25 Things

My friend Angie tagged me on her blog, and then another friend tagged me on Facebook with this "25 Random Things" - the idea being, you list 25 random things about yourself and then tag your friends to do the same.  So, here goes!

1. I speak 3 languages - Russian, English, and German

2. My daughter Emily was born on Independence Day of the year I got my American citizenship - you think I was ever meant to live in America?  :)

3. Contrary to most people's opinion, I am painfully shy.

4. I seriously considered a career in neurosurgery before I became obsessed with everything "language" (which brought me to this country, otherwise I would be digging in people's brains in Russia right now!)

5. I took ballet for 5 years as a kid. I was finally told I was too tall for professional ballet, which devastated me for years! I think it may have been the biggest disappointment of my entire childhood.

6. I am obsessed with the TV show "24" and everything Kiefer Sutherland.

7. I am a yes person - I can only say no to people I really love (backwards?  probably!)

8. I love Texas summers. I will take 100 degree heat over rain, clouds, snow, sleet, ice, etc. any day!

9. I enjoy being on the beach but hate swimming.

10. Tex Mex is the only food I ever crave.

11. I met my first boyfriend in daycare when we were both 3 (of course, he did not become my boyfriend until several years later!)

12. In the 31 years of my life, I have only cooked 1 complete meal.  I am lucky, my husband is an amazing cook!

13. I love ironing.  I find it therapeutic.

14. I did not meet my best friend and "sister", Natasha, until I was 18. She was worth the wait!

15. My dream car is a pearly white BMW X-5.

16. I am addicted to chocolate.

17. I never went through a teenage rebellion stage.  My Mom says I will rebel when I am 45.

18. I did not know what true love was until I met my wonderful husband.

19. I am a nerd and a bookworm, and will choose a good book over any other entertainment imaginable.

20.  I can't stand yellow gold (on me, not on other people.)

21. I love flying, and traveling in general.

22. I am a huge fan of Macintosh computers, and will never buy a PC again.

23. My favorite colors are teal/aqua, and pink.

24. The best comfort food for me is home made mashed potatoes and pickles (yes, together.)

25. This year, my birthday will be 09/09/09 - I think that's WAY cool :)

Anyway......this was a lot of fun to do - thanks, Angie!  I don't have a lot of friends that blog, so tagging someone else is hard, but Elizabeth S., if you'd like to try your hand at this, I'd love to read the 25 things I may or may not know about you!!

NOT a Huggies endorsement :)

Last night, Emily was fascinated with the big red boxes of Huggies that Steve got at Sam's. With all the toys and contraptions she has around the house, this is what she wanted to play with?  :)  

Weekends - they fly by so fast!

Weekends just go by way too quickly.  You turn around and another one's gone!  I am not looking forward to my work week this week, as I am training a new person, won't even be at my own desk, and frankly, I was hoping to never have to train anyone again.  But....moving on!  Here is something that makes me smile and enjoy life no matter what the week ahead holds - Miss Emily!

Back from her walk with Mimi:

Another one of those beautiful winter sunsets:

Ok, this picture did not turn out as well as I had hoped, and I was trying not to scare off the subject - look closely, all the way to the bottom.....yes, it's a real live bunny!  He hopped on over to our doorstep a couple of nights this week and was peeking into the house.  Emily did not see him, no matter how much I tried to show her - too dark, and the bunny sort of blended in with the evening light.  You'll be able to see his eyes, though......

Everything goes into her mouth still...teething in full swing (no teeth yet):

I said, "enough pictures!  Ahhhhh!!"  :)

Sleeping cutie:

New thing - she loves to stuff little rags in her mouth.  She's got the most mischievous look in her eye in this picture, too:

Love this bib -let's focus on ME!  :)

3 Day Weekend

I was off today for MLK day - it's nice to have a 3 day weekend. Can't say we did anything that noteworthy but it's just always good to have that extra time to spend with the people you love. Here are a couple of pics from this weekend.

Emily has a bassinet that we used with her for the first 6 weeks and kept saying we would put up - well all of a sudden she has really taken to it, not to sleep but to play in. It has lights, music, vibration, and she sits or lays there and plays and giggles and can stay there forever! Go figure.....

"Helping" Daddy work....

Emily is getting better and better at standing - either when you hold her or in the jumperoo. She'll actually put her weight on her feet now! It's pretty exciting. She is growing up!!

Blast from the Past

Steve found this picture in one of the emails I sent him last year - one of my coworkers at BoA took this on March 12, 2008 - I was starting to show then.  Hard to believe Emily is already 6 1/2 months!

Busy Week

It has been a very busy week for me at work, and a busy week for Emily with play! (Tough life, I know :) 

Steve got her this ball and she loves playing with it....I roll it to & from her, and she giggles and pats the ball when she "catches" it:

This was hilarious, so I am posting the whole sequence: she got into a newspaper - crazy enough, the Golden Globes section with all the ladies' dresses discussed, and she started tearing it into shreds - she would not stop until the paper was on the floor in tiny little pieces. We laughed so hard. Her little hands were black afterwards! Oh, and don't worry, we stopped her before she could put the paper in her mouth - in one of the pictures it looks like she is about to eat it.....SO funny.

21st century baby......she knows how to move pictures (of herself, mostly) in the photo album on Daddy's iPhone:

Give me a break!!  In pillows on Mimi's bed:

We are soooo ready for the weekend!!  :)

6 Month Check Up

Emily went to the doctor for her 6 month check up and everything is looking great. She is 17.2 lbs and 27 inches long - 90th percentile for height, and 75th for weight, which is once again, her "normal" weight. We could tell she was getting heavier! She got more shots, including the flu shot, so she's been cranky and clingy, but hopefully she'll start feeling better soon - and she won't get the flu when she starts daycare in March! (I am dreading that time enough without the flu in the mix.)  She is as cute and sweet as can be, and it's good to know she continues to do well.

Emily attempting to "stand" with Mimi's help:

They say it's time to put the mobile away, but I don't know how to do that if she has so much fun turning it on and off?

Bottle cap went into her mouth, as everything else does, and I just had to take a picture:

Waiting for Daddy to draw her bath:

Back to her days in Mommy's tummy?  Curled up and sucking her toe:

And, just two pictures of a beautiful sunset the day of Russian Orthodox Christmas, January 7th:

6 Months Old

Today, Emily turned 6 months old. We celebrated with takeout Chinese food and apple pie with ice cream :)  Wish Emily could have participated in the food part! She is growing super fast. She loves cereal (oatmeal and rice), fruit (apples and bananas), and apple juice. She can entertain herself longer now, but still prefers being around adults, hanging out with Mommy and Daddy and Mimi. Teething is still going strong, everything she touches goes into her mouth - but we don't see any actual teeth yet. Emily can sit un-supported and enjoys that new view of the world. She is adorable as can be!!  :)

Emily with her bite ring that she got from Germany from my best friend Natasha:

Her new favorite thing is laying like this on her changing table and observing the nature outside her window - she can do that for many minutes on end, which is a long time for a baby :)

My Russian friend Helen is living in Sweden right now with her husband and new daughter.  Helen sent Emily this Pippi Longstocking toy for Christmas.  Considering Sweden is the birth place of Pippi and Astrid Lindgren was one of my all-time favorite authors growing up, this toy has additional special meaning.  Thank you Helen, Sebastian, and baby Micaella!

Our little bookworm in Mimi's room.....she multi tasks by touching the books and staring at herself in the mirror!

Happy camper:

Enough pictures!  :)

I just like this picture because it looks like she has bangs (that was not intentional, actually.....) - and what a different look for her!

Official 6 month old picture in her Classic Pooh dress: