~Happy Birthday, Emery!~

Not only do I feel like I just finished this similar post about Noah, but especially this one about Kayt.

Alas... our baby girl, Emery Claire, is turning two.  

My how the days are passing quickly. Sigh. 

24 Things I love about my 24 month old...

24. You are the fiercest child we've known.  You play fierce, live fierce, love fierce.
23. You love your Bubba and Sissy.  When you need consoling or loving on, you easily choose them over me and you sink into their arms. They love knowing that they can give you comfort and love.
22. You are a great sleeper! Each night when I lay you down, we say how much Jesus loves you and how thankful I am for you.  Then, just as your lip starts to quiver because you want to stay up and play, I ask you if you want to wake up tomorrow and have a really fun day.  You're eyes get really big and you shake that cute little head "YES" in excitement.
21. Your favorite song to sing is Wheels on the Bus. You get especially excited about the horn honking. :) You also like doing sign language to Jesus Loves Me.
20. You're smile is contagious.
19. When we go shopping, you never like to ride in a stroller or basket.  You think you are WAY too big for things like that.
18. You LOVE to play baby dolls.  You are such a nurturer and use great detail in caring for them.
17. You've developed your own language that only I know well.  I love that we have a secret way of communicating.
16. You're beautiful golden blonde hair.  I love the way it strings across your face when you wake up in the mornings and you swipe it back with your hands.
15. I love your cute hands.  When you point to all the things you see, my heart melts with each point of your finger.
14. You have strong opinions.  I love knowing that you will always be a girl who knows the things she loves and goes hard after them.
13. You love to take pictures with my camera. Each picture I take of you is quickly followed by, "Me see?"
12. The way you wrap your little arms around my neck and press your face against mine is the best thing in the world.
11. You are very coordinated and active.  I think we have another athlete on our hands.
10. You want to do *everything* that your sister does, from small things to big, you want to be just like "Tayt".
9. You love your pacifier (ba-ba) and blanket (gankey).
8. You love to eat on the go.  You would never join our family for a meal if it were up to you.  You would rather roam the house and tend to your baby dolls with raisins in hand.
7. Your favorite thing to eat is yogurt.  I have to cut you off or you would eat a refrigerator full each day.
6. Each day when you wake up, the first thing you say is, "Bubby cool?"  wanting to know if you've missed Noah leaving for school.
5. You LOVE the movies Tangled and The Grinch.
4. You're love to stay up at night after Noah and Kayt are asleep and snuggle on the couch with Mommy and Daddy. And you usually find a way to convince Daddy to let you have some type of inappropriate snack, like cookies. :)
3. You are so funny and have a great sense of humor.  You love to tease people and play jokes, just to get a laugh.
2. Those looks.  Oh, the many faces of Emmy. You can change your faces from happy to sad to mad to silly in a matter of moments.  You keep us all on our toes and I know that there is so much to you that we have yet to discover.  You are energetic and fast moving and always up for adventure.  We've only just begun to discover the immense life that is inside of our girl.
1. Emery Claire means powerful clarity.  We've prayed that you have great clarity into the supernatural, that the Lord leads you through life with clear vision of Him, and that he speaks powerfully inside of you about his plans for you and the people He will use you to impact.

Happy Birthday, Emmy girl! 

You are adored by many.

Baby Girl Isn't Really a Baby Anymore:

My lovely Emery is fourteen months old.  She loves being chased through the house.  Her favorite way to eat is on-the-go;  a cracker in one hand and her blanket in the other and the girl thinks all is right in the world.  She is smart as can be, loves to play peek-a-boo and has a cheesy grin that only her daddy can pull out of her.  She has the sweetest little hands and puts her face into them when she wants to show that things are not happening according to her plan.  Her favorite time of day is when she hears the garage door raise. She knows it is followed by Brad walking through the door and  she greets him with the most intense excitement.  She loves to be rolled on the floor and tickled by her siblings.  She is the most adventurous and care free of our children.  She delights in being outside and loves no place more than her bed.  She cherishes each suck on her paci and still takes a bottle of milk at bedtime (I know, I know).  She won't touch green beans, but loves pizza, eggs, blueberries, and oranges.  She eats with a spoon like a master.  She is funny and witty.  Brad and I agree that she may be the family comedian.  She has a captivating demeanor, a sweet temperament and enough charm to win a war.  She is determined and loving.  She is reckless beyond measure and on any given day she had a slew of bruises to prove it.  She is loud, yet sneaky.  She loves water and dirt; she plays with baby dolls and matchbox cars.  She thinks the kitchen cabinet contents were placed there for her enjoyment and can often be found rummaging through the pantry.  She is the link our family never knew it was missing.  She cherishes her Daddy's attention, loves making her Bubba laugh, watches every move her Sissy makes and spends much of her day in the arms of her Momma.  Emmy girl, you make my heart twirl!  

sKIDders

I found these cute shoes at Target and wanted to try them for my active fourteen-month-old.  Emery loves them.  They are perfect for toddlers.  

Overall, Emmy is not lover of shoes like her Mamma (hoping that will change) so I was relieved to find that she wears them without hassle.  She even brings them for me to put on her.  

Target didn't have many design choices, but I found a bigger selection here. 

Aren't those cute feet? 

I wanted to share our fun, new find.  

Pick up a pair for a toddler near you!

Emery Claire turned ONE!

Where does the time go?

Since the last post, Emmy had a birthday.  It's terrible that I am just now posting the pictures of my girl's birthday from December 15th.

Her cake love was a given considering her affinity for sugar. 

There was even a bit of snow on the ground to help us gear up for our Winter ONEderland.

It feels like only last month I was staring at this sweet, tiny face. 

But she has grown so fast and is the loveliest of beauties.  

She has the sweetest temperament, loves action, is rarely still and is the most adventurous of our children. 

At one, some of Emmy's favorite things are:

~ standing on the bathroom stool and combing her hair

~talking on my phone

~playing peek-a-boo

~her pacifier and blanket

~when Daddy walks in the door after work

~climbing, climbing, climbing on anything. The fireplace, the table, her high chair,  the bench, the ottoman... if it sets more than one foot off of the ground, she climbs it. 

~playing in Noah and Kayt's rooms

~toy cars

~taking a bath

~ playing at the park

Whe weighs 22lbs, is in the 95th percentile for her height, 50-75th percentile for her weight and has a head in the 97th percentile, making putting a shirt on a daunting task.  

She says:

Momma

Da-Da

Bye Bye

Bite

Bu-bu-bu-bu (Bubba)

Kayyy (Kayt)

Pop

Uh oh

Ba Ba (bottle)

Night Night

It's fun being this girl's Momma!!!

~Happy first year, Emmy girl~

November Today, December Tomorrow

Happy post-Thanksgiving! 

Our family had a fun, low-key day. My favorite kind.  

And call me nuts, but I did a bit of impromptu Black Friday shopping with my MIL and SIL.  We headed out at 9:30 p.m., yes p.m., on Thursday and shopped until about 4:30 a.m., yes a.m.  It was really last minute and we had no intentions of staying out that late, but one thing led to another and before I knew it I was crawling into bed just before 5am.  I won't go into details about setting off Brad's car alarm  and waking up all three of our children, and probably our neighbors for that matter, when I got home.  It's not healthy for me to stay up so late. It adds to my, already scatterbrained, problem.   

But... I did almost complete my Christmas shopping, which is great seeing as I have a 1st birthday party to plan soon.

What in the world? Emmy is already almost ONE! I'm baffled by where the last year has gone. 

 I am going to have to prepare myself for celebrating a birthday that falls in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I've made a mental note of the things that friends with December birthdays have told me.  

1. Don't wrap her presents in Christmas paper.

2. Don't combine Christmas and birthday gifts.

3. ...

That is all that I can remember. Obviously I wasn't listening too well.  But I figure that I have a few years to figure this out before she starts holding it against me. Ha!   

I can hardly believe that there is only one day left in November, but bring on December. This time last year, our house was full of people giddy about December. December meant that our 'baby sister' was coming! And now, December means that our baby sister has graced our lives for a full year. 

Two births that I love to celebrate, Jesus and Emery!

**December**

Something Fierce

Guess who is as cute as can be?

Emmy girl is five months old.

Her giggles are easy to rouse.

Her smiles, even easier.

She is trying to sit up. 

She is such a content, sweet natured beauty.

She isn't digging any foods, but I am hoping that changes soon.

She sleeps twelve plus hours per night.

She naps three times during the day.

Her favorite past time is sucking her toes.

She is a trickster with the pacifier. She pulls it out, puts it in, and spins it while in her mouth. 

She is most content when our house is loud.

She is a undeniably a Momma's girl, but reserves sweet cuddles for Daddy.

This is the sweetest baby. 

And she is mine to care for.

~I love her something fierce.~

Double Vision

One of my many favorite things about having two children of the same gender is this...

(E)

It is fun to let Emery wear outfits that used to belong to her older sister.

It brings back so many sweet, sweet memories.   

(K)

These pictures were taken exactly two years apart.  

Emery is three months old & Kayt was (almost) six months old.  

(E)

I also love how Emery weighs the same at three months (13.3 lbs) as Kayt did at six months (13.8 lbs). 

Kayt was my tiny girl and Emmy is my chunky monkey. 

(K)

It has worked out perfectly because now they were the same clothing at the same time which makes them resemble even more.  

I found this too. 

Old house. Long hair. Baby girl number one. 

Look how far we've come!

The Baby

This is my eleven-week-old. 

She is an absolute joy! I would venture to call her my most laid-back child. She is content and  happy.  We only hear from her when she has an upset tummy which is usually followed by a nice, smelly present. :) 

She sleeps between eight and nine hours each night and is a very efficient eater. She lets her brother and sister kiss, pat, rub, and hug her all day.  She loves her swing and is happy to spend a large portion of her time there.  The noise and chaos of our home don't phase her in the slightest. 

Her smiles are easy to rouse.  She is alert and playful, but gets frustrated with tummy time.  She loves her pacifier and bath time although baths are few and far between. Ha! She has made our family feel complete and I love having a newborn around again.  She is so precious. And best of all, people say that she looks like me. This is music to my ears since my older two are told daily how much they look like their Daddy. After three pregnancies and three births, I am getting credit. And it's fun! 

So Pleased

Look what came...

Isn't it perfect?

The canvas turned out great!  I ordered an 11 x 14. 

If you have not already taken advantage of this offer, you should. 

Try, Try and Try Again

I'm not good at this. This blog-thing, that is. I used to be and I still want to be, but there are too many other important things pulling for my time and affection.

I've considered doing away with it since few people still read and since I am so unfaithful, but I just cannot part with it, not yet anyways. I get too much joy from re-visiting old posts and the details of our life's past to call it quits. Plus, my goal in starting it was to document our lives, my thoughts, our memories and taking life slower. I was reminded of that as I read my very first post (which will be exactly two years ago in two days).

On this almost-blogiversary, I want to pull myself back to this place and hold myself accountable to something that I love, my life. I want to share our highs and lows. Even if only for me to re-visit in the future.

The month of January has been one of many emotions for me. Shortly after the holidays, our Emery Claire was put in the hospital with a low fever. It was a hard time for me even after we realized that Emery's problem was easily treatable. The pediatric ward is not a fun place to visit. It lacks the excitement and charm (if you can call it that) of the labor and delivery floor. Seeing many children who would stay longer than our 48-hour visit broke my heart. So many mothers and fathers worry about far more than an ear infection or reflux.

But today, this cute girl is doing so well. After a short hospital stay, a sonogram and testing, we found out that she has urinary reflux. It is a fairly common problem that she takes a daily antibiotic to combat.

At six weeks, Emery is sleeping 7 hours at night, happy most all the time, loves her swing and laying on the floor and adjusting to her antibiotic. Life with three is full and fun!