If I Was in the Market For a Point and Shoot March 18, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Photography , 2commentsI’d be getting either one of these:
Nikon Coolpix P90
The Canon PowerShot SX200IS
Vintage Barbies by Fire Light March 16, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Princess Hannah , 4commentsHannah loves playing with my vintage Barbies.
Ken does have arms, they’re on the floor somewhere . . .
He also has clothes.
Somewhere.
Check out his bleached blond (aka yellow) hair and brown eyebrows. Something tells me this Ken doll was made in the 80′s.
This is not a good look for him.
Or you.
Or anyone else for that matter.
Suffering From Selective Hearing March 13, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Projects , 7commentsI was (still am) so excited about this collage (housing favorite pictures that didn’t make it into frames on the walls on the main and upper floor) on our basement wall. When David walked in the door from a long day at the hospital, he barely had time to say “hello” before Hannah and I rushed him downstairs to see our little project.
He was thrilled all right. Mostly thrilled to learn that I was using my “not really listening to you today” skills. Apparently, he told me to use the photo paper sparingly. I guess it uses up a lot of ink or something . . .(again, I was probably thinking about something else when he told me.)
I think I did use it sparingly! I only covered part of the wall!
More pictures will be printed and added to this collage soon.
I promise.
Time to Lower the Mattress March 12, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Little Man Dallin, Thoughts , 2commentsDear Dallin Boy,
You’re just a baby.
I would like to keep you that way.
I love to kiss your cheeks.
You don’t have any teeth.
Why must you stand?
You just learned how to sit up without support last week!
You’ll be walking before I’m ready.
We have very slippery wooden stairs.
Two sets of them even.
I have slipped on both sets, and I’m an experienced stair climber.
Heaven only knows the possible bruises that await you.
Why can’t you just stay little?
If You Can Ride Out the Storm . . . March 11, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, My Former Dog Children, Princess Hannah , 6commentsWanna come visit? I was planing to announce, “We’re ready to take visitors!” until . . .
I heard a very loud unfamiliar sound . . .
It wasn’t coming from the dishwasher (which, thankfully, is washing the dishes for me! I love it so much!)
It wasn’t coming from the dryer . . .
So I took a break from writing this entry to see what all the commotion was about.
As I stepped outside, I knew exactly what that sound was. You don’t have to be from the Midwest to recognize the noise of a blaring siren which is really saying, “run for cover!”
I am now in the basement with the kids until the warning is over.
Lucky us.
I know, you’re wishing your city was as exciting as ours.
I know. 
However, when the sirens are silent and our house needs a little excitement , we’d love for you to visit! I can’t say I know what Kansas City has to offer (remember how I’ve only been here a couple of weeks?) but I do know my neighborhood.
Like this for example:
This trail starts at the end of our street. It swerves around through trees, flat open spaces, and over streams. It’s a beautiful walk and the kids love the park nestled in it.
Check out Dallin, you can’t tell in this picture, but this swing makes him very happy. He likes to watch other kids swing just as much as he likes doing it.
Hannah takes swinging on the “big girl swing” very seriously.
Even our stinker-dog, Paris, likes it. Really, she’s just so happy to get out of the house, she’d take a walk anywhere. Her favorite part is being able to whine at everything that moves and peeing and pooping on every corner.
Which, of course, is my least favorite part.
Come see us! You can give me a break and pick up the doggie doo doo for me! Just kidding . . . but no, really. 
If You Don’t Have A Two Year Old, Steal or Borrow One For the Weekend March 10, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Friends, Kansas, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 3commentsThis weekend I:
Ventured onto unfamiliar freeways to visit my friend Bethany.
What should have been a 30 minute drive turned into an hour and a half.
Hannah thought she would point out the obvious and whined several times from the back seat, “MOM! WE’RE LOST!”
Then she said, “My tummy hurts.”
She wasn’t kidding.
Seconds later, she vomited all over herself. In her car seat. In the car.
Lost in an unfamiliar city all by ourselves with only a GPS map on the iPhone, (which was not as helpful as is sounds) I pulled over to take a breather. (And clean up the mess of course.)
As soon as I pulled over, Hannah beat me to the punch and said, “Are we going to take a breather?”
Yes. (I probably say that to much.)
After cleaning up the vomit and “taking a breather,” Hannah asked with tears running down her face if she could go to the doctor.
Of course, she could go to the doctor. She lives with one! So I said, “Honey, as soon as we get home we’ll have daddy take a look at you.”
And do you know what her response was?
“NO! NO! Daddy’s not a real doctor! I want to go to a real doctor! Not daddy! He’s not a real doctor!” (David felt awesome after hearing this.)
We finally found Bethany’s house.
Certainly one to speak her mind, Hannah took one look at Bethany’s bedroom and exclaimed to her while pointing at all the stuff in her room, “Bethany! Your room is a mess!” (She is in the process of moving.)
Everyone should have a two year old. It’ll keep life real, exciting, and unpredictable.
Hannah always wants to say the prayer at meals and bedtime. (Which is fine with us. It’s nice to give a turn to someone else after 12 years of just going back and forth between the two of us.)
During a couple of prayers this weekend, she thanked Heavenly father for our bum bums, feet, bottoms, and bum bums again.
That is three references to our bums.
Like I just mentioned, everyone should have, steal, or borrow a two year old.
Even if it’s just for the weekend.
Once You Start Kissing, You Can’t Stop! March 9, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin , 5commentsI am obsessed with kissing these soft, squishy, yummy cheeks.
It’s an addiction I tell you.
It doesn’t help that he always smells like candy either.
Which, by the way, is a conundrum in and of itself because Dallin doesn’t eat candy. His very expansive diet consists of milk, and bland cereal.
But, I can’t deny that his cheeks are deelish and kissing them is like chewing a fresh piece of Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum that tastes just as great on the 1784 chew as it did on the first.
YUM-O I tell you.
As a Victim of 90′s Fashion Trends and Awkward Adolescent Moments, I Documented It All March 6, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life , 7commentsWarning: This post divulges some very uninteresting information about my teen years. If you have something better to do, go do it!
I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with my things. Among many nice discoveries, I found my journals. (Which, were like an epistle. Did I really have that much to say?) Of course I remembered them, I had just never read them.
Till now.
With my workaholic days behind me, I actually have time to ‘stop and smell the roses.’ I jumped into reading my journals from my teen years like any good novel and I came across some things I thought were funny, interesting, and insightful.
First off, I loved my life. I was surrounded by wonderful people and friends. I was insanely involved in entirely too many activities. So much so, that I talked about being stressed out on every page. Like it was normal for a teen to think the world was going to implode at any minute.
I gathered a lot of insight from this reading. Many relationships have remained the same (I still have great relationships with my best friends) and other relationships that were once great have fallen by the wayside.
Here’s the short list of random findings:
- I sucked at swimming. I stuck it out until I graduated from high school.
- I was great at Debate. Ranked #2 in the state, I quit at my peak. (Kinda like Seinfeld)
- I had tons of homework. Or at least it seemed like it because I talked about it all the time.
- Not one to mince words, I called things as I saw them.
- I was terrified of feet
- My picture is in a text book in the Middle East (and so is yours Katie and Katie since you went trick or treating with me!)
- I was insanely crazy about keeping a 4.0 GPA. Like nothing else in the world mattered.
- My best friends’ personalities are the same today as they were 15 years ago. Sure, we’ve grown up and have kids of our own, but underneath it all, we’re 16 year old girls trapped in our 30, (cough), 29 year old bodies.
- I went puddle jumping a lot.
- Not only did my handwriting improve from year to year, but my maturity did as well.
- My twin used to come into my room and flex for me. (I’m pretty sure he doesn’t read this, so no embarrassment on his part.)
- I cried when my friend’s mom and step-dad got divorced. A lot.
- My younger sister made the list of things that annoy me. (Sorry Buffy! I love your guts now and you know it!)
I only have a few regrets. First, I was the victim of many fashion trends, (floppy bows anyone? Dr. Martens?) hair style disasters, and a few awkward adolescent moments. And second, it would have been nice of my parents to allow me to attend the prom I was invited to out of state. Really, and I’m not being sarcastic . . . everything would have been okay.
If you don’t keep a journal, start now! You’ll thank yourself later.
The Ear Wax Cleaner Extraordinaire and Other Important Things March 5, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah , 5commentsDid you know your clothes and dishes could get dirty just by sitting in a box, in a storage unit, minding their own business? After doing 96 loads of laundry and 87 loads of dishes, OUR STUFF IS CLEAN.
My house is livable. I wasted no time hanging pictures on the walls or putting up window treatments. I want my space to feel like it’s mine. As depressing as this sounds (and trust me, it is) we will be moving again in about 16 months.
Do you know what went through my head as I was moving into our house and finding a place for everything and putting everything in its place?
THAT ALL THIS STUFF WILL BE MOVED AGAIN. IN ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF.
On that depressing note, I rushed around putting my house together like a crazy woman, because lets face it, every day here is one day closer to moving again.
We have settled into a routine. The kids and I are enjoying our time together while David is gone from dark-thirty in the morning till night-thirty in the evening.
Paris has found a sleeping spot on all three floors.
A spot with ample sunshine.
Dallin is enjoying his new room.
And Paris’ pillow.
Hannah discovered my 30 year old Barbie dolls. She loves them so much. She has asked me more than once, “Do you think Daddy will want to play with my Barbies with me when he gets home from work?” (Um, yeah. I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to play with Barbies. Especially after a long overwhelming day of Internal Medicine at the hospital.)
There is plenty of room for Dallin to exercise . . .
and he decided to learn how to sit. Finally.
Paris is still doing a fine job as ear wax cleaner extraordinaire.
And, as you can see, we are full swing back into the routine of things. I take my job as the designated snotty nose wiper very seriously.
Maybe I Should Start Blowing in His Face March 4, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Little Man Dallin , 3commentsDallin has traded me out. He’s looking for the better offer I tell you. I only offer him food, comfort, snuggles, playtime, and I take care of his personal hygiene.
But . . .
That is clearly NOT what floats his boat. He needs more out of a relationship.
Dallin has a new love.
He loves it SO MUCH.
In fact, when he’s on the floor, speed-crawling around, his only goal is to find this very special “thing.”
He is in LOVE with the heater vents. Every last one in our house.
Every time I turn around, I find him on a heater vent, smiling and squealing as the warm air flows through his very short hair.
For some reason, I just don’t think my hot breath would have the same effect.
