Riding in Cars with Boys

ED!!

Hello Summer

Fact: Matt and I are obsessed with ice cream. On a six day vacation last summer we spent over $100 on ice cream. We may even subconsciously plan our vacations around it. I love California. One of the main reasons why? Pinkberry, of course. We love Italy; it's home to incredible art and history, but more importantly GELATO. We taper off on our frequent visits to the nearest creamery/gelateria/yogurt/ice cream shop when it's snowing, so moving to a state that's warm all year made me a little nervous. I mean, a girl can't eat ice cream all the time without paying for it (mostly in the booty). Our northern friends would be proud of our self control these past seven months.  However, Memorial Day marks the start of summer and (holla holla) ICE CREAM season! 

                                                             Yup, we certainly indulged.

We didn't eat ice cream the whole weekend though. We did plenty of other summery activities. On Friday Emma and I got season passes to Busch Gardens and spent the day with a couple friends hanging out at the park. There's so much to do, and it's pretty much our new favorite place. The only downside to the day was when Emma pooped her wet little pants playing in some fountains. It wasn't the first time in the last couple weeks that I've ended up with her poo smeared on me though. Hmmm, life is hard. I don't have any pictures from it, (Busch Gardens day- not the poopy incident) but I do have a super cute video of the car ride there. It's on the other computer though. I'll put it up later.

Emma had her first carousel ride this weekend. She sat at the top of the double-decker, which left her wussy parents feeling dizzy. She was so serious during the ride we weren't sure if she liked it but babbled all about it when it was over. She also had fun playing with all the other little mini mall rats. Excuse her dress/leggings combo btw. It was getting chilly and I just grabbed the first thing I saw. Good thing she's just so naturally cute.

Sunday evening we headed back to Busch Gardens with friends, and Matt was able to experience the magic. We're debating whether it's better than Disney. So far, I say yes. We'll see. It has some great rollercoasters. I'm pretty sure the last time I went on a rollercoaster was almost four years ago when we went to Cedar Point for our first anniversary. Anywho...we introduced the kids to some jungle animals, ate dinner, and then decided to have some adult fun (um, riding rollercoasters duh). Matt and Jarrod went on first while Hayley and I watched the kids (directly under the rollercoaster might I add) giving us plenty of time to get nervous. I was anticipating the huge drop and Hayley was anticipating throwing up her spaghetti dinner. It was so fun though, and there was no throwing up or passing out. I'd say a successful day.

Monday morning Matt took care of Emma for awhile, so I could sleep a little before he went golfing. Almost a fair trade. Then we hung out with Matt's parents and brother for the afternoon, and headed out to the scrub for an evening hike. FL needs to grow some mountains. That's one thing about this state that I really don't like. It was a beautiful night though. Perfect weather. The sandy path kept me hoping that we would reach the ocean, but alas there are still no oceans in central FL. Darn.

Happy Memorial Day, folks.

Grocery Store Celebrity

If I was a pop star, (which I am when running with an ipod) I would write a song called "Grocery Store Celebrity," about my little Emma. The girl is a classic diva who will do pretty much anything for attention while in a shopping cart. She throws her arms up in the air and shakes her head around (we call it Crazy Girl- she does it on command as well) until she catches someone's attention, and then she flashes them her brightest, crinkled nose smile. If they start talking to her, she either puts one arm up and says something that sounds like "What?" or suddenly plays the shy girl and turns away as if to say, "I'm not in the mood for fans right now." I, of course, as her publicist, always have to speak (or apologize) for her.

One of the main questions we're asked?

"What aisle can I find one of those?" Very witty, indeed. Seriously, at least once a shopping trip.

It can be embarrassing sometimes, (poor Matt hates going to the store with us!) but it doesn't bother me. I know it will only be cute for a time, and it's not like she's being naughty. I think she just really likes it when people smile at her, and that's really not such a bad thing, is it? I think she genuinely brightens people's days (spoken like a true mom). She'll have the rest of her life to be scowled at, why not let her enjoy it now? Plus, she's a girl and I've read Reviving Ophelia. I'm sure it won't be like this forever, so for now, look for us in the "Stars, They're Just Like Us!" section of Us Weekly. We'll be the ones caught buying bananas.

Edit: My husband read this and laughed at me, so I just need to point out the fact that I understand that posts like this are VERY dorky. I'm clarifying, for his sake, that I know that I am a nerd b/c there's nothing worse than someone that doesn't even realize their nerdiness. So thank you very much, my dear husband, for just stating the obvious. Boo-yaa.

The Difference a Year Makes

Last year at this time I was still very much in survival mode. I remember the one time I tried to blog, (shirtless, dripping, and crying might I add...not to gross you out) I wrote one sentence. Yup. As wise and articulate I'm sure that post was, I never published it (hmm). As much as everyone said that having a baby changes your life and as hard as I'd heard it was, nothing could prepare me for actually doing it. I've heard of experiments where people listen to a tape of a baby crying for one or two minutes and when it's over say that it was ten minutes long. Oh my, how true that is. Except in the beginning, Emma really cried ALL THE TIME (poor baby had acid reflux). And I didn't have a car. Or many friends around that didn't work. And Matt was working full-time, finishing his Master's, and studying for his CPA. Wow. What a difference a year makes. Then Emma was a demanding set of lungs that pooped (a LOT) and slept (here and there). Now she's a sweet, silly toddler (who still poops a LOT and sleeps a little more) who has her mom and dad wrapped around her fuzzy-finding fingers.

I love how she's changed our lives. People fear missing out on things by having children, but I really can't think of a single thing I've missed out on. We do all the things we did before, but now we also have her, which is faaarrr greater than I ever thought. I've also heard people say that it's hard to explain how much you'll love your child. A year ago I didn't understand that. Of course I loved her then, but man did she cry a lot.

Now I just love watching her learn new things. She loves birds; who notices every time a bird chirps but a one year old? She made progress today on using a spoon. It was so funny to watch her serious little face as she worked hard to get the oatmeal on the spoon and into her mouth. I mean, it was as if she was working through a Calculus problem (not that I would know what that's like). The world is just so new to her and she's finally getting to the point where she loves to explore it. And we're finally to the point where we seem to get this whole parenting thing (ha!). So, is it crazy to start talking about having another, or is that just how things work? Once you get into the swing of things, everything changes? That seems like one of those consistent inconsistencies of life. Ahhh, what to do, what to do...

Here We Go Again

Evidently blogging is like exercising, eating right, and all the other things that I have trouble staying disciplined with. I feel guilty when I don't do it, better when I do, and find it so hard to start it up again. But, Emma is suddenly one and I don't know where the time went.

Some of my one year favorites:

Emma has discovered an adequate form of communication for a one year old- pointing. Some may go so far as to say she's obsessed; the girl points at everything. She's very quick to let us know what she wants. I've noticed that often before we give her what she wants we ask her to give us a kiss. She's picked up on this too, so in between frantic pointing she lays courtesy kisses on our faces. It reminds me of holding out a treat for a dog that starts doing all the tricks before the command. I'm pretty sure Emma's brighter than a dog though. Sweeter too. After taking her nightly bottle she snuggles up to me and lays her head on my shoulder, and every few seconds looks up and plants more kisses on me. She's just too cute.

Oh, and she walks. But she doesn't wear shoes. She's that girl whose mother defies the shoes and shirts required sign in Target. Everyone knows too, because Emma is sure to wave and yell hi to each person that passes her. Not to excuse this poor behavior BUT, I really can't get shoes to stay on her skinny little feet. Oh well, she's more of the Huck Finn type anyway.