I am...

I totally stole this from Heather's blog :)

I AM … blessed.
I WANT… to lose weight so that I am back down to where I was in college.
I HAVE … the most amazing children.
I KEEP... way too much stuff.
I WISH I COULD … be more organized.
I HATE … people who aren't genuine.
I FEAR … loss.
I HEAR … the washer.
I DON'T THINK … I will ever make it through school.
I REGRET … not living each day like it's my last.
I LOVE … my family.
I AM NOT … going to live with regret.
I DANCE … when no one's watching.
I SING … to my little punkin (not very well!)
I NEVER … am nice enough to my wonderful husband. He always gets the brunt of my frustration.
I RARELY … take time just for myself.
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … the DVD I made of Emma's first year.
I AM NOT ALWAYS … right.
I HATE THAT … I worry too much about things I can't control.
I'M CONFUSED ABOUT … where the parents are on Max & Ruby! (Amen, Heather)
I NEED … to finish cleaning my house.
I SHOULD … go put the laundry away.

Princess Party

Last weekend we went to Kristen's 4th birthday party. It was a princess themed party and Emma had so much fun! There were so many kids there and Emma knew most of them from Carrie's neighborhood. I took a ton of pictures, but don't have many to post because there were other kids in the pics. I don't like posting pics of other people's kids. So, here are a few of Emma enjoying the day :)

1st Trip to the Dentist

Emma went to the dentist for the first time today. We have been talking about it for a while now, so that she wouldn't be scared when we went. She did FABULOUS! I was so proud of her. She climbed up in the chair, let the hygeinist "count" her teeth and clean them. Then, she sat there like a big girl, waiting for the dentist while they took me across the hall to start cleaning my teeth. She was so proud of her clean, shiny teeth. And, no cavities! Such a big girl!

So busy...and time flies

Things have been super busy lately. But, when is that not so? I have some new pics to post, so I promise to get those up soon. Emma starts back to preschool in two weeks. We went to parent night at her preschool tonight and got to see Miss Michele again. Emma will have a new teacher this year, and she doesn't quite understand why she has Miss Lori now and not Miss Michele. It really hit me tonight that at this time next year, I'll have a kindergartner. Shawn and I were sitting there looking at her school calendar and it showed when open enrollment for kindergarten was. We have to enroll her in kindergarten in February. Seriously? Where is my baby?

Oh well, on a more somber note...Shawn's grandma (his mom's mom) passed away on Friday. We had the funeral today. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

More Pics from the Zoo

More Pics from the Zoo

Cleveland Zoo

Thursday night we headed up to Painesville to see Jacen. We took the kids to the Cleveland Zoo on Friday. The kids had fun, but I honestly wasn't that impressed with their zoo. I think Columbus has a much better zoo. The one thing that Cleveland has that Columbus doesn't have is giraffes. So, Emma was really excited to finally get to see giraffes. We left Friday night to come back home. We are excited to have Jacen come down to Columbus in a couple of weeks.

Heidi

Seriously, the cutest dog you've ever seen, right? Miss Heidi, or Heidi Girl, or Heidi Pants, or Heidi Ho. All names she'll answer by. Anyway, this was the night before she got spayed. Poor thing didn't know what was coming to her! She did well at the vet, and did well with her overnight stay. We picked her up on Emma's birthday. She was pretty sore the first day home, but is back to her normal self again. We love our little Heidi. She's going to be six months old next week!

More Science Center PIcs

Jacen and Emma "making" a tornado.

Emma and Jake, Trish's 4 year old son.

Emma and Paige, Trish's 7 year old daughter.

Me and Emma, Trish and Jake. Thanks guys, for a great day!!!!

Great Lakes Science Center

On Thursday, we drove to Cleveland to the Great Lakes Science Center. This place is WAY cooler than COSI. So, if you have a day to spend in Cleveland, I really recommend going. I took Emma, Jacen, and Kristin with me. We went to meet my friend, Trish and her family there. They were here visiting from Long Island and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go see them since they were only 2 1/2 hours away! It was a great time, and the kids had SO much fun. Trish and her family are awesome. Her kids are so sweet, and Emma's new best friend is Paige, Trish's 7 year old daughter :)

Birthday Dinner

We took Emma to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. That is her absolute favorite place to eat, so we end up there a lot for birthdays. Red Robin himself was there last night and she did not like him one bit! She is really scared of people in costumes right now. She only liked to admire him from afar. She was hiding behind Daddy while they were singing Happy Birthday to her, but she soon realized that the ice cream was worth it!

Opening Presents

Emma had to wait until her actual birthday to open presents from Mommy, Daddy, and Jacen. Jacen got her a little mailbox with letters, postcards, and stamps. She loves it, and has had lots of fun playing mailman with it. Her big hit of a gift turned out to be a kids digital camera from V-tech that Shawn & I got her. I don't think she has put it down since she got it. She even had to take it out to dinner last night!!

Blowing out the Candles

We got Emma a yummy ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. She picked out the Barbie cake, and it turned out so well! She blew out her candle all by herself this year and had lots of fun eating her cake!

Emma's Family Cookout

On Sunday, we had a family cookout for Emma's birthday. It was the first year we haven't had a party for her, so that was strange. She still had a blast, and Daddy brought home a huge balloon bouquet for her! She was so excited. I can't believe how big she looks in these pics.