A Good Week

I frequently say that I don't know where the week goes. And often I don't, but this past week I do. Emi and I played ALL.WEEK.LONG. And it was fabulous. We were at the park (the same one from my Father's Day post) almost every day. We had a picnic lunch there one day, but the other days we just went for our walk/run and enjoyed the cool breezes coming off the river. Our usual walk is now Mama pushing the stroller (with child in it) on the way 'there' (wherever there happens to be that day). Then we sit in one of the swings for a bit, maybe have a snack and definitely have some water (this gal drinks water ALL day long ... we should weigh a full diaper sometime). We swing, chat, talk about what we see (we worked on bird last week, as the seagulls were sure Emi was going to share whatever she was eating ... NOT!). She repeated, sorta, the word a couple of times but has yet to repeat again. Ah well, talking will come in time and then I will beg her to be quiet! {smile} After the break, Mama again pushes the stroller ... while trying to keep up with Miss Emi who is now on the loose! Mama's only *very* strict rule is that Emi is not allowed on the grass between the walkway and the water (well, and not rushing up to dogs, but Emi doesn't know that yet, Mama just picks her up for now). Mainly as, if she is in the grass and stumbles it would be too easy for her to keep rolling right into the water. It's a safety thing, and Mama is quite strict about safety. Something that Emi is learning even at this young age. Other than that, she can run on the other side of the walkway in the grass, run on the sidewalk (and yes, we've had a few scraped knees, she will learn) and met some pretty fun people. She spent almost 30 minutes one day last week with two gals (about 17 or 18) who were sitting on their skateboards talking to their mom and her friend. While I chatted with the ladies, Miss Emi got over her shy and had the time of her life with the two gals *and* their skateboards. She was able to get across to them that she wanted to stand on the skateboard while holding their hands and then wanted to walk from one skateboard to the other, without touching the ground. She squealed with delight when they understood what she wanted. Got down, clapped at them, got back up and did it ... again and again and again. Wish I had had the idea the snap some pictures of this, darn it. But she so enjoyed herself and I enjoyed talking with adults!

Note: The photos are from Tuesday the 17th, and yes, it's all about the accessories.
Just ask Emi.

The other thing that we did last week was to visit the County Clerk's Office. We even took daddy with us! That is the first step in the readoption process here in our county (and as I've been told, each county in Washington has different steps/requirements). Now that we've filed our paperwork and been given a case number, we can schedule our post-placement visit with our social worker. We have a court date in late July when (one would hope) Emi will be declared ours, again, and she will receive a Washington State birth certificate. After that, we will get her passport (which we could have done before this, we just choose to get her State ID first instead) and then ... ta da!, we are done! She had a great time in the clerk's office, charming all the ladies and even the grumpy guy who came in to pay his speeding ticket. After that, we dropped daddy off at work and went to lunch (daddy didn't have time that day). Then, back to the park! A great day.

However, by Friday we needed a day to just be. Laundry was piling up (how could two and a half people go through *this* much laundry?!), the house was in shambles and Emi was missing her toys. While she loves to go and do, she also loves to play with her toys. When we would get home each day, no matter what time, she would greet her toys like long lost friends and play play play (too cute). So, Friday was spent catching up. Mama with the house and Emi with her toys. Another good day.

Saturday, Jeff and I tackled some more of the house, working on my Before & After project along with a couple of other projects (a run to the recycling center to drop off a bunch of stuff and a run to the Goodwill drop off truck, with another run planned for today). I realized (and made the correction on my post) that BooMama was giving us a month to get our lists done, not the week I thought (duh Kiy, reading comprehension!). So I decided to do each thing on my list a bit more in depth. Forever ago I purchased three (to start) large plastic stacking containers with lids. One each for Christmas, Fall (Fall, Halloween & Thanksgiving) and Spring (Spring & Easter). As we were working on item #2 on my list, I would add things to the boxes. It's something I have wanted to do for months and I am quite pleased to have that project done! They are now in the spot where there boxes were, as right now I don't want them in the garage. But at some point my goal is to have everything that is being stored in containers like that, and labeled! Emi helped and played with her toys, so she also enjoyed the day. Although I think today, while we hope to get a few more things done, we are also going to try to get to the park. Daddy needs to be walked, after all!