Shoes & Mascara

I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of Nine West shoes (at least when I can find ones that fit my wide feet). There's a huge sale going on at 6 p.m. right now... every pair is $24.95... we're talkin' even the $140 shoes are $24.95. Click HERE for the bargains!


And let me just tell you about the new mascara I found. Trust me when I say it's the best mascara on the face of the earth. Period. End of story. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it worth every penny? Heck yes. If you're unhappy with your current one, I can promise you you're going to love this one. Just this week I was reading Real Simple, and they had a runway makeup artist reviewing the fall trends. They asked her what her go-to mascara is, and she said DiorShow. I knew it! This stuff even smells like roses. It's fab-u-lous! Click HERE to get the goods!

Emerson turned TWO!

September 12, 2009 was a great day in the Van Valkenburg household. I surprised Emerson that morning with a lime green tutu and matching headband (I found them on Etsy), and she was so thrilled to be wearing a huge skirt with layers of green tulle. She kept swinging her hips around, trying to figure it all out. We had family over for lunch and then birthday presents & cake. From her relatives she got a Barbie jeep, a play kitchen, rocking horse, Barbie fishing pole, books, baby dolls, clothes.... you name it, she got it. We've been playing hard all week with all of the new treasures! I picked a few of my favorite pictures from the day:

Here she is with a balloon in each hand. She spent the greater part of the day fascinated with the helium balloons throughout the house. It doesn't take much, does it?!

Here she is having a meltdown because she couldn't actually touch the cake I made.

Here she is being comforted by Daddy, the great comforter.

Her new dishes set from her cousins Parker, Addison & Vance.

Butterfly wings from Uncle Travis. She puts these on daily. But, you know, if I had a pair of butterfly wings, I probably would, too.

Here she is shoplifting from her grocery cart. The recession is hitting her pretty hard, it seems.

Momma & Jax (who wasn't feeling great that day... I think he's getting ready to cut teeth.)

More hugs from Daddy, the great hugger.

Uncle Trav instructs the driver on the rules of the road (and how to push the gas pedal).

If she EVER drives like this at 16, she's grounded. FOREVER.

Daddy helps her select the perfect cruisin' music.

Being a good mommy to her new babies.

Finally... she gets her little paws on that darn cake. And she's in heaven.

To me, this picture says it all: I'm sugar-drunk, I'm bloated, I'm a little grumpy, a lot tired, but BOY WAS THAT A GREAT DAY. Well said, Sister.

Last night to be ONE

I went in Emerson's room just a little bit ago to put some laundry away. She had been in bed for almost 30 minutes, but she was still awake. I went over & patted her back and touched her hair, and she said, "Down, please." I told her it was night time and that she needed to go to sleep, but I asked her if she knew what tomorrow was. She said, "Emmasin's buffday pahtee!" We ran through a list of the family attending, and I told her I couldn't believe she was about to be a big two-year-old. By that time, Daddy had come in the room to join the party, and both of us leaned over her crib and talked about what it was like two years ago on this night. Personally, the excrutiating pain I was going through is enough to make me want to forget, but looking back it's amazing that I had no idea what I was really in store for. Never in a million years would I have believed that being a mommy was this much fun or would bring me this much joy. That little girl has been a blessing in my life and has taught me more about myself than I care to know. So tomorrow as we celebrate the big day, I'll probably have a few little moments of secret heartache, but I'm sure those will be overshadowed by the running and shrieking and tearing of wrapping paper. Believe me, there will be pictures and video to follow. I'm off to clean my house!

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's a little somethin' for all you wanna-be gangstas out there. Love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqBTMNRktBk

Friends

Jax and Paisley got to play together two Friday nights ago. I think they make a cute couple, don't you?! The little munchkins are only two weeks apart.

Car Talk, Episode 2

One day last week we drove through Chick-fil-A, and I ordered a kids' meal for Emerson (sub fruit cup for the fries for those of you who were wondering... yes, we're those parents who try to have their kids eat as healthy as possible for as long as possible. I know, I know... call us crazy). Unfortunately, a kids' meal comes with a drink, so I decided to take one for the team and go ahead and order a lemonade with that kids' meal and drink it myself. Desipite my best efforts to say 'lemonade' as quietly as possible to the energetic and uber-polite teenager on the other side of the menu board microphone (don't you love how they always say 'my pleasure' every time you say 'thank you' at Chick-fil-A? Makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside), Emerson heard me utter that magical word. So, she immediately says, "Lemonade, peas! (please)" I reply, "No, ma'am, lemonade is mommy's drink. You have fresh, cool water." Now, please understand that 'fresh, cool water' is actually Emerson's term of endearment for her water. Not kidding. If she's thirsty, she'll ask specifically for "fresh, cool water." It's so cute. So I think that this reply will be enough for her. She waits about 30 seconds, and this time she asks for "Water-Ade, peas!" I stifle a laugh and realize she's getting a little confused, the poor dear. I decide to just let this one go without a reply. We get back on the road, and I see in the rearview mirror that she's really thinking hard about something. The next thing from her mouth is, "Watermelon, peas!" From lemonade to water-ade to watermelon... the creation of a vocabulary is a fun thing to behold.

Two strange occurrences

Last Friday we were outside playing in the backyard, and after we went inside, Boomer started barking strangely in the side yard outside the dining room window. I peeked out and saw him flipping a snake up in the air. Disgusting! I could tell that it was a small snake, however the thought of a snake in the back yard, no matter how small, was a little more than I could take. So I put Emerson on the couch with some books and went outside to assess the situation. I got about two steps into the grass and realized I probably should've put shoes on, but I didn't want to delay the task at hand, so I forged on. I walked around the side of the house (all the while scanning the ground ahead of me in case the injured snake had escaped from the crazed Jack Russell and was on a path to attack me). Oh, I forgot to mention that I had picked up the back yard shovel on my way, so at least I was armed. When I got to the crime scene, Boomer looked at me as if to say, 'Go ahead, lady. Just try & take this snake away from me.' So I had to use the shovel to physically push the dog aside, and he was barking and growling and baring his teeth. What a nice, family-friendly pet. So now I decided to take a look at the snake, and the poor guy was barely clinging to life. The front half of him was still while the back half was doing a slow rumba. Or it was a little more like a snake wave. Click HERE for a demo. Why, thank you, Hip Hop Dance Master. That was educational! Okay, back to my story. Out of care & concern for that poor animal, I took my shovel and gingerly tapped on his head. It was one of those strange situations in which I didn't want to feel his snake brains squishing out but also wanted to make sure the stinkin' thing was DEAD. After being quite sure he had passed on to snake heaven, I picked him up with the shovel and laid him on the back patio so I could get a snapshot of him. Let's all take a moment of silence for Mr. Snake who unfortunately spent his last moments on this earth as a playtoy for my dog.

Another interesting thing happened last week. I discovered an apple-biter had struck the apples in the basket on the counter. Taking special note of the bite marks and distance between each bite, I hypothesized it to be a rather small member of the species homo sapiens, perhaps one about 23 months old and somewhat ornery. Just last night, Jason and I observed suspected human actually climbing on the stool and taking a bite of another apple, saying, "MMMMMMM!" Busted!!!