Have Fun Monkey Joe Joe's!!!

It seems like it's a million degrees here.......nope, thermometer says it's only about 95.......only? Our morning park ritual has gotten much shorter- no two to three hour trips anymore. Bela gets impatient and fussy with the heat (despite her pimp ride if I do say so myself- the breathable Baby Bjorn carrier which is made for the heat with lightweight mesh that allows the breeze to flow through........if there was a darn breeze!)Anyways....and Emma sweats so bad that she looks like she just walked through a car wash. Still, most days we still get out which is good. Emma's climbing like a champ and is slowly learning to socialize in not-so-weird ways (she doesn't walk up to older kids and say "There all clean" anymore, thank God!). And she's really getting into what I call "life play" where she pretends like she's going to work or that she's feeding her baby (she has no interest in feeding our real baby, but her monkey is more than overfed!). And her language is just insane! Some of the stuff she comes up with. Today she told me she was invisible- what?! I know she didn't know what that meant, but she heard it from another kid at the park the other day....And she knows some of her basic shapes like triangle and circle. Braden and I were laughing as we talked about how the way that we talk about Emma to other parents at the park has changed sooo much in recent months. We used to join the other parents and sort of mention Emma's accomplishments and compare them with each other's kids. Any parent who does this knows what I mean (every parent does this!) We would always walk away feeling rather proud as we realized how developed Emma really is for her age. Well.....pretty soon we realized she just stuck out because she's so darn smart. So now we kind of dumb her down when we talk about her to other parents so that they don't feel bad.....I know this sounds really stupid, but we really do lie about what she can and can't do. It usually works since she acts like Animal (from the Muppets) at the park.

As a celebration for our sale of the house, we decided to take Emma somewhere really special. So, we headed out to Charlotte where they have this REALLY cool place called Monkey Joes.......and boy did Emma love every moment. It's full of inflatable slides and moonwalk jungle gyms, so the whole jumping, bouncing, running, and screaming thing was right up her alley. They even had a big plastic pirate ship, so our little driver was in heaven! Ever since then she has been begging to go back in her own little way: "Have fun monkey Joe Joe's today?" It makes us laugh every time! Her sentences, although advanced for her age, are pretty darn hilarious! We plan on taking Grandma and Grandpa with us this week in celebration of Emma's birthday and we can't wait!

Bela's back to being the crying, fussy, easily-gets-her-feelings hurt baby that we know and love best. I think it's a temporary thing as she's getting used to her baby food and cereal. Or....maybe I'm just telling that to myself for sanity's sake. But she's still got her really happy moments and is now entertained for several minutes at a time by watching Emma at play. Today Emma thought it was hysterical to drive cookie monster in a race car straight into her sister, saying "vwoom vwoom" and laughing. At least Bela thought it was funny too.....she hasn't yet figured out that she is the butt of many of Emma's jokes and pranks (and judging by how sweet and innocent she is and how devious the big one is, I'm guessing she won't figure it out for a long time.....)

Because of the insane heat, we've had to turn our little apartment into a good many things.......tent world, dance club...... Emma's enjoying all of her fun new adventures indoors too! We usually turn on the web cam when she's really bored and make "music videos", where she dances to "I Like to Move It" and I make Bela dance across the camera too. Emma just looooooves this past time, especially since she can watch them on our big screen! HAHA! Funny kid. So Gigi and Poppy, Grandma and Grandpa......you will be getting some of these music videos as we get better with the camera.

Home Is Where You Lay Your Hat.....

It's official- we sold our house in Michigan! Although we were hoping and praying for this day to come, at times we didn't believe it ever would.....part of me thought we'd end up dragging the kids back there because we couldn't sell the darn house. But somehow, our realtor performed a miracle (that and all of our wonderful neighbors and friends have been sending up their own prayers! Thanks by the way!) And, after all is said and done, and after all of the jumping up and down and hugging we did (heck, selling a house in Michigan right now is like winning the lottery!), I sat down and had a good cry :) That's the Charbonneau in me (and darn proud of it, right Jen?!) I got very sad to think that the house will have new people in it that will never know the memories that we made right there........and to think that the girls will never really know the beauty of that little house and the significance that it holds for us. Emma took her first steps right there in the living room, and cracked her little head right there on the breezeway step (woops! sorry emma!) And she said her first word in her bedroom ("book") and watched her first snowfall out the back window. She took her first baby bath on that kitchen counter and unwrapped her first Christmas present on that ugly brown carpeting in the corner. She colored her first wall in the kitchen and sat her first timeout under the thermostat.....and her second, and her 427th....... And yet she'll never remember this house. That makes me just a little sad. And Bela......she'll never have those firsts (except for the bath- she wishes she could forget that one though.....) in that little Linville house. We have a lot of memories in that little house with the ugly flesh colored exterior. Like when the sewer pipes busted a couple of days before Bela was born and poor Braden had to wade in waste and bugs in the crawl space to fix them. Boy did that smell foul......I can't imagine how it was for him! But Emma and I had a few laughs as we sat up in her bedroom saying "pee yoo!" and laughing. And that time I tried to plant a vegetable garden but felt bad for the baby bunny who kept coming to eat ALL of his meals in it....."What if he doesn't have a mom?" I would ask......needless to say, we didn't eat any vegetables that summer, but that bunny ate like a king. Haha, or how about when the power went out just a few days after bringing poor Bela home from the hospital? We wrapped her up in a down comforter and Braden worked like a dog to get the generator running (hmm.....poor Braden is working hard in all of these memories......what was I doing?) And all those times when Emma would mow the lawn with the bubble mower (when there was snow on the ground!). Our neighbors would laugh and laugh.......and I would just shiver and shiver. But that lawn had to be mowed. And all of those times Emma would require a trip outside just to see the little plastic bee in our neighbor's garden.....goofy girl! And the apple orchard we planted.....and then watched the deer eat! Oh the memories........how bittersweet they all are. But as one chapter ends (as my wonderful neighbor Deanna reminds me) another begins. Now we can begin looking for our own house of dreams (right Grandma Cobb? I'm re-reading the Anne books right now!) down here in South Carolina with unlimited memories that will fill it for years to come! And we can officially be the vacation spot now for any family member or friend who wants to drop in......at least we'll have more space than our dinky apartment I hope! Grandma and Grandpa are coming in less than a week and we are counting down the days, hours, minutes...... can't wait! I already told Emma that they were coming, so now whenever she hears the door, she thinks it's "gwamma".

So as we watch Emma throw her dirty little baseball cap (that smells like a gym) in the basket of shoes by the door, we realize that home really is where you throw your hat. Even if it's just a dinky apartment, it feels like home now. It's full of laughs and life and love, and more than that, it's full of dreams.......

Braden and I find this picture of Emma sooo funny, but it doesn't do the humor of the actual bathing suit justice. Emma calls it her "backpack bubble". What a nut! As for the last picture Jamie, Emma's best friend is our cat Scout. And Scout loves her just as much! She actually cries when Emma leaves the apartment (no kidding!), so snapping a pic of them together is really a very easy task. They play together very well (thank God!) and Scout takes a lot of Emma's abuse like a champ! That poor cat has been diapered, fed, dragged by the "collar" (no she doesn't actually have a collar, just neck fur), and snuck up on (Emma thinks it's funny when Scout's fur stands on end) and yet she still adores our Emma. We are soooo lucky!

Emma learned "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" which is about the funniest thing I have ever seen! She looks like a third base coach giving the signal to bunt. Her little hands are flying, pointing to every body part you can imagine, while singing the correct words! What a funny girl!

Niki, keep the dream alive and keep us stay at homebodies feeling like we too are climbing mountains (from our couches with a bag of m and m's in our hands!) Love your trailjournal!

Meet My Son, Emma and My Newborn, Bela

I always joke that Emma was born our little boy. She loves tools, Bob the Builder, Handy Manny, and anything having to do with trucks and tractors. Grandma and Grandpa got her a little tool set around Christmas and Emma now knows the names of every tool (we are constantly hearing "Scwewdriver.....where are you scwewdriver? Oh der you are!") from the wrench to the hammer! Pretty impressive- that's more than I know! And yesterday she brought me a part of some sort with a screw in it.......Since I had been putting Bela to sleep I had no clue where this missing, but somewhat important looking part, had come from. So I asked Emma (who just replied "hmmmmm" with a puzzled look on her face).....and looked all around. Finally I found an identical part on her crib- turns out she sat next to her crib and took the time to unscrew some pieces. Hopefully the thing won't fall apart! Maybe it's time to move onto a big girl bed. Oy vay!

Emma loves the swimming pool, and her confidence has now exceded her ability level. She's asking to "swim by self" which has led to the purchase of an inflatable swim suit (which by the way is hysterical to see- really, imagine a toddler with a marshmallow looking suit just floating by you in the swimming pool and that's what it looks like). Bela has her own little contraption with a float that has a built in baby seat. Yes, we do take up half the pool when we go!

Every Thursday is Panera night at the Grupp house. Since we can't have date night, we have our own rendition of it, and Emma likes the fact that she gets to tag along. It's funny because Emma knows the building and starts placing her order before we even find a parking spot...."and gwill cheese and treat milk" Well, yesterday we threw her for a loop and went to a restaurant (I know we're brave- a real restaurant!). We passed a Hardy's (which we have eaten at a total of one time ever!) and Emma started shouting "Emma hungwee for hang-ga-bers!" Braden and I laughed so hard- wow those burgers must have left quite an impression on her! That was about two months ago! So we get to the restaurant and I read the menu choices to her (but really, there's no choice when there's macaroni on the menu!). When her macaroni came she was so excited she couldn't contain herself (apparently mom's whole wheat version as of late pales in comparison to the extra fake-cheesy Kraft version- okay okay I get the hint, I'll drop my version!) The portion was pretty big for a kid, but our not-quite-two year old did us proud, munching on our salad veggies and some bread in addition to polishing off (I'm not exaggerating- every morsel was GONE!) her macaroni and broccoli. And she kept herself amused by counting and stacking the butters on the table. So other than some whimpers and goos and gaaas from Bela, we had a real date! And I was very impressed with the counting and stacking going on at our table- that's new, the counting thing. Although she's been able to count very high for a long time (thank you timeout corner!), she hasn't matched it to things, like counting her fingers. She has always just counted and pointed randomly, not matching them one for one. Now she's doing that, which has amazed me. And if you ask her how many of something there are (I asked her how many triangles were in her shapes pile yesterday), she'll count them out and tell you (if in the right mood of course!) I can tell you I won't be homeschooling because the girl will outsmart me very soon!

Bela is back on newborn mode in terms of feeding. She wakes up five or six times a night, believing she truly is starving! I try and try to give her cereal but most of the time she ends up with a thumb in her mouth, and when I pop that out, a toe goes in! So the milk just isn't cutting it for the 17 pounder, and cereal just isn't interesting, so I'll start the real stuff soon I suppose. Too bad the produce is so bad out here......Bela's also now sitting (or shall I say slumping?) all by herself. Emma never did that- she didn't do any kind of sitting until 6 months and it was perfectly straight sitting up.....strange. She's also playing in her exersaucer.....well, sitting in it while Emma gives her "rides". (Yes, Emma discovered that the seat twirls around, so she spins her sister while saying "weeeeee" and laughing hysterically!) If poor Bela turns out normal, I'll be so thrilled!

Bela and Emma shared their first bath the other night (along with mommy who held Bela)- that was a full tub let me tell you! Emma thought it was funny, but now wants only mommy to come into her tub.....baby's not invited. But don't that little attitude fool you. Emma now actually plays with Bela, including her into her imaginary play instead of just giving her toys and walking away. She plays "baby" and "house" with her, which is really humorous! Bela just laughs because she's happy to see Emma! It's cute!

Happy Birf-Day Muh-vers Day!

Bet ya didn't know it wasn't Father's Day after all huh? Nope, according to Emma, it's "Happy birf-day muh-vers day!" I think we're confusing the daylights out of her with all of these happy days, so they blended a bit......now when you tell her to say "Happy Father's Day" that funny little statement comes out. No father in there whatsoever! Ah well, she's cute!
Emma got to help daddy open his present today (which she helped decorate earlier with all kinds of stickers!). She was begging me to open them from the time she woke up at 6:30 to the time her daddy woke up at 7:30 (we let him sleep in on his special day!), so she was thrilled to peel the green paper off. Although she was with me when we picked out the present, she got a surprised look and shouted "Wow! Fishies!" when she saw that it was an aquarium. So it was a little more for Emma than daddy :) but that's what Father's Day is all about!
We got to spend a little time with Grandma and Grandpa on the web cam today, and Emma was all fired up! She was running around and dancing, sticking her little foofoo in the air. She always loves this time and wants to bring every favorite toy to the t.v. to "show gwampa". It's nice to know she's not missing anything! Can't wait to see them in a couple of weeks- we're counting down! And you guys better bring light clothes and a bathing suit- it's HOT HOT HOT!
Dads never think they spend enough time with their kids no matter how much they really do......I'm just lucky- no, blessed that I was born with the best one in the world, who spent countless hours slaving away at multiple jobs he hated just to make sure we had everything this world could ever give us......and when he could have dragged himself home and laid on the couch, he didn't. Instead, my memories are of him taking me to the batting cages, cheering us on at every sports game or meet (no kidding- my parents never missed a single one- that's darn impressive!), family vacations, and flipping us in the pool (over and over again!). I still don't know how he did it without falling asleep at the wheel while driving my sister and I as well as our cousins to school every morning, but he did it. And because of him, I am the person and the parent that I am today. And as a grandfather, he rules, doing "milk and rock" with Emma and giving her so many pony rides that his operated-on knees no longer work! There's nothing in the world he wouldn't do for his girls- all five of us (hmm.....six if you include Pockets....but she's on his not-so-nice list, and I can tell you from experience, you don't want to be on that!) So, for all that you did and continue to do (believe me, I know you are still sacrificing so much to make sure that I and my family feel your love hundreds of miles away), I thank you and wish you a very "Happy Birf-day Muh-vers Day!" dad/ yellow grandpa!!!

And Braden, our girls are soooo blessed to have such an involved, hands-on "superdaddy" (as Emma says) who does everything from dirty diapers to really dirty bathtubs (from a certain pigpen daughter of ours) and bug killing and gentle rocking to sleep. There's nothing in the world you can't do, and the look in your eyes tells me that you love every minute of it. I don't know many dads who would give up their home, their job, their friends, and financial security and move across the country just to spend a few extra hours a week with the family and give us a better life. But there's nothing you wouldn't do for us.......and that absolutely amazes me. We have fun (how could we not, having given birth to a court jester instead of a baby?!), and with you there to lighten every mood, something tells me we always will! We love you superdaddy!

Kids Say the Darndest Things....

I was waiting for this day for a long time.....the day Emma would really embarass me, and I wouldn't be able to explain it away.....

First, might I interject a thank you to Aunt Ellen? Yes, it is only your super thoughtful, very cool gift of The Little People Nativity Set to Bela on her baptism that makes this story even possible! (The thank you is sincere- it really is a cool gift!) Anyways, us girls were tooling around the Super Wal-Mart the other day (what else can you do in this town when it's rainy?) when we came across two Muslim women with traditional coverings over their heads. Emma (who had been learning all of the important characters in her nativity scene all morning) just lit up- you could see the little wheels turning in her head as she got excited and began frantically pointing at these unsuspecting women. "That's a baby Jesus! That's a baby Jesus! Two baby Jesus!!" My horror at what poor naive little Emma was shouting could not be masked. I grabbed her little finger and pulled her to the side, trying to explain that those were "ladies, not Jesus". Oy yoy yoy! Wrong religion Emma...... Anyways, I offered my own little prayer up...."Dear, sweet God (who has an exceptionally good sense of humor), please let those poor ladies speak any other language than English since you so nicely gave Emma no speech impediments and everyone in a five mile radius could hear her. Amen."

Bela's doing her own tooling around too. She can wriggle and roll herself in any direction and move across the room in a decent amount of time. Emma's toys are now in danger of being swiped, and she's not too keen on this......especially since entering the "it's yucky" stage (talking about her sister). She is soooo grossed out when Bela touches her toys that she wants everything to stay away from her- you can just see this in her eyes. But Emma is really a very good big sister and will trade her toy with another one she picks out so that Bela will at least have something to play with. Bela had her first real belly laugh on her baptism day! What a cutie pie.....but she hasn't laughed since- just a bunch of coughs and splutters and gasps. I think she forgot how to do it.

Bela's baptism was absolutely wonderful! We flew in late Saturday (despite our original plan to fly in on Friday) which left little time for visiting, but at least we made it to our own party right? We were thrilled to see our family and friends from near and very far (Tim, Ann, and Sara even came from Atlanta!!! WOW!!) if only for a day or so. Emma picked up right where she left off and was thrilled to be in "Gwampa's car" (she kept repeating this with an awed whisper voice the entire drive from the airport to her grandparents' house). She got all excited when we turned left into their neighborhood and started shouting "Gwampa's house! Watch t.v.?" Are you kidding me? And as soon as we got into their house, she went right for the toys and even started asking for all the old favorites- riding the horse, drinking "treat milk"......it was like old times for her. In fact, she didn't want to miss a moment which led to a very tired Emma on Sunday morning. By 9:30 a.m., she was begging for a nap! So we put her down and had to actually wake her up for Bela's baptism! How funny!

I talked to Gretchen yesterday and was thrilled to hear about the girls' cousin-to-be! Glad to hear that everything is going so well for them and really can't believe how quickly time is flying! He's going to be here soon! They are going to be such awesome parents......Gretchen was sending a "you're such a good mom" compliment my way on the phone and all I could do was laugh while I watched Emma eat super salty crackers off the ground (leftover from my snack that she happened to find- by the way, I wouldn't eat anything off my floors!), drink her second cup of juice in ten minutes and gaze at the t.v. with her zombie eyes she gets when she does. Yeah, I'm a great mom! Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get a few minutes of adult conversation. I think Emma knows this and that's why she asks for juice while I'm on the phone! Anyways, Gretchen is going to be such a phenominal mama as long as she ignores all the advice I (and several other moms) send her way and follows her own heart!

Watch Out Michigan, Here We Come!!!!

So, are we brave? or crazy? Whatever, at least we're coming back to Michigan for a weekend! We'll be flying out in just a few hours, Braden and I each turning our laps into an infant seat. Ohhhh those poor people next to us who have NO idea what kind of seat lottery they are going to win! Emma's latest "phase" is one of dead set fear of the most random weird things (like wet concrete). She'll scream like we're killing her if we try and get her to face her weird fears. So.....here's hoping that airplanes are not on that list!