6 months later.... catching up with Emilia

Wow! Six months since my last post. Where does all my time go??? My former working mom self would have thought that the stay at home mom would have ALL the time in the world to do things like this. My former working mom self was wrong! My day is exhausting. And I don't have time for much of anything. Worst of all, I feel like I don't spend more than enough time with Emilia!

Our day starts in a whirlwind of getting three kids fed, dressed and out the door to take Emilia to kindergarten. Which she LOVES. I run around with the twins and before I know it, it's time to pick Em back up from school. Feed everyone lunch, get the twins down for nap, put the house back together (so it can be undone after nap), cook dinner ..... before I know it the twins are up and I feel like I have barely spent anytime with my Emmy! But she is amazingly patient.

Emilia helps me clean, helps me cook, does her homework, reads to her brother and sister. She even loves to help out with Anna's therapy.  She might be the brightest, sweetest girl I know. Ian and I couldn't be proud of the girl she has become. And her brother and sister could not have been blessed with a better big sister!

Family Bike Rides!!!

One of my favorite things about living in Medford Lakes is that there are so many safe roads to ride our bikes on. Now that it is warm out, it is so nice to hop on after dinner and go for a bike ride. Especially if it includes a stop at the Sand Stand, our local ice cream store!

Ian and the twins riding over the dam

Love those smiles!!! The twins LOVE bike rides. Actually, I think they really like wearing a helmet like their big sister!

Emilia, she is so ready to be rid of her training wheels, she is just so scared!!!

Riding on our street

My four favorite people :-)

Softball!

We signed Emilia up for T ball this year. Thought she was going to love it. Thought it was going to be great. Boy, was I wrong! I should have expected it when the league emailed me to ask if I would switch her to softball, they wanted all girls in softball, and boys only in T ball. After I said yes, not wanting her to be the only girl in T ball, I found out it was a traveling team!!!!! ughhh!!!! Then we found out that because of her coach's work schedule, her games wouldn't start till 6:30, which gets her home well after bed time. Ughhhhh!!!!! Can't wait for the season to be over!!!

It all started with the opening day parade. Ian, Sr. had a duathlon that morning so I was at the parade by myself with the twins and Emilia. It was a very cold morning. First they got their shirts and met their coach.

Emilia in her uniform (#2), over top of a hoodie and a warm coat!

Next, she paraded from beach 3 to the baseball field with her team.

Em and some of her friends. Shortly after this picture, Em fell and I had to have a friend's mom push the twins so I could carry Em till she calmed down. 

Then, after a way too long wait, during which the twins grew VERY impatient, Emilia's name was called and she ran the bases.

The twins, first time I tried their leashes, and they were mostly flat on the ground. Not a good day!!!

Running the bases!

The season really hasn't improved much since that opening day, crossing my fingers she doesn't want to play next year!!!

"Running" to first base. Her helmet falls off very dramatically every time! And she isn't even running fast!

Nice hit!

Some spring flowers

It may feel more like summer today, but the flowers are telling me spring :-)

The rest of our day at Epcot, part 2

Emilia spent a large part of our day at Epcot in this position, camera included! Can't wait to see her pics!!!

 

 

 

We finished our day at Epcot checking out the remaining countries, stopping for a Margarita (me), a beer (Ian) and a Popsicle (Emilia). We really had a great time. Loved watching Emilia smile at the characters and recognize other countries.

drums in the outback

 And Emilia's favorite part of the day, her favorite thing we do anywhere we go.... play in water. I realized looking at these pictures just now that she was also trying to catch it on her tongue.... Ewwwww!!!!

Epcot was amazing. Can't wait to take the twins there one day!!!

On the way to the car, exhausted but happy!

The rest of our day at Epcot, part 1

We had an amazing time at Epcot. We were there for the flower festival, so the landscaping was even more amazing. And at Epcot it is so much easier to meet so many characters. If someone were going just to meet characters, I would skip Magic Kingdom and head right to Epcot. Emilia loves Paris right now, so walking through France was fun for her. And she really enjoyed the other countries.

 We went on the Nemo ride (after Ian and I took turns going on soarin). One of Em's favorite movies, ride still scared her!


 After Nemo, we got in the character line. We waited about a half hour, which was much less than the wait for any single princess in Magic Kingdom, and we got to meet a whole bunch of characters right in a row. It was great!

 After meeting the characters, we walked through the butterfly exhibit, which I believe was part of the flower festival. It was a netted tent filled with flowers and butterflies. It was one of the prettiest things we saw all day!

Canada

The UK

 Paris...

 Morocco...