The next phase

I am confident that one thing will soon become clear to all of you and so I'm just going to fess up right off the batt...Esme has four Godmothers!! I've come clean I've said it...there were too many wonderful women in our lives to choose from.
Perhaps it's my own lack of Godparents coupled with all the amazing stand in mothers I've had over the years but, in retrospect I'm as thrilled as I could be that this strong willed young girl will grow up surrounded by such a wonderful, diverse group of role-models! Not that they wouldn't be there anyway but we just wanted to make sure ;)
Personally I also think it's hillarious that she also has 1 Godfather and when I think about him, in my head he is always The Godfather (you know there's this Italian, jersey voice that says it like in the movie)...anyway all this to say that in one short week Esme saw all four of her Godmothers, who incidentally live in four different states pretty much covering the four corners of the country.
You already saw the pictures of Amy (from Chicago) and Sara (from Denver).
Next we went to Emily's ordination to the Priesthood in Louisville, this also incidentally was my first time in Louisville and it was pretty exciting to me to visit a city I've never been to, that doesn't happen to me very often anymore!
Emily, and Esme's fourth Godmother Kit were both at General Seminary in New York while we were there for Andrew's last year. On more than one occasion confused fellow students had to ask Andrew or I exactly how many people lived in our apartment as Kit and Emily pretty much had their own keys and acted as live-in nannies/dog love givers/sanity providers (like the night the three of us did baby yoga with Esme while drinking our chocolate martini's, but that's totally a different story). Kit and Emily were there for most of my labor, Emily kept Francis for the first few weeks we were home, when he was convinced we had brought home a small woodland creature that he should be playing with.
Anyway, we went to Emily's beautiful ordination in Louisville and enjoyed 3 beautiful days playing at the park, relaxing, walking around Emily's neighborhood, eating caramel frosted upside down cupcakes from the pie kitchen (best thing ever and not to be missed if you find yourself in Louisville). Most importantly we finally go to meet Chloe, Emily's dog (who is much better behaved than our two monsters) and Esme and I got to present Emily for her ordination, along with other friends and family and were very proud to be there and support her. Calvary is a lucky church to have her and it was great to see a slice of her life.

From there it was on to Phoenix which definitely requires a post of it's own so more to come tomorrow!
Esme is getting better and better at the slide


Sharing a little laugh


A little dance

A little dip

Esme and Emily after their little dance

Our future with Esme as simply a blur upon the church carpet

Funny little Esme

A Bubble Crown

I've got the next segment of our travels ready to post I'm just waiting for some pictures from friends as I am almost as delinquent in picture taking as I am in blogging.

So I thought I'd get us through the down time by relaying my favorite new Esme doings.

• Often lately Esme will pick up a book go sit down and commence saying "do do do do do do do" as she turns through the pages. (This sometimes make me think perhaps I sound like the grownups on Peanuts when I'm reading to her but it is too cute!)
• A few nights ago as we got ready for bed I set Esme down on the bed and said "lets read our nigh nigh books", while I went and turned off the overhead light she grabbed the book we always read first, opened it emphatically in her lap and said Oh-Kay!
• We've been practicing counting by starting to count the "three little bears sitting in chairs" when we read Goodnight Moon every night. Every time we get to that page I point to the bears individually and say "One, Two, Three" then Esme points to each of the bears and says "Two, Two, Two".
• Sara our babysitter reported that yesterday when they were out for a walk Esme saw a tractor coming toward them from a work site, she proceeded to make kissing noises for the full two minutes it took for the tractor to pass them and turn the corner, this is a love affair I never would have anticipated.

• Ever since Esme learned how easy it was to say her Auntie Anna's name (back in January) she has been insistent on repeating that name as often as possible. Anyone with brown hair is Anna, anyone who's name starts with "A" is Anna, when I do something she doesn't like she screams out "Anna" (as if she will rush in and save her). Esme is intent on repeating every word we say and learns 2-3 new words a day, the one word she will not repeat no matter how hard we try? Her name...every time we try, no matter who tries, she insists on calling herself Anna! She even says it with that I know I'm doing what I want, not what you want glimmer in her eye as she looks so proud!

Mmm...Mashed Potatoes!

so much...so much

We have returned from our adventures and our return was almost as crazy as our adventures themselves. It's been a little tough getting back into work, Easter Church was a bit overwhelming and finally we've had some beautiful weather that we had to get outside and enjoy!
I think I have enough for about 5 blog postings so I'll split everything between a few days and give everyone an update on what we've been up to.
Most importantly Esme IS healthy again...even after my last update there was about four more days of vomiting. Just when I was about to throw up my hands and take her back to the ER it finally stopped. Luckily our babysitter's Mom is a pediatrician so she was talking me through things and reassuring me it would end and there was seemingly no reason for her prolonged vomiting, given the lack of other symptoms I was describing.
The only vestiges left from her long bout of illness is the severe attachment to me she developed while sick. I think I held her literally almost every moment for about four days straight, I've finally recovered from the sore muscles and sheer mental/emotional toll but Esme still has an idea that I need to be around at all times and preferably holding her most of the time, this is totally a new thing for her and I'm looking forward to it being a brief phase.
The other new phase we are experiencing is the terrible twos (already) her favorite word is "no" which she can say with a laugh or with serious conviction. she has also taken to throwing herself toward the ground if she's not getting what she wants. Usually I just gently lay her there and walk away (when we're not in a crowded public area) and that seems to be working pretty well.

So now onto some pictures and narrative from our fun adventures!

Esme's Godmother Aimee came to visit us for the weekend during her spring break, we had a great time hanging out, playing and seeing some Philadelphia sights (like Trader Joes for instance :) )

A few days before we left Esme's Godmother Sara came into town and we all got to have lunch and play a little together, lucky for us Sara, Kathleen and their new baby will be moving to NJ at the end of the summer so we have many more get-togethers to come!

The weekend before our trip Andrew and I got our first night away from Esme, thanks to Steve and Anna, and we went to Washington DC for the night, we had a great time, saw some sights and just relaxed!I think Steve, Anna and Esme may have had more fun than we did!

Andrew and I in front of the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial