EMRY TURNS TWO!!!!

Our sweet Emry is TWO today! We simply just adore her...she has SO much personality! She shows us daily just how much personality she has, ranging from down right melt your heart sweetness to pull-your hair out orneriness!

We just love that she now gives smooches...when we asked before she would simply screech "NUH-UH!"

The "NUH-UH" that she would respond to everything with, has now been replaced with an emphatic "NO!" I thought it was simply adorable to hear her sweet voice, that I would ask her silly questions just to hear her say "NO." I am now ready for her to move on to new words. She has completely mastered the word, "Mine"....she sounds just like the seagulls from Finding Nemo...she won't stop saying it until someone finally acknowledges that, yes indeed, whatever she is talking about is hers.















What better way than to start your birthday than with a plate full of "Bawoon, bawoon, bawoon....mine....mine...mine!"













It was hard to convince her that she needed to eat real food for breakfast.















The birthday girl got to choose what she wanted for breakfast. She thoroughly enjoyed the power that was given to her. After five minutes of telling me "that one...no, that one...yes, that one....no, that one" (you get the idea) She finally made a decision.















"Wow, mine" is all Emry could say when she opened her presents.















Emry blowing out her candles















Two of my favorite things about Emry -

Our bedtime ritual....she has to have her two babies tucked into bed with her and besides her regular bedding, she has to have two of Jack's old blankets, Eden's old blanket and one of her blankets wrapped snug around herself and her babies. She then tells me to kiss her and her babies and points out the door for me to leave.

Our morning ritual - Emry brings in her two babies and four blankets and enthusiastically exclaims, "MINE," and then demands that we snuggle!

Emry was so THRILLED to get her own watering can for her birthday. Whenever we pull into the garage Emry shrieks, "Mom's, Mom's, MOM's" and will only stop once someone says, "Yes, that is mom's watering can."

So what did the birthday girl really really really want to do to celebrate her birthday? She wanted to get in the big tub with the big kids and try out a sweet pair of goggles.

Since it was her birthday....why not? She didn't enjoy the tub at all....but LOVED LOVED LOVED the goggles! And who wouldn't looking that stylin' in them?

We are so happy that we have our Emry. She brings alot of excitement into our house. (Eden would rather me say alot of crying into our house, which is true...but I believe that crying is definitely a form of excitement.) We LOVE LOVE LOVE Emry!

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Am I smarter than a fifth grader...the answer is quite simple...no, I am not. I won't even pretend that I am. There was a time in my life where I could say with confidence that yes I would be at least that smart. I really am baffled that I have a Bachelor's of Science degree and really I had a high GPA - something seriously has happened to me over the last 9 years. I no longer have any retention of knowledge, I have a superb vocabulary of made up words, and my most frequent response to questions asked to me by my seven year old daughter is, "That is an amazing question, I don't know the answer!"

I'll tell you what I think has happened, with each pregnancy each baby has taken a portion of me. Eden, I firmly believe took all my smarts! Jack, all my strength. Emry, my charm as well as my orneriness (okay, she didn't take all of the orneriness...there was just too much of it in me for her to take it all!) This baby....hum, well there is not much left to take, but yep, I'm pretty sure she has zapped all my grace and will be blessed to be slender when she is older. So, what will be left of me? It will be pretty interesting to find out!
But, now for the real reason, I delve into this whole wondering what has happened to me being smart....I am just simply amazed at Eden! She's in first grade and has repeatedly tested at a third grade level and in some areas fourth or fifth grade. Today, her teacher stopped me to tell me that Eden just took another MAPS test. This set was done on the computer and everyone had 30 minutes to complete it....she did hers in 12 minutes and tested at an eighth grade level! Yes, you read right...an eighth grade level! WOW! I was blown away!
We have really struggled since she entered kindergarten in the public school system. They just do not have programs for kids that are above their own level here in Montrose. I don't believe that letting her skip a grade is the answer either. In third grade they have an advance class, but it only meets once a week. We really want her to be challenged and to be learning everyday. I wish we knew what to do. Nate really would like me to home school her....if I thought for a moment I could be effective and still deal with my other kids, I would already be doing it. We are so proud of her....not because she's so smart...but like we tell her, what makes us proud of her is that she always tries to do her BEST.
I'll be honest, I am afraid she is too hard on herself, she is a perfectionist and gets down on herself when she makes a mistake. I don't want her to think she has to be perfect in all things... Funny thing is that her penmanship is just satisfactory....her teacher told me that I should work on her with that. I actually told her, that I was glad that she had something in her life that she wasn't concerned about being perfect. I encourage Eden to be neater when she writes, but I hate to add one more weight for her to worry about. I sure do love that girl. She amazes me everyday. She has been saying for a few months now that she wants to be a Scientist when she grows up. Then she continues to maul over what type of Scientist she would like to be. Wow, when I was her age the most ambitious thing I wanted to do was be a hairdresser!