Post-Thanksgiving

Aaron made a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with a Carmel Chocolate Pecan Pie. Here is Emma "hugging" it.

Other photos from the weekend... Olivia signing "Help" (hands on chest) and trying to play peek-a-boo (not quite grasping she is supposed to cover her eyes).

Also, here is our tree... note the total lack of ornaments at the bottom. When Emma was a toddler I was really bummed out about not being able to decorate the tree and house. I have now accepted this and am fine with our naked tree (it is real - Aaron cut it down himself).

Oh, and most importantly - I cut Emma's hair (she loves it - she thinks she looks like a teenager).

Potty

This may fall into the too much information category but Olivia has officially started using the potty (for number 1 and 2)! Have I mentioned that she is 15 months old?? I know saying this will jinx me now and she will be in diapers till she is 4 1/2.

Ok so this picture has nothing to do with using the potty, but I thought it was cute.

Date Night!

So, after 6 1/2 years of parenting Aaron and I decided that we need to make getting out without the kids a priority. This past weekend was the second time we went out. We decided to go to a real grown up restaurant that was not child friendly. We went to Mrs. K's Toll House in Silver Spring (we drive by it all the time and have always been curious about it).

We had the babysitter come at 3 to maximize the amount of time we had out post-Olivia's nap and pre-bedtime. So this meant that we needed to find someplace to go and hang out (and preferably have a drink) before dinner. We decided to go to the Piratz Tavern down the road from the restaurant. Ok, so it was a little high on the cheese factor, but the food was good and the drink that I had (it was called a "666") was awesome (I am totally going to be trying to make that one here).

Dinner afterwards was fantastic! Delicious and romantic. It was just refreshing to get out and have an adult evening!

Baby Emma

I was looking at some old pictures yesterday of Emma as a baby (not too much older than Olivia is now). What a cutie!

a little freaked

Ok, so for a while we have been trying to get Emma involved with something. Swimming? Dance? Art? Anything maybe to stop her from saying how bored she is and to pry her away from the tv. Should I say that getting out of the house has not been high on my priority list this past year. So, I mentioned joining brownies (or the younger version - Daisys) as they got a flier sent home from school about it.

Soooo... we attended a meeting last wednesday. The troop leader was just a little unsettling to me for some reason. Aaron initially said that I was being snobby. The parents there were normal. The girls there were normal. The leader and all of her assistants were, um, annoying and just left me feeling a little weird (more of a feeling than what I can describe in words). Maybe it was that the leader said that she doesn't tolerate loud children (try stopping 20 5 and 6 year olds from being loud). Maybe it was because she essentially threatened all the parents into signing up for volunteering (or she would sign us up). I am not sure but I seriously was on the verge of an anxiety attack by the time I went home. Emma was totally psyched about the group (I was hoping that she would think it was *boring* like everything else). No such luck.

So, 3:00am this morning I realized something. I knew this woman... go back 6 years. We are interviewing in-home child care providers for Emma as an infant. I realized that THIS was the woman. I looked her up to verify. Among other things she she said to us that we essentially didn't know what we were doing as new parents and she would show us how to parent (she was pregnant with her 5th child at the time). She also said to Emma (a 3 month old) something about how we must not give her any toys and she must be bored (because we didn't have one of those toy bars on her car seat). Aaron and I essentially thought this woman was a complete loon and immediately discounted her.

6 years later I am dealing with her again. I CANNOT go back to this group. I am desperately trying to find another option, but am having a heck of a time. Of course Emma has asked every day when she can go back. Ug.

Please tell me that you guys wouldn't go back either!

Date Night!!

Ok, it was more like a date *afternoon*, but whatever. Despite me still getting over the worst illness I have had in a few years, Aaron and I actually went on a real live date with a real live babysitter watching the girls last weekend. Emma even asked afterwards if we held hands and kissed afterwards - which she noted was GROSS.

It was low key with going out to dinner at a new local restaurant (just ok), getting coffee and dessert at hole in the wall diner (Excellent), and taking a walk at a nearby park (Awesome).

Kind of like when we went away for the weekend recently, I feel like my soul is rested. We needed that! We are planning a standing date monthly!!

First Grade...

Is exhausting! She fell asleep at 7:30 tonight.