I should be sleeping.

It is 2:24 am and I am still awake. Just for the record, yes I am crazy. I had a lot of holiday baking and treat-making to do, and it seems that the only quiet time I have to myself is during the wee hours of the morning. So as I sit and wait for the blessed sound of the oven timer, I blog.
Tonight I am feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of raising my daughter, and hopefully the other children who will join my family. There are so many things I want her to learn, so many experiences I want her to have, and I fear that 18 years will pass in the literal blink of an eye. How will I ever teach her everything she needs to know in order to face the big bad world with confidence and ease? How will I help her glean knowledge from my own experiences? I want so badly to do right by her. I hope that when she becomes a mother (many, many years down the road), she will be able to appreciate the efforts I made on her behalf and realize I had the best of intentions. I hope she can look back on her childhood with the fondest of memories, and the reassurance that her mother loves her. And hopefully I will be able to look back on her childhood with the reassurance that I taught her everything she needs to know and prepared her in the best possible way. That is my hope tonight, as I sit in my quiet, empty kitchen, waiting for the sound of the oven timer.

Chocolate Waffles, anyone?

I am such a ditz! I can't even believe it, because I am a fairly intelligent individual...yet, ditzy. Odd. My best friend Mel came to visit over her Thanksgiving break and stayed the night. The next morning I got up and made waffles for everybody. Yum! I continued to get ready for the day, and while I was doing my hair I wondered why it smelled so much like waffles still. I brushed it off and continued what I was doing. When I finally went back into the kitchen, I noticed the waffle iron was still plugged in. I opened it and found the last waffle I had put in, cooked to a CRISP! I tried convincing Jason it was a chocolate waffle and that he should eat it, but he just wouldn't fall for it. So I decided to take a picture so that I could commemorate my feather-headedness.

Aaaaaa! Karyn and Emee were attacking me! I just love the look on Emee's face in this one...

Oh my...

Emslee has become quite the little pro at eating solids. Within the last couple of days, she has started this new little trick that involves blowing raspberries as soon as I have put a spoonful of food in her mouth. This, of course, results in carrots, or sweet potatoes, etc. all over me, her, and my kitchen. It's so cute when she does it, I just can't even get mad at her. So instead, I busted out the camera. Sooo funny! I caught her right in the middle of one of her little tricks.

8 month birthday...Yes, I'm slow.

I am way behind on my posts, so I am making a super valiant effort to get caught up today. Emslee turned 8 months old on November 21st. Just for the record, I did take these pics on that day...I'm just now getting them posted. :)

Emslee is officially mobile! She crawls EVERYWHERE and is into EVERYTHING. She is the most curious baby I have ever seen. She loves to discover. She says "Mom" and "Dad" and she understands the words bath, diaper, no, and tummy. She loves to giggle and is constantly smiling and showing off her two (soon to be four) front teeth. She loves making people laugh, splashing in water, "getting" daddy, and playing with her aunt Kare-Kare. She also loves making this hilarious clicking sound with her tongue. She does it all the time - it is so adorable! One of her other favorite things to do is say "blah blah blah" while you are talking to her. She already has an attitude! Oh great, we're in for it!