Happy, not-tired, girl

I tried to put Emma down for a nap, but apparently she wasn't tired. She has been spinning all around the living room, playing with dollies and kitties, and playing outside.  I will try to put her down again later, but for now she seems happy.

Forts with Daddy

Yesterday Daddy built Emma a fort, or tent, as she calls it. Emma loves hiding in tents. On Sunday we made one and when Daddy came downstairs when he woke up, he found us hiding in our tent, with Pepper and all the dollies, too. Daddy's tents/forts are much bigger than mine.

Emma and Daddy in the fort, with Grandma Connie on skype

Baking with Emma

At this rate Emma and I could have our own cooking show. She loves to help me cook. And I like to encourage her helpfulness, however, sometimes I should probably let her be a little less helpful. Anyway, we are going to have rolls (among other things) for dinner tonight, so I let her help me make the dough. I really thought she would just like watching my mixer mix the dough, but unfortunately I put her on the counter before it was all in the bowl. She liked helping me with the flour, as you can tell.

Please notice the flour that is everywhere.

Pouring flour into the bowl...the right place!

Dancing as the bowl mixes.

This is the only time she would look at me.

Watching it mix the dough.

Time to clean up!

And help with the dishes.

Windy Sunday

We tried to take some pictures of Emma yesterday in her dress...and if getting a 20-month old to smile, sit still and look at the camera isn't hard enough, it was very windy. So we got a couple inside, but mostly just pictures of Emma with wind-blown hair telling us that she really wants to go play with something else.

This is the best one we got.

Strong man work out

Today Steven did a 'strong man' work out with his friend Shaw, who is here for training. Emma and I went to watch. Sorry for the onslaught of pictures, but it's not something you see everyday. (Even the people in the dog park were watching them.)

Steven doing truck pulls

Emma watching Daddy do truck pulls

Shaw doing tuck pulls

They each pulled the truck 3 times

Emma watching 

Emma wanted to check on Daddy.

Carrying the atlas stone...92 lbs

Then immediately doing squats with a 73 lb stone.

Emma liked chilling with Daddy while he was resting.

Watching Shaw 

Aren't you tired now, after watching them do all that work?

Cooking with Mom

After our pre-out with housing, which lasted all of five minutes, Emma and I started cooking. We were making breakfasts for Steven to take for his last week (next week) of being an instructor. Emma loves to help me cook, and I usually try to give her something to do since she likes to help. Today I let her stir and watch me in her high chair while she snacked on cheese and bananas. (I gave her bananas but she asked for the cheese when she saw me get it out.)  And at lunch she apparently decided she was going to 'cook.' She stacked bananas and cheese and topped it with a piece of noodle. It was a very nice presentation until she smashed it with her cup. Not like we were going to eat it anyway. :) 

Her masterpiece

All done!

Apparently cooking is exhausting

Pop! We tell Emma to "pop up like toast" when she falls down.

Part of Steven's breakfasts, for those who are wondering.

I walked outside and found her petting the dog, very nicely.

Calming down

So when Emma gets frustrated she has started to throw fits by rolling around on the floor and crying, apparently exasperated by whatever task she is trying to accomplish but is having trouble. When thinking about dealing with this, I thought maybe ignoring her would work, but it really didn't. So I stole Martha's (my old neighbor) idea and I ask Emma if she is frustrated and needs to calm down. (I tell her when she is calm I will help her with whatever she is having trouble with.) She always says yes. And by now I don't usually have to tell her where to go, but when she needs to calm down she goes and sits on the first step and when she is calm she usually pokes her head around and starts talking to me...I have no idea what she says. Usually just going to sit on the step calms her down, so she really only sits there for a second. I think it is productive to teach her how to calm herself down when she gets frustrated, and how to solve the problem rather than punishing her every time she gets frustrated because the lid for the dolly's crystal coffin won't go on right. (More on that later.) So thanks Martha for letting me steal your idea.

Also, Emma is still having tummy troubles. The doctor said it was just a virus and it will just take longer for Emma to get better than it would an adult. She is having really bad diaper rash from it now, too. I feel so bad for her, she just screams when I change her diaper. And I think I got whatever she has again. Hopefully we all feel better soon. It is kind of getting old.

And for those who don't know, we are moving May 16 to northern California....Beale AFB to be exact. It is coming soon! Tomorrow we have our first walk-thru with housing.

This storage contain is the dolly's bed. However, Emma likes to put the lid on and lock it.
So we call it the crystal coffin.

Apparently this morning Emma was trying to see if she fit.

I'm all calmed down, Mom! Can I come out?

'Helping' me make applesauce yesterday. Emma tried them all out first.

Easter

This was our last Easter in Texas. And we have been exhausted since Emma has been sick. She is still not quite back to being herself, that tummy just can't seem to keep food in it. I am going to call the doctor this morning, although I don't know what help they can give me. We will see. Anyway, here are the pictures I got yesterday. I am sorry we don't really have a family picture. We did have someone to take it, but I just forgot since I was cooking. But we all looked very nice. :)

This isn't from Easter, but she does love to walk in my shoes.

Emma's Easter basket.

She is saying, "hop" for the bunny.

Emma's Easter dress 

She liked the tulle.

Putting on her makeup.

I tried to get a picture of Emma and Daddy, this is what she did.
So sorry, this is the extent of our family picture. 

Makeup

One of these days we will all feel better again. Yesterday I was sick, and today Emma's tummy is upset again, and she has a fever.  And we are all very tired. Emma has taken two naps the last three days. I thought she was just being fussy because she was tired, but then I took her temperature. So back to the couch we went, snuggling while watching movies. She does seem to be feeling better than she was earlier in the week, since she will go outside and play some. But all of our energy levels are pretty low. Hopefully this weekend we can all get lots of rest and feel better...it's no fun being sick.

I took this video earlier today, when I was getting ready. Apparently Emma has decided she wants to wear makeup, too. She got the blush out of my drawer all by herself.

Sick Day #2

Yesterday Emma stopped throwing up about 7:30 in the morning. The doctor said to not give her anything, even water, for 2-4 hours, then only clear liquids for 24 hours. She started to act more like herself as the day went on, and she was getting a little cranky, so I let her have a couple pieces of Rice Chex and apples before bed. She didn't eat much. She had a hard time getting to sleep though, and finally went down sometime around 9. I thought she would be exhausted from the day before, and I guess she was, because she didn't get up this morning until 9:15. (Although she did wake up in the night several times, but she went right back down.) She has a fever and has been very lethargic today. For breakfast she had Rice Krispies and Cheerios with a strawberry. However, for lunch I could only get her to eat a few bites of watermelon (which is one of her favorite foods). She is just not herself...quiet and still, snugly, and she falls asleep on me every time I put a movie on. This is what she did when I put her down after 'lunch.'

She stayed like this until I asked her if she wanted to watch a movie.

Eating breakfast

"watching" a movie

My happy girl on Monday

She is napping in her bed now, and if she isn't improving by tomorrow I will call the doctor again.