Emma adores her Daddy but she doesn’t always show it. Sometimes though, if she knows something special might be coming, like a trip to Goodberry’s for custard, she is EXTRA sweet to him. Daddy of course, won’t complain….he’ll take it when he can get it:)
Here’s proof of how sweet & loving she can be:
July 13, 1996 is a day I will remember forever. Why? Because I married the Love of My Life. Today we celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary. I am so blessed to have Mark as my husband, my partner, my friend and my daughter’s dad.
Emma, when you get older and are ready to date (which I know is many years away- but time flies so I gotta let you know) I hope you will look at your Dad and realize the wonderful man and father that he is. Don’t ever settle in life. Know that you deserve to be happy and in order to be happy, you need to find a partner that has all the wonderful characteristics that your Dad has. Finding the right partner to share your life with is very important. Once you find that person, you will learn that you can overcome all obstacles together.
May God always bless you and protect you my Little Sloth! I Love You and Daddy with ALL my heart!
If you are still smiling after 13 years, you know you found the right partner;)
We had a wonderful 4th of July with our great friends and neighbors, Ted, Lisa and their daughter Emma. My sister, Anamarie, surprised me and came up for a few days to visit and my Mom also showed up. It was great catching up with my family and our friends. Emma LOVED watching the fireworks but was frightened by the loud exploding sounds. Although she had seen the fireworks once before she didn’t remember it. We were fortunate to have a great view. Here are a few pictures of our day.
Emma and I going down the slide:
So I was thinking about how little I know about my Mother’s life, and how there really isn’t anyone around who can clue me in. I have lots of unanswered questions as I approach 40 (later this year) and wish I new more about her since she clearly and profoundly shaped my life. I spoke to my Uncle (My Mother’s Brother), not too long ago to see if he could provide some insight, however the failed memory of time coupled with their unique living conditions created more questions than answers.
My father’s memory is also warn by age and circumstance. I have accepted the notion that I will never really know my Mother. That her life will remain, forever, a mystery to me. It’s a sad prospect to come to terms with, but a reality I must face. Unfortunately the knowledge I seek, lay like the treasure on a sunken ship at the bottom of the Sea.
It is because of this, that I write this blog. One never knows when their time is up and I would hate for Emma to not know something about her Mom and Dad because we falsely assumed there would always be time to tell her later.
With that said I have decided to incorporate aspects of my own childhood into my posts so that she can better understand her Father’s background in order to gain a deeper understanding of her own origin. I am sure I will tell her these stories in person, but children are not always ready to listen. One day, when she is ready, my words will be waiting to tell their tale.
Words and still pictures can not properly convey Emma’s fearlessness, so here are some videos.
Jumping In The Pool
Jumping In Again
For Emma’s 3rd swim lesson I joined Emma in the water for some wet and wild fun. We practiced entering the pool, freestyle swim-stroke, blowing bubbles through our nose, holding our breath under water, and jumping into the pool (Emma’s personal favorite). Emma is such a fish it’s not even funny. She can stay in the water all day if allowed. The only part she hates about swim class is the end.
Entering the pool
Free-style swim
Blowing bubbles through our nose
Emma holding her breath under water
Emma doing the back stroke
Emma holding her breath
We recently returned from Florida where we visited Grandma Aldona who broke her arm in a fall. She was hospitalized for approximately 10 days and had two surgeries to mend her wounds. She is now back home recovering. We are praying for her.
On our way home we stopped in Orlando so that Emma could see where Mickey lives. We had taken her there when she was about 16 months old but she was too young and the experience was anticlimactic for all of us. This time around, Emma was two years 10 months old and really enjoyed Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Among the rides she rode and attractions she saw were:
“It’s a Small World”
“Cinderella’s Golden Carousel”
“Dumbo the Flying Elephant”
“Mickey’s Country House”
“The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm”
“Astro Orbiter”
“Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin”, “The Magic Carpets of Aladdin”, “Mickey’s PhilharMagic”, “Peter Pan’s Flight”, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, “Tomorrowland Transit Authority” (a.k.a. “The People Mover”), “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and “Carousel of Progress”.
Some other activities included:
Emma cooling off at Ariel’s Grotto.
Boarding the Engineer section of the Monorail
Emma riding the first car of the Monorail
Watching a show at Cinderella’s Castle
It was really neat to watch Emma have so much fun throughout the day. Her favorite part however, was meeting the characters. We hit each and every character spot and Emma didn’t mind waiting on the long lines as long as she got a chance to give them a hug and a kiss. As a parent you live for moments like these. Seeing your child’s eyes light-up in joy makes yours well-up with tears as you know they will be little and innocent only once. Elena and I had a great time with Emma and look forward to many more adventures in the future.
All tuckered-out (Finally)
For the last three weeks Emma has been sitting in a booster chair instead of her high-chair. She is really excited about it and will sit in it any chance she gets. She will even watch TV in it. We are starting to look more like a family now with everyone sitting at the table for meals.
Emma’s high chair has not been put into retirement yet as it is still a good place for her to play with her Play dough.
This year we attended Frog Fest 2008. Since we are new to the area and I come from parts where the celebration of Frogs is not the norm I did not know what to expect. What was it that the locals find appealing about frogs that would cause them to hold a whole festival in their honor? We packed our things and left to investigate.
Although we arrived early, the parking lot was already at capacity. A sign directed us a mile and a half down the road to where a very organized crowd patiently awaited the shuttle bus that ferried eager frog-lovers to the festival. We parked our car and joined the family-friendly group that boarded the next bus.
At the park frog-themed stations were set up to educate children (young and old) about the natural and environmental challenges frogs face. Although frogs were the creature of honor at this event, it was clear that it was designed to create awareness as to the consequences of human actions on the environment and the animals that live in it.
