A Very Good Week

It's been a very good week in Lovelace-land. A very good week indeed!

1. Chris has had the entire week off of work. It's been wonderful to have him home all day long. We've worked on house projects, been to the zoo and the Norfolk Harborfest, and just enjoyed being around each other after 2 months apart.


Mommy and Emma by the fountains at the Virginia Zoo

2. We finished our "Extreme Makeover: Master Bedroom Edition" and it looks fabulous. We keep saying, "Wow! It looks like an adult sleeps here!" Goodbye mismatched college mish-mash. Hello new furniture, new paint, new pictures, and new bedding. Happy 5th anniversary to us!

Our beautiful new grown-up bedroom

3. Speaking of our 5th anniversary, Chris took me out on a real-live date to celebrate it last Thursday night. Definition of "real-live": HE planned it. HE picked the restaurant (456 Fish in downtown Norfolk), HE planned the evening (Prince Caspian at 9PM), HE took care of childcare. HE did it all. All I was was told was to be "dressy casual" ready at 6. I felt very loved. And lucky. I loved it.

4. Our wonderful friends the Jacobs are in town! My childhood best friend Sarah, packed up her entire crew (3 kiddos!) and drove to Norfolk this weekend to visit her husband who taking a 3-week class at the Norfolk Naval Base. Nathan came over for dinner on Wednesday, we all had lunch at Chili's on Saturday, and the entire Jacob clan came over for burgers tonight along with our dear friends the Tabors. It is SO wonderful to spend time with old, dear, familiar, comfortable friends and Emma enjoyed having friends over to play with. We actually saw her get a little more assertive than usual when one friend tried to steal her "Doggies" book. You go girl. Why don't we party like this more often?

Isabel Tabor, Emma Lovelace, and Elliana Jacob in awe of the latest Baby Einstein

5. Emma is eating like a rockstar. We are down to using her tube only for hydration purposes (as in, if she doesn't drink much water during the day). To go from having a kid who is 100% tube-fed to having a mostly normal eater is insane. In a good, blissfully wonderful way. It's night and day - like having a different kid. She has also decided that she is now old enough to feed herself. We think the percentage of food that actually reaches her mouth is very low, but it's a riot to watch. Baths are becoming a daily occurance in our home and for those of you who know me well...that's saying a lot.

Our messy girl particularly appreciates Spaghetti-O's.

6. Emma's hair is getting so long that I am now able to style her hair into many cute new dos. How in the world did we get a kid this cute? And...she sits patiently through her daily AM hairstyling. Mostly. Look closely at the "Baby Einstein" photo for a glimpse of a pigtail.

7. EMMA IS WALKING! It's true! She started taking her first steps during our time in Anacortes, much to the satisfaction of her many west coast admirers. The morning of daddy's homecoming, I caught her standing up all by her big girl self. Now she's all over the place. It is truly a miraculous thing to watch your child grow and change. Now that I'm not so afraid of her or worrying about the next medical disaster, I am REALLY beginning to enjoy her. She's so amazing. Is parenting really this much fun, or are we just extra-blessed?

8. Lastly, we are praising God for the good news we received on Friday. Chris was selected to be a "Department Head" in a Prowler squadron. This is the position we were desperately hoping and praying he would get as it will take us back to our beloved Anacortes. Although we don't know exactly when we will be moving, we are guessing it will most likely be sometime between February and May of 2009. We couldn't be more thrilled or thankful for the opportunity to head back "home." In addition, Chris is practically giddy about re-joining a squadron again. Not only will he be flying regularly once more, but the comraderie of a squadron can't be beat!