On the Road Again

We set off on Wednesday morning heading to Kansas for our Thanksgiving celebration with Daddy's family. This is typically a 6 hour trip and we were prepared for it to take a little longer because we had Emily. But, I am quite confident that no one expected it to be THAT long!!

Picture it, we drove away from our house at 9AM packed to the gills in Grandpa's Expedition. (I kept saying how I wanted to take a picture of the car from the outside because we had extended storage hanging off the back I but never did.) Grandpa was driving, Daddy was riding shotgun, Emily was behind Grandpa, Mama was in the "hump" seat (middle), Nana was pressed up against the window, and Great Grandma Velda was in the economy seats, aka third row. Yes folks, there were 5 adults, one enormous carseat, and a carload of stuff. I will help you picture it...

Now that I look at it we don't look so cramped...at least not for only a 6 hour drive. ;)

For the first hour we were happily driving along, doing a crossword, and chatting before we made a stop to stretch our legs...

then we were back in the car for another hour on our way to lunch. Emily needed some entertainment at this point, so I set up her private Nemo viewing area. As the only rear facing person, she was the only one to enjoy the movie.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat (too bad the waiter didn't get the "quick" memo)...

and when we got back in the car the REAL fun began - stopped TRAFFIC! Of course it was about 30 minutes after Emily fell asleep and as feared, she woke up. Bummer! Good thing Daddy and Grandpa figured out an alternate route - so even if she wasn't sleeping at least we were moving! We didn't see a highway again for a LOOONG time. However, we did see a lot of this...

and some of this.

We also saw many historical markers like this...

before it was time for Emily to have some dinner. Yes, you read that right - we were still driving when Emily was due for dinner. Good thing we had some of her staples. She ate while she watched the ???th episode of Elmo's World (thanks Laura!).

We had a lot of bonding time together along the Chisholm Trail - laughing all the way. You know the kid of laughter that you have just to keep from crying?! :) I thought it was a good time for some more pictures...

as you can see, there weren't very many participants by this point -but Emily was ready to smile!

And I knew some drama would get them smiling again...

(please note the sun setting behind me)

In the delirium we made some guesses at what time we would finally arrive. When Great Grandma made her guess we were all sick thinking, "I HOPE she isn't right!!" Guess what... she was. We arrived right at 6:00 and in all of the excitement I didn't get an arrival picture - DARN! We were out of the car as fast as possible and Emily was REALLY excited to get out and play with her cousins!!

So, now it is Thanksgiving day and we are all thankful to BE HERE! ;) We are also thankful for much, much more - yesterday's trip included... after all, life is made of memories!

We only wonder... how long was the back-up on the freeway?

Cause to Celebrate

     Today, before Emily even finished her breakfast, she was on the phone singing Happy Birthday to Aunt Sarah.  Well, maybe she had a mouthful of Cheerios and was just smiling at Mama and Daddy but she was sending happy feelings regardless.  

     Emily and Aunt Sarah first met on June 29th, 2008...

and she felt quite comfortable in Aunt Sarah's arms.

  

     As Emily grows up she will learn more about how, as Daddy's big sister, she has always been around for him to lean on...     

learn from...

and look up to.

     Aunt Sarah, we hope that you get a chance to celebrate today with your love...     

and your lovely family.

     We hope you get some great gifts...

and enjoy a decadent dessert!

     Happy Happy Birthday Aunt Sarah!  We love you and can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with you making more memories!

~Paul, Allison, and Emily Rose

Have I Told you Lately...

that Emily ROCKS?!  Because, if I haven't mentioned that lately I really need to.  Remember this?

     Yes, that was August 26th when Emily was giving herself Tylenol instead of fighting me about it.  Wonderful!  

     Now, I mentioned the other day that Emily is a little under the weather - head congestion and such.  Well, I have been drowning her in saline and suctioning like a fool - both of which she didn't love.  But, thankfully, her love of the nasal bulb - tickling as it sucks out the nastiness - has returned!  For the last day she has been giggling when I suction!  LOVE THIS GIRL!  

     Also, she doesn't mind when I swab Vicks in her nose as long as she gets to put some in our noses afterward.  (She REALLY likes that part and I have to say, as I breathe a little easier, she is really good at it.)  But, none of these things are the reason I am posting.  Why then you ask?!  Well, because today there has been a change on the saline front!  I have always dripped the saline into her nose, never attempting to spray, but today I went for the spray and it worked!  Not only did she let me spray in her nose over and over and over and over (really), she took the bottle from me and was doing it herself!

 

     Come on!  Isn't that awesome?!  You might say, "well, Allison, that is great and all but she probably really isn't getting it high enough to do any good."  I would agree with you, and I still dripped in her nose tonight, but it is something!  You just wait... next thing you know I will have Emily using the neti pot!  ;)  (those are totally great by the way!)      

Things Are Looking Up

Yesterday Emily woke up with a really runny (clear) nose and a lot of sneezing.  It was obvious throughout the day that she just wasn't feeling great.  After a night with the humidifier and a lot of saline, the symptoms are not gone completely but I think she is feeling better this morning.

Cross your fingers that it doesn't go back downhill throughout the day.

(This was a great video of you twirling with your water cup around and around and around... then you "fall" down, snag a sip of water, and ask for my help to get back up.  You are very nice to say please but I end up coaxing you to try it yourself and you do just fine.)

Tuesday's Adventures

On Tuesday Emily had her third tumbling class and since Mimi was in town she was able to watch and take pictures!  It is so fun to see Emily change each class - this time participating more than the prior two weeks.  During the warm up Emily stretched to touch her toes, 

and stretched out for a back bend with the help of Mama and Miss Jennifer.

For the last 10 minutes of class the kids complete an obstacle course and are free to roam and play with/do what they want.  Emily likes running (everyone knew that one!) and "jumping" on the spring board,
walking on the balance beam, 
swinging like a monkey, 

and doing a forward roll on the wedge.
Emily and I each have two friends in the class and Mimi got a picture of us with Jessica and Cooper at the end.  Emily had her arm around Cooper's back - it was really cute.  (Too bad Laura and Ben were out sick this week!)
That afternoon Emily read some books with Mimi.  She was very cooperative and gave a big smile when I asked her to...
Here she is saying "owl" since we asked her to tell Magic what animal was on the page.  She didn't necessarily like how close Magic got... 
and this is when she was telling Magic to "look" at the book.  So nice of her to demonstrate what she meant!
Soon after, we were off to the park.  Emily liked walking Magic around the park on the leash...

and in general had a great time!

Strangely enough, Emily was in bed and sound asleep pretty early on Tuesday night.

Last Minute Getaway

Well, we are back and I bet you didn't even know we were gone!  It was decided late on Friday night that Emily and I would head south to celebrate Jackie's massage school graduation.  As a bonus, Papa and Uncle Ryan would get to spend some time with Emily before Christmas.  We left our house on Saturday morning at 9 (Daddy was sad to see us go but also liked the idea because he had a lot of work to do over the weekend) and arrived with some time to kill.    Of course, this "extra" time was supposed to be Emily's nap but she didn't like the idea.  So instead she threw leaves over the deck and watched a show with Papa.  

Before the big event we went out to dinner - yummy!  The waiter was really nice to Emily but apparently didn't feel the need to mention that he couldn't see her in the group picture he took.
Lucky for him we took many a picture of Emily by herself...

and with everyone else.

The ceremony was very nice and Emily enjoyed running around everywhere.  She didn't really love walking head first into the water fountain though... she had a few bumps this weekend that you might see in pictures over the next few days.  Here is a picture of Jackie with her family at the end of the evening - (L-R Samantha, Becky, Jackie, Joe).  It was very nice to meet her family after hearing so much about them! 

Even though she had a late night and no nap, Emily was up and ready to take on Sunday at the regular time.  Of course she had to help Papa feed the birdies - this time she was given extra responsibilities too.  
Okay, yes, she was the one that spilled the bird seed...

Next, Papa had to work on the spa which meant that it was uncovered so we offered Emily a dip.  She wasn't going for it...
eventually I was able to get her in and she LOVED swimming around with Papa.



All of this work and play can really wear an already overtired girl out!  
I had no problem convincing her to take a nap that day and after a couple of good hours of sleep she was ready to go again!

Lucky for her, Uncle Ryan and Jackie came out to play.  She liked building the blocks up, up, up...

but liked knocking them down MORE!




Before hitting the road Emily did a little clowning around with Magic...
and we were back in the car at 5 making a short stop along the way to eat dinner with Uncle Adam (we saw him and Aunt Angie when passing through on Saturday afternoon as well but no pics).  It was a very quick visit and Emily spent the entire time flirting and playing coy behind Mimi.
It was a whirlwind weekend and Emily was a little worse for the wear today but I am glad we made the trip.  Now, if only I could find someone to give me a massage...