future career: chef or interior decorator

When the kitchen closet opens, no matter where she is, Emily comes running. She has radar for it. When the door squeaks, I know that Emily will be there within moments. She likes to browse the shelves that she can reach, pick out a snack and then take it into another room to enjoy. We have a device on the doorknob so that she can't open it herself. If we leave it open, even just a little, she is sure to be in there looking for something. Most of the time, we don't even see her take the food. Like below, I didn't know she was all set to enjoy some peanut butter and crackers until I spotted her sitting in the family room. I'm not sure how she was planning to spread the peanut butter on the crackers, but I'm sure given enough time she would have figured out something!



When I found Emily in the foyer I couldn't pass up the photo op. I've heard of kids coloring on their walls and I've always wondered how that happens. I mean, don't parents supervise their children for goodness sake? And I only found her because she said, "You painting Mom...you making it green." I realized right away that she wasn't sitting with the coloring book that she had been sitting with just moments before. And then I saw her peek out from behind the foyer wall. I didn't have the heart to really scold her because she was so proud of her "painting". As soon as I took the pictures, the colored pencil was confiscated and she was told that her decorating needs to be on paper only.

we are that family

As we walked through Office Max a few days ago, I realized something. It's official. We are that family. You know that family. The family that you can hear four aisles away at the supermarket. The family that apologizes to you because one of their children rammed a shopping cart into your leg. The family that has more food on the floor under the table than they have actually eaten at the restaurant. The family with the child who doesn't want to ride in the cart or stroller or sit in the booster seat, and who also doesn't want to stay nearby when given that little bit of freedom out in public. The family with the brother and sister who are constantly in each others spaces, touching each other, annoying each other, one laughing and one screaming. You can hear us a mile away and as you do when you pass by a car accident, you just have to look. Don't get me wrong, we have gotten a lot of compliments from strangers on how well-behaved our children are and "what a nice family" we have. But as of late, we definitely have become 'that' family.

princess emily

When she was born, Emily received a beautiful dress from my friend and co-worker, Kandie. Since it was size 24 months, it has been hanging in her closet waiting for her. When she gave it to me, Kandie told me that every little girl should have a princess dress. I don't remember having one. In fact, I don't think I have any pictures of me in a dress when I was little. Instead, my parents dressed me up in plaid pants...plaid 70's pants, jeans and corduroys. Funny, because as an adult I prefer the same...the jeans and corduroys, minus the plaid pattern...unless it's on a sofa or curtain. Anyway, back to the dress.

Emily spotted it not too long ago in the closet and said, "You put your princess dress on Mom!" ("You" and "Your" means "I" and "My" because she has the typical incorrect pronoun usage thing going on). So I got the dress out and she has been wearing it almost everyday since. Carl even had to put her in for a nap with it on because she "refused" to take it off. She even wears it over jeans and with sneakers. I'm thinking she'll officially wear it for her 2nd birthday party next month. I better pick up some pretty shoes to match!

I think Em was going for the Amish look here.