Tuesday, August 28, 2012

2K Tuesday

So today was Emma's first day of school, and like any good (obnoxious) mother, I have lots of pictures.










 
I will treasure this last picture forever...this is the last thing we saw before we left: Emma, leaving us in the dust to explore her classroom.  I could get very emotional and sad about this, but that would be quite selfish of me.  How can I possibly cry about my handicapped child exploring the world on her own, without me?  I've already cried the tears of sorrow that my child will not play soccer, climb the playground ladder, or turn a cartwheel...now is the time to rejoice in her own inner joy, fearlessness, and independence and in the peace we have in knowing that God is walking right next to her.  Do you see Him?  I do.
 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog

If you're a parent, a teacher, an aunt/uncle, etc., you know the title of this post is the finale song for every Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode on Disney Junior.  It doesn't really have much to do with this post, except for the fact that "MinMouse" (Emma's name for the show) pervades our lives.  It's running through my head right now.  That song is the soundtrack to my life...it's the song in my head when I wake up and when I go to sleep.  If you tell Emma she can't watch on it on "tb," then she says, "Watch MinMouse on Mommy's phone."  "No, Emma, MinMouse took the afternoon off."  "Watch MinMouse on Daddy's phone."  "Daddy's not home."  "Watch MinMouse on Pad." (iPad).  She will try everything she can.  And recently, all those no's have led to some terrible two meltdowns.  Oh well.  Too bad.

My sister has been visiting this week.  She works from home, so when she comes to visit, she works from my parents' home.  She works for a toy company, and today Anissa told someone at work via phone call that she has the Hot Dog song in her head all the time now.  That person started singing the song to her.  This is what happens when you either work for a toy company or are around Emma.  Anissa never even had a fighting chance of escaping the Hot Dog Dance.

Emma will be starting 2K at First Baptist on Tuesday, and this week we had Open House and Parents' Night.  Emma got to the door of her classroom at Open House and never looked back.  She was fascinated by the room.  It looks like a pretty normal 2K classroom to me, but a few things stood out.

 
The light table fascinated Emma.  This little white table lights up from below, and you can put these little translucent straws and paddles and rocks on top of the table.


 
I think Emma's school is really big on pictures.  Good thing, because Emma loves pictures almost more than cottage cheese, goldfish crackers, and MinMouse.  School hasn't even started yet, and there is a picture of each child on the wall, on his or her cubby, with his or her parents on the wall, and we are asked to bring a framed family picture to school as well. 
 





Dingdingdingdingding!  Jackpot!  One of Emma's great loves: a kitchen set.  And see that little red dress with white polka dots?  Look familiar?  Yes, that's a MinMouse dress.



We are following in the footsteps of another child with spina bifida who is a year older than Emma.  He also attended First Baptist in his wheelchair, so the teachers and staff are familiar with handling a child in a wheelchair.  We love Emma's teachers, and I've even known one of them since I was five.  She was my kinderdance teacher at that point in time, and I continued to dance for her mother for many, many, many years after that.  God is in every little detail of your life, isn't He?  He really knows what He's doing.

My sister's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so to celebrate we had a little family dinner at our house tonight.  A birthday dinner wouldn't be complete without cake with delicious icing that dyes your tongue, teeth, and lips all kinds of crazy colors.  Emma was really digging the green icing in particular.




Ok, well, our washing machine is throwing water all over the laundry room, so that's the end of this blog post.  Does anyone want a free house?

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

It Just Happens

I get all these wonderful pictures and videos of Emma on my phone, with great intentions of putting them on the blog.  Next thing you know, there are like, thousands of them, and one has nothing to do with the other....so blog posts like this just happen.  A melting pot of Emma.


Her first modeling gig (courtesy Phil Hyman Photography):





 More beach shots: (I can't get enough of her ringlets!)





Wonderful naps on the beach






Another trip to the lake:






What happens to baskets of clean laundry when left unattended:






Poor Maggie fears for her life in the wagon, but checking the mail in it everyday is one of Emma's favorite things to do at Nan's house





Emma decided she wanted to "push" Lola on our walk...look closely, and you'll see Emma holding Lola's leash.  She actually did a GREAT job with holding on to Lola!



Every child's dream toy: a cardboard box and some crayons


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Not your average day at therapy

Emma recently had to have a standard assessment at physical therapy, and it turned into a pretty fun day for her.  Here are a couple videos of some skills we weren't aware that Emma possessed.

As for this first one, Melanie (Emma's therapist) and I were chatting about Emma while she crawled around.  Emma moseyed on over to the practice stairs and decided to climb!



Emma's aim is much better than we realized.  Training for wheelchair basketball has to start somewhere...for now, it's form and aim.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I've been told...

...that I'm burning the candle at both ends.  Which would explain the lack of blogging here lately, in spite of how much material I have.  So in the interest of keeping things simple, I'll let the pictures do the talking to document our trip to the beach this summer.

First stop, Beaufort, to see our beloved Jim and Becky, who treated us to a ride on the river


Next stop, beach!  Now look at this beautiful beach hair:




The baby girls:




Play time!





Dinner with the fam, plus a visit from the Taylors



Emma's new favorite expression:






Uggghhhh, when will my food get here?!



Our precious family