Yeay!

Fun, new templates! ROCK ON! Thanks Heather!

Potty Training...HERE WE COME!

Emma peed in the potty! Yeay! Im pretty sure it was just a fluke (good timing), but I'll take what I can get! She was very excited - but not so sure that one jellybean was an appropriate reward. Oh well.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Jack till January. So sad.

Our Budding Artist

A bit of a messy undertaking - but here's a quick pic of Emma and her fingerpainting endeavors. Watch out Picasso!

If anyone wants to commission a piece, she's taking requests...

Ha!

More Rain?!

Its back to the cloudy wet weather again for us here in So. Cal - its supposed to be like this all week too! We tried to cope today by visiting Child's Play - basically, a huge indoor preschool...minus the school part. They have tons of climbing structures, dress-up stuff, ball jumpy things, crafts, and every ride-on plastic car imaginable. Emma loves it there! And as long as there's not too many grouchy bullies that I have to navigate her away from, I enjoy it too...with a Starbucks in hand, and chatting with the other bored adults; it actually makes for a nice afternoon.

When's The Last Time You Saw A Goose?!

Emma and I made a little pit-stop today at a local Dairy to check out the animals - enthralled by every little animal, even the bugs floating in the water, it was fun to watch her watch them so intently. This goose seemed quite taken with us! He followed us back and forth, as we went from cage to cage, honking away. Emma was a little surprised by all the noise he was making -I was relieved that he was behind bars! Geese are not my friends. 

Then it was off to the Chiropractor for a much needed crack for me, and then we spent a nice afternoon with Grandma Barbara shopping at the farmer's market and a very yummy Thai lunch. Emma was so tuckered out, she napped for 2 1/2 hours! 

Save The Planet, Recycle A Book

To all the book nerds out there (most of you, Im sure) - you have to check this website out! Im not sure why it excites me so much, but it looks like so much fun! Its a fun way to pass along some of your books, and if you're lucky, possibly find yourself an interesting read. Basically, Bookcrossing.com is a novel way to track books you've read, find out about books you want to read, and see what happens to books once they've left your hands. 

The concept is simple: Become a member of the site (free) and register a book or two. Once you've registered the book, you can write a few words about it on the site (a journal entry) and then decide what you want to do with it. If you choose to set it free, just leave a note inside the book telling the next lucky reader what to do with their lucky find, and then decide a place and time to "release" your book into the wild. Some bookcrossers leave books on park benches or in doctors' waiting rooms. Others sneak them in next to same-titled DVDs in shops or video stores. The point is to leave the book in a public place where someone will find it, log onto Bookcrossing.com, and write what has happened to the book since it left your hands. HOW FUN IS THAT?!?! The site is full of stories about Bookcrossers who have left books in the US, and four years later, they turn up somewhere in Europe.

You can also hunt for books that have been released -- you can search by country, state, city and "zone" to find books in your area that have been recently released and are waiting for someone to discover them.

Chalk this up as another way to RECYCLE! Go Green Baby!! 

No More Rainy Days!

The rain has finally cleared and its warming up again, so we hit the park yesterday. With all the rain, Emma apparently grew like a little weed - she seems to have now mastered the toddler park! She was climbing the rock wall all by herself! Went down the slide without holding my hand, and rode the rocking race car like a pro. With the new baby coming part of me is relieved that she's becoming so much more independent...the other part is very very sad. Thankfully, she still humors me occasionally and lets me baby her a little bit. 

The Newest Addition To The Family...

We have a new addition to the family - everyone meet Chester! We rescued Chester from a local animal shelter that sets up shop every weekend at PetSmart (a.k.a. The Zoo - at least thats what we tell Emma). Chester is a Miniature Pincher/Chihuahua mix and so far is doing pretty good integrating into the family. He and Emma are becoming good buddies! He's got a mellow/happy personality, doesnt bark, and is "mostly" potty trained. So far so good! He needs to learn a few manners - its apparent his previous owners allowed him on furniture, etc. and never taught him the basic sit/stay/come commands; but he seems like a smartypants, so hopefully he'll get all that with a little patience and training.

Because Everyone Else Was Doing It...

So, not to succumb peer-pressure or anything; but really - why not? I so much enjoy reading the rest of the family's blogs, I figured between my family in the midwest, friends on the East Coast (and foreign coasts as well), and all the fam here in Cali (props to the Texans too!); this was one way to keep in touch - and I wouldnt have to spend time on the phone! 

So, here ya go! No promises of regular updates - Im currently growing a person and raising another small person - plus, I kind of have a short attention span with new things such as this. Its fun for awhile, but Im guessing it will eventually lose its novelty - then again, maybe not. We'll see how it goes! =0)