New Playgroup

This morning, Emmy and I went to our very first play group. I was a bit nervous, and my social anxiety was getting the best of me, but it actually went really well! It is a group of moms from our new church, and they meet once a week in the park right here in our neighborhood. There are several kids who are Emmy's age - pretty much all of them range in age from 6 months to 3 years. Emmy has been to this park many times, and at first all she wanted to do is walk around with me- she didn't seem to care too much about any of the other kids. I was getting a bit frustrated because I wasn't able to talk to anyone since I was following her everywhere. Finally, I convinced her to join the other kids, and she sat in the grass and played with some toys, and I got a chance to chat with the other moms. It was so nice! When people started to leave, over an hour later, I decided to head out as well (it was past Emmy's nap time), Emmy did not want to leave. After much negotiation (well, Emmy doesn't really negotiate with me), I had to carry her to the car kicking and screaming. Overall, we had fun, and I am looking forward to next week!

I will call him "Plop"

This past weekend, I finally finished my very first sewing project ever using my new sewing machine. He is pretty ugly and looks nothing like the pattern I used, but he is cute anyways.




I will call him "Plop".

Thanks to Wee Wondefuls for the free pattern.

dub-a-dub-a-dub

This past weekend was my birthday weekend (happy birthday to me!). I had a great time and I recieved wonderful gifts - a sewing machine from Ray and Emmy (so that I can try to be crafty!) a new camera from my parents (wasn't I just saying that I needed a new camera?), sewing accessories from Aunt Janet and Ray's parents (and 2 scrapbook/photo albums and a beautiful sarong) , a Flager College shirt from my sister, and a sewing book from Stevie. I loved everything - thank you everyone for making my birthday so special!
Emmy also loved my birthday - she oohed and aahed over the balloons and streamers, she helped me open presents, and she got to eat cake! We also went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill, which was delicious. This picture was taken on my new camera while we were waiting for a table. Also I wanted to mention that the temps were in the 80's that day - beautiful!
Emmy's favorite babble right now is dub-a-dub-a-dub. It is very funny. She says it all the time, while she is playing, eating, bathing.

Looking out the window.....

Here are a few pictures I snapped of Emmy last night - the weather here is warm and she loved looking out the open window. I also realized that I love taking pictures of her - especially the extreme closeup ones. It would be better if our camera didn't suck (well, it used to be fine until Ray dropped it and broke it a couple of years ago.. :) ) She is just so sweet!

Thrift Store Find

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a great Children's consignment shop over in Blythewood, which is not too far away. Emmy and I went back today, and she made a beeline for the toy section - specifically a baby stroller, which she then pushed all around the store the entire time we were there. So, I ended up buying it for her - it was $5.00. It is in fair condition, but since we got home a few hours ago, she has not let that thing out of her sight! She is pushing it all over the house with her dolls and stuffed animals in it. For $5.00, I have made her one happy kid. :)

Super Dad

I was thinking today about why Ray is such a great dad to Emmy. He really is awesome with her, and I know that she is a lucky kid. Yesterday afternoon, for example - my mom and I went out for a while, and Emmy was still napping, so Ray stayed home. As soon as she woke up, he took her outside to play "because he had promised her earlier that he would". He brought out her juice and a cookie to snack on while she played. He drew pictures on the driveway with the sidewalk chalk with her and helped her ride her new tricycle. When Emmy decided to start walking down the sidewalk, he followed her around for 2 hours - he said that he just let her lead, and he followed. They walked to the playground (which is about a 15 minute walk from the house), to the big fountain at the entrance of our neighborhood (which she LOVES). On the way home, they walked though the "woods" (a 30 foot deep treeline between our backyard and the street). I am sure that Emmy had a wonderful time yesterday afternoon, and it was all because of her great Daddy. :) Thanks Ray. I am pretty lucky too.

New Church

We have been meaning to start going back to church for months. Actually, more like 2 years. Emmy has never been, and I have always thought that it was important for her to go to church and for our family to belong to a church group so that she can have a proper religious education. Growing up, my family never attended church, so I like the idea of Emmy having God in her life. Anyways....
We all went to a nearby church this morning called the Village Church and really enjoyed it. Emmy, however, did not have such a good time.
It started off great! Upon our arrival, we were given the tour of the building, and we went to the nursery room for the kids under age 2. There was one little girl there already, and immediately Emmy began playing with all of the toys, and talking to the other kid. She didn't even notice when Ray and I told her bye-bye and left. We were sure that playing with other kids and new toys would keep her busy for an hour while Ray and I listened to the sermon.
Halfway though the service, someone from the nursery came to get me, to tell me that Emmy had been crying for about 10 minutes, and wanted to know if I wanted to come see her. Of course I did, and I picked her up and she just clung to me, crying her eyes out. Poor little girl... she must have finally realized that she was in a strange place with people she did not know... and couldn't find Ray or me. So, I spent the second half of service trying to calm her down, and carrying her around the hallways.
We will keep trying this and I am sure that eventually she will be fine in the nursery, but I think that she was traumatized today! We will see how it goes next week, I am a bit worried about it!

Emmy's Tricycle

Ray got a bonus at work and he decided to buy Emmy a present - her first tricycle! It is Winnie the Pooh, and so so cute! Emmy tried it out this afternoon for the first time and loves it! She doesn't quite get the pedaling thing yet, but she was scooting herself all over the driveway on it.

:)