Thankful Thursday

So, I realize that I missed a Thankful Thursday last week. I have no excuse. It's not that I wasn't thankful for something last week. I just was so busy enjoying all of my thankfulness that I forgot to blog about it! So, here are just a few things that I am thankful for this week:

• I am thankful for the rain. Yes, it has brought cooler temperatures, but we needed it badly!

• Today I am thankful for the relationships I have with friends and family. I am blessed with people who genuinely care about me, Mike, and Emma. They listen, give advice, and lend a hand when needed. Life is so much easier when you have people to lean on. I can only hope that I can do the same for them.

• I am thankful for Emma. She makes me laugh, cry, and shake my head in disbelief. She is such a funny girl, and my life was dreadfully dull before she arrived in our lives. Her laugh is contagious, and it pulls me in even on my worst day. Sometimes I find myself laughing at her through my tears, and this helps me to stop. 

• This morning I was thankful for my coffee with caramel flavored creamer. I stayed up way too late browsing Facebook and had a hard time getting out of bed!

• Finally, I am thankful for this summer break. I went to school to start putting my room back together today. It's always hard to go back, but I know I have had a great time with Emma and our families. I'm blessed to have the time to spend with my family, but I am ready to tackle this next group of students too! 

P.S. I'm pretty sure Emma would say she's thankful for corn on the cob. How can you not smile at this face?

Thankful for Curiosity

My cousin does a Thankful Thursday edition to her blog every week. I admire her so much, and I would love to be able to do something like this on my blog. Today I am thankful for Emma's curiosity. While it does get her in a pickle at times and is sometimes a bit frustrating, I love that she examines everything: the rocks in our driveway, a tape measure, the wheels on her doll stroller. Right now she is amazed at how the tape measure goes in and out and can stay out with the push of a button. She keeps pushing it in my hands, so I can do it for her. It's the little things, and I love that she helps me see them through her eyes every day.

Climbing!

Well I thought Emma's climbing adventures would stick to chairs and couches. Nope. We came home from Robinson Lake to find that her determination has now convinced her to climb out of her crib, onto every single one of her toys, and onto our computer desk! The last one just happened a few minutes ago while I was taking care of laundry. She has also decided that my iPod is hers and is very mad that she can't have it. She also got used to constant attention last week and can't figure out why I can't sit and play with her every minute! It must be so hard for her to come back from vacation too! Daddy's at work, Mommy's doing laundry, and Emma has to find stuff to do. Hopefully it won't mean another climbing adventure! Will the counters be next??? Oh my!

Alpena Was Awesome!

We seriously had the best week ever in Alpena! We have been going for 32 years now. The weather was perfect, and the water was like bath water! We swam 3 times every single day! Turns out, Emma's a serious water bug. She loved splashing and playing in the sand. The spot on Lake Huron where we were is so shallow. There are tons of sand bars, so Emma could walk really far out (safely tucked in her floatie of course!) before she couldn't touch anymore. By the end of the week she would just take off and leave us in her dust! I'm having serious Trelawny Resort withdrawals this week, but I know it's just because we have such a good time with family and friends.

Emma had her 15 month check-up today (we were a tad late due to vacation). She's doing great! She's growing like a weed and handled the appointment well. She was fussy because I had to cut her nap short to get to the doctor on time. I was worried about her one vaccination because of her crankiness. Amazingly, she did fine! She wanted to sit up, so I had to hold her arms. She watched the nurse the whole time and just stared as the shot went in. Not a peep! Not a whine. Not a jerk of the arms. Nothing. It was crazy! I think she'll sit up from now on for all her shots!

I'm sure I have talked about Emma's determination. Her persistence. Well..... I'm thinking that it's a bit more challenging to handle with a 15 month old! The past two days have been interesting around here to say the least. She is determined to do everything herself and often wants what you have. Things that she has ignored for a while are back into play. The remote, cell phones, regular phones, my Nook, dog dishes, glasses of water, laundry baskets. Everything is fair game! And now she can climb! I spent a good portion of today trying to keep her off our bed because when she got up there she would throw off the folded clothes and empty the laundry basket! I'd put her down, she'd run for the dog with her drumstick! (These have been safely put away!) She is a girl on the move, and I am struggling to keep up! Mike and I often have the discussion about how much Emma actually understands and what her motive happens to be when she does some things. Personally I think, her receptive vocabulary is VERY good. I just don't always think her intent is a naughty one. So.... we take it one day at a time and try to figure out how to discipline a toddler who can't always communicate what she wants. A common parental problem from what I hear! LOL!

We are continuing our busy summer with our yearly trip to Robinson Lake with Mike's family next week. It'll probably be the last year, so we'll make it a great one! A wedding finishes up July, and then I get to go dress shopping with Emma's birth mom the first weekend in August! I was asked to be her Matron of Honor, so I get to go help pick out bridesmaid dresses! I can't wait to see her dress too! Then a wedding, Danish Festival, a wedding, and then back to school! This summer is flying by, but boy are we having fun!

Summer Adventures!

I seriously love summer. I get to stay up late and have some quiet "mommy time." I can sleep in (if Emma lets me). I have even been able to read a little bit! Pinterest is giving me all sorts of fun stuff to do with Emma. My shopping list grows each time I log on--paint, shaving cream, sidewalk chalk, window markers, etc... We have used her kiddie pool on a daily basis lately. In fact, she jumped in, clothes and all, just after getting out of bed at 9am! We played outside until about noon, then went in for lunch and a nap. Every day is an adventure with her for sure!

Our summer continues to be busy, and I'm trying to find a nice balance to it all. (My recent FB post shows my struggles with saying "No" lately.) It's tough, and Mike is working a ton of overtime. We're trying to make it work, and I'm trying to figure out what things are most important. I'm struggling with that quite a bit. In my head I know Mike is doing it for us; he's thinking of the family and trying to help my stress level regarding money and such. In my heart, I see all that he's missing. It's a tough road, but we're trying our best.

On the bright note, we made it through our road trip to Pennsylvania, and we had a great time! We saw the Flight 93 Memorial and visited the Pittsburgh Zoo. Emma was a gem in the car even though it was about 10-11 hours both ways. The DVD player was a smart purchase! It's currently packed away for our next long trip, which is coming up soon!

Her latest accomplishments:

**She can climb up on our bed by putting her foot on the side rail. Boy was that a surprise when I went in our room the other day!

**She can climb the ladder on her small play structure, and she can get herself into a sitting position to go down the slide.

**She's learning how to go down the stairs on our deck backwards. Honestly, stairs scare the crap out of me!

**She has found a love of watermelon and blueberries!

**She has figured out that her finger can go up her nose.

**She has figured out that her finger can go up MY nose!

**She can now say bunny, duck, help me (more like hpme), banana, hungry (ungy), potty, and lots more! Mostly she just repeats them, though a few are said on a regular basis.

The day is never dull with Miss Emma around, and I am so thankful for that!