Little Moments

Summer Vacation for me is SO very different from the way it was before Emma.  Before Emma, I slept until 11, went to lay out in the sun all day, then stayed up to all hours of the night watching movies.  It was pretty wonderful.  I thought it couldn't get any better, but here we are, just one week into Summer 2012, and it has already been the BEST one of my life.  

I love being a teacher, but I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mommy.  I have loved being there with Emma for those little moments, the moments I usually miss during a workday.  I am amazed at how much she talks, knows, and wonders.  She is so curious about everything.  When I am in a hurry to get somewhere, she reminds me to slow down, because she wants to look at the little bug crawling on the sidewalk, or touch the pretty flowers, and stop to stare at a fountain.  

The little moments I have LOVED with Emma this week:

Snuggles during a thunderstorm.

Making her breakfast.  Jon usually does this.  It makes me happy to wake up and get her waffle and fruit ready.  She loves breakfast, just like mommy.

Running in the rain (couldn't find the umbrella)--she laughed and laughed!  

Watching her blow bubbles all by herself!

Busting into the bathroom in her pink Cozy Coupe Car, saying, "You need price-cissy? {Privacy?}"  Me saying, "YES!" And then she proceeded to stay and drive her sassy little self all over the bathroom anyway.  So much for "price-cissy."

Taking her to Story Time at Barnes & Noble--she was front and center on the stage, cuddling her stuffed kitty cat.  She would randomly stand up and just go stand right in front of the lady reading the book, you know, totally not worried about any of the other kids being able to see the pictures. 

Taking her to the ArtVenture at the Art Museum, and watching her go up to some of the bigger kids, plop herself down right next to them, and act like she was a big kid, too.  

Making homemade play-doh, and letting her add most of the ingredients!  She even stirred it! 

I am so thankful for the little moments.

  

The Potty Dance and Undies Hats

Our big girl went potty THREE times yesterday!!!  Of course we all jumped up and down, did the potty dance, and she got a delicious chocolate chip for a "pee pee" prize!   

We bought her some new days of the week undies.  She LOVES them!  She loves them so much that she decided to wear them on her head.

Silly!

Where's Emma?  

Boo!  There she is!

Doing the potty dance!!!

Bye, bye, diapers...{hopefully!}

Time Out

As the "terrible twos" are in full swing around here, Emma has made several trips the time out corner in the past few days.  {It's kind of like her second home right now.}

So, when Emma woke up this morning, she decided froggy needed to go to the corner for a time out.  Soon after that, this is what we saw:

I guess all of her stuffed buddies needed a time out, too!  

She said, "You in trouble.  Stay here."  Yep.

A few minutes after I took these pictures, she went back over to all of them, and gave each of them a sticker.  

Visit to Old Baker Farm

Create your own digital scrapbook

Mommy Goes Back to Work...

(Mommy after a good cry--getting ready to take Emma to daycare...)

I cried three times on Sunday, and two times on Monday morning about dropping Emma off with complete strangers her teachers. I didn't think I would cry--but I couldn't help but feel like I would be missing her grow up, and someone else would be there to see it! We had an amazing summer together, and I am so glad I have a job that lets me spend that much time with her! I didn't realize how hard it is to being a working parent! Let me just say...parents are awesome!!!

Emma's First Swim!

A few weeks ago, we went to a friend's house for a pool party/cookout! It was Emma's first time in a pool, and she loved it! She especially loved going through the water fast! Having never taken a baby to a pool before, we caked her in loads of sunscreen, and made her wear her giant blue hat that didn't fit at all...

To Tell or Not to Tell...That is the Question

Previously on The Cooley Adventures, I described my state of mind when I found out that Sarah and I would soon be parents. So now what?? To tell or not to tell…that was the question. For those of you who have gone through the joys of expecting a child, you know that the first trimester can be a scary time. Many choose to stay mum until well after the 12th or 13th week. By our calculations, we were only 4-5 weeks along, so we planned to wait a little while before making “the big reveal.”

Before we could tell anyone else, we had to believe it ourselves first. If you’ll remember from my last post, I told Sarah that we could start trying for a little one after our JULY cruise. We found out we were pregnant at the end of JUNE! Doesn’t exactly jive, does it? Okay, I’ll admit that while we weren’t officially “trying” to have a baby, we weren’t exactly “not trying” either, if you catch my drift. Nonetheless, I made Sarah take no less than 6 different tests. That’s a lot of peeing, people. Luckily, Sarah was pregnant, and urine was in abundant supply! We tried the fancy digital tests, the simple yes/no tests, and the absurdly cryptic one line or two tests. All of them confirmed a pregnancy, and false positives are rare with these things.

Now if you know me, you know that I’m a natural worrier. It doesn’t help that doctors will not see you typically until you are about 6 weeks pregnant. While we had planned to wait until our first ultrasound to tell anyone, we couldn’t resist telling the family our big news. It was the 4th of July weekend, and we figured that was the perfect time to surprise all. We told Sarah’s mom first, followed by my family, and then Sarah’s dad. It appeared to us that everyone was overwhelmed with equal parts “SURPRISE” and “HAPPY!”

For the reveal to Sarah’s mom, we simply gave her a baby-themed picture frame with a caption inside reading “Coming in March 2010.” For the reveal to my family, I staged a family picture, but instead of the usual “Say Cheese,” I opted for “Say Sarah’s having a Baby!” Their reactions were priceless, especially my mother’s. You can see pictures from my family's reveal attached to this post. Due to the distance between us, we had to call Sarah’s dad in Illinois to make the announcement. He was very excited, and had we both had an iPhone 4 at the time, I may have been able to capture the moment via FaceTime for posterity.

Nonetheless, we had told the family, and they were now along for the ride. Up next… our first prenatal visit and the reveal to all of our twenty-something friends. Stay tuned!!!