Lions, Tigers and Cows, Oh My!

At what age do we lose our sense of wonder and imagination and begin thinking realistically? Is it a moment in time? Is it a gradual decline? I'd like to bottle up Emery's imagination so she always has it. I pray she'll be a creative thinker and think outside the box all her life.

Today while swinging outside in the blue swing, Emery and I had this conversation:

"Momma, next time Gus goes to the farm,  can we get a lion and a cow?" (No, she doesn't understand that Gus only goes to the farm once in a lifetime or remember that the "farm" ended up being Mimi & Poppy's house!)

"Did you just say a lion and a cow?"

Laughing at me, she goes, "Yes, Momma. (Emphasize the sarcastic yes here) A lion and a cow."

"What would we do with a lion and a cow here?"

"Play with them."

"You don't think the lion will jump out of the yard and chase things like Gus did?"

"No, Momma. You can train it."

"Me? What about you. Don't you think it will eat me?"

"No, the lion is nice, Mom. We'll tell it not to eat us."

"What is the lion going to say to us?"

(I imagine a ROAR coming here)

"Hi Emery. I want to play with your frogs."

"What?! What frogs?"

"The froggies in my room, silly Mommy. I have a pink one and a big green one. The lion can play with my two frogs."

"Well, what about the cow then?"

"We will play with the cow."

"What will we play?"

"The cow will dress up and do ballet with me. (prounounced bal-le-lay)"

"Awesome. I'd love to see that."

"Awesome. I knew you'd say yes, Mom."

So, if anyone knows of a good cow or lion, we're in the market. :)

In other Schlabach news, Bubba is almost crawling!! This blows our mind as Emery barely crawled and instead, started walking at 10 months. We have some serious baby-proofing to do in the next week or two, as well as some serious knee pads to invest in for him! In his attempts to crawl, he made it backwards underneath the furniture instead.

"Mom, really? You're taking a picture and not rescuing me?"

Eating is more fun if you can do it yourself and dump your bananas down the back of your head

Here's a video (mostly for die-hard Schlabach family fans and grandparents) -- as it is nearly 6 minutes of us capturing a near crawl and laughing at Cohen. Those who stick it out, enjoy!

Over and out --

Boating Extravaganza

After a brief hiatus from blogging, I'm ready to catch everyone up on our whirlwind of a boating weekend. My parents drove down Thursday night and we literally spent most of the next three days on the boat trying out two local lakes.

Today we are sore, tired and sunburned, but I think we'd do it all again....once we're recovered. Emery and Cohen also loved the boat and surprisingly, they made it all three days without having to leave early from meltdowns.

This will be a photo bomb of our weekend capturing the highlights:

Before the boating started, we had to get some Dora action going

This dumb photo won't flip, but little buddy was HAPPY all weekend!

Emery helping Poppy clean the boat before we went out to Belews Lake

This was Cohen's first time on the boat and in the water. He loves the bath tub so much, we had no doubt he would love the lake. Although he looked like a giant marshmallow with his life jacket, he didn't fight it being on unless he was hungry. (go figure) It also helped that Belews Lake was like a warm bath. It felt amazing -- not refreshing on a hot day, but great when you don't like cold water!

He didn't like the wind in his face so he would turn himself upside down while standing

Last year Emery was timid on the boat and in the water. This year, she was BRAVE. That was her word for the weekend. She wanted everyone to watch how brave she was.

Brave accomplishments:
- Jumped from the ladder into the water (to someone's arms)
- Let herself float with no one holding her
- "Swam" between two people
- Bobbed up and down with Mimi in the water signing, Bobbin', Bobbin', Bobbin' the whole time
- Helped Poppy drive the boat
- Sat up front with Mimi most of the time to watch the bubbles (other boats' wake)
- Rode on the taco tube with Momma, and didn't cry when water soaked our heads when we hit a big bump.

Helping Poppy drive the boat "straight and very fast." (Mimi, who doesn't swim, gave strict instructions of no crazy driving by Emery)

 

Scoping thing out with Daddy

A game of Princess Memory with Daddy

Setting out on the Taco tube with Momma

John and Drew got to "skate" according to Emery (wakeboard), I attempted to ski and gave up after nearly ripping my hips apart on rough waters, and Megan and I went on the rube ride of our lives with my Dad driving nice.  By "nice" he means not driving in a complete circle as fast as he can -- just doing everything else. I am still traumatized by his antics while in high school. The memory is of me in Florida on a giant tube when I suddenly found myself flying 10 feet up into the air and landing back on the tube on my face thanks to his attempt to throw me off. While this weekend's ride was both terrifying and very fun, I didn't escape unharmed. Three broken nails, two tube burns and a black and blue pinky are battle scars I'll hold over him a little while. :)

John jumping

John wakeboarding -- Sorry Drew, I forgot to post yours!

This picture of me putting on skiis was the most graceful of my time on the lake...we'll just leave it at that.

Holding on for dear life. If there weren't sides on this tube, I'm pretty sure the would have been searching the woods for us!

Schlabach Family swimming

  We also had some good times -- fighting Cohen to take a nap! But when he did, isn't that the cutest sleeping baby?

And Emery had two new experiences. As we were getting ready to get off the boat on Day 1, Emery says she has to go potty. There are no restrooms around and we are waiting in a line of boats to get our boat onto the trailer and out of the water. I tell her we can go in the grass if she can hold it a little longer. Poppy decides she can go on the "boat potty" -- the luckily, empty hatch at the back of the boat that drains out to the water. She thought it was hilarious and easily complied.

On Day 2, she decided she had to poop during the middle of our boating trip. We were in the middle of the lake and nowhere close to being able to get off. Instead of having to leave early, Poppy suggests using Wal-Mart bags and the boat potty again. After much heated debate on the merits of this idea, I volunteered to hold the bag -- which easily caught the tiny turd and the rest of the boating day was saved.


Usually when we got boating, something traumatic happens which causes much grief at the time, but a great story later when we've gotten over it. Luckily for Dad, the trauma didn't happen to him this time. 

It all started on Day 2 when we had pulled the boat off the water and were cleaning it out getting ready to drive the hour-plus home. Drew couldn't find our keys. They weren't in his bag, where he remembered putting them, they weren't in the glove compartment on the boat, no one else had seen them.....


Since we had been rushing to get the kids' swimming suits and sunscreen on in the trunk of our Edge, I thought maybe he had left them in the trunk. Not a big deal -- as we luckily have a keypad to get in the car as well. 


He runs up to the single car parking lot and comes back down a few minutes later with a sheepish look on his face. The keys? Locked in the car. 


He should be able to use the keypad right? Nope. He had left them in the ignition when he attempted to crack the windows before we loaded onto the boat.So not only are the keys locked in the car, but the car is also dead -- and it's 5 p.m on a Saturday. Strangely enough, my brother McGuyver'd it by opening the car door through the barely cracked window with a tree limb. 


Luckily Park Rangers were performing courtesy mandatory boat inspections and offered us their cables.... 45 minutes later we were on the road with a good story to tell and a lot of rubbing in to do for Drew.


Needless to say, we had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with a lot of sun, fun and love. Emery loved the flags Mom brought for her and taught her "You're a Grand Old Flag" -- a family tradition.

Don't believe me? Check out this old family video: 

Yes, this is my sweet little brother.... Hope you all had a great weekend too! 


Over and out --

Rainy Days

Today started off dreary and cool. OK, so perhaps the air conditioner was running all night, but nonetheless, from the forecast and mood at my house, playing outside wasn't a viable option. So what's two girls to do?

Build a fort. Not an army, hide from everyone, battle fort. A much more refined fort -- as in, reading/pony, pony, neigh fort that Bubba was allowed in if I put him in the corner by himself. (What can I say? The love isn't always there)

So I got Emery all hyped up to build a fort and then I heard this all day,

"Momma, what are we going to build?"

"Momma, what did we build again?

"Momma, what's that thing called that we built?"

So smart. It's the easy words that dupe her, just like her ..... Yep. You know who.

It wasn't exactly as suave as I imagined in my head before I put it together, but she was impressed and that's all that matters. Let's just hope no one needs to change the sheets on their bed anytime soon!

Cohen is alive. He's just face-planting into the carpet.

Bubba in the corner

We also had some new things happen today that I tried to document.

1.First time imaginary/pretend friends emerge

Emery wanted me to see how cute her "pretend friend that talks to her," Percy, looked after she dressed him in her own clothes. 

 2. Cohen held his own bottle today! Emery NEVER even attempted this as a baby.

Is that not the cutest face?

3. Cohen found a new toy.....let's hope this doesn't turn into a fetish!?!

He discovered Emery's Dora panties while I was putting away laundry and wouldn't put them down!

4. Cohen's new skill of blowing spit bubbles. He does this all the time now, especially when he eats!

And for those of you who enjoyed Emery's last song:

I heard her practicing this song during room time, but couldn't sneak back there to record it. Thankfully, she decided to sing it for me at bedtime and let Drew record it. Please don't mind the white trash person beside her. I really do get dressed and do my hair most days. :)

Did I mention the sun came out as soon as we built the fort?

Over and out --

Jesus lives.....in a treehouse

Perhaps I should back up.

Emery inherited what my parents will lovingly call "radar ears," which means she has the ability to hear and pick out parts of a conversation from across the room, when people are whispering, in the car with the radio on, etc. The only time we're really "safe" in talking in front of her is when she's asleep!

She can hear everything and usually asks questions about why we said something or she'll repeat what we say. For this reason, I only listen to KLOVE (a great Christian station), or her children's music on the radio or in the car. Last week, we were making lunch and listening to the radio. I think the song that was playing was the one by Steven Curtis Chapman, the Long Way Home with lyrics that go:

"And I know some times it seems like we……
Doing the wrong way
But it’s just a long way home"


I was vaguely paying attention to the music while I dug around in our pantry. She is sitting next to me on the fireplace and goes, "Momma, why can't that boy find his home?"
 (When I accidentally go the wrong way to get somewhere like the wrong library on story time day, she gets upset that I can't find the right way somewhere, which is why she picked up these lyrics)

"What boy, baby?"

"The boy singing."

I had to stop and listen to the words to figure out what she was asking me.

Then I attempted to explain to an almost-three-year-old that one day Jesus would come back for those who have Jesus in their hearts and take them to his home up in heaven.

We then discussed for awhile if she had Jesus in her heart, and if Mommy, and Daddy and Cohen and Uncle John, etc. had Jesus in their hearts.She seemed to be thinking about it a bit, then went on and started playing in her room again.

Fast forward to the weekend. Emery tells Drew that one day Jesus is coming to take us to his home in heaven and that we won't live here anymore, but that she will still live with Mommy.

On Monday, when I came back from working, Megan, my great babysitter and brother's girlfriend, told me Emery had asked her if she had Jesus in her heart because she wanted her to go to heaven with us.

Nearly a week has passed and every day something has cropped up about Jesus. Even at this young of an age, I think Jesus works in hearts.

She's asked Cohen if he loves Jesus.

She's set up all her ponies and told them about Jesus. "Jesus is in my heart ponies, and Jesus is.... Jesus."

Yesterday on the way to exercise class, the inevitable happened. She asked where Jesus lives.

"He lives with his daddy, God, in a great big house somewhere in heaven."

"Oh, ok. Does Jesus live in a treehouse?"

"Um..I don't think it's a treehouse, but maybe."

"Does he live in my treehouse? ... a slight pause while she moved on to a new topic (she's easily distracted) Where's heaven?"

"I'm not really sure, baby. It may be way up in the sky somewhere where we can't see it."

"Oh, like in the clouds. I see heaven mom! (As she looks out her window at the sky.)

We're getting there. Gotta keep planting little seeds in that precious mind.

Em's strategically placed arm kept missing the goods

Random video from this weekend:

Over and out --

Sunny Sunday

I love gorgeous days we can spend outside. Yesterday was one of those. Something about being outside on a sunny day when it is not too hot, not too cold,  makes everyone in my family happy. We didn't even do anything spectacular, but somehow it was perfect.

Perhaps it was the tickle fight with Emery whispering in my ear, I'm gonna get you stinky...stinker.

Perhaps it was listening to her latest song about a caterpillar and everything else in the world around her.

Perhaps it was her talking to us about Jesus playing with her.

It may have been the fun trip to Sam's Club with these two sweet faces for only five items and leaving with a "prize" for each of us.

Bubba's first ride in the shopping cart. Sis was glad to prop him up when he leaned.

 

Or maybe it was watching Drew and Emery work on Drew's infamous herb garden an in the yard.

"I can do it daddy. Watch this."

 

 

"Look at me, look at me. I can swing on my belly!" (Are we seeing a theme here?)

Perhaps it was watching Emery play peek-a-boo with Cohen to make him laugh on the way to the walking path.

Or maybe it was finishing my first training session with Drew for a 5K with these two cheerleaders. If I can build up enough endurance to push the double stroller and run, I will be able to complete it with no problem with Emery constantly telling me, "Keep running, Momma. You can do it. Go faster. Go faster. Wheee!"

Emery's picture of us...post run. Sweaty. Sticky. Little fingers and I completed it!

Who wouldn't love a day like that?

Over and out --

Daddy's Girl

Emery has already learned if you're interested in doing something a little crazy and always a lot of fun, you get Daddy to play. Daddy is the super silly one, the one that makes all the silly faces, the one who throws her up in the air, the one that comes up with weird games in the backyard. I'm OK with that.

We all know I am the serious one in the relationship and Drew, well, he's the goofball. That's what make us work so well. I can handle being the one she runs to for cuddles, kisses, to read books and hold her. That's what Mommas are for. Daddies are the fun ones.

Many of you probably saw the picture I posted of Drew and Emery yesterday morning when I finally rolled out of bed. (Drew graciously let me sleep in after a rough night with growing-starving Cohen).

Since Emery doesn't get to see Drew a whole lot during the week with his work schedule and her bedtime -- she takes full advantage of the weekends! They spent the morning dressing up, making breakfast, reading books and watching Dora.

I went to a women's conference type thing at church after this photo was taken and left the babies with Drew to take to story time and to drop off all our overdue books!

By some miracle, Drew survived the hour-long adventure without the diaper bag that he had packed and left in the kitchen. If anyone knows Cohen, this is no small feat. We go through blowouts, projectile vomiting and drool like crazy with this kid! Not to mention he decides he's hungry at the most inopportune times!

Here's a video clip of Emery serenading Drew and Cohen on her 'butair" with the zippy tune of In the Jungle. I think she was born with a song in her heart. This girl makes up music about anything and everything and 90 percent of the time when she's talking to you, it's through a song she's made up.

Later yesterday afternoon, after the house was cleaned and the yard was mown, we ventured outside for some swinging action in the blue swing. This was the swing conversation I got to experience with these two:

"Daddy, take off your shoes like me."

"No, I think I'm just gonna leave mine on."

"Daddy, that is the opposite of what I just told you!"

"Did you really say that? Do you know what opposites are?"

(We do have a small opposites book, we just didn't know she picked up on it this way)

"I think so, Dadda."

"What's the opposite of tall?"

"Tall and .... short"

"What's the opposite of top?"

"Top and.... bottom"

"What's the opposite of up?"

"Up and...down"

"What's the opposite of open?"

"Open and ....closed"

"What's the opposite of full?"

"Full and.... empty. I have one Daddy. What's the opposite of star?"

"Uhhh... I don't know Emery, what is it?"

"Um, I think it is sunshine!"

"What's the opposite of black?"

"Black and..................................PINK!"

Well, she almost knows them all. She definitely scores points for being a fashionista with black and pink!

This conversation she had with Daddy explains why we changed her bedtime song and nickname from Munchkin to: "Bum, Bum, Bum.... I love you, Good ni-ii--ght, Smartypants!"

Thank goodness I have been blessed with such a wonderful Daddy to my babies.

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Yesterday was one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days at our house. And yes, I'm whining about it.

It started off when my two children, who went to bed late the night before AND both woke up multiple times during the night, woke up on the wrong side of the bed. They were grouches, with a capital G.

We already had a busy morning planned with Cohen's six-month pictures and Emery's school-wide picnic at the park. There was no room for grouches, late mornings or morning fights in our carefully crafted schedule.

Problem 1: Cohen, although super tired, did not fall asleep for his first early morning nap. This meant that he fell asleep on the way to take pictures and had to be woken up when we arrived. What did this also affect? His smile. He was super sleepy the first part of the picture and mad the rest.

Problem 2: Emery forgot where her ears where and subsequently how they work. This made everything about today 100 times more difficult, including trying to take pictures of Cohen while having to chase down Emery.... hence the baby that hit his head on the bricks since I couldn't catch him while disciplining the wild child.... and the photo session that ended short. :(

This pretty much sums up the attitude most of the day

Although I threatened her that I would cancel our trip to the picnic, I already had the lunch packed and didn't want to go through that battle. At least she had a great time with her friends and playing one last time with Ms. Holly & Ms. Barbara (pronounced by Emery as Ms. Farmer)

Ms. Barbara & Emery

Ms. Holly & Emery

 Problem 3: Our kitchen sink became stopped up Wednesday morning. Thinking it was an easy fix, I waited for Drew to get home to fix it, which didn't happen until Thursday night. With no success. So I now had no clean dishes, disgusting dirty dishes EVERYWHERE and no way to use my sink. I finally found a plumber with a working number yesterday and they showed up at 4:30 and left me an awesome $350 bill. At least I can wash dishes now!

Managed chaos. All the dirty dishes confined to the kitchen table.

Problem 4: Cohen drank his entire afternoon bottle after his nap and then wanted more. So I carried a screaming baby to the bathroom to make a new bottle. As I turn to pour in the formula, Mr. Grabbyhands grabs the open container. Anyone want to picture where my special expensive formula we affectionately call, liquid gold, went? And then he didn't even want anymore milk.

Now for the upside:

Bonus 1: Drew has a surprise date planned for us tonight and we have a rockin' babysitter!

Bonus 2: We ate delicious gyros at the Greek Festival last night and Emery got her hair painted pink (with an improved attitude by the time daddy showed up)

Check out that sweet pink hair!

Bonus 3: I fit into my skinny jeans again! Now for my early college-years pants.... :)

Super stoked these finally fit!

Thank goodness it was Friday! Now for a great weekend...

Over and out --

Funny girl

Yesterday was Emery's last day of preschool for the year. I think she half gets it. She talks about meeting her new teacher next fall, but then also talks about, "Tomorrow, when I go to school, I will play with my friends and Ms. Holly and Ms. Barbara."

I think I just about have activities planned for every day during the week to keep us occupied. :)

To "celebrate" we played some fun games in the afternoon.

First on the agenda: bowling

I picked up some sweet bowling pins at our church's yard sale this week. Emery was super excited about them even though she had no idea what they are. Explaining how the game worked was a different story. Perhaps we need a heavier ball to knock them all over at once...... or perhaps it's just that she inherited her Momma's athletic ability??

Surprised look when she actually knocked over the pins

Then we went to her room to play her favorite game she invented called "Pony, Pony, Neigh."
Basically what it entails is her lining up ponies in some form or fashion and the either knocking them over, jumping over them or making them attend a picnic or party on her white blanket. Exciting stuff.

Pony, Pony, Neigh in progress

Meanwhile Bubba was eating his carrots, hence the nickname Carrotface yesterday and eating every toy we placed near him.

Carrotface

Emery has picked up that I am taking pictures of what she does all the time now that I'm trying to document their funny sayings and doings each day. Lately she'll do something then go, "Momma, go get your camera. I'm being funny. Take a picture."

"Momma, go get your camera. Percy and I are sitting on our stools with our blankets being funny."

This is what she asked me yesterday:

"Look at me, Look at me."

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, but it's funny, right?"

Right crazy child. You are one funny girl.

Over and out --