I just finished reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. It is a fascinating look into the lives of two Chinese women in the 1800s. It truly makes me grateful that I was born in the time/place that I was! I highly recommend reading this book.


I'd like to read her other books as well, but I have so many others lined up that they'll have to wait. I also recently finished reading Wuthering Heights, just in time to watch the theatrical version on PBS' Masterpiece Theater. I have a compilation of the Bronte sisters complete novels, and I've been making my way through them. Prior to Wuthering Heights I read Jane Eyre. It's fun to read the classics. They are so beautifuly written and they way they use language is a lost art.

The other things going on our lives right now is recovering from our second round of colds. Adam got it first, then Daniel got hit hard. As soon as I felt my throat get sore I started on Zicam, and I have to say, it has made a HUGE difference in how severe my cold got. My throat didn't get very sore, then I got just a few sniffles and that's it. I'm now a believer in this product! And on closer inspection of the package I see that they are based in Scottsdale, neat.
~Emily~

I made the above picture in Scrapblog. If you haven't been there yet, you should, it's awesome, easy, and so addictive. I have spent many an hour on there when I should have been in bed sleeping. It's my new guilty pleasure...at least it's calorie free! I'm working on a scrapbook to document Adam's first year. I can't wait to see it all done so I can print it in book form. Of course, I have 3 more months of pictures yet to take.

Lately naptime has been a big struggle. Adam has always taken at least 2 naps a day (9am and 1pm) and they usually would be about 1 1/2 hrs each. But lately (the past week and a half), his naps have been more like 20-30min each. That's not good. Even though he sleeps well through the night (down by 7:15, up by 7am), he's still grumpy the rest of the day. And forget about a third nap, that's not happening. I don't know what to do. I was thinking maybe he just needs to eliminate the first nap of the day and only take one afternoon nap, but he's so tired by 9am (super grumpy and rubbing his eyes like crazy) that I don't think he's ready to only take an afternoon nap. But the short naps are killing me! They're not long enough for me to get anything done or have any real time to myself, and definately not long enough for him. I feel like I've tried everything to get him to extend them longer but to no avail, any suggestions???

~Emily~

Happy New Year everyone! 2008 was a great year for us as we were blessed with our son Adam, so 2009 has a lot to live up to.

We kicked off the day with brunch as Grandma's house, where Adam enjoyed scooting around chasing her cat. He's becoming more and more mobile each day. He really enjoys using his new Leapfrog toy to get up on his knees.


Daniel stayed home with Adam while my mom and I went to see Valkyrie. Even though going into it you already know the ending (the plot to kill Hitler fails), it was still riveting. At the end of the movie it mentions that Stauffenberg's wife and kids survived the war. His wife, Nina von Stauffenberg died in 2006, so it seems she led a long life. I was hoping to find a book about what happened to her and her children after her husband's execution, but I only found scant info on Wikipedia. Anyhow, it really makes you wonder how differently WWII could have ended had he succeeded in his attempt.

Well, to end this post on a lighter side, Adam's shirt says it all (and it's so very, very true).


~Emily