Someone get me a key!

Just another reason I love my smart kid!

On Friday night, Emersyn was sitting on the couch with me watching the newest Tinkerbell movie on Disney. It is a little scary for a two year old so she was cuddling close. I was laying down with her sitting next to my belly. At one point, she starts knocking on my belly like it was a door asking for Logan to come out. I explain to her that Logan can't come out yet.

She sat there for a moment thinking and you could literally see the wheels ticking. The she suddenly exclaims loudly, "I know! A key!"

Oh my sweet little thing... if only it were as easy as getting a key to get this kid out!

P.S.- In January- we may be telling her we are going to the hospital to get a key to get Logan out :-)

TWO!

Emersyn turned two yesterday. I am still floored that my baby is getting so big so fast! I want her to slow down so I can enjoy her hugs and kisses before time slips by and she is a moody pre-teen and thinks I suck. So while she still loves me.... get ready for photo overdrive. We had a family party on Saturday and took her to Arizona Mills on her real birthday (Alex and I took the day off work) to go to the aquarium and then a quick carasoal ride.

How is this comfortable?

This is how Emersyn watches TV. I do not get how this is comfortable.

And the sick goes on....

Our house has been sick for the last 3 weeks and I am very done with it. It all started 2 weeks ago when I got a call from daycare to pick Emersyn up with a 102* fever. She almost never runs a fever so I knew something was wrong. I brought her home, we napped and she seemed to be better that night but was still running the fever. She stayed home with Alex on Tuesday and the fever kept up AND now she had no appetite. I started worrying maybe it was strep since she cringed when she tried to eat, so Wed I stayed home and we went to the Dr. The verdict… Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.

I had never even heard of that before! It is where they run a high fever and then develop blisters on their hands, feet, booty and inside their mouth. The only blisters that bother them are the painful ones in her mouth (AWESOME!). So Thursday, Alex stayed home again (noticing the tag team sick days we were doing lol). Her energy was back, the fever was long gone at this point but still not much of an appetite. Since the Dr said she can go back to daycare, we sent her back Friday where she started eating and by the end of the weekend she was back to normal.

We had one good week and then the next Friday she started to get a runny nose and a slight cough from the excess snot. When I picked her up that night, her eyes were all glassy. I ran some errands with her and by the time we got home, I was wiping out globs of goo from her eyes. Yep, she had pink eye. When Alex got home at 6pm we decided not to wait and hit up the Children’s Urgent Care. She was put on drops and off we went. Here is fun part though, a toddler thinks that putting drops in their eyes is as terrible as stabbing them in their eyes. They scream and fight it just as bad.

The lovely cough continued to grow worse over the weekend to add to all the fun. Back to Monday and back to another call from daycare that Emersyn had a fever. My mom picked her up since she was off work that day and I made a Dr appnt for that afternoon. If you are counting this is the THIRD time we have been to the Dr in the last few weeks. The verdict- ear infection! Now let’s add antibiotics into the fun. Bonus though, it meant we could stop the drops AND it tastes good so Emersyn loves it. The cough continues but thankfully we only have 2 more days of antibiotics and she is home free. And knock on wood… no more getting sick until NEXT year.

Let’s not forget that Alex went to urgent care 2 days after Emersyn came down with the ear infection and was diagnosed with…. Ear infections and sinus infection. I am the only one not on antibiotics in our house. My ears have been a little annoying and I am starting to get Emersyn’s cough but I continue to use my netty pot (these things are amazing) and drink lots of fluid and hope for the best! I don’t think I can handle all 3 of us on meds L

The blob

So I knew going into this pregnancy that you start to show earlier with subsequent kiddos. I have heard that it is like a balloon that has already been blown up so I just is easier to stretch, that your body just knows what it is doing this time, and that my lovely first child ruined my ab muscles making them all lose so they stretch faster…. Whatever the reason… it was true. With this kid I was in maternity jeans by 10 weeks. I was using a belly band by 8 weeks and was tired of trying to jimmy-rig my jeans with a rubber band.

My only wish… that if my body knows what it is doing so much… that my morning sickness would finally go away. I thought being sick with Emersyn was bad but throwing up all the time while watching a toddler is taking it to a whole new level. I was sick for 16 weeks with E and I had hoped that maybe I would get away with only 14 weeks with this once since my body knew it this time. I have given up that thought and now just pray every day that it only lasts 16 weeks and not longer. L

 

Annoyed

I am super annoyed and if you have answers please respond. My blog has an error at the bottom of the page when I try to post- however if I click on it- it just goes away. I have option to add a picture and my tool bar at the top of the post is completely blank. Help!

Breaking News

For friends not on Facebook or those that just like to hear a little bit more about me :-)

Emersyn is going to be a big sister at the end of January! We knew that we wanted to try to get pregnant as soon as possible after we got married. I just honestly didn't think it would happen 5 days after the wedding (I kept a chart so I know it was this soon) but..... none the less... we are having a baby!

Emersyn loves her new big sister shirt.

I am filled with emotions. One- the thought of two scares me a little. Two- I worry about not having as much time with my little princess. Three- I am estatic that I creating a new life again. Four- It may sound weird but I felt a little guilty when we first found out. Why am I able to get pregnant so easily when others struggles. Five- Determined and excited for this new edition to our family.

To answer all the questions- Yes I feel sick. Yes being pregnant with a toddler is harder than being pregnant with no kids. Yes we are finding out the sex but won't know until early Sept.

Emersyn knows and seems excited. If you ask her where Mommy's baby is, she will point to my tummy and if you ask her if it is a boy or girl... she is pretty sure it's a boy. Only time will tell what the gender is AND how she handles it. I hope my little nuggets will be life long best friends!

How she really feels about the whole big sister thing sometimes :-)

Cheerio bush

This is a real conversation with my husband this morning. Sometimes I think he just doesn’t understand me J

Me: Good morning! Time to wake up.

Him: (muffled grumbling)

Me: So I was eating Cheerios this morning and I started to sneeze and I inhaled an entire Cheerio. I really hope it went down my throat and not into my lungs.

Him: It can’t go down your lungs.

Me: Yes it can. Didn’t you hear about the guy that was eating peas and a pea when into his lung and grew a pea bush. I hope I don’t grown a Cheerio bush in my lung.

Him: Where did you even hear that?

Me: The guy was on a talk show. Like Oprah or Ellen or something.

Him: Your lungs are not an open balloon. They are like a sponge.

Me: The perfect growing grounds for a Cheerio bush.

Him: You can’t grow a Cheerio bush.

Me: You better hope so or you will be a single father. I am pretty sure that someone can’t survive a Cheerio bush in their lungs.

Him: Go Away!

Mr. and Mrs.

I am finally Amanda Lombardi! It is official and I even have my new social security card J This might be a little long so grab a drink and a soft chair… enjoy J

So time to finally take the time to talk about the wedding weekend and it really was an entire weekend!

Wednesday was my day of primping. Emersyn and I went to breakfast at Starbucks and then she went to play at daycare while I got a pedicure, manicure and then off to get my hair dyed and cut. I wish I could say it was relaxing but I had wedding on my brain the whole time so didn’t relax at all. Thursday morning my mom and I frosted 130+ sugar cookies with blue frosting to give away as favors. I ran to the flower shop and picked up 150 roses, 30 bunches of hydrangeas, baby’s breath and leather leaf. Then ran home and my mom and I got to cut all those stems and put the flowers in ice water since there was no room in my fridge for all of that. Thursday after work, Jamie and Meg came over and we packed all 120 cookies into bags (Jamie felt the need to eat ALL the ones we broke which turned out later in the evening to be an unwise decision lol).

Bright and early Friday morning, my mom, both my aunts, Alex’s mom and his dad’s best friend’s girlfriend (did you keep that straight LOL) came over and we made all the bouquets, boutonniere’s, wrist corsages, etc. My fridge was stuffed with flowers but they turned out great and it only took us 2 hours. After Emersyn’s nap, we started the process of getting ready for the reheasel and dinner. Since dinner wasn’t until 7ish, I made sure my daughter had a full stomach before we got her in her dress J The rehearsal went great and the dinner was wonderful. It was so nice to see family that traveled and to spend time with friends. Emersyn and I made it home by 9pm (the girl was still awake).  Alex stayed at a friend’s house so it was just Emersyn, me and the cat at home. It took forever for me to fall asleep due to nerves but I was out before midnight which made me happy.

I woke up Saturday morning at 6:20. My mom called as soon as I woke up to ask what my Starbucks order was (she loves me so much) and I proceeded to get Emersyn up and get breakfast on the table for her. My mom came over and we ate. Then it was time to start the getting ready process. I took a shower with Emersyn since she didn’t get a bath the night before. She screamed for GG to save her the whole time (did I mention she hates showers). My mom took her downstairs to watch Disney while I dried my hair and brushed my teeth. I curled my mom’s hair first and then she started the long process of the updo and pinning my veil under the curls. I started to get my make-up on when my girls started showing up. They all came make-up-less and we got ready together complete with the STRONGEST margaritas ever lol. No nerves left after those LOL. We drove to the church and the girls started to get in their dresses.

I waited until 30 min before we started to get into my dress and was told to stand on a sheet under the air vent and NOT MOVE until we were going to start. Emersyn thought playing under mommy’s dress was fun and spent most the next 15 min under there. Then it was time to get her all ready. I could hear people arriving and was starting to panic. Thankfully the time flew by and it was time to walk down the aisle. I did start crying when Emersyn took off down the aisle but was able to get it together (for the most part) by the time I walked down. It was perfect. Emersyn did not make a sound the entire wedding, the priest was fantastic and our readers did great! The whole wedding flew by and we were married!

The reception was fantastic! The food was good (although my dress was so tight I didn’t eat much lol). Our DJ was great and even Emersyn was up on the dance floor almost the entire afternoon. Our cake was beautiful and delicious. Trevor (the best man) and Jamie (my maid of honor) gave touching speeches. It went by way to fast and then it was time for our last dance. We left after the reception to a hotel (my mom stayed at our house with Emersyn that night). We went to the Arizona Golf Resort and had a bungalow in the back of the property. There were only 10 rooms back there surrounding a courtyard it was magical.

I will skip the wedding night info J

Sunday morning we were checked out by 8:00am and headed to Dunkin Donuts. We were having a morning after the wedding brunch at our house for all our family, friends and the wedding party. We got our 3 dozen donuts and headed back to our house. Both my aunts had come over early to help my mom cook (premade food) and set up. The house was full by 9:30 and we all ate and then opened presents.

It is tied for the second best weekend in my life (only thing as good was the birth of my baby).

Now we get to start our life and family together. I can’t wait to grow old with this man! J

DEE-KNEE

I am not going to pretend that we don't allow Emersyn to watch TV and that we encourage her to use her mind instead. I know all the "warnings" about letting your kids watch too much TV but my child is perfectly normal developmentally so I am honestly not worried and she LOVES her Disney (DEE-KNEE). Channel 35 (The Disney Channel) is on a lot at our house. We love Little Einstein's, we tolerate Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates holds our interest for about 10 min, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is our favorite! When she says she wants Dee-Knee she wants Mickey! And she gets very upset when Jessie or A.N.T Farm is on (that is not Disney to her). Thank goodness for Direst TV and free cable shows. Unfortunately, sometimes they only have 1-2 episodes of Mickey Mouse which means that we watch them EVERY night.

I can literally quote Daisy Bo-Peep at the moment! :-)

When Mickey starts she is like an adult watching a sporting event. She points out all the characters and calls out their names when they are introduced. She sits at the edge of her chair and bounces her legs in excitement and she has a huge smile on her face. It is sometimes a struggle to get her to sit down in her chair instead of stand right in front of the TV and dance in excitement the whole episode.

Here she was last weekend standing and watching her favorite show ever!

Bossy pants

Emersyn may not look a lot like me but she is 100% my personality. I will pause for a moment while you feel sorry for Alex being stuck with 2 of us :-)

So is it any surprise that she has become bossy... just like her mom.

This morning I asked her if she wanted to go downstairs to watch Disney after she was done brushing her teeth. She said yes and we went downstairs where the news was on. I forgot and went to the kitchen to make coffee and finish getting ready for work. Emersyn stood in the middle of the living room, pointed to the TV and in a stern voice told me "Disney". Oops.... I had forgotten to put on Disney. Glad my bossy girl was there to tell me.

When she is thirsty. She tells me she is thirsty and then grabs my hand to drag me into the kitchen to get her "fresh" water out of the fridge.

On Sunday I was upstairs getting ready for church while Alex and her were downstairs watching Disney. He went into the kitchen to make breakfast when the theme song to 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' came on. Emersyn has to sit in our lap for JUST the theme song for some reason so she ran into the kitchen, grabbed Alex's hand and dragged him back to the living room to sit on the couch and pick her up.

Although slightly annoying and difficult at times, from one bossy girl to another..... it will serve you well in corporate America sweetie! Stay bossy!

Loving Dad

Since her birth, Emersyn has always been a mommy's girl. She wants me to hold her, she wants me to change her diaper, she wants me to feed her, etc etc etc.

I know that if I were in Alex's place, I would be a little hurt by that although he doesn't show it. Well... she is starting to turn on me and become a little Daddy's girl.

We went to 4:30 mass on Saturday and then out to Joe's grill for dinner. During dinner I asked her if she loved Daddy. She nodded her head yes and then shoved more food in her mouth. I asked her if she loved Mommy. She shook her head no and continued to eat. I asked again if she loved Mommy and got the same response. So I told her that yes she did and asked her if she could tell Mommy she loves her.

At this point, Emersyn stopped eating, pointed to Alex and said "I love Dad". Then when right back to eating. Alex and I just looked at each other and I didn't press the "loving mommy" point anymore.

She made her decision and secretly- I know it melted Alex's heart :-)

Rabbit girl

Maybe my view is swayed because I didn't like salad until well into my teen years, but I have never seen nor heard of a toddler liking salad until mine. She is in the copy stage and wants to do everything that mommy and daddy do... including what she eats. So when Alex and I sit down to eat and add a side salad to our meal... she wants in on it. She points and says "my" to our salad bowls until we hand over a piece of lettuce. At first, she just sucked off the dressing and then threw the lettuce to the side... that was until we told her no more until she ate it. Now she eagerly chomps down on the lettuce and eats it all gone.

It is odd to me to watch a toddler eating salad but it will serve her well in the future. I love that she is not a picky eater and enjoys tofu, mushrooms, all of it, including lettuce. She is my little rabbit.

Furture Starbucks addict

I am a huge fan of Starbucks as any of my friends, family, co-workers, general strangers know :-)

Once I was over the morning sickness (the thought of coffee made me ill in those first months), I would go and get decaf frappicino's. I had Emersyn at 12:19am in the morning and when my mom came back to the hospital later that morning around 9am, she brought me Starbucks. Actually, she brought me Starbucks that Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. Then once we were home, Alex and I decided the first Friday night when Emersyn was a week old to walk over to the local 'Bucks and have a date night.

It is sad that she knows what going to Starbucks is, but the fact that she loves the sip on her daddy's non caffienated Vanilla Bean frap makes me smile.

Here is a picture of her at that first date night when she is a week old next to a grande cup. Then another picture exactly a year later when she was one year and a week with the same size cup. I think it will be a tradition to take this yearly pic to see how big she is and how little the cup keeps getting :-)

   

Final countdown

I know this blog is usually about Emersyn and life as a mom, but now that the wedding planning is really picking up and I am in my final stages... it is starting to take on a life of it's own.

I blame myself for procrastinating so much. By the time we walk down the aisle, I will have been officially engaged for 14 months so I had NO excuse to wait so long to get on the ball but... I did. With Emersyn's first birthday, and building/buying a house I just kept putting it off. Well, after Christmas I got on the ball and bought a wedding planning book to keep me organized and honest.

In the first 3 weeks of this year I was able to register for all our pre-marital classes that the church requires, met with the caterer and finalized the menu (we have had the venue since last May), met with the photographer and signed the contract, met with the wedding planner at church to pick out readings and finalize all plans, met with a wedding/party planner to help us get organized and set-up/break down the day of, bought my dress, registered for gifts and this Thursday we are meeting with the DJ.

It has been a whirlwind of meetings and appointments. I am very grateful to those that could meet with us at our house and for my mom for babysitting when they couldn't. With a new house, a toddler and trying for baby #2 as soon as we are official- the goal of this wedding is to keep it simple and the prices down.

We are doing our own flowers, our own centerpieces, our own favors, buying a small tiered cake to cut and then serving sheet cakes to the majority of guests, etc. I am sure you will here more about the flurry of things to come. Our first class is all day 2/4 and February marks us buying the rings and sending out the invitations. We have lots to do still but I am so excited to legally and spiritually bond myself to Alex forever. Only 3 months and 7 days until I am a Lombardi (not that anyone is counting :-) )

Back to Back

I decided to be nice and move some furniture in our loft (so that it would be all set up for Alex when he came home) two weeks before Christmas. I didn't know how heavy our TV stand was until I tried to move it and felt a pull in my back. I kept waiting for the pain to start but nothing so I just went on. Then Saturday I woke up with a tight back. I was still able to do everything but it was just tight, tighter still on Sunday and I couldn't stand up holding Emersyn anymore. At church, Alex had to take her whenever we stood up and then gave her back to me when we were sitting.

I had taken the whole week before Christmas off to spend time with Emersyn since I work all year. I was so excited to be home but by Monday I was in lots of pain. I still trudged through and tried to ignore it while taking her to see Santa and Christmas shopping, but by Wednesday I was miserable. I was in extreme pain and could barely walk. I called Alex crying hysterically and asked him to come back home from work and take me to urgent care. Once there they told me that I had a pinched sciatic nerve (yippee!!). I was put on pain killers, muscle relaxers and a shot to relieve the pain. I was told to take 4 Advil every 4 hours too and to stay on top of my meds. I tried to relax the rest of the day/week and Alex was a huge help when he was home from work taking most of the duties from me.

Then Friday 12/30 came.... Alex was working in his office when I heard him cry out in pain. I rushed to his office and he was on his knees. He couldn't stand up or lie down. He was frozen in pain.... from his BACK! He had just moved to stand but he must have strained the muscle earlier in the week to weaken it. I tried to help him and he eventually was able to lie down to see if it would go away. I gave him some of my pain killers and muscle relaxers but it wasn't working. He called his dad to take him to the ER. He couldn't even stand up and I was no help since my back still hurt with trying to lift him. After about an hour, he pushed through the pain to stand. His dad came and took him to the ER while Emersyn and I stayed home. He came home a few hours later with "just a severely pulled muscle". He is now on his own brands of pain killers, muscle relaxers and got his own shot.

We are hoping that 2012 keeps the back problems away!!!!!