Happy Halloween!!

Let me just say that everything is so much better with kids. I mean, all the things that lost their magic as you get older become magical again and, truth be told, they're even better than you remember. At least, that's how I feel. For so very many reasons, this has definitely become the best Halloween ever in my book - even surpassing the infamous Halloween with my cousin Michael when we got to go trick or treating by ourselves for the first time, Brian Higgans was with us, and we snuck through the woods to go to other town houses just because we could! Yeah, this totally tops that!! I have a couple videos, but I'll post them later. For now, you'll have to be happy with a ton of pictures. Ugh, what a wondeful and fun day!!!
(cleaning up before getting ready for dinner)The cutest kids ever, before they got dressed up to go trick or treating Our Fab Family Emersyn and her puppies The end of the night, calming down after a very exciting day http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5149428009/a=77264276_77264276/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Lake Waterford

It was such a gorgeous fall day today that we decided to take a little trip to Lake Waterford for some fun. I've been going to this park my whole life, so it's wonderful to be able to take Emersyn there now... The playground is perfect because it's so huge and there's tons of things that are her size, plus it's still accessable for Mommy to follow her while Daddy can oversee everything going on from the outside with the puppies. There's a little water area - hence the "lake" in Lake Waterford - that always has ducks and geese too. Luckily we had some goldfish in our bag, so we were able to feed the ducks today. I was totally shocked at how friendly the ducks were! Like I said, I've been going there my whole life and I have never ever seen them come close to people, much less eat out of their hands. Today was a big first on a lot of levels like that. :) Cameron and Maw Maw came to meet up with us later, and that was even more fun for Emersyn. Needless to say there's a ton of pictures, and even a couple videos that are awesome of Emersyn - with the ducks and on the slide with Cameron! Happy Viewing! :) Oh - yes, the duck really does walk up and take a goldfish out of a very unsuspecting Emersyn's hand. You just catch it at the very end of the video, but let's just say that it scared the crap out of Emersyn and neither one of us realized what made her get upset until we watched the clip! Obviously the duck didn't "get her" but the closeness still scared Emersyn for a minute... a very short minute followed by trying to hug the ducks and almost going right into the water with them as they ran from the squealing 14 month old! LOL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMAaxGscR_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3mOwsxlJIM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKPoQhBcb7Uhttp://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5138847009/a=77264276_77264276/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Un-Merry Go 'Round

We're about to head to the park, but I couldn't resist a quick post while we're getting everyone/thing ready to go... See this morning before Cameron's soccer game, we had a few errands to run and one of them took us to Annapolis Mall. Now, the last few times we've been down there Emersyn has shown some interest in the little Merry Go Round things they have set up. We're usually kind of rushed or just don't have a lick of cash to get change to even try it. This time, we were making decent time and actually had the $.75 for the thing, so we tried it out. Emersyn lasted about 2 times around before deciding that it was a very un-merry go round!! I had to pry her little hand from the horse because she was so scared that she had a death grip on it; the other hand was tightly clenched on me!

Spirit Week!

As promised, here's the Spirit Week review!! :)

Monday - Crazy Hair/Hat Day Tuesday - Mismatch Day Wednesday - Pajama DayThursday - Sports Day Friday - Character Day (We didn't do our costume for fear of our "art projects" getting a little carried away. Instead, we just dressed up in a "bootiful" Halloween shirt and super cute tights!) http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4964352009/a=77264276_77264276/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Puppy Love

First, let me just say that it was sports day today at daycare... I'll post a couple pictures tomorrow with a whole Spirit Week montage, but I knew you'd all get a kick out of Emersyn and her puppies!! A big, fat, huge THANK YOU to the Leilichs for the way super cute cheerleader outfit that Emersyn's rocked today. Even Chris loves it! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akAsiP0Vbd4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unO1rxpqcC8

An Update and Extras

I'm not really sure what happened, but apparently Emersyn just needed to hear that she was fine from a doctor so that she could go back to normal. Well, almost. It's a very major improvement though. Two afternoons in a row, Emersyn has played and smiled and laughed... she's even eaten a semi normal dinner. What's even more miraculous is that she's sleeping about a million times better. Of course I'll probably jinx it, but she's already down for the night and didn't wake up when she went in her crib. Last night, she still got up but it wasn't until about 3:30 which about 3 or 4 hours later than the whole last month! Seriously, it's like she really just needed to be told that she's ok. What we figuring happened was that it was hard for her to eat and sleep because of the pressure from the fluid in her right ear and then the infection in her left one. Because Emersyn was having a hard time eating, she was hungry more which made her fussy. Then she'd go to bed/nap, and the pressure would wake her up but it was also because she was hungry which would also wake her up. She just didn't want to eat - or drink really - because it hurt her. Then it's just a vicious cycle that spiraled. I don't know if she just go so hungry that Tuesday she decided to suck it up and eat, then realized it didn't hurt any more or what. But I'm not going to complain! I heard my daughter laugh - really laugh - without instantly crying 3 seconds later for the first time yesterday in about a month and it was just beautiful. So anyways, that's where we stand now.

On another note, here's some random pictures from the last few days. :) Happy viewing.
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4964352009/a=77264276_77264276/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Playing in Cameron's house at my parents' on Sunday Crazy Hair/Hat day on Monday At the park on Monday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlNN85Y364
Yeah, this is right before we left. She's crying because Mommy wouldn't not-hold her. Mismatch Day on Tuesday... we're still working on the whole 'chairs are for sitting, not standing' thing. Today was pajama day!

Pefectly Fine

So Emersyn went back to the doctor's this morning to see if the medicine was actually working since, if anything, she's more miserable than she was before the medicine... Yeah, they said the ear infection is gone (but to still finish the antibotic like normal), and even the fluid in her other ear was cleared up. Wonderful husband and father that he is, Chris didn't really bother to ask what could possibly be waking Emersyn up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night and cause her to cry/scream like a banchee... or what could possibly have caused the drastic switch in behavior and basically her entire personality, making a very happy and smily child to be miserable and crying just about all the time. Yeah, that doesn't matter because someone is just flat out convinced that, not only am I not a good enough mother to make Emersyn not scream and cry basically the entire time she's around me much less know when something's off (hence finding the fluid in her ear, this ear infection, the last ear infection, the first ear infection, the wheeze last year that had her using the nebulizer...), but that Emersyn is just a horrible sleeper. Somehow - although don't ask for any ideas why or how - Emersyn went from sleeping about 12-13 hours or more a night without the slightest interruption, to waking up after only about 2 or 3 hours with blood curtling screams. But anyways, that is where we stand now. Woo hoo. This is also after a very short trip to the playground after work/daycare yesterday ended with Emersyn literally screaming and crying big fat tears all the way home. Let me tell you about some of the looks you get when you're pulling a wagon with a 14 month old child wailing like crazy and trying to escape the wagon. I should have known better than to try and make her happy for even a brief moment, but I really miss my smiles and giggles. They are beyond few and far between these days... probably because I'm such a good Mommy - right? Probably. So I am fully open to any ideas or suggestions on what to do!! Basically, Emersyn's appetite has been pretty non exisitent most "meals" and she's not even drinking as much as before; she goes to sleep great, but wakes up in hysterics 2 or 3 hours later; she'll go back to sleep ok, but usually is incredibly restless the whole time and often cries in her sleep - whether she's in her crib or our bed; her whole temperment has changed and she now is fussy or crying for the majority of the time she's awake; also, she's suddenly become very, very clingy and hates when anybody - me, Chris, my mom or dad - leave her even if she's still with someone else that she totally knows - me, Chris, my mom. Seriously, I am completely out of ideas but something has to give. I just cannot believe that without reason a child can completely change their entire personality almost overnight like that... Eating habits, sleeping habits, personality, independence - or lack thereof - and just overall demeanor can't possibly be that drastic that quick. Seriously any ideas are so greatly appreciated... I'll keep you posted and will hopefully have some good news soon.

Spirit Week Teaser

I'll post a whole "spirit week" entry with a picture for each day so you get the whole effect, but I couldn't resist a little teaser this morning... Today kicks of Spirit Week at Emersyn's daycare. If you don't remember last year, each day has a different theme ending with "Character Day" on Friday. Today is Crazy Hair/Hat day. Emersyn has her Ohio State stocking hat from the pictures with Cameron, but since she does have quite a bit of hair now we thought it'd be fun to try and play with it... Hence this ::Stay tuned for more since this was a quick snap with Chris' camera phone and not the handful before they left for daycare. Plus, you know there's more coming. Oh - and for the record, still no sleep although the crying wasn't quite as bad last night, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was "better".

The Farm!!

I won't even lie and say it was a great trip, but there were really good moments... Emersyn is still feeling pretty rough and it shows. Still, we went to The Farm to get some big pumpkins and see the animals. It is really funny to think that this time last year, we used to walk over every day after work and Emersyn was all itty bitty! Of course, Emersyn's favorite part was the Golden Retreiver puppy that someone had... but she did really like the goat. She even tried to give the goat kisses... Still, it took us forever because we had steadily had melt down after melt down after super happy Bird after melt down after melt down... Let's just say that I'm more and more convinced we'll be back at the doctors very early this week. Still, the trip as a whole will be a happy memory and Emersyn loved the animals. http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5086206009/a=77264276_77264276/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/