Monday, March 31, 2008

She's got skills

Paige is learning a new trick everyday, it seems. She has mastered crawling. If you put her down, turn away from her for one second, she is not usually where you left her. She likes to follow me out of a room, usually crying or whining. It's pretty cute.

She has also pretty much mastered pulling up on all sorts of things - her toy box, my leg, chairs, her crib (on the outside), practically anything. I have even caught her standing all on her own for about 3 seconds. She's just growing up so fast - I can hardly keep up.

She has also really started to develop her language. In the last couple of days she has increased her babbling to include "ba" and "da" and "na". Of course, no Momma yet, but it's on the tip of her tongue, I can just tell. She has almost mastered kissing. She even tries to make a fish face - which just cracks me up.

I think this move towards independence has made her much more attached to me. She was even crying yesterday and today when Eric was holding her. She has the saddest little look on her face with her little arms stretched out to me. Oh goodie. It's great to be needed, but sometimes I need a moment.

So, in light of these things - this trend towards forward movement - we have a video today. Still pictures will no longer do.

Emily's first day back to school after her "spring" break is today. She actually got up all by herself, got dressed, and ate in a timely manner. What is up with my girls? Growing up so much, I don't know if I can stand it.

Have a super Monday everyone!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Flowers and a New Baby!

Here's a picture of my flowers that I received from my sister Amanda for my birthday. They are beautiful. They make me want to win the lottery so that I can have flowers like this everyday.







In other exciting news...we have a new member of our family!! At around eleven a.m. this morning - an exact time is not yet known - Emerson Rae Marcikic made her entrance into this world. Weighing in at 9lbs, 6oz and 22 inches long. My goodness. According to her newly minted Grandmother, my Aunt Teresa, she has a full head of hair and looks like both her parents. We can't wait to see her. Congratulations Julie and Ryan!! What an exciting day!

I saw on the news last night that we are going to be in the fifties for the next while - YIPPEE!! Can't wait. I can almost smell the green grass now. Spring is finally coming!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Seriously....?

This is my second March in Michigan - I have actually had eight others, but those were when I was a child, and I was lucky then if I knew what day of the week it was. I know that typical springtime temperatures here don't usually happen until mid-April. But, in spite of all that, I still cringe when I see the following:



Beautiful yes, but most annoying. The snow started yesterday afternoon at 4pm, and didn't finish out until 4am. For the first two hours it wasn't sticking at all, but then it did. Isn't March supposed to be "Out like a Lamb"? Oh yeah, a lamb is all white and fuzzy....like snow.

And here's our very troublesome Paige. She's so into the crawling thing, that she is not even really interested in her toys anymore.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Thirty five years ago

I was this cute.


I still am. But, now I don't have to wear those things on my sleeves to protect myself from my sharp fingernails.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Eight Months



Each month it is getting harder and harder to take the monthly photo. This month, with Paige as mobile as she has become, has been the hardest by far. She was, however, able to actually sit on the dog. But, I don't know if it was the intense concentration of balancing on the doggie, or thinking about her next move, this month, not a whole lot of smiles. Well, that's okay. She's so darn cute, she can get away with it.




She is pulling on completely on things now. She pulled herself up on her toy box, her crib (on the outside), and the armoire in our bedroom. This is scary. What will happen tomorrow?



She is doing really well at sleeping at night - but that, I truly feel, could change at any time. She loves to eat. She complains when she doesn't get a taste of Mommy's ice cream, cake, pudding.....she is really my child - no DNA check necessary. She doing well with some real solid food - pears, cheese, grapes, strawberries, mashed potatoes, cheerios and those awesome Gerber puffs - LOVE those! Paige loves to play with all her toys. Favorites this month are her shaped blocks, books of any kind, and any toys that make noise or light up.



Can't wait to see what adventures are in store for next month......and really, has it already been a month? Seems like a few days ago it was seven months.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter



Well, it wasn't quite the snowy Easter that I thought we would have. Most of the snow from Friday night melted on Saturday. So, at least it looked more like Easter - it also helped that the sun was out, and the birds were singing.







We still had our egg hunt inside, but maybe next year, when Paige is able to sorta participate, we will have it outside - snow or no snow. Emily found the eggs in record time, with only minimal help. She also got a very nice basket from the Easter bunny - complete with chocolate bunny. This year, she only ate the ears - to avoid stomach ache.



We had a very nice Easter brunch over at my Aunt and Uncle's house. We hadn't really planned on going over there for Easter this year, but because Emerson is making a fashionably late arrival, we did. Kelly made a lovely fritatta - with spinach, tomatoes and goat cheese, as well as cheesy potatoes, the ham I brought, fruit salad, and coffee cake. I was stuffed.

Paige did not nap but for thirty minutes today, and she was actually quite good. She got some cute toys and a book, so she was happy about that. She is really getting around well. She is already starting to pull up on all sorts of things - and succeeding most of the time. In the blink of an eye, she'll be walking. How is that possible? Still not talking much, but I guess she's working on some more exciting skills - like looking for trouble - so that will come later.

An exciting week ahead - Emily is off for Spring Break, Paige will be eight months old tomorrow, I have jury duty on Wednesday, and oh, yeah, my birthday is on Tuesday. The big three five. Goodness, I am 35 already? Thirty-five years on this earth - and I have some pretty great things to show for it - great husband, two beautiful and wonderful girls, nice house, good life. What ever is a girl to wish for?? I'll have to ponder that one.

Hope you had a great Easter - and have a great week ahead!!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Happy Spring!


Hey everybody! This is what it looks like here on the second day of Spring. Um, Hello? Punxsutawnee Phil? Where's our blue sky and chirping birds and hopping bunnies? Well, we have noticed more birds around but this week the high temperatures haven't gotten much above freezing. All you Southerners better poke fun at us now because in another month it will be absolutely beautiful and in full bloom here. Okay, maybe a month and a half. Just yesterday I was talking about emptying the gas out of my snow thrower and putting it up in the attic. I also moved the snow thrower to the back of the garage and the lawn mower more to the front. Do you suppose that made it snow? I was going to keep the snow shovels out for at least another week, honest! Well I hope you are all enjoying Spring, wherever you are.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Cool Things

I have had the most interesting day. I finally got in touch with a couple people that I have not spoke to in a number of years. It's such a cool thing - reconnecting. It's pretty neat finding out what they have been up to, and sharing what has been going on in my life. I am hoping that this is something that is going to continue, not just a one time thing. So, welcome back old friends - I have missed you.

In other news, Emily has shared her thoughts on where Easter eggs come from. Apparently, the Easter Bunny take the egg shells from just hatched baby chicks, and turns them into plastic eggs. Then he sells them to Target. So, he's a recycler. He's been "green" all along. Why didn't I think of that?


Paige is really into Max. Max, not feeling the love. Strangely enough, he just sits there while she crawls towards him - growling quietly the whole time - and then heads for the hills once she reaches him. This only makes her laugh, as she goes after him again. I still think that he should just give in and like the girls.

Routines

Every morning, when I get out of the shower, I get my mouth wash out, take a swig and begin my daily regimen of ridding myself of all of those yucky mouth germs. I keep this mouth wash in the cabinet under my sink. I have it on the right side, while on the left I have everything else that I use in the morning....hairspray, lotion, mousse, etc...

A couple of days ago, I decided that it was just plain silly to keep my mouth wash on one side of the cabinet, all by itself, while all the other things I use in the morning are kept together on the other side - so I moved it to the left. Little did I know that this one small change would completely screw me up for the next few mornings.

The next day, I got out of the shower, opened the right side, no mouthwash - "Yeah dummy...you moved it. Remember?" This went on for about four mornings, until I decided that it was just plain silly to re-enact this scenario every morning, so I moved it back. Wouldn't you know, the next morning, I went looking for my mouthwash on the left side - with all it's other morning counterparts...."Yeah dummy.....you moved it back. Remember?" This is crazy.

This morning, I actually had to pause and think about it. I went for the left knob first, then the right, then left again.....finally, I opened the right side cabinet. Thank goodness that everyone in the house is still fast asleep at this time, because anyone looking in on me would think I have lost my mind.

One little change - my whole world rocked. Lesson learned - leave well enough alone.

Does this ever happen to you?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Slideshow

Just wanted to let you know that I added a slide show element. I have seen this on other blogs and I thought it was pretty cool, so I did it too. Most of the pictures you have probably seen before, but some maybe not. The pictures being shown are my favorites from January and February of this year. I will update at the end of each month.

Have a great day!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patty's Day

Hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's day. Here in the Gottlieb household, everyone had on green. Emily had a special St. Patrick's day snack at school - green Hawaiian Punch, green grapes, green apples and celery with dip (which, according to Emily, was not green, but I guess that's okay). For our celebratory dinner, we had yummy corned beef and cabbage (it was actually sauerkraut) and some potatoes. I am feeling pretty Irished out. Eric was a little sad that he forgot to put some green dye in his beer this evening - oh well.

I have been under the weather for the past few days - a probable sinus infection/cold. I have that sexy Demi Moore voice thing going on. Of course I have not been taking it easy at all. This weekend, I did six loads of laundry, went to Target for Easter stuff, cleaned both ours and Emily's bathrooms, vacuumed the whole house, and re-arranged Emily's bedroom furniture. That, in addition to all the normal stuff I do on a daily basis. Yeah - taking it easy.

I will say that Emily's room looks much better now - I guess I will have to take pictures for tomorrow...it's too late tonight, she's already in bed.

We are under a winter storm advisory with snow on the way, and freezing rain to follow....ummmm, where's Spring?

Paige is really on the move now - she barely sits still enough to get her picture taken. She was definitely not in the mood today. She crawled right off the chair about four times. Luckily, I was sitting right there and caught her. At least Emily was into it today. She kept on trying to turn Paige's head towards the camera, which only upset Paige more.....so much fun.
Emily took this one. She's pretty good, got all our faces in the frame. It's actually better than the couple my Mom took!!
Well, enough random blathering for this post - I am going to bed. Good Night. Oh, and Julie - I had a dream that you were going into labor tomorrow, so watch out!!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Pre-Spring is here!





It's over fifty degrees today! Yea!! So you know what that means? Yes, all those Michiganders who have been hunkering down all winter in front of their fireplaces, have come out to enjoy the sunshine and "warm" temperatures. Look, for those of us who have been suffering through teens and twenties for the past few months, fifty degrees is downright balmy.

BTW: The chunk of snow on the gound here is what is left of our snowman. He finally fell over yesterday afternoon.





In other news.....Emily got her hair cut today - it's about time. Much better, I think.






So, short post today - off to enjoy the sun. Have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Gotcha!

So, I finally caught Paige crawling on camera last night. Of course, she was going after things that she should not be going after....dog toys and the cord from the lamp. Just so you know, I was watching her very carefully, and put the camera down just as soon as she grabbed one of Max's toys. I do have some limits for photography, you know. She is just so pleased with her newly acquired skill. Her poor little knees are taking such a beating. With all the cold, dry weather we have been having, her knees are bright red. She doesn't seem too bothered by it.






I will be registering Emily for Kindergarten tomorrow. Can't believe it. Although they now offer this new program where the kids go two full days a week, and three full days every other week, Eric and I have decided that Emily will be doing the traditional Kindergarten thing of 5 half days. It's what her current schedule is right now, so we will just continue that.

Have a good Wednesday everyone!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

growing up and FAST

I would have some pictures of Paige crawling - a video clip even, but she's so fast already that I have no time to snap a picture because she always headed for trouble......I went to put some diapers in her changing table drawer, set her down on the floor, turned around for one second and BAM! Gone. She didn't get too far - her closet. Emily put an Elmo book in there that plays music and she had to have it. She just now smacked her head on my desk drawer. So, sorry - just some run of the mill pictures.


I

Scrapbook Layouts

I decided to post some of the layouts that I have done recently. I am still only up to August 2007 - and I have a stack of photos that are about the height of Paige just waiting to be stuck to some cardstock and embellished with all sorts of stuff. Excitement is in the air.....