i(Phone) Spy: Month Eleven - Emery

On February 6th my precious baby hit 11 months old.  I can't even fathom that we are only 1 month away from the big 1 year mark and just typing that puts me near tears.  So let's look at some ridiculous pictures instead, shall we?  We shall.

Just a little pre-work selfie.  This is essentially the same way Ryan responds when you say you're going to take his picture.

What did you say Mom?  That these curtains aren't for aggressive playing?  I can't hear you over the sound of your anxious heart beating out of your chest.

Me?  Never done anything wrong in my life.

Sharing is caring is definitely Emery's mantra these days.  Here she is "sharing" (read: forcefully shoving) puffs with her Daddy.

Found it!  You were right Mama, it's always the last place you look.

It's definitely in women's genetic code that you hit the wallet first.  Ryan walked in and literally said, "Oh man- I am so screwed."  Welcome to having a house full of girls, Papa Bear.

Last time I let Lola baby sit.

Sharing her purple ball with Daddy before work.

Apparently Daddy wasn't appropriately receptive because then it was my turn.

Ahhh, yes.  We have reached the ice day series.  This was the first ice day.  Abracadabra- #s tie out!  Clearly a little accountant in the making.

This was absolutely not on purpose, but I find it so adorable that she brought her laptop over next to me that it may as well have been.

Mama seems really wrapped up in that computer.  If I go in the kitchen and make as much noise as possible, AND jack up her rug for the 5th time today, maybe I'll get her attention.  (Totes worked)

Don't lie to me, Kylie- I saw you touch my puffs.

Heeeeeeelp!  Someone heeeeeeelp!  My parents won't let me crawl up the stairs whenever I please.  What did I do to deserve this?!

View of this maniac pounding on the window from outside.

Cancel the SOS.  I am back on the stairs.

Can I help you, Mom?  You're all up in my biz with that phone and I'm just trying to honk my Minnie horn and drive over things that shouldn't be driven over.  Is that so much to ask?!

I dared her to try to fit her whole fist in her mouth.  Challenge accepted.

Ahhh, ice day #2.  This magic machine is BACK!

But Mama, I WANT that machine, you brought it here to MY house, it has to be MINE.  That's how it works.  You don't look sympathetic yet...

... do you understand yet?  I have my eyes closed, so I can't really tell... I'll go ahead and do this for another 3 minutes for good measure.

Drive-in movie, 11 month old style.

This is my life.  Chasing this child in and out of various pieces of furniture in my home.

She was every bit as excited about the mini-Starbucks cup the lady at Target gave her as her Mama is on a semi daily basis.

I thought I could take an 11 month old shopping for a toy for another child without her noticing.  I thought wrong.

Mama, Target is so last week.  Take me somewhere exciting- like Radio Shack.  Wires for days.

Not impressed with her Mama's paltry attempt at a run.

Half small child, half raccoon.

Ship me off to Nonnie's.  See you next month, kids!

Super (Snooze) Bowl

This year the puppy bowl fell on February 2nd and the Schambles were once again brave enough to invite everyone over to their house.  I THINK maybe something else was going on that day as well.  Some "important" football game?  If you ask me, it's kind of rude to schedule something during the puppy bowl, but whatever.  (Yeah, yeah, yeah- Seattle played Denver.  I looked it up.)

I believe this is the third year in a row we have watched the game over at Jen & Brendan's and they completely outdid themselves- both in the realms of food & entertainment.  They know the way to this crew's heart because they set up squares and all kinds of fun bets.  Not a football statistician?  No worries, you could also bet on the over/under for the National Anthem (it was under), the first song Bruno Mars sang and/or whether and RHCP were shirtless during their performance.

Oh, and the food?  Please see below- de.lic.ious.  Chocolate-covered strawberries AND Oreos?  Please marry me.  Both of you.  Despite the fact that I'm no football super fan, the game was a total snooze-fest and even the commercials were a little lackluster- I had an incredible time thanks to our fantastic hosts.  I'm so glad they decide to host this party every year because they make it a lot more fun than if I did!  Thank you, thank you Schambles- this was the perfect way to celebrate the return of our husbands to our weekends!

Probably the first time ever that a platter of chocolate covered items has been the header photo for a Super Bowl party.  Which is why I don't attend more Super Bowl parties.

Jimmer & Ryan trying to talk stats with Harper & Emery.  Harper's completely uninterested and Emery is giving him the stink eye (strong genes from the Mama).

How adorable is this?  Julie, are you comfortable with me using this decor at your bridal shower?

New Years Resolution diets didn't stand a chance.

Serious faces for placing their bets.  (We missed you Melanie & Avery!)

What Super Bowl party is complete with confidence-building juice?

Shawna is giving Austin some sage advice for his annual coin flip bet with Ryan.

Such high-rollers.

NSFJ: Head(board) of the Class

Remember in my Christmas post I gave you a sneak peak into what the Boarman family does on weekends my FAVORITE present?  I hope that you have not keeled over from the suspense.  You know I have to do things in chronological order and the present did not make it's homecoming debut until January 19th.

So, a little background story to get you up to speed.  Ryan & I purchased our house in late 2010.  (Please try to discard this fact from your memory when you come over.)  At that time I came up with several fantastic decorating ideas and projects.  I was sure that everything I would accomplish would basically make the Property Brothers want to add me as an honorary cast member.  In my mind at 3 years post purchase to be kicking back and sipping cocktails in various rooms of our completely finished house.  Luckily our house isn't finished because I'd be spilling a lot of booze chasing Emery from room-to-room.  If you're sensing my lack of progress as imagined to be a theme here on the ol' blog, you are very astute.

As you may have gathered from context clues, one such fantastical project I dreamed up was an upholstered headboard.  I felt like the bedroom had enough different wood going on and I wanted to break it up with some texture via an upholstered headboard.  Armed with the ability to hunt out DIY blogs with the best of them, I was amped up and ready to get 'er done.  Then somehow weekends just kept passing by and my enthusiasm waned in a major way.

For the most part the un-finished state of our abode only bothers me.  There is a couch, TV and fridge and that is all Ryan really needs in life.... with one exception.  The only thing Ryan ever complained about was not having a headboard.  Apparently the pillows kept falling between the mattress and the wall and that was a real thorn in his highness' side.  He mentioned this in subtle ways (oh man, this pillow is way down the wall) and in not-so-subtle ways (hey... do you think you'll make a headboard before we die).  Finally post-baby I decided that making a headboard seemed like a perfect Christmas present for him.

I asked my parents if I could sneak up there one weekend with Em and enlist some LIGHT assistance from them to help work on it.  My Dad took this as a cue to become a master carpenter.  As Jimmy James is apt to do, he took the idea and ran with it.  It somehow morphed from me stapling some fabric on a board to him using Autocad and turning his garage into Santa's workshop.  Thanks to us throwing a wrench in his plan by throwing a surprise party, he wasn't able to finish it before Christmas, but that wound up working out perfectly because it meant that Ryan got to spend some QT learning the art of woodworking from my Daddio.

As with all Boarman family projects, it came together with lots of laughter, love and a few four letter words.  The two of them worked tirelessly for about 4 days straight and weren't able to quite wrap it up.  So my sweet parents were kind enough to work on it themselves after we had left and hand deliver it to our doorstep.  (I TOLD you it was the best Christmas present!)  It not only looks incredible, but it now has a lot of sentimental value.  I really can't thank everyone enough for their help, blood, sweat & tears!  I love you all mucho.

Tell me this picture doesn't scream "seasoned professionals".

Not only were my parents kind enough to continue progress without us- they sent us regular visual updates.  Service with a smile, guys!

Clearly if this whole engineering thing does not work out, my Dad has a future in the packing/moving industry.  Also if you ever wondered what happened to Julie & I's childhood bedspreads- wonder no more, friend.

Ta-da!  Home, sweet home.

So much more awesome than my piddly vision.  Thank heavens for my Dad!

NSFJ: Backyard... Agains?

January 11th was a big day in the Martin world.  Why?  Because it was 1/11/14 and I'm really weird about numbers/dates (4 1's and a 4)?  Well yes, but also, our backyard was FINALLY finished.  Mostly.  Until I start trying to work on furniture, at least.

As you may recall from here, this saga started nearly 3 years ago.  We moved into our house and pretty immediately undertook the task of de-jungling the backyard.  We thought- we are young, childless and have PLENTY of time & energy to get this whipped into shape.  Over time this poor space fell fast on our priority list.  Fast forward 2.5 years and we are with child, without energy and willing to admit we were shamefully wrong.  So what's the best way to fix this?  Hire someone.  As Ryan can attest, this is my go-to method of solving problems in the first place.

After a couple estimates and a few months of waiting, on January 6th Steven's Landscaping showed up and got to work.  They managed to clear some mange-y brush, demo the existing patio, lay sod, make new beds, build a pergola, lay a flagstone patio, build a path to the utility area behind the house, re-level the back yard and re-position sprinkler heads in a matter of about 5.5 days.  I am very impressed and I highly recommend them.  Most weeks I can't manage to get 4 loads of laundry done over 5.5 days, so two thumbs up from yours truly.

So that's that.  What is the moral of the story here?  Hire people.  Write that one down folks.  I am about to show you some before/afters, but I do so with the disclaimer that Ryan & I decided to re-do the backyard in the dead of winter.  So keep in mind the grass is dormant.  I considered spray painting it green for after photos to impress you, but Ryan talked me out of it.  So just imagine it's greener.  Some day, maybe, just maybe, when I get my act together and have the new backyard staged I'll post some updated pictures.  Because you know as well as I do that is unlikely to happen, I'm posting these now while it's fresh in my mind.  

This is what the backyard looked like when we bought the house.  Those palms were so big that we could have lost Lola in them.  She also frequently used to trip over that monkey grass.  Which was indeed hilarious but screamed "here come's a vet bill," to me.

More backyard before.  WAY before.  Did I mention thanks to a lack of leveling when it rained the backyard became a swimming pool before?  It did.  Princess Paws was not a fan of that.

After they tore out the existing patio and prepped the space for the new patio.  Sorry about that Saturday morning wake up call, neighbors!  We love you!

View from the corner of the yard of the future patio space.  Also a rake, wouldn't want you to miss that.

Purdee flagstone.

Pergola.  It's hard to tell but this patio is about 2.5x bigger than the previously existing patio.

View from behind the backyard's main tenant.  

Why I no longer have to keep the shutters closed in the back of the house.

Excuse the poor lighting.  The whole week the crew was working we never got to see the backyard in the light.  I was too excited to wait this night, obviously.

The lady of the backyard got a little sprucing up.

Emery Tracker: Month Ten

The Story
Why, hello there!  Here we sit nearly a week into month 11 and I'm just getting around to posting about month 10.  If this blog were to be audited, I'd fail the timeliness attribute with flying colors.  Can you tell that I have audit and year end on the brain?  I do.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand, which is far more exciting than accounting, my sweet, growing girl!  On January 6th she turned a whopping 10 months old.  I still can't believe it.  In my head she is still 6 months old.  I can't believe I'm about to have a toddler.  (And start sippy cup boot camp- heaven help us!)

Just kickin' it.  (See how I had to get a new calendar?!  I was very distraught when I couldn't find the same one as before.  The lady at Office Depot did not grasp the severity of this plight.  Obviously a course on empathy needs to be added to their HR manual.)

Month 10 was a real doozie as I alluded to in previous posts.  It started out full of rainbows, unicorns and puppies like all the others in recent memory and took a sharp left-hand turn into Diva-ville in the last half.  The population in Diva-ville went from 0 to 1 on December 23rd, to be exact.  Ryan & I were both off for Christmas break and we noticed that her highness was being a little more vocal and moody than usual.  At first we just thought maybe she was having a bad day.  By the time we reached the evening of Christmas Eve we realized that Miss Emery was just learning the delicate art of self expression.  There must have been a soundtrack of Madonna's "Express Yourself" happening in my womb I was unaware of, because my tiny angel has it DOWN.

For most of Christmas break she was VERY vocal (read: massive fits) about what she did not want to be doing- which was pretty much anything we wanted to be doing.  I know, I know- excellent practice for her teenage years.  Every time I tried to put her into her car seat she would arch her back with US Olympic-hopeful form.  Oh and scream like a banshee.  Are you jealz?  You should be.  Think back to your Christmas season life.  Were you running errands?  Getting in and out of the car about 5 jillion times a day?  Braving the public more than usual?  So was I, my friend.  So.  Was.  I.  The fact that I did not get arrested for kidnapping in that window of time is a real feather in my cap.

Sooo... I know when you have this on every morning, it's my one goal in life to get it off of you and onto me, buuuuuut it turns out I don't actually want it on me.  Let's get it off.  Stat.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret- her father & I found this to be quite exhausting, of course, but we also find it utterly hilarious.  What we all want for our kids is happiness and the ability to achieve their dreams.   Em is well on her way.   Sure her current dream, pulling my chi off of the counter while on, might be a little different than her future dreams but I like to think it bodes well.  She sure keeps us in stitches either way.

This month wasn't all near-deaf (ba doom cha) experiences and child proofing audit snafus- in the mean time our sweet little lady checked some milestones off her list.  She became a pretty excellent stander this month.  She demonstrated on several occasions that she could not only stand for long amounts of time, but she could stand herself up without using anything to help her.  Not too shabby.

I'm trying to think what else big happened in this month.  Oh, she started giggling at herself.  Mama & Daddy?  Not very funny at all.  Emery?  Definitely funny.  She remained very stinge-y with laughs (hello Ryan Martin genes) but when she did laugh, it was at herself.  Are you envisioning sweet baby giggles that sound like angels tap dancing?  Nope, not our baby princess.  She has cultivated a chuckle that Ryan & I affectionately refer to as the Beavis & Butthead giggle.  If you see me you'll have to ask me to demonstrate because nothing I type here will do it justice.

You didn't seem to get it a minute ago.  Maybe if I furrow my brow you'll understand this necklace is a problem for me.

Miss E also started being the poster child for separation anxiety this month.  Dropping her off at school, walking away from her or putting her down for bed all resulted in waterworks displays worthy of a major motion picture.  Poor, sweet lovey!

As noted above, her little personality continues to blossom.  She looooooves people - watching them mainly.  People trump things any day.  Don't expect her to accept you with open arms and a toothy grin though- remember she's her Daddy's girl.  She may not interact with new people but she will watch them like a hawk.  The only strangers she smiles at are babies.  Emery loooooves babies.

Overall, this was definitely a challenging month between the separation anxiety and determination to get what she wants but it was still my favorite to date.  Thank you so very much baby girl for keeping my heart so full- I genuinely don't know what I would do without you!

What's it say in that heart?  My Mom is mean, but I look so cute that it's okay?

The School Stuff
This month at school Emery has really seemed to get into her groove.  She was sad when we left her as we noted above, but she was also visibly bummed to be leaving when we picked her up in the evenings.  She just loves her friends, teachers and toys there!  Based on all the thoughtful notes, presents and lovin' she got from her teachers- the feeling is mutual.  We feel so blessed to have found a place we can say that about.

The only story I can recall from school relevant to the month was one evening when I was picking Em up.  Her teachers were talking about her day and her behavior.  They randomly mentioned the little giggle she had started and it was hilarious.  Again- typing it on the blog doesn't do it justice.  Listening to her teacher try to re-enact the sound was so funny.

Oh, another thing I didn't mention above is that Emery has become obsessed with bottles.  As soon as she sees one she starts bouncing around and making all kinds of excited dinosaur noises.  They mentioned at school that they have to sneak over to the fridge when she isn't looking now because she knows that's where the bottles are and if she doesn't get one she gets cranky.  I told you- yittle yovey has aced the self expression course.

Psssst.  Something happened.

The Stats

• Height:  29.5" inches (92nd percentile)
• Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (66th percentile) 
• Head:  Uhhh... still big?
• Diaper size: 3
• Clothes: 9-12 months 
• Shoes:  She's wearing a size 3 and she still hearts pulling them off her feet.
• Milk:  She's started having about 6 oz every 4 hours.  I continued to pump and feed her for the rest of month 10.
• Solids: This baby still adores her oatmeal cereal.  She tried wheat and did fine with that but oatmeal is still her #1 love.  She has tried quite a few new solids this month - chicken, turkey, pears, cheese, pasta, Cheerios.  She continues to be infatuated with puffs- any flavor.  
• Firsts: 
• First time she cried when we dropped her off at school (December 9th)
• Note from school saying she was standing on her own (December 12th)
• First time climbing stairs (January 2nd)
• First unassisted side step (January 3rd)
• Games:  Still a big fan of popping up over furniture, around corners, etc.  She also looooves cruising around on furniture and trying to climb on things she shouldn't.
• Favorite Toys:  Mama's phone, Mama's keys, water bottles, her little jungle that sings songs that get endlessly stuck in my head, a shape sorter with some cool translucent shapes
• Songs:  Ohhh, you know it was more Christmas music.  LOOOOVE Christmas music.  What?  This isn't about me?  It is until she can ask me to change the station.
• Sleep:  She was a pretty fab sleeper except when she arrived in Diva-ville.  Then she was hard to put down but once down she stayed asleep. She normally goes to sleep between 8 & 8:30 PM and sleeps until we wake her around 6:30 AM.  She will sleep until some time between 7:00 & 8:00 AM on weekends.  When we have her she will nap 2x a day for about 1-2.5 hours a piece.  At school she takes 0 naps.  At most 1 20 minute nap.  It hurts my heart.
• Other Notables:  She's my favorite.  That's not new or notable.  However I say it like 150 times a day to Ryan, so why not to the interwebs?

Mama, we have to call it quits on today's shoot.  I think Mr. Bubbles needs CPR.

Are you laughing?!  This is NOT a laughing matter.  Please note my look of concern.