Emme's First Dollhouse

With Emme being down and out and home for a few days I decided to give her one of her Hanukkah gifts a little early to cheer her up. She went to bed early one night so I set it up. She loves to take out the furniture, polish it and cart it around before putting it back. She has named the "people". There is mommy, Emme, Ra-Ra and nana. The male is usually sitting on the toilet which I find very amusing.

Down and Out aka The Mask

It was only a matter of time before we got hit with some funky illness. My little Empress has either German Measles which would be strictly reactive and not contagious from the Rubella vaccine or she has Fifths Disease. She doesn't fit the profile 100% for either but in any case we're home for the next few days. Her personality hasn't been affected too much though she was up 1/2 the night scratching and being uncomfortable. Poor thing just crashed from exhaustion and mommy is right behind her. I think she may have to get one of her Hanukkah presents later just to cheer her up. Yesterday she decided she wanted pigtails for the first time but ONLY if mommy had them first. If you happened upon a 38 year old chubby woman in piggies wandering the streets of NY, yes that was me. I'm not fond of the multiple chins here but it was a photo that couldn't be passed over.

Broadway Bound

Yesterday Emme enjoyed her first theatrical performance; a trio of Eric Carle's infamous books. A little rain could not contain her excitement and she was mesmorized by the black lights and puppets. It was part of the Target Family Series at Brooklyn College and was fabulous. We had grandma and nana in tow and dined on lobster post show with a treat of ice cream for everyone. Emme even danced while the Cold Stone folks sang for her. We're going back in two weeks for the Colonial Nutcracker and in 2009 for several other performances. At $6 a ticket, I am hooked! By dinner time we had one wiped out little Empress.

The Day After

Emme and I spent the night in NJ and enjoyed fresh waffles for breakfast courtesy of GG and Emme. She loves helping in the kitchen and always knows where to get her bench to assist. Grandpa and I took Emme outside for her first roller skating lesson and she seemed to like it. She "skated" for about 15 minutes and only fell once. After she enjoyed playing ball for a bit before retreating into the house to warm up.

Turkey Day

Emme seems to have enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. The day was spent with her grandparents and other family members she had not previously met. She provided the decor for the table in the form of her stuffed paper bag turkey she made with matching hat. Per usual she looked around for a pair of heels to don and this time it was her Grandma Gail's backless mules. I tried to explain to Emme that a lady must always check herself before going out because pantyhouse (or tights) stuck in the back of your dress is a fashion faux pas even when there is a cute little bear on one's tushy. She dined on turkey and cranberry with some apple tart for dessert. She even helped make the fresh ice cream! A lovely time was had by all. She even helped GG work off some of the yummies by practicing her Zoomba dancing. The only thing missing was Uncle Marc who was in Barcelona visiting his girlfriend.

Thanks and Giving

Days like this are tough. I cried en route to NJ thinking about how blessed I really am not just with the addition of Emme to my life but in general. In these tough times in the world you have to take stock and appreciate what you have and not what you don't. In snapping one of many photos this one sums it up pretty well for me. The photo Emme is looking at is one of our first beach trip. She struggled to get it off the chest it sits on in my father's entry to the house. After managing to get her hands on it, she brought it into the family room, propped it up and was just staring at it. Shortly after she clutched it to her chest proclaiming, "my mommy". I am indeed.

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

How cool is this? The only good thing about sick days is finding things like this. Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

I HAD a little dreidle

...and mommy took it away (to put back in the china cabinet). Since no one really has Hanukkah props or backgrounds we brought a snow globe and dreidle with us. Emme had her beautiful portraits done a few weeks ago and I was utterly thrilled at how they came out. My friend told me to go to the cheap place since they do a good job. So since Emme has a Christmas dress for that day with Ra-Ra and family, I decided she needed a Hanukkah dress too. Today we went to "that" place and had Hanukkah pics done. I only liked ONE shot. It wasn't the same level of service or quality as what I got last time but it's not bad for fill in pictures since you can't be doing this ALL the time. Anyway enjoy my $30 photo shoot.

The "Shoot"

Emme was part of a photo shoot to promote adoption yesterday. The photographer was absolutely lovely and Emme had a lot of fun working with her. It will probably be a few weeks until I see the photographer's shots (she took hundreds) and I am hoping she will give me some of the good ones on a CD. She was kind enough to take not just Emme but the two of us and even did a few of Emme and nana. We were welcomed with a fabulous breakfast spread and had some time visiting before it was our turn. I snapped a few shots in the loft while we were hanging around. Most were just candid shots of typical Emme expressions and her debating whether or not to share her animal crackers with nana. The eye blink shot is one of her very well known "attitude" expressions and from it she usually opens them hysterically laughing. Twinkie accompanied us and she was telling him to be a good boy while she said "cheese"

Deck the halls with loaves of challah

We couldn't find Hanukkah Harry anywhere today and since my father said Emme needed her picture taken with Santa, we tried today. Here is the outcome.