Just call me Auntie Emmy for the month of September 🙂
It’s almost been 1 week since I arrived in Mesa, Arizona to spend this month with my sister, Nora, brother-in-law, Travis, niece, Kate, and nephew, Grant. Meeting Grant was the highlight of my arrival, but in some ways, I felt like I was “re-meeting” Kate, too. She has grown up SO much since I saw her last (on her 1st birthday in June, 2009) and is talking up a storm.
So, my parents stayed for a long weekend, and have since gone home already, but I am now settling into ‘family life’…it’s quite a simple routine: get up early, breakfast, play-time, early lunch, nap-times, more afternoon play-time and usually a trip to the pool, then dinner, bath-time, bedtimes songs and stories, and early to sleep. Last night, I went to bed at 8:30pm, and then woke up at 5am to drink some coffee and watch the beautiful sunrise!
In addition to regular life, Nora and I are potty-training Kate! I made Kate a Potty Chart, and if she gets 50 stickers for going 50 times on the regular toilet, her Mommy has promised her this special Mermaid Barbie. Whoa. What a treat. Nora and I NEVER got to play with Barbies 🙂 Haha. On Day 1 (yesterday), Kate got 10 stickers, so she is a natural. Although, she DID decide to take her “long call,” as they say in Uganda, OUTSIDE in the back-yard 🙂 Whoops. We had to teach her that that is where doggies go, not little girls. Our little homemade song is also a hit (set to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
Tinkle, tinkle, little Kate,
Find the toilet, don’t be late!
Sit and wait until you see,
Poopy brown or yellow pee,
Then, wipe and flush and wash your hands –
Each day we’ll go back again!
Anyways, all is well here in Mesa. It has been so wonderful to not only play “Auntie Emmy” every day, but also to just be living life with my sister, Nora. She has become an incredible mother, and I am so proud of the way she is just so loving, patient, kind, and selfless. And, all the while, maintains a delicious menu for our dinners – last night was homemade Fish Taco’s (credit to Travis for the awesome fish-frying techniques!), green tomatillo salsa and lime chips, cilantro dip, limes, and cabbage salad.
But, even amazing mothers need to get OUT of the house 🙂 So, tonight I am babysitting the two kiddo’s while Travis and Nora go out to their Bible Study group…and I plan to take Kate next week on a special day-date with Auntie Emmy to Anthropologie. Yes, shopping + girltime with the little munchkin 🙂 Here, Anthro offers a special Wed. “arts and crafts” time for kids while mothers want to shop…so, I figured I would take advantage of THAT deal.
More pictures to come soon!