This Thanksgiving we were able to celebrate with the Sellers and Farinas. My older sister Erin and her family came over and Lucia, Michael, and our new addition to the family, Justin, joined us as well. I had a lot of fun playing with my nieces and nephew; it was so good to see my sister again, and Luke too!!

Unfortunately, I didn't get around to taking very many pictures. In fact, I completely managed to not get a picture of my nephew, our table spread, nor of when we swapped ornaments, which is a Johnson (my side of the family) tradition started a few years ago.

Luke and David were wonderful at watching the kids while we women worked at getting Thanksgiving dinner ready. Amber and Ava rode the tricycles that Lena brought down for Emmaline, and Andrew chased them around. Andrew, unfortunately, had an allergic reaction while at our house. I'm not sure if it was the cat we had here over the summer, or if it was our dogs that triggered his wheezing. Poor little fellow!

For those of you who do not know my daughter intimately, she is a wonderful little girl, full of spunk and spirit, a joy to be around, is a great source of entertainment, and is over-all a very good baby. And if you were to pass by her on the street you would probably think, "What a beautiful little girl!", as so many people are inclined to tell me when the DO pass us by while out and about. You would think she was a perfect little angel.

There is a big BUT that comes along with my little bunting, though, that few who intimately know her have seen. This would include myself, David, and Lucia.

Emmaline has a temper, and it reared its ugly little head about five months ago. However, it has of late become a little more intolerable since lately her temper has led to hitting.

This is where I would like to share an experience that is all too familiar to me, in its generality, of course. A couple of Sundays ago, while dropping off Emmaline in the Church nursery, I informed the lady who runs the nursery that Emmaline had been hitting of late and that if she did it while in the nursery they were welcome to tell her "No!" and to come get me.

Do you know what the lady to who I told all of this did after I finished?

She LAUGHED at me!!! Do you believe that?!! She laughed and said, "No, I don't believe that. Miss Emmaline hitting? She's such a little angel." Then she turned to the lady across the hallway who was running the preschooler room and said, "Emmaline's mommy has just informed me that Emmaline has been h-i-t-t-i-n-g."

Do you know what the lady across the hallway did?

She LAUGHED too! Then she voiced the same opinion, "No, Emmaline can't hit, she's too cute!"

My darling little girl started early. I don't know where she learned this, but I swear she knows what she is doing. She behaves perfectly for everyone at church, then when she gets home the demons come out!! She has them all duped, DUPED, I tell you!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, because I love my little girl, and I, too, believe she is a precious little angel. However, she is not perfect, and it can be very frustrating for me as her mother to have to deal with what is a serious behavior problem to me, then have people laugh in my face. I understand that they don't know her, truly, so I just try to let it roll off my shoulders. It doesn't hurt that I have this blog to vent, either.

This morning I got dressed only to realize that Emmaline had leaked through her diaper onto my last pair of clean pants. "Oh well, they don't stink; I'll just have to do laundry after I get back from running my errands", I said. I threw on my favorite warm sweater, spritzed it with my favorite perfume to cover up any residual smell from my jeans, then glanced in the mirror only to see that Emmaline had spit up on my sleeve; I, having forgotten all about it, had just folded up the sweater and put it away after having last worn it. Aaaarggh! Now I am starting to understand why some mothers are out shopping in their pajamas: they simply don't have anything else to wear! Sigh...I LOVE motherhood!!!

Here are the photos of Emmaline celebrating her first year and Christmas. I went to a place called Portrait Innovations, and, since I had been warned of what I was walking into, it was a very enjoyable experience. The girl that photographed Emmaline was very patient, professional and overall very understanding. The girl took almost 60 pictures, so it was hard to whittle it down to three. I was forced to, though, otherwise I would have ended up spending over $100. I still walked out of there having spent more than I had planned, but I am highly satisfied with the service and product I received.

I'm going to get photos of Emmaline taken today!!! Yea!!! Maybe I'll have some neat pictures to post soon. Sorry I've been so bad about writing lately. It's been getting harder and harder to get to the computer. Oh well.

A few weekends ago David was possessed by a tree spirit. It told him it wanted to be moved. I tried my best to excorsize the thing, but to no avail. (We all know how hard it is to deter David once he has set his mind on something.) He was convinced we needed to move this huge Japanese Maple from a back patio to our front yard. He and I dug the hole for it, and Michael helped David move the monster. Thank goodness Michael was here, because I know I would have been no help!



Now, we just have to wait till next year to find out if the tree actually survived the transplant.

In celebration and in mourning of summertime's passing, here are some pictures of Emmaline in her summertime dresses! She's so cute!

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!

Curse DST, and curse my lack of organization!! Curse being a first-time mother!!! There are so many little details that are so easy to overlook when trying your best to scramble through this stage of life called "Motherhood"! The time change problem just kind of snuck up on me, and I had no clue I would need to do something to prepare my child for this. In hindsight, of course I see I should have done something. Where is the "New Mother's Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Keep You and Your Baby Sane"? I did not receive one when I gave birth to Emmaline. Man did I get cheated!!

Oh well, now I am having to kind of turn the clocks forward a bit. I tried putting Emmaline to bed half an hour later than she is accustomed to going to bed, but so far it doesn't seem to be helping. Perhaps I'll have to do it in fifteen minute increments. Are any of you other mothers out there having a problem?

All Emmaline did this morning was cry: she cried because she was tired, she cried because she was hungry, she cried because she wanted a cream wafer instead of oatmeal for breakfast, she cried because I put her down when she smacked me in the face for telling her, "No, you cannot have a cream wafer for breakfast", she cried while eating her oatmeal, she cried when I changed her diaper, she cried while I was giving her a bottle of milk, and she cried when I tried to lay her down for a nap.

She's NOT having a good morning.