Goose Eggs & Mommy Guilt

I discovered this morning that toddlers have very short memories. Emmy basically did the same swan dive off the side porch that she did a couple months ago. Silly me, I thought doing a face-plant when you try to walk off the steps would be burned onto her little blank slate of a brain. Nope! As I turned to lock the back door, she turned and walked off the porch. The only thing that hit the pavement was her forehead, and she had an instant PURPLE goose egg. She has quite an abrasion as well. We cleaned it up, calmed her down (and Mommy! Thank God Daddy had already left for work, or I would have probably been picking him up off the pavement too), and put 2 nice pink Hello Kitty bandaids on her head. I let her look in the mirror at them, and she thought she passed the "out the door test". She marched into daycare this morning and promptly announced "Boo-Boo!" and pointed to her head. She got lots of love and sympathy today. Here's how she's looking tonight....poor kid!

Need a Laugh?

Check out this blog: Cake Wrecks

It's pretty comical.

The Gardens & My New 'Do

Took a quick trip to the Sarah Duke Gardens tonight, and Emmy got to feed the ducks. Got some good pics, and thought I'd show off my sporty new haircut as well. (and yes, I am aware that Emmy's hairdo makes her look like a mini-Samari swordsman)

Animal Sounds

Em's got skillz...

Blog Highlight

Another great blog that I've stumbled across this summer is Tip Junkie

It features tips about kid crafts, baking, home decoration, family time...you name it. She's having a Photoshop contest, and it's fun to see what people have been submitting. Head over and check it out!

Two Questions...

I've been in baking mood for the past couple weeks. I get very frustrated when I make muffins or cupcakes, only to have them get soggy and gross after a few days. I've tried storing them in various containers (plastic bag, sealed tupperware) and try to make sure they are completely cool before putting them away. I usually keep these items on the kitchen counter. How the devil do you prevent baked goods from getting soggy?? So frustrating!

Also, how do you stop your toddler from flinging food across the room? I am so tired of scraping food off the windows, cupboards, floor, rugs, etc. Any advice, other than tying her arms down? This usually occurs toward the end of the meal, as a signal that she's done...BUT, the transition happens rapidly, and she's not always finished eating. Once she starts flinging, I take away any remaining food, but occasionally she has a meltdown because she still wanted to eat. Puzzling toddler behaviors...someone out there give us some advice!

Blog Highlight

I enjoy reading blogs, and I've come across some great ones over the summer.  I enjoy Mom blogs, cooking blogs, crafting blogs, stamping blogs...there are some REALLY creative people out there!  I'd like to start sharing some of my favorite blogs on a weekly basis, and highlighting what I think is so great about them.  

For the first week, I thought I'd talk about The Crafty Crow.  It's a great place to find craft ideas for your kids that are actually do-able!  Enough of the Martha Stewart crap that the average Mom doesn't have the time or patience to organize.  This site has book recommendations, organizes crafts by age or occasion (ex:  birthday party, Halloween, etc).  I love checking out their ideas (which are often links to other crafty Mom's blogs...yay!).  

So, check it out, I guarantee you'll find something you want to do with your kiddos!

New Haircut

Emmy was starting to acquire a mullet, so we had to go for a little trim today.  Her hair turned out really cute!  We went to a kid's hair place, and they did a fantastic job keeping her entertained and styling her hair.  Totally worth the few extra bucks.  She looks like such a little girl now!  

18 months

Wow, Emmy turned 18 months old yesterday...where in the world has the past year and a half gone?  She is changing on a daily basis...becoming her own little person, and showing us her personality and independence.  She just had her check up yesterday, and happily, her weight is up to the 30th percentile.  Her height is the 20th percentile.  Her head is the 90th...yup, she's got my melon head!  Everyone comments about how small she is, but I feel like she holds her own among the other kids just fine.  We went to the mall today, and let her play in the kid's area at the food court for the first time.  She loved it!  She was cackling so loudly every time she climbed to the top of the toddler slide, she just cracked us up.  She wasn't fazed a bit by the bazillions of other kids running all around (and wanting to touch her).  Two more molars came in this week...she's got a real mouthful of teeth now!  (Which, by the way, she cheesily shows off when she notices a camera in my hands!)

Inexpensive Entertainment

A while back, my friend Jen told me about a homemade toy that provided hours of entertainment for her daughter Sophie.  I decided to make one this past week, and it's been a hugh hit with Emmy.  She literally sits forever playing with it.  Wanna know the secret to toddler happiness?  Hair curlers and an old oatmeal container.  I cut a circular hole in the plastic top, covered the container with pink patterned scrapbook paper, and bought several packages of small fuzzy hair curlers at the dollar store.  Em loves to dump out the curlers, put the top back on, and then push the curlers into the container one-by-one.  In-out-in-out...toddler heaven.  She even discovered that they stick to her shirt and to hair!  

Quiet Weekend

Babygirl came down with a cold on Friday, so we are having a quiet weekend.  She's tired and crabby, and has only short bursts of energy.  Her new favorite snack is saltine/peanut butter sandwiches.  I made chocolate chip cookies today, and that perked her RIGHT UP!  She is suddenly interested in TV, so we put on a Baby Einstein DVD (she's only seen it one other time), and she was entranced for all of 5-7 minutes.  It took a looooong time for her to fall asleep tonight...lots of TLC from momma, rocking in the rocking chair, listening to lullabies & repeat.  She's officially out (hopefully for the rest of the night), and we can finally relax.  Keith thinks he's getting her cold (I swear, the man has zilch for an immune system!), so I think I'll do some crafting tonight with the company of my ipod (and some chocolate chip cookies!)

We are renting a beach house this year with Keith's siblings and several other couples from Virginia.  They do this annually, and this is the first year we've been able to join them.  The countdown has begun, and we are SO READY!  Emmy will get to hang out with her cousin for the week, and I think they will have a blast.  They were here for a visit last weekend, and Emmy hasn't stopped saying her cousin's name all week.  

I'm including a cute pic of the kiddo, just because this one makes me smile.