My New BFF

Emily is not one to try new things. If she even THINKS she won't like a food, she'll gag before it reaches her mouth. Thus, it has been very difficult to get her to eat vegetables and anything else with any nutritional benefits. I have gotten sick of hearing doctors and other child specialists tell me that I have to give it to her at least 10 times before she'll eat it. Well, she'd never put it in her mouth, so she was never going to develop a taste for it, period!! I discovered a wonderful new best friend on this battlefront. Couscous!!
I don't remember ever having couscous until I was at BYU and they served it during one of our "cultural" days in French class. I loved it then and I've had it in many different ways since. However, I've never made it for my family until tonight. Emily actually devoured hers and even ate almost ALL of her veggies (corn, peas, carrots) when I mixed it in with it!! She ate it all and nothing was spit back out! I think I'll be stocking up on the stuff asap.

FHE at a Liquor Store

Contradiction in terms? Sadly, this IS how we spent our FHE tonight. Eric called to let me know he was on his way home. Ten minutes later, I got another phone call. He asked me to bring the gas can and meet him at a funeral parlor parking lot. Apparently waiting was too much for him and he walked the bike further down Pio Nono (just for those of you who AREN'T from Macon, GA, you pronounce that "Pie-ah No-nah") and we met up at a gas station. As Eric poured the gas in, it trickled out. Then, as he attempted to crank it up, gas poured out. Precious gas just running freely out of the bike!! (BTW, there is a gas shortage in northern GA...so that's a reality coming to us soon if things don't change.)
Seeing as the scooter wasn't going to hold ANY gas to get it going long enough to get anywhere, our next option was for me to follow Eric with my hazards on as he walked the bike to the shop we purchased it from. We made it to the next stop light and opted to pull into the parking lot there.
Miracles of miracles, some of Eric's buddies saw us and turned around to see if they could help. After diagnosing the bike with some serious issues, we let them get on to their activity for the evening and awaited Eric's dad who had a trailer. It was during this rendezvous with his friends, I finally realized what this "Silly Willy's Package Store" really meant. We were sitting in the parking lot of a drive-thru liquor store! Oh, it's classic and I know many of you are just dying laughing, but it really is a drive-thru liquor store!
You think the fun is over? Wrong! Emily had to go potty and no where to go potty. So, I pulled her around to the side of the van and let her pee right there (I know, gross and TMI, but you have to understand ALL the chaos of the evening). SHE thought it was hilarious and because she started laughing, it got everywhere!
When Eric's dad finally arrived (it had gotten dark by this point and Eric got off work at 5:45pm), we got the bike up on this tiny little trailer and then realized that the smallest jolt was going to knock the bike over. So, Evil Knievel...aka my husband, straddled the bike to brace it while I followed behind with my hazards on (the trailer lights ended up being dead). Although he was wearing his bike helmet, I really wondered how much that would help him were the bike to slip and force him to the road from that height (he was straddling the bike, which means he was standing up on the trailer and was taller than the Jeep). Oh, and to make things even funnier, his dad handed him a rope that was tied to the posts on either side of the trailer, making a sort of "reins" for the trailer...with Eric perched on top with bike helmet on, it was quite the picture.
Next week, let's hope for a different kind of FHE.

In a Minute

It's funny that as a parent you find out which words and phrases you say the most often. Apparently I am quite the one for saying "in a minute" because that is Emily's favorite phrase now. I can ask her to come eat and she replies, "in a minute." I get the same response when I tell her to come inside or pick up her toys or brush her hair. It's all going to happen "in a minute." Thankfully, she really DOES finish whatever she is doing and comes "in a minute".
Sadly, another phrase she has heard a lot of in the past few months has been that mommy's tummy hurts. She practically tries to diagnose the problem and "fixes" my tummy by applying various toys to it. At times, though, she claims that HER tummy hurts. Don't ask why...you'll laugh...this poor new baby hasn't even gotten here yet and everything is her fault. Emily's response? "Baby," as she points to her tummy. So, I've tried to be more careful in what I tell her as she climbs on me and jabs me in the tummy with her elbows and knees. Two kids kicking from both sides just isn't much fun, but I shouldn't just blanket everything by claiming "that hurts Mommy's tummy."

An Allergy or Not

I think I am probably one of the few women in the world who eats ice cream three times a day (and this past weekend, I also added in a bag of Skittles). During our last excursion to the grocery store, Eric told me to pick out some sort of ice cream without worrying if he or Emily would eat it (Em doesn't do ice cream period, so that's not much of a decision). I chose Butter Pecan. I've had it before and I really love pecan pie. For some strange reason when I eat this ice cream, my tongue starts to hurt and feels like I've poured acid in my mouth! So now I wonder, did I really need to get this ice cream if it causes pain and why does my body do such strange things when I'm prego?

Happiness Begins with Sleep

WOW! I forgot what getting a full night of quality sleep felt like! It was great! We all slept peacefully through the night. I don't know how many times I have prayed that in our family prayers, but last night it worked! No tossing and turning. No crazy random mid-sleep wakings by Emily. No disturbances in the night! It was really wonderful. I love waking up happy and refreshed! Can I order another serving tonight?

The Perfect Nose

For those of you who remember Little Women, the youngest of the four sisters, Amy, had vanity issues about her nose. She wears a clothes pin on her nose to "give it the perfect shape." Apparently Emily has some of these same issues, as you can see (although this is actually an air freshener from the car). She was cracking me up because she wanted me to take her picture. When I asked her what she was doing, she explained (quite matter-of-factly) that she was a frog. So, maybe she doesn't have issues after all...or maybe she does...just which ones. =)

Scooter Boy

We picked up Eric's scooter yesterday. We are quite the (cough: not) cool family now! That's okay, it's saving money and natural resources, right? Now Eric needs to get his license so he can actually use it instead of the van (permits allow you to ride during the day but not at night). Emily is all excited about the bike, so she is Vanna for us.