Emmy is 7 months!

Emmy turned 7 months on Sunday. I know that I always say I can't believe how fast the time is going but really - 7 months? How is that possible? It doesn't seem like we brought her home from the hospital yesterday but it definitely seems like she turned 4 months old yesterday. I mean she is going to be crawling soon and then she'll be one. Why does it go so much faster with the second one? When Aidan was Emmy's age Brendan was in Iraq. He left when Aidan was 6 months old and came back just after his birthday. I guess Aidan and I were stuck with each other for 6 months so time went by pretty slowly and I got to soak in all the changes. Now I feel like I carry Emmy around on my hip chasing after Aidan and I barely get to pay attention to her. I hate to say it - but I almost like the middle of the night feeding - yes she is still getting up some nights around 3 - because it is the only time of the day when it's just me and her. Pretty soon that will be gone and I have to say I think I will miss it.

Football Sundays

We have a rule in our house that you must be sitting at the table in the dining room to eat. I'm afraid Aidan will choke if he runs around the house with food in his mouth but I also don't want to have to tear the dogs off each other if a crumb were to fall on the floor. Anyway - since Brendan can't tear himself away from the TV on Sundays because there is always some game that affects his fantasy football team, Aidan is allowed to eat lunch and a snack downstairs on the couch with Daddy. I swear it is his favorite thing in the world. He wakes up every morning and asks "Is it Football Sunday?", just hoping that the universe collapsed over night, a miracle occurred and it is in fact SUNDAY!

River Farm

We went to George Washington's River Farm yesterday. It is right down the road from us and I never even knew it was there. The American Horticultural Society runs and maintains it and they do a pretty good job - although it is hard to tell in January! The house overlooks the Potomac River and there are pathways that go down to the water - we ran out of steam and didn't make it that far. There is a children's garden with lots of stuff to climb on and play in and a nice grassy area to run around or picnic on. I can't wait until spring when the plants are blooming!The River Farm

Enjoying the grass - it is still green!

Couldn't be much cuter!

A fun boat to play in

the only picture where you can see both faces

The Park - Again

It was warm again today! What a welcome reprieve from the cold and damp. We went to the park again and I brought my camera this time. We have an elementary school about a half a mile from our house so we packed into the stroller and walked. There were a bunch of kids there at first but they left pretty soon after we got there. Aidan was crushed - until a new pack of playmates arrived. He seems to have very little loyalty - if you'll let him play with you then you're cool!

Warm Days

After all that complaining I did about the cold, the weather here has completely turned around. Today on our way home from the park the thermometer in the car said that it was 72 degrees!!! It is JANUARY - this is awesome. I hate that we'll ever have to leave here. Sitting in the sun at the park with Emmy while Aidan ran in circles around the playground with about 50 other kids with similar cases of cabin fever was amazing. You forget how nice it is to feel a warm breeze and to wear a t-shirt. Emmy was delighted. Every time the breeze blew she looked at me and giggled. It was really the cutest thing. I think this gave us the boost we needed to make it until spring!Aidan thinks she looks hysterical!

Do you think I take too many pictures?

Cold Days

I think that we have been spoiled by the weather so far here in VA. It is winter after all, yet I was quite shocked to open up the door this morning and have it be in the 20's. It has been in the 40's and even up in the 50's recently!
Aidan went back to school this morning and saw all his friends. He was in a great mood when he came home - I think he needed some kid interaction - always talking to adults must get pretty boring!
Here are a few pictures from New Years' Day. I can't believe it is 2008. Maybe THIS year we can slow down and enjoy life :)Aidan and Emmy enjoying Emmy's new toy

Christmas Wrap Up

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I apologize for the delay in posting for the past few weeks. We have been in and out of bad colds and we had my mom, dad, sister and brother staying with us for the holidays. Needless to say - not too much extra time for blogging! We did have a lot of fun and Santa was very good to us. I am typing on my new Mac - which also accounts for some of the delay since I could barely figure out how to turn it on never mind get on the internet! Aidan got lots and lots of toys - I think he may still be finding some of them! Emmy got lots of fun stuff too but she was really sick on Christmas - I took her to the ER the night before Christmas Eve because she couldn't breathe and kept throwing up because she was coughing so much. We never ended up seeing anyone but the triage nurse at ER and she could have cared less. After Emmy cried and threw up all over the ER for 3 hours she finally fell asleep in my arms and we left. I felt like a terrible mother but I couldn't stand being there any longer and even if we did get to go back to the exam rooms, who knows how long it would have been until we saw someone. We went to the pediatrician the day after Christmas and he gave me some liquid decongestant for her. It seemed to give her enough relief that her own immune system could catch up. Even with all the germs flying around we had a great Christmas! Here are a few pictures - I also got a new version of photoshop and I'm still working on learning that so the pictures will be coming slower than usual!
Aidan and his dragon

.Emmy and her bearAidan and the micAidan and the drumsChristmas EveEmmy on her rocking bug