13 going on 30 (months that is)

I can't believe I haven't blogged since November!! Just shows how crazy life has become and keeps getting! I'm so frustrated because I absolutely LOVE 13 months on Emily. She is SO much fun and wonderful and chatty and happy and sweet and loving and I just want to spend every waking second taking all of it in. I want to freeze this time so I can take advantage of it for as long as possible. But everything else in life keeps getting in the way. hahaha Every time I turn around, it's someone's birthday or Xmas or work, etc. preventing me from being all consumed with Emily. I could easily cut everything else out of my life and just focus on her. It's definitely not healthy and of course I wouldn't allow it to happen, but I could do it. And be very happy :)

So, let's delve into Emily's first birthday since I missed blogging about it sooner. We had a little get together at our house (with a mere 35 people!!) and had lots of food and beer and presents!! Emily was not sure why all these gifts were sitting around and everyone was watching her, but she loved seeing her brother, sister and Auntie Andrea help her open gifts and learn to play with them. Her favorite gift was by far a rocking pony my Dad and Ingrid got her that's furry, pink and it talks and sings. We all find it creepy but she's obsessed with it!! She loves to bounce up and down while the pony sings and will keep pressing her ear over and over til we memorize, eat sleep and dream the rock 'n rider pony song......

She got a few fake cell phones which she enjoys too since we're always on our phones or tablets at the house. There's also a little dog stuffed animal that talks and sings if you push his paws. Apparently it's very popular right now because she got 4 of them!! She got a lot of walkers and clothes. She was a doll all day for her "fans" And she even wore the birthday hat I got her and to this day comes over and asks me to put it on. I think it reminds her of the day when everything was about her. hahaha The cake eating didn't go over too well. She was not into making a mess and couldn't understand why everyone was sticking their fingers in her cake trying to get her to eat it.

She did enjoy her guests singing Happy Birthday :)

I can't even begin to explain the love I have for this child. Even when she's a pain in the ass I still just want to be near her. She's just getting over a really bad cold and ear infection and a few nights she wasn't sleeping well, if at all. I hated to be sleeping away from her those nights and would sometimes just sit in her dark room while she slept not wanting to leave her side in case she needed me for even a second.

We tried taking her to the snow for the first time last weekend. She is a complete NIGHTMARE in the car. You can't take her on a 5 minute drive down the road without her screaming and crying the entire time. Imagine 3 hours with 2 other kids in the car and then Emily crying the whole ride. She doesn't take a break, she doesn't sleep, she just yells and yells. James and Joli had more fun in the snow than her (to be expected) and I've decided once again that I will not travel with her until she's older and can verbalize her issues with being in a car. It would be nice if she could verbalize anything at this point. The hardest part about this age is her just wanting me to hold her all day. I don't mind it too much because I know it will pass and one day she'll want nothing to do with me, but I wish I could at least do the dishes or a load of laundry without her holding her arms up for me to pick her up and crying. It seems as long as I'm sitting down doing nothing she's okay, but God forbid I have to do something and she's all up in my shit. Again, I try not to get too irritated since I know this will pass but it's frustrating when I see James and the other kids enjoying their quiet time while I'm trying to fight off Ms. Needy-Pants.

She's fully walking at this point, won't crawl at all. She knows how to get off the couch and bed but still too short to climb up them. She'll climb up stairs but can't get down. You know, the typical baby walking stuff. She loves to eat and you'd think she would be 50 pounds by now with the appetite she's got. She loves vegetables for the most part and fruit. She likes steak and chicken and rice. She loves potatoes and I even fed her some salad the other night that she liked. She loves when you let her drink out of a big kid cup. She's very ticklish and I love to try and make her laugh. So does her big brother!! He's always tackling her (gently of course) and blowing on her belly to make funny noises. She loves to be around him and Joli and is usually a lot more content when they're home.

Time is going by too quickly. With Emily and the other kids. Joli is turning 9 tomorrow!!! My little girl who once wanted to be Ariel from Disney is now wanting to do big kid stuff like ride horses and play with her American Girl dolls and on her DS. Saturday she gets her first official birthday party where she gets to invite her girlfriends from school. We're taking her to a ranch in Livermore to go horseback riding with a few of her friends. She's going to have so much fun and I'm very happy she'll have her Mom back to celebrate her birthday with. She's so helpful around the house and with Emily. She does well in school and has lots of friends. She's just a great kid all the way around and I'm so so proud of her and am in love with the little girl she's growing up to be. I just don't want puberty to come. I remember those days and I'm not looking forward to her wearing bras and makeup and talking on the phone about boys. UGH! Where is a time machine when you need one!!!

UMMMMM HELLO!!!!! You can tell what a cluster fuck my life is because I forgot the biggest news of all!!!! James proposed to me on Xmas eve!!!! It was so so beautiful and sweet and I couldn't be happier. We drove to look at Xmas lights in an area of San Ramon that we check out every year at least once. We decided that after dinner we would go look at lights. So James drives (he said it was so I could enjoy the lights this time) and we start to go our usual route. We stop at this one street that has their lights blink to the Xmas music played over a local radio station and then move to the next court which doesn't look quite as lit up so at first I thought it was odd but James is his own man so I figured he knew where he wanted to go. We get up to the top and I see Xmas lights shining and as we make the turn to the left to circle the court, there it is! A huge lit up board that reads "DIANA WILL YOU MARRY ME?" I freaked out!!! I started crying and yelling "oh my god" over and over. I could barely see the beautiful ring through my tears. The poor kids were in the back seat and couldn't see what was going on so they just kept asking "WHAT?" "WHAT?" over and over. James came around to my side of the car, opened the door and asked me to marry him. I was so caught off guard I forgot to say yes until we drove home!!! His wonderful brother and Mom had driven the sign up and hooked it up before we got there. They waited around in the dark to see the surprise. It was so fantastic and everything I could have ever dreamed of in a proposal. It turns out James and his cousin Mikey spent a few days prior buying the material, putting the sign together and asking the house on that court if they could use an extension cord and their power to light up the sign. Afterwards James' Mom and brother brought the sign to our house and set it up on our front lawn where it stayed, lit up, for a week :) The ring is at a jewelers getting re-sized for a few weeks and I already feel naked without it. I can't wait to start wedding planning (which I've already done)!!!

I hate that I can't figure out how to flip my pictures right side up.....It's amazing I can get myself dressed every morning.

Anywho, a whole lot has been going on lately and I couldn't be happier. Less stressed, but not happier :)

Love,
Diana :)