Emerson's Fourth Bday Bash

We have arrived at this day! Emerson is 4. I had many doubts this past year (or even ever since he started walking) that this active little boy of mine would survive to be four. His energy combined with some clumsiness, plus the height he is at, put him at a minimum of one head trauma per day. Minimum!  This kid always has a bruise somewhere on his head. Heavenly Father is sure watching over him, he is not only alive and well, but he is smart, clever, curious, adventurous, and funny. I love being this boy's Mama! He makes me laugh every day. He easily gets upset or frustrated, but he just as easily snaps out of it and becomes my snuggly sweetheart. Emerson randomly tells me throughout the day: "Mama!" "What?" "I love you!" On occasional moments I sit down on the coach, he is sure to come and snuggle for a brief moment. He is so generous with his hugs and kisses. When I get down to his level, he often grabs my face in his little hands to say: "You are just so CUTE!", followed by a kiss. I love it! 

The other night he woke up around midnight for some reason. PJ went in to lay him back down. A few minutes later we heard yells from his room, but when we got closer we realized he was belting out the lyrics to Adele's Hello: "Hello from the over SIIIIIDE!!! I musav called a fausand TIIIMES!! To tell you I'm soooorry, for evryfing that I've done....." 

An update on hid thumbsucking...I think he is finally over it, cross my fingers. I suspect he still does it at night when he sleeps, unconsciously. But during the day, even for comfort, or boredom, or TV watching, or riding in the car, or even when hugging and cuddling, he has been really good at not doing it! Hope I will not jinx it, because we have done this before, where for two weeks he was so good at not sucking and then all of the sudden he reverted back to it.. We used the gross Mavala stuff to put on his nails. It lasts for about 4 days and slowly washed away. At this point he knows his thumb is not yucky any more, but consciously chooses not to suck it.

Emerson's bday was a blast this year! We rented a room at the HopnHappy bouncy house place, brought our decoration and food, and the place provided set up and clean up, and entertainment for the kids. I especially loved coming back home to our house with no cleaning to do! It was perfect! All the kids loved it. 

This is Tori, our future daughter-in-law :) Emerson said that he is going to marry Tori. So, now that's settled, we don't have to worry about that any more :) She sure is a cutie:

Emerson invited many people to his party. I kind of had to trim down his list a bit. He says his BFF is Garrett, who is 9, who is Emerson's role model in everything. Garrett was like the guest of honor. It was sweet of Garrett to play with Emerson a lot on all the bouncy things.

The party he wanted was Teenage Ninja turtles, so we had to have cheese pizza, of course. A big hit with the kids!

Besides the bounce things, the place has a huge foam pit. The kids spent the majority of their time swimming in these blocks:

Hailey and Emerson going doing the slide together:

Emerson thinks that the exact moment when your age actually changes is when you get "Happy Birthday" sung to you. So, when on my birthday, Ophelia kept trying to sing Happy Birthday to me, Emerson kept stopping her and getting mad, saying: "Mama is gonna turn if you sing!" So this is the "magical" moment when Emerson turned 4:

For homework this week, Ophelia had to write a paragraph about an important person. It could be someone famous, like Rosa Parks, or somebody she knows. Guess who she chose to write about? I glanced over and the was already on her third sentence writing about Emerson. So sweet! She loves her brother so much. Those two together can be so annoying to each other, but they are the best of friends. They play together all the time, make each other laugh, are silly together. Ophelia is Emerson's biggest protector (from other kids or even when we try to discipline him) or his gentle soother when he gets hurt.

Emerson told me today: "Mama, I am almost going to turn five!" Not quite, buddy! But we will get there, one bruise at a time :)

December Festivities

This month has just flown by it seems. Lots of Christmas parties - school, PJ's work, church. We got to go PJ's work party just the two of us, while Mark and Camille kept the kids for us for a couple of hours. It is just so refreshing and nice to go out as a couple and be able to interact with people and not having cater to the kids' needs and constantly watching over them. We had such a good time!

At church, the Christmas party had a Latino flare to it. With a pinata and everything. Just a few weeks ago, our ward got split and the ward boundaries changed, so there are lots of new to us families at church. It was good to meet a few of them at the party. We ate lots of yummy enchiladas and for dessert we had cupcakes. Om the way home from the party Ophelia noted: "I ate my cupcake like Cookie monster....too fast!" :) Made me and PJ crack up!

Texas winters are kind of dry, lots of static here:

Both the kids are struggling with dry skin throughout the winter months. We use lots of hydrocortisone, which Ophelia calls "hydro-quarters".
My friend Natalie shared some Krispy Kreme joy with us. The kids were in heaven:

Ophelia's school put on a big Christmas concert this month. PJ stayed home with Emerson, since it was kind of later in the evening, but me and Grandma and Grandpa got to enjoy it. Ophelia did so amazingly great. She sang loud, she did the actions, and she truly had fun doing it. They sang 3 songs and on the last one (which I didn't get a good video of) Ophelia pretty much dominated the voices. We had friends whose kids were in the concert too comment to us later about how well and loud Ophelia sang!

Lovely Christmas jingle:

Pretty much the first week that PJ was off work, he got the flu. Not just some little flu, he got THE FLU! He was miserable. The first two days he spent in bed with chills, fever, achiness. He slept awfully. It was rough! I did my best to quarantine him from the kids, but I myself got something too. It wasn't the flu according to the flu test at the doctor's office, but I felt sick for a few days, but not nearly as bad as PJ. We were blessed that the kids did not get any of it!

My friend Candace makes the best gingerbread ever! She gave us a house making kit for Christmas, so decorated one as a family. The kids loved the project. Emerson was more interested in tasting all of the candy though, but Ophelia got into sticking colorful candies all over the house.

We had a quiet family Christmas Eve with just us four. It was neat to do our new tradition as of this year of the 25 days of Christmas with a Christ-centered message and a symbolic ornament to go with it each day. Emerson looked forward especially to videos about Jesus and Ophelia loved opening the gift box with a different ornament each night. On Christmas Eve we drove around as a family and delivered goodies to neighbors and friends in the area.

Just in time for Christmas, everyone was finally well enough to spend time with family in Oatmeal. Whatever germs we had, we shared like this:

Cousy love is powerful and there's no way around it! Here's the beautiful tree. I love that Mom always has a live tree for Christmas! I love its smell, because it reminds me of my childhood and our end-of-year festivities. I also love eating mandarins all December long because that's what I did as a kid. One time I ate so many mandarins that I got a rash all over my body!

Grandma playing with Emerson. This Sesame street house is one of the kids' favorite toys at Grandma's house:

Mark and PJ played some lovely Christmas songs for us:

And then Ophelia played some too :)

She's got the guitar hold down. Now we just need to teach her how to make the right notes on it:

The table is set! Looking good:

Grandma got Ophelia and Emerson a little play kitchen for Christmas, which they love! But they also loved playing in the huge box that the kitchen came in. As a bonus, check out Em's huge mouth :)

A few Ophelia-isms that we've heard lately:
* She told PJ one morning: "Papa, you make the best breakfastes!" I giggle at the grammar that she uses, but then I turn around and speak just like her, because we hang out so much together, I talk like her too :)
* As a proper dietitian Mom, I have been talking to Ophelia about candy and junk food, so she is starting to figure out what's good for our bodies to take in and what isn't. One day she told me: "Candy infects moods and makes us act like a baby and a spoiled rat." Petty much...nailed it :)

We had our annual dumpling night in Oatmeal. Auntie Jane was there too and Emerson developed a special love for her:

We made a few attempts to take a good picture of all three cousins. Here are the best two tries:

Someday we won't have that problem any more, of trying to have all three look at the camera and smile and sit still for just 5 seconds!!!! Here they are playing ring around the rosie:

Emerson has a special place in his heart for Grandpa. It is so sweet! Whenever I tell the kids that we're going to Grandma's house, Emerson always adds "Grandpa's house". Also when Grandma stops by on occasion, on her own, while running errands in town, Emerson asks her "Grampa go?", meaning "Where did Grandpa go?" Emerson is always so excited to see Grandpa, to give him a hug and a kiss, or to have Granpda hold him. Here Emerson is singing with Grandpa:

The kids had fun hanging on Aunt Judy:

On one of our visits to Oatmeal, Auntie Cami did some beautiful shots of the kids. Sure makes me want to get a nicer camera!

I just LOVE this one:

This boy is just so incredibly sweet and polite! He even gets excited for his sister. Like when Ophelia shows her artwork to Emerson, he says :"Awesome, Awa!" Too cute! He is starting to pronounce her name correctly most of the time nowadays. He says "Opheya" or "Opheyaya".

Emerson is getting really good with speaking in sentences too! Here are some dinner time Emerson-isms:
* "I like it strawberries." He's learned from Signing Time to says "I like it" and "Don't like it", so he plugs the "it" in his sentences when he talks about his likes and dislikes.
* When calling Ophelia for dinner to the table one evening: "Awa, eat sushi papa make it!" Blew my mind how he put all those words together. Love that boy!

Of Princesses, Gentlemen, Dogs and Other Cute Little Creatures

October seems to have just flown by. This post is packed with pictures of the wonderful moments this months has been filled with. Here my two little munchkins. Oh, how I love seeing them being nice to each other, hugging, snuggling, and giving love. This must be how Heavenly Father feels when we are serving and showing love one to another in this world. It's the best feeling of warmth and happiness ever! 

Emerson building towers and knocking them down, one of favorite toys lately:

He also loves playing with Ophelia's "Sister Baby", a doll. Emerson holds her, rocks her, hugs and gives kisses to her, super cute! He also loves playing with Ophelia's little people house and the little Dora figurine...I think maybe it's time we got him some boy "little people" things :) I guess that's what happens when you have a big sister to live with!

Yet another haircut time for Emerson! I swear we have to cut his hair every two months..it grows so fast! We did the lollipop trick at home this time, but it didn't work as well as it does at a salon...Maybe it was the buzzer that made him uneasy, but after a few buzzes, Emerson started getting jittery, trying to move his head, taking the sucker out of his mouth. It ended up full of hair. Yuck! I licked it to clean it and gagged having all the hair in my mouth it was awful!

PJ was being a perfectionist and kept trying to fix little spots on his head. Well, we ended up with a screaming, sticky, itchy, hairy toddler. We put him straight in the tub and gave him a bath... I think Emerson is going to run for his life next time he happens to see a buzzer close to his head. Maybe we'll go back to the barber shop again next time...

New hairdo! Aaaawwww!

And here's the big sister, who stayed by Emerson's side the whole time the parents were trying to cut his hair (not kill him, as it may have seemed to the neighbors):

Here is Ophelia decked out in stickers. Kind of a waste of stickers, but it sure kept her quietly occupied for at least an hour in her room! This would be a great road trip activity.

The three cousins got their own kiddie table this time for dinner. They had a blast! Chomping away, giggling, and kicking each other under the table. Enjoy, kids! This will be a first of many-many-many-many kids tables for you!

Each Friday Ophelia gets to go to a "Girlies Playgroup" with her friends Carlie, Lily, and Heidi. We rotate each week whose house the girls go to. They have so much fun together. Ophelia looks forward to this more than to go to school each week. At Heidi's home there are a lot of pets. Ophelia got to hold a guinea pig the last time. She loves animals:

I snapped a few pictures the last time we went to Oatmeal. I LOVE this picture of Grandma and Ophelia:

Emerson exploring the outdoors, throwing rocks:

The other week Emerson got a few fire ant bites from playing in our backyard. He was pretty upset when it first happened and he still remembers about it. Once in a while he'll point to his ankle and say: "Ant. Bite." Pretty traumatic! I guess if you live in Texas you gotta learn early in life that the outdoors are WILD in Texas! For instance, Ophelia and Grandma had to sweep for snakes before she could climb on top of these rocks. A few weeks ago, Grandpa killed a huge rattle snake right next to the house...yikes!

Snuggling with Grandpa:

For the first time since our move here, we went to a pumpkin patch, Sweet Berry Farms. In the spring, early summer, one can go there to pick strawberries and other berries, for which we'll definitely be back! The drive was about an hour, but it was totally worth it, the kids had a blast! Here they are on a giant trampoline pillow thingy:

Emerson couldn't really steady himself to stand up on the thing, so he got a little upset:

We fed some goats. One of them had it's head stuck in the fence, trying to reach for people with food! One of the workers had to come and figure out a graceful way to pull the head back in again, it took a few minutes, but the goat was saved. Quite an experience for the kids to see the whole thing though!

Pumpkins! Emerson loves pumpkins for some reason. He wants to hug them and this time he was also rolling them and trying to lift them up:

Emerson looks so cute and plump and petite next to the pumpkins, and here is Ophelia, BOOM:

My friend Aubrey took these two with a nice camera of hers. Turned out adorable:

And here is the day that Ophelia was so excited about, when she gets to dress up as anything she wanted and go trick or treating. This year she first picked ]Curious George, then Olivia, the pig, and finally, her final answer was Belle. What a huge ordeal it is to find the right costume that's comfortable (not itchy), then, of course, Belle needed accessories, a rose (that was basically only wanted by Ophelia for the first five minutes, then she was done with it), and the shoes...that we never found, so had to resort to her normal sandals. Oh, and the lip gloss was essential too! Of course, how could I have forgotten!

Emerson was freaked out the first time I tried putting on Ophelia's old doggie costume. The second time went better and he smiled at his reflection in the mirror when he saw that he was a dog.

This is at the Ward Trunk or Treat. And Emerson's first crush, Avi. She is just a month younger than him, she is in the same nursery class, and Emerson just adores her. At the activity, he saw Avi dance, and danced next to her for a few moments, and there has not been a day since then when he wouldn't mention "Avi. Dance!" to me at some point during the day. He really thinks about her every day and remembers her dancing! So sweet :)

Hugging Avi:

I don't think that Avi shares Emerson's affection...yet. She is playing hard to get :)
Here is Ophelia dancing away:

Costume contest: Ophelia is at a hard age right now when she get easily upset if she doesn't win, or isn't the first. It surely is part of a child's egocentric world, but sometimes it just breaks my heart to see her try hard and not win. But that's my problem. I know that it's a valuable lesson for her to learn. There were tons of really cute costumes there this year!

Emerson's first ever trick-o-treating. When the first piece of candy was dropped in his bucket, he set it down and took the candy out to look and see what was put into his bucket. Then after he caught onto what was going on, he just went from trunk to trunk saying "please! please!"

Today I went to Ophelia's first school party, the fall festival. It was cute to see all her classroom friends and her classroom. The room moms did a great job with the activity, planning the games and activities for the kids. Here are all of the kids:

Digging in the rice treasure box, finding treasures:

Decorating cookies and, yes, eating some frosting :)

Painting a Halloween jar:

I took the kids to the City Hall today for some more trick-or-treating. Ophelia didn't want to wear Belle costume again, so we put on her Rapunzel dress from last year. I had to talk her into it, actually, because she said earlier in the day that she didn't want to be a princess, but I had to explain that there's no way we are going to get another costume this year, on the 31st of October! I changed it up for Emerson too, and he was a little Gentleman:

There were lots of fun things to check out at the City Hall, like a tractor:

Silly photo booth:

Touring a police car:

Babushka, this one is for you. Look what happened to your little Grandson:

It's been a fun month! Christmas is coming into the shopping scene already...too soon!