An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

Since we can't party like we used to...we are staying home for another New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve has always been sort of a depressing holiday for me. I have no idea why. I guess I get sentimental about the years that have passed.

Overall, I'm very lucky. I have a beautiful daughter, wonderful husband and a loving family.

Anyway...

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.

Since Emily was only 6 months for her first Christmas, she really didn't understand what was going on.

Well, she is 18 months now and she got so excited when she saw the toys Santa left for her Christmas morning.

Later my parents and Jim's parents came for dinner. Then we got some more wonderful presents! It really was a wonderful Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas....

Once we all got up and got ready, we went up to Michelle & Tony's to celebrate Christmas Eve. Jim's parents were there too. As usual, Michelle & Tony were wonderful hosts and we had some yummy food!

We had so much fun. Emily got to play with Laura. And we all got some beautiful gifts!

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.

Today we made our annual trip to get a Christmas tree. We packed up the car and headed to Max's. It was really cold, but we got a really nice tree. Emily can't wait to decorate it!

Bob the Builder worked!

Since I had no luck getting Emily to smile for Christmas pictures, I took Jim with me in a last ditch effort for a Christmas card picture.

We got to the Picture People and Emily was all smiles...until the camera came out. Then, that was all she wrote.

In an attempt to get a smile, Jim started singing the Bob the Builder theme song and.......it worked! We got a smile!

Freeze Frame!

Today Emily & I went to the mall to meet Michelle & Laura for our picture. We had it taken to give to Jim's parents and Grandma for Christmas.

We had fun playing and then we went to McDonalds for lunch.

Disney on Ice ~ Princess Wishes

We took Emily to see Disney on Ice ~ Princess Wishes.

She had such a good time. She got to see ALL the Princesses...Ariel, Belle, Jasmin, Mulan, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty & Cinderella. Even Mickey, Minnie, Goofy & Tinkerbell were there!

Everytime a new Princess came out Emily got all excited and started calling their name! What a fun time we all had!

On Thanksgiving Day, all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today, we all went up to Michelle & Tony's to celebrate Thanksgiving. As usual, Michelle had a full house! In addition to Michelle, Tony, Laura, Jim, Emily & I, there was my parents, Jim's parents, Tony's brother Gary and his daughter Leigh.

There was great food and conversation.

We all had such a wonderful time...despite an ice storm that snuck up on us!

But, thankfully, we all made it home safely.

Fountains of Wayne Caverns

Today we took Emily to see the Christmas Caverns. Jim & I love going and it was special to take Emily too. It was nice to see all the beautiful decorations and displays. We all had a nice time!

The Christmas Caverns are animated displays decorated for Christmas. I had been going since I was a kid. When Jim & I started dating, we kept going. I can't think of too many years that I missed seeing the beautiful decorations.

There used to be two of them, but unfortuntely one flooded and never recovered. They are actually trying to sell the building that it was in.

One of the stores is Fountains of Wayne. It is "the" store that the group Fountains of Wayne, known for the song Stacy's Mom, named themselves after.

There was also a scene in an episode of the HBO hit series, The Soprano's shot here.

Open Up your heart and let the FunShine in!

Today we took Emily to the mall to meet a Care Bear, Cheer Bear!

Emily just loves the Care Bears and did so good. Actually, she was petting the Care Bear. She sat like a good girl and had the picture taken!

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title. ~ Scooby Doo

Every Halloween a local mall offers Trick or Treating. Its nice because most of the stores participate and its indoor, so weather doesn't apply.


This year we took Emily. Again, she got a lot of candy. It was funny, she tried to steal a bucket of candy from Snow White. We did not like that!

Then went to show Emily to both sets of parents so they could see my cute costume. We all had so much fun!

Trick or Treat!

Today we took our little kitty to Lafayette Village to go Trick or Treating!


She was a little shy at first, but she liked it when people gave her things! Hmm...I wonder where she gets that from!


She was so tired when we left, probably from all the excitement!

A snip here and a snip there...

I decided to finally cut Emily's bangs! They were almost down to her mouth. As I was cutting, she turned and I cut the bangs way too high! Now I'm referring to her as Frankenstein or Frankie! Oh well, they'll grow back and she still looks adorable!

We then went to The Black Forest to celebrate my birthday with my parents. Again, we all had a great time!

Lights, Camera, Action....

Today we took Emily to see the Strawberry Shortcake Sweet Dreams Movie!




She just *LOVES* Strawberry Shortcake and had so much fun! The movie was an hour & a half and she was so good. She sat there watching the whole movie! She did get a little tired at the end, but was able to keep awake until it was over!

After the movie, we met Jim's parents to celebrate my birthday! We went to The Olive Garden and Emily ate all her macaroni & cheese! Yum! I got such nice gifts and we all had a great time!

Emily's 2nd Boo Boo....

Okay, this better not become a habit!

Today while playing, she fell AGAIN and cut her gum AGAIN. You know the story...more crying & more blood. We were really *NOT* happy and debated going to the hospital.

But, like last time, she recovered quick and went back to playing!

Pumpkin Picking...Take 2!

Today we all went down to Fairfield Garden center to look at the decorations.

While we were took a lot of pictures of Emily!! We only stayed a little while, but it was a nice day and we had fun!

Emily's First Boo Boo...

Today, while Emily & I were playing, she fell and one of her two teeth went into her gum.

It looked like it hurt a lot and it was bleeding. We did not like this and felt very, very bad. Once it was over, she was back to playing and smiling again!

There is still no cure for the common birthday.

Today we went to see Sam for his 40th Birthday party! We had a lot of fun!

After the party we went to visit Michelle & Tony's and Emily played with Laura! She had so much fun! Jim's parents were there and they had a good time too!

Pumpkin Picking...Take 1!

Jim took off of work and we went Pumpkin Picking.


We went to the same place as we went last year! You remember the one...end of the Earth and make a left! (Check out THAT journal entry!)

Anyway, Emily got her own pumpkin that we are going to decorate for her! We all had so much fun! I just *love* this sign!

Tickle Me...

Emily just *loves* Elmo.

So, we surprised her with a brand new Tickle Me Elmo! She loves him! She's not too good at tickling him yet, but we can do it for her.

Of course, she tries to pick him up and hug him while he's laughing.

15 Month Doctor's Appointment

Today I went to pick up Jim at work and we went to Emily's doctor appointment. She had to get 2 shots...and did not like them!

The Doctor said that growth is right on target and everything looks good!

The Proof Is In The Pudding!

Emily tried chocolate pudding for the first time and....she didn't like it! Obviously, she doesn't get that from me.. Oh well...

The Emperor's New Shoes...

Since Emily is now officially walking, today we took her to Stride Rite to get her first pair of shoes.


Since she is still using crawling as her "quick" mode of transportation, we went with a pair of Stage 2 shoes. They are for walking and crawling. She looks so cute in them!

At first she wasn't sure what to do with them, but quickly caught on!

The Spaghetti Incident!

Today will go down in history and be forever known as The Spaghetti Incident! It was the MESSIEST that Emily has ever gotten while eating! (I know I'm lucky!) There are no other words to describe what took place. All we know is that Emily wore way more than she ate!

This is what happens when Jim feeds Emily!