there to watch as well. I especially like the tornado thing on Baby Mozart. It's really cool. I'm also a fan of Baby MacDonald. There are a few things I can't stand though. I get tired of the same ones over and over. The main lady's voice grates on my nerves. When I'm in the other room doing something and I hear her stupid voice saying over and over "Get up" or "Stand up" in time with the music I want to tear my hair out and scream. Another annoying thing is the hand model on all the movies. For those of you who have never experienced Baby Einstein, let me explain. There is a disembodied hand that demonstrates a lot of the toys while the music plays. The female hand is all stiff and unnatural. It just looks so robotic and weird. And it bugs me. My favorite was when she had a scabbed-over gash on her hand and you couldn't help staring at it while she was showing some mesmerizing toy. (Ok so maybe gash is a little much, but it was a visible wound.) Anyway...I like it and I don't. I think I'm going to have to try Elmo's World pretty soon as my friend suggested so I don't go all the way crazy.

Friend Sippy Cup

This is where the friends spend most of their time. They push each other down, play with the spring doorstopper, suck on highlighters, and play peekaboo with the curtain.

The little men

Emerson figuring out the sippy cup. Notice all the milk spatters around his eye.

So I've been trying to get Emerson to catch on to the sippy cup. He refuses to take a bottle, and I don't want to go through the process of weaning him from the bottle anyway...But he hasn't been real friendly to the sippy until he was really thirsty. And until he saw that Tucker had a cool milk container as well. Genius. I just let Emerson watch Tucker drink from his cool milk holder for a minute and then handed him his, and boom he layed down and away he went on the formula. I'm really excited to be done with breastfeeding, but there's a small part of me that's sad too. My little boy won't need me anymore and I'm not going to be special. :( Don't worry, I'll survive. Especially when I don't have to strategically plan my outfits for church to give easy access. *Wink* Goodbye skirts, hello dresses. Although, it is fun to give and receive a good flash here every now and then in the Mothers' lounge when you realize either your dress top won't pull down quite far enough or you have to retuck your camisole at the end. It's always a party.

Trip to Virginia

Uncle Tim and E in their matching shirts

Just chillin'

E and Dad at Manassas Battlefield

Little E and Kennedy...Family resemblance?

E and Alli in their snazzy jammies

Alli and Emerson watching Baby Einstein together

Kens and E swaddled up with their daddies

Kennedy and Emerson playing

The Little Christensens in Washington D.C.

Ben at the Jefferson Memorial

Ben at the FDR Memorial

Wind and FDR

Uncle Ben reading a story

Last weekend we took a little trip to Virginia to visit Tim, Brooke, Alli, and Kennedy before they move to Peru. It was a 7 hour drive, but Emerson was very good. He was very entertained by his new big boy carseat, a variety of snacks, and a few hours' worth of peekaboo. We had a great time watching Emerson play with his cousins, going into D.C., going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, rollin' in the Pilot, playing games, and just hanging out. Thanks for all the fun! We're sad you're going to be moving so far away.

11 Months Old!

It was a toss up of which picture I should use to document Emerson's 11 month mark. They all demonstrate his funny little personality. At 11 months Emerson:
*Gets excited when the Baby Einstein caterpillar thing crawls across the tv screen.
*Cries when mom leaves home without him. (With Ben watching him of course.)
*Can clap his hands and wave! (The biggest, most awaited accomplishment.)
*Is getting dangerously close to saying "Hi" "Mom" and "Dad"
*Occasionally toddles around when he wants to
*Crawls at the speed of light to the dishwasher to "help" mommy.
*Smashes his fingers in doors because he loves to open and shut them.
*Stops playing to look at his truck book all by himself.
*Does all the activities in his Pat the Bunny book, including turning the pages.
*Drops things off his high chair tray and then tries to look over the side at where they went.
*Has figured out how to put a blanket over his eyes to play peekaboo.
*Refuses to stay still while having his diaper changed.
*Has discovered that the DVDs come off the shelf...and loves pulling them off and throwing them.
*Has started eating table food and hates mashed potatoes.
*Has begun the weaning process. (Hooray!!)

Emerson Walking For Real

Ok Grandma and Grandpa. Here is Emerson walking for real. This is the best we could do with our silly boy. Only 29 days until you come visit! Hooray! (Sorry the video is so dark. I'm not sure why...)

A Close Call

Open scene with mother and young son preparing to engage in bathtime. Young son has a somewhat small amount of vomit on his clothes, and mother feels it necessary to bathe the small rodent because he hasn't been bathed since last week. Mother carefully removes child's pajamas, pulling onesie over his baby-proportioned large head. The child's arms are fully extended in a "skin the bunny" fashion, yet still don't reach over his head. While still diapered and mother looking on, child gazes into the magical playpen with sparkling water and colorful squirt toys and sieves. A glob of drool escapes his lips and blends with the raging torrent below. Mother spreads the soft, downy towel on the floor for a quick swaddle after splashing fun is through. Excitement overcomes the young child as mother approaches to remove his diaper and give him total and complete freedom. She cautiously checks the diaper to make sure there are no rapscallions lying in wait. Eyeing a suspicious brown streak in the diaper, she examines the child's bottom to locate the source. Satisfied that child's bottom is clean, she begins lowering him into the bathtub. Just as she does so, the culprit manifests itself and enters the gentle waves. Mother pauses, unsure what to do. Child still dangles inches above the water in Mother's arms, unaware of what has come to pass, his body still in spasms of excitement. Mother lowers child into the water, and, forcing herself to continue on even though she realizes what she's about to do, scoops the swarthy knave from the water with her bare hand and nestles it in the safety of the used diaper. A laugh escapes her lips and she continues smiling as she bathes her young son, not only because he narrowly escaped, but also because she remembers a long time ago when she and her brother cowered at the opposite end of the bathtub when a smiliar villain was in pursuit and the brave heroine who was their mother saved them.

Reasons to Smile

There have been a lot of things to make me smile lately. Here are a few (in no particular order):

*Friends and family commenting on my blog.

*Our fixed dryer, which, for the first time in 3 1/2 years, dried clothes after only one cycle and did not start a fire. (This almost wasn't smile-worthy after the $200 repair, but it was still cheaper than buying a whole new dryer and it was SO worth it when my clothes were completely dry. Laundry day goes so much faster when you have a machine that works! The puzzling thing is, Ben's grandparents gave us the washer and dryer brand new as a wedding present so they both should've worked really well. I suppose I've only begun to appreciate the meaning of dry.)

*Our snazzy new dresser (thanks Comins!)
* Emerson helping me unload the dishwasher (It's his new best friend.)
*Having mashed potatoes for dinner last night. (My favorite food in the whole world.)

*It being officially uncool to have to STAND in the activity center. E and T like walking AROUND it all day playing. The toys are apparently still cool...they just like the option of being able to walk or crawl away.
*Thinking about my family coming for E's first birthday in only a few weeks!

*Thinking about my almost 2-year-old neighbor Taylee making her mermaid go potty on the little toilet. (Trust me, if you saw the picture, it would make you laugh at random times during the day too. She's such a cutie.)

*The smell of warm banana bread wafting through my house.

*Ben telling me he looked at our blog. (I wasn't even sure he knew we had one!)

*My newfound talent and obsession with caulking. (I have a really cool tool that makes it easy and pretty much perfect. But let's be honest, it takes some skillz.)

*Looking at the clock and realizing that E still has an hour left of his nap. (Mental fist pump.)

*Reading this book and laughing out loud when I'm home alone and then sheepishly laughing more because I think of what a loser I am to be laughing by myself.*Emerson watching the DVD screensaver and laughing hysterically as the little logo bounces off the sides.

* And this:

New Floor

As I mentioned in the Valentine's Day post, Ben and I installed new floors in our two upstairs bathrooms. It was an easy, relatively inexpensive improvement. Our linoleum was pretty ugly with marker stains all over it from the people who lived here before us. It was time for a change. I'll tell ya though, picking out the tile at the store is not easy. It looks completely different when you bring it home and put it next to your carpet, paint color, and cabinets. We chose something quite a bit lighter the first time and decided against it because it was way too similar to the carpet. Our friends suggested going darker (which we actually probably never would have thought of on our own....seriously, we're not that adventurous.) I didn't like this tile color at Lowe's, but when we brought it home I loved it.

Before

(Ok, I realize in this picture you have to look really close to even find the floor. It wasn't an official "before" picture, it was just one I had taken when posting pictures of the house when we moved in.)

After

Master bathroom before

After

Our snazzy new handles installed by handyman Ben

And in other exciting news, we painted the baseboards in both bathrooms white because we kind of hate the fake natural wood color that is throughout the house. So I guess we may be undertaking the whole house eventually. It looks really good white, but it's going to be so much work. Luckily we have like 3 1/2 more years in this house to get it done though.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Emerson looks drunk...but he just doesn't feel well.

There was a beautiful rainbow after the scary wind and rainstorm last week. There was a tornado watch apparently, and we were all ready to huddle in our downstairs bathroom. (We don't have a basement.) But I've often thought...why the downstairs bathroom? Why not the pantry under the stairs? There's food there. And then the thought of being trapped by five gallon buckets, metal shelves, and shards of china enters my mind. Then I'm immediately seized with claustrophobia. I guess I'll settle for the bathroom and take my chances dashing to the emergency kit in the garage--that is, if the tornado doesn't confiscate the emergency kit. Stupid funnel clouds. But, I digress. The rainbow was pretty. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of our Valentine's adventure because I forgot my camera. Ben planned a romantic date and surprised me by taking me ice skating--something I've always wanted to do since I was like 13. I thought it would be so romantic. It was so much fun! He wasn't expecting me to have any skillz, but he was unaware that at McMillan Elementary, we got to take ice skating lessons for 6 weeks during 5th and 6th grade. Woot woot. So was I lacking in skillz? I think not. Ben was particularly cute in his ice skates and even dared to do some turns with me. He didn't even fall! I was so proud.

After ice skating we opted for dinner at Chipotle because it is oh so good and wasn't very busy. I enjoyed my huge burrito a lot, but with my plugged nose (from my cold) it was less of a taste explosion than I wanted. :(

After dinner the REAL romance started. No no, not that...(ha ha). We took a trip to Lowe's to spend our gift money. You see, lately we've been making little improvements to our home and completely separately decided to give each other money to spend on something practical. Boring and unromantic maybe...but we're happy with it since we're not rolling in the dough right now. :) So Ben bought some faux tile with his mullah (we installed some last week and really liked it in our upstairs bathroom), and I bought handles for all our kitchen cupboards and drawers. Yay.

After that we tried to go to Confessions of a Shopaholic, but it was sold out, so we opted for a Redbox film instead. I picked out License to Wed and I thought it was kinda dumb. (Robin Williams isn't my favorite. He makes me uncomfortable. He's big into awkward situations, being crude, and yelling at people. Although I liked him in Hook and Jumanji.) I thought I might like this film because it has Jim from The Office on it. Alas, I did not. It was still nice of Ben to let me choose a chick flick for V-Day though. Thanks for the romantic date Ben, and thanks Emerson for being tired for the babysitters! (And thanks Richards for trading babysitting with us!)

Jerry Seinfeld

We were just getting ready to go out the door when Ben looked at Emerson and pointed out that in his ensemble, he looked just like Jerry Seinfeld. He totally does. All he needs is different hair. I could not stop laughing. :)

Ten Months Old!

Yesterday Emerson turned 10 months old! I can't believe it! These last few months have absolutely flown by.
At 10 months Emerson:
*Loves to look at books with Mom and Dad or by himself
*Walks when he feels like it
*Makes a break for the pantry whenever he makes it into the kitchen
*Loves to crawl away naked when I'm changing his diaper
*Sucks his thumb when he's going to sleep
*Thinks he's big when he uses his sippy cup
*Hugs his Pooh bear
*Likes to play with cords, shoelaces, and elastics
*Likes having his teeth brushed because he gets to swallow the fruit-flavored baby gel
*Gets excited when Dad comes home from school

We love you, Little E!

Big Helper

Emerson was being a "big helper" with the laundry the other day. Ben thought it would be funny to put him in the dryer. Don't worry though, we didn't close the door and turn it on. :) He thought it was a fun little place to peer out of. It probably reminded him of the caterpillar tunnel.

Grove City Church of the Nazarene

Peeking through the holes of the tunnel

Crawling out of the caterpillar tunnel

Playing with Taylee on the big ball

I know it's a mouthful, but it was a lot of fun. A bunch of ladies in our ward took their kids to this church that has a McDonald's playplace-type area. But it was even cooler because they had a play area for babies. Emerson had a blast! Sometimes he's kind of a solemn little kid and doesn't have a lot of expression on his face when he's having fun, but I could actually tell this time! There wasn't much that he could shake, but he had a fun time playing peek-a-boo through the holes of the little caterpillar tunnel. He also liked pushing around the giant ball. I felt bad that we had to leave because he was having so much fun playing.

(Notice that Emerson is wearing his "Uncle Tim shirt")