You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
Oh what a glorious sound. Thunder and rain first thing in the morning. It has even stayed cloudy all day. This entitled Emily and me to climb into bed and snuggle in our PJs.
Friday night we had the Bridgmans over for dinner. We hadn’t seen them for a few weeks because they took a trip to the East Coast, them Mems was sick for a couple weeks. So we reunited with fun stories from their trip, plus presents that they brought back for us. Here Emily is holding up her new lobster themed fork and spoon. Brandon brought Eric the New York paper from the last day at Yankee Stadium. They are so thoughtful. The daughters went down early, and we stayed up way too late eating brownies with milk. Fun as always.
Saturday, I got up early and went out for coffee with my dad. These are priceless daddy/daughter times. My dad is known to be a little “absent” when it comes to small talk. But sit down one on one, with a cup of coffee and we can chat at length about all of the stuff that really matters: family, faith, futures (the 3 fs was not intentional to be cutesy, that’s just really what we talked about). I love my dad. He is so wise. I feel so fortunate to have such a close relationship with him.
That night we went to a surprise birthday party for Joe Daichendt. FYI, I ruined the surprise earlier in the week…so stupid! Please note: If you’re throwing a surprise party and you want me to be there, maybe just invite us over for dinner and let the surprise be for me too. Anyhow. The party was loads of fun, complete with great food.
Emily wore an adorable pink and orange flowered dress, with a huge pink flower headband on her head. Within 3 minutes of being there, someone asked “How old is HE”? What in the world people! I’m trying my hardest to not put you in one of those awkward moments…a little attention to detail please.
Then Sunday, Eric had a soccer game in the morning and proceeded to limp around for the rest of the day. We went to Emily’s friend, Savannah’s, first birthday. It was cowgirl themed, complete with bails of hay, bandanas, a rocking horse competition, and a cake shaped and decorated like a horse. All to say it was a kickin’ party.
That night we had dinner with the Otsujis. Eric and Erin had been friends since junior high, then re-connected on Facebook, and she and her husband, Jeff, invited us over for dinner. They have two kids Avery and Landon who are so cool. It confirmed that I want to have our kids be 2 years apart and I’d love to have boy next. Avery and Landon entertained Emily while the grownups ate dinner. After Emily fell asleep, we taught them all how to play Sequence. Eric and Landon were on a team (the boys), me and Avery were on a team (the girls), and Erin and Jeff were a team (the co-eds). Boys 2, Girls 1, Co-Eds 0. We had a blast with them.
It was fun to re-think through the past 3 days. It really was a great weekend.
Oh, and I almost forgot…to top it all off, last night Emily slept from 7:15pm to 7:40am with only one brief wake-up at 5:00am – But I’m calling that sleeping through the night. Go girl!
For the last day of summer, the Clearys got some friends together at the RSM lake for a BBQ, fun and games.
6 years ago, on a chilly summer night was my first time to the RSM lake. Eric and I went to get some frozen yogurt and go for a walk around the lake…a little outing to celebrate our first job offers that we had each accepted that day. Little did I know, Eric had an engagement ring in his pocket. He proposed to me at the far end of the lake while we were sitting on the rocks watching the little ducks float by.
I was just telling Eric how much I love that he proposed to me somewhere so simple, that we can visit all the time. And sure enough, here we are 6 years later enjoying a BBQ with our friends and our baby girl. So wonderful!
Eric and I went to a wedding this weekend for Eric’s long time soccer buddy Matt Moses and his beautiful bride, Cathy Tran. It was like a soccer reunion catching up with Eric’s friends from highschool, junior high, and even elementary school.
The invitation said Black Tie Optional, which implies an opportunity for getting very dressed up. So I wore my most favorite BCBG party dress, with polka dots (I love polka dots), dangly earrings, heels…it was so much fun.
The wedding was fantastic. It was at 7degrees in Laguna Beach. A beautiful outdoor ceremony, with lots of personal touches to honor the guests from near and far. Art galleries throughout to add a modern/chic vibe for a truly unique wedding environment. We drank champagne, We ate filet mignon, and oh yes, we danced the electric slide.
A few very important milestones this month.
Emily has her first tooth in, and the second definitely on the way. So she is constantly chewing on something to soothe her sore gums: pacifier, blanket, toy, her fingers, my fingers, her TOES…
So naturally today, the only accessible chew toy was her 6 month sign. When I tried getting it out of her mouth I discovered that she had bit off a chunk of the paper. Woops! Choking hazard.
Her second and biggest accomplishment, is that she is succesfully a sitter. This is good and bad. Naturally, she can play with her toys better, she can sit in a high chair at a restaurant, she can sit on my lap very sturdily. But it also means that she always wants to sit up, since she can. So changing her diaper, or giving her a bath, she is doing mini crunches to try to sit up from her lying position. I think she’s very proud of herself in this new milestone and likes to practice it any opportunity.
Not exactly a milestone, but new this month: her eyes have changed from blue to green. Eric is gracefully mourning the loss of his blue-eyed baby girl.
Lastly, little Mems got her first vaccine today – the DTaP. Thus the little bandaid on her thigh in this photo. She had one building yell/cry, then whimpered her way back to happiness. She’s my little all-star.
Half a year! Seriously this is going by so fast.
Ahhh, I am loving this cloud covered day. It is a wonderful change of pace.
Emily turned up with a cold last night, so she had a rough night of congestion and coughing. The troubles eased around 4am, thanks to our cool-mist humidifier, and she ended up sleeping in until 9:30am. So for the first time in a long time, I woke up on my own, snuggled my husband extra long. Then I went down stairs, made myself some oatmeal and a nice big mug of my favorite over-priced tea (Rooibos Tropica & Jasmin Pearls from Teavana, sweetened with German rock sugar – so good!). Then I read my current book, Katherine, for a while.
Since Emily slept so long, she woke up extra cheerful and super snuggly. So we wrapped up in a blanket and played on Facebook for a while.
Then we got bundled up in our fall sweaters and ran some errands for my friend Jen’s baby shower tomorrow. First to Party City, where I spent a ridiculous sum of money on the cutest party plates I’ve ever seen. Second to the grocery store, where I ran into my sister. When we see eachother around town it’s like the greatest surprise and we act like we haven’t seen each other in months. Dramatic waving of arms, big hug, “I’ve missed you”, “I love you”…mind you we live two blocks from eachother and were together earlier this week. I hope Emily gets a sister one day – it’s the greatest.
When we got home Emily took a nap, and I checked in on email. My friend Sara had sent me a link for a website called Pandora. Its like a customizable radio. You enter a name of an artist you like and they create a playlist of that music along with other similar artists for an unending stream of stellar tunes to suit your mood. Plus you can create an account and make playlists to come back to. Brilliant and free. So I typed in Joshua Radin, and have since been enjoying a mellow mix to perfectly suit my mood of dreary wonderland, while I’ve been baking some chocolate cupcakes.
Tonight Eric and I have planned to eat enchiladas, put Emily to bed early and enjoy a relaxing evening in front of our Radiant Fireplace DVD. You think I’m kidding.
Again…I love this deary day.
After some peer pressure from my husband and sister, I have officially decided to join Facebook. Mostly because I want Eric’s page to link to my page, and because my sister taught me about Flare – and I want to add one to my page that says “Make me a bicycle clown!” That’s my sole motivation.
I am one of those people that is totally afraid of cyber space and the evil powers-that-be within it. So this is a big risk for me. Don’t try to lure me into your wicked schemes. However, I do welcome you to add me as your friend. I hear we can send eachother digital flowers for our digital gardens.
Stupid. Why did I do this?
Emily started sitting up on her own this weekend. Mind you, it’s for very short periods of time. Then she either slams her head back or does a graceful glide – a little Shamu-like – onto her stomach. But hey, sitting up is sitting up.
So, we decided it was time to set up her high chair. She loves sitting in it. She squeals and rocks back and forwards. One day she’ll actually eat in it, but for now it’s like her little throne.
My parents watched Emily and my Niece, Camryn, the other night after returning home from their 3-week trip to Australia. If you’ve followed our blog over time, you may know that Camryn is obsessed with Emily. Ever since she found out I was pregnant, she’s been consumed with the idea of having a baby cousin. It is amazing to me how maternal she is at the age of 4.
Here they are in their matching tshirts that my mom brought back for them, that says “Peace, Love and Lollies”.
Here she is reading her a book my parents brought back for her about the animals in Australia.
And here she is giving her a bottle. So sweet!
Eric came home from Soccer practice, late Wednesday night. He opened the garage door and called up to me
Eric: Natalie?
Me: Yes
Eric: Can you help me with something?
Me: What’s wrong? You never call me Natalie…
Come to discover, there is a taranchula in our garage that he wants me to help him kill. A TARANCHULA people! While I’m terrified and jumping my little toes off the ground, I’m honestly intrigued and excited and thought it would be more fun to catch him so we could see him up close and show our niece and nephew. So I went to get a container.
Eric got him cornered and then made a swift move to cover him with the container. Did you know that taranchulas can jump? We know now. After a few attempts, Eric got him covered. But when he went to put the lid on he jumped again and made a run for it into our bushes.
The good news is that we “spared” a living creature. The bad news is that there is a taranchula living just outside our house that could show up again at any moment. A little unsettling.
