Happy Fourth Birthday, Emmy!!

Happy Birthday, Pookies!

You, my precious baby girl, were born on a very stormy January day. [No, really! We were having a very rainy season here in San Diego. It was more rainy than I ever remembered it being! It was storming the night I went into labor with you (a tree was down in the street, blocking our way to get to the hospital!), and it rained all the day you were born. It was beautiful. It's amazing -- good things always happen to me in the rain. It was raining the day I married your daddy, it was raining the day I gave birth to you, and it was raining the day I gave birth to Leah. It's quite appropriate, too, because I love the rain!]

I remember snuggling with you in those early days. I was afraid to breathe on you because you were so tiny and new. I loved the way you smelled. You smelled so sweet and familiar. And you were so beautiful. I used to just sit and stare at you in awe.

Now you are quite the little lady. You love, and I mean love wearing dresses! Every day you ask me for one. You have a need for your clothes and shoes to match. If I give you something to wear and you disapprove of the color scheme, you'll say, "Mommy, this doesn't match." It's a riot!

You're so kind and happy and helpful. You love your baby sister. Whenever Leah gets upset, you break out in song, usually to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider". And what's wonderful is that it always works! Leah adores you and responds so well to you. When you sing to her, she stops and listens. You smile at her whenever you see her, and in the morning when you wake up (she's usually still asleep), you ask me, "Can I please touch Leah?"

Whenever you do something adorable, or I just look at you and marvel at how gorgeous you are, I ask you, "Emmy, why are you so beautiful?" and you reply, "Because I love you." Many times you'll say to me, "Mommy, do you know I love you?" out of the blue. And when I give you the "I love you" hand sign, you flash it right back at me.

You love going outside to ride your tricyle (your new Big Wheel!) and play in your little house. You run around with the neighborhood kids and laugh and play. You cut paper, draw and color so well. (I couldn't believe how well you stayed in the lines the other day!) You love watching your favorite shows: Max & Ruby, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, and lately Toot & Puddle; and your favorite movies: The Phantom of the Opera, The Nightmare Before Christmas and WALL-E.

You really enjoy school and seeing your teacher (Mrs. M.) and all your friends (mainly D.!). Every Tuesday and Thursday morning when I wake you up at 7 a.m. and I ask you if you want to go to school, you reply with a nod and a "yes". At school, you love playing with puzzles, and you like to vacuum. During playtime outside, your favorite thing to do is to play in the sandbox. You like snacktime. Every schoolday, I pack a Gogurt and a string cheese in your snackbox. They're your favorites. Whenever Leah and I arrive to pick you up, you always greet us with a gigantic smile. One would think you hadn't seen us in weeks!

You're such a fast learner. You catch onto everything so quickly, like your Big Wheel (a few people in the neighborhood watched you riding and said, "Wow! It didn't take her long to catch onto that, did it?"). Or like tonight, when we went rollerskating for your birthday. You started out not wanting to go into the rink, but soon you went out there with Daddy. Then, before I knew it, you were wanting to let go of his hand and skate beside him. And then, shortly after that, you wanted to go out alone! (We didn't let you though, 'cause you could've been run over. ;-)

You say the funniest things, like when your dad was on his way out the door to go to work on a Saturday, and he was wearing a regular t-shirt, and you said to him, "You're wearing that to work?" Or when Daddy drove past our house today and you said, "Daddy, you missed!" Or when out of the blue you said to me today, "Mommy, you were right. It's not gonna snow."

You delight your grandma, grandpa and auntie with your wit and charm. They just love being around you.

And so do your daddy and I. We love you more than life itself. We are amazed by you and all you do, and we are so thankful that you're in our lives.

Thank you for being our pride and joy. Thank you for being our special little angel!

Love always & forever,
Mommy & Daddy

Emily's Conversation With Thello

Emily's in the living room and I'm in the computer room. I just now overheard her say to Thello:


"Thello!! Those are MY feathers, not yours! Uncle Daniel
gave them to me! He did not give them to you. Uncle Daniel gave them to ME. I'm a big sister. I'm not a dog!"


[The feathers belong to a pink boa Uncle Daniel gave her six months ago.]

:-)

Emmyisms

- "craw-tah-die-oh" is Em-speak for crocodile.;-)
- "sunscreem" is sunscreen.
- "Nokio" is Pinocchio.
- "pupcake" or "puhcake" is cupcake.
- "I go foh-gah" is I forgot (my favorite!).
- "uh puh-cuz" is uh, because.
- "brestis" is breakfast.
- "masagna" is lasagna.
- "derry" is very ("I derry, derry sleepy.").
- "facifiah" is pacifier ("Leah needs hah facifiah!!").
- "puhpuhl pahsicle" is purple popsicle (thanks, Mona!)
- "tentle" is gentle.
- "abocaoh" is avocado.

- She used to say "rentahrahntah" for restaurant and "mee-meal" for oatmeal.

Emmyisms

- "gabrella" is Em-speak for umbrella.
- "Critta Ramen" or "Ritta Ramen" is Em-speak for Christopher Robin.
- On our flight home from Boston a month ago, when the plane lifted-off, she threw her arms in the air and shouted, "BLAST-OFF!!!"
She's a huge "Little Einsteins" fan. Can ya tell? ;-)


It's been raining cats and dogs here all day today (which has been wonderful, not only because I adore the rain, but also because we so desperately need it here in SoCal). Em got to use the cute little pink "gabrella" Sister bought for her in Massachusetts.

Call us nuts, but we just got home from an evening at SeaWorld. We bought year-round passes ("Passports") a few months ago (when our Zoo/WAP passes expired), and tonight the park was open after-hours for Passport members. It was nice, because for the most part we had the place to ourselves, and we got to see a neat Christmas version of The Shamu Show. Em LOVED it. She squealed with glee every time Shamu leaped out of the water. When the show was about to end, we told her it was time for Shamu to go "nigh-night". She exclaimed, "No! Shamu NO nigh-night!!" She wanted to continue to watch him perform his antics. It was terribly cute.

Unfortunately, due to the rain, the park closed an hour and a half earlier than originally planned. We missed out on seeing our usual favorites (the sharks and penguins). Oh, well. It's an excuse to go back soon. :-)

After SeaWorld, we picked up a half-order of carne asada fries to share from Santana's. Yum! (Santana's was one of our "regulars" when we were in college.) After we went through the drive-thru, we drove through USD to take a look. (We usually do that when we're in the area, just for old time's sake. I'm also in love with the place.) Can I just say, I have the prettiest alma mater in the world?! It was gorgeous when I was a student there, and it just keeps getting more and more beautiful. And The Immaculata -- wow. Stephen and I were lucky to be married there. It's simply breathtaking.

In pregnancy news, not much to report -- everything looks great. (No news is good news, right?) I went in for my monthly check-up today, and my OB said I have the blood pressure of a teenager. ;-) I was glad about that one! I thankfully haven't gained any weight (I actually lost 10 pounds when I was pregnant with Em), and I feel good. I still get tired more easily than I did with Emily, and now and then I ache a little more, but I really can't complain. Both these babies have been so good to me! A few weeks ago, I finally got to the point of feeling him/her kick every single day. I love that. That's definitely my favorite part of pregnancy. :-) My doctor now wants to see me every three weeks instead of every four. Two weeks from now, I'm supposed to take the glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. Let's hope I don't! That would be no fun at all.

Off to bed now. We have gymnastics in the morning (only two classes left). I hope it continues to rain!