My Little Hunter

In an effort to get ready for deer season Taylor and Daddy got dressed up in their camouflage and headed out to G-Daddy’s field to hang their dear feeder.

Amazing Letters

If you are interested in ordering some of your own phenomenal customized letters you can contact Candice Jones at: akandypearl@hotmail.com. They will make a beautiful addition to any room and a lifelong keepsake for you or you child.

From my sister Mary: "My sister's friend Candice made these for Lucy and we are so proud to own them. They are going to look great in Lucy's room and they cordinate with her bedding perfectly. I am so excited about them!!!"

These are pictures of some name letters that a dear friend made for Miss. Emma’s room. I thought these were so amazingly well done that I would post them for everyone to enjoy. I don’t have them hanging on the wall yet because I need my husbands help, but I could not wait to put them on our Blog. The artist name is Candice and she does wonderful work. Not only does she make letters she also scrapbooks, makes cards and invitations, and just about anything that one can dream up. If you would like to contact her for ordering information just let me know – I know she would be happy to work with you.

Thank you Candice we love Emma’s name letters.

Pictures

My little balding beauty…. Miss Emma you were born with a head full of black hair but you are quickly starting to loose it on the top of your head.

I love bloomers, especially bloomers with ruffles.
You and daddy watching the first football games of the 2008 season….

So Tiny….

This was the outfit that I picked out for you to come home from the hospital in. Of course it is a unisex outfit because we did not find out your gender, but all unisex outfits tend to be too masculine. When we found out you were a girl I refused to bring you home in anything but pink. It was bad enough that I reused your brothers blue car seat, and all of his blue blankets.

Taylor the “totally awesome big brother.” Taylor “totally awesome” is your new word.

As of right now I do not have a picture of all my whole family. All of my pictures are either of the kids, of me and the kids, or of daddy and the kids. Sometime really soon I am either going to learn to use the timer on my camera or I am going to ask one of our neighbors to take a picture of the four of us. For now the next three pictures will have to do.

Our Journey without Nighttime Pull-Ups

Taylor my dear we have been trying for the past three weeks to allow you to sleep without Pull-Ups on, and it has been an interesting journey. You love the freedom of going to bed “commando” (without your underwear or Pull-Ups), but we have not mastered waking up dry. You have always loved to take a glass of water to bed with you, but we have not allowed you to have water after 7:00 since you are no longer sleeping in a Pull-Up. But last night I got you up before your dad and I went to bed so you could go to the bathroom, and when I was putting you back in the bed you told me that “my tummy is thirsty for water”. And I explained “that if we were going to be able to sleep without a Pull-Up on that you could not have any water.” So you began to argue with me (in the sweetest voice ever) by saying that “I have plants inside me and I have to water them or they are going to die.”

You are such a funny little boy. I just don’t know where you come up with the things that you say – especially at 11:00 at night after being woken up from a deep sleep. I love you, and promise that we are going to master this sleeping thru the night without an accident.

Home with Both Children

At about 8:30 this morning I receive a call from Taylor’s teacher (30 minutes after his daddy had dropped him off at school) saying that Taylor was not feeling well and his ear was really bothering him. Because I had been up since 3:30 a.m. with Emma I had not had time for a shower, and she was due for a feeding, so I called Ryan to pick up Taylor for me. Well that meant that I had both of my children all day long and I had been up since 3:30. I love my children very much but this has made for a very long day. I just have to say that my hat goes off to all of the stay at home moms that do this everyday. I’m not sure I would be very good at it (or very pleasant when the day was over and for my husband when he came home from work each day).

This brings me to my next thought of the day: I am so thankful that I am able/allowed to take off 12 weeks from work. Some days I feel that Emma and I are on the verge of developing a routine and then we have nights like last night (where she is up half of the night). I do love my job very much and I look forward to going back, but I am so glad that I still have more time to be with Emma to work on our routine. Because after a night like last night I’m not sure that I would be able to function very well at work.

First TV Show for Emma 8/26/08

Miss. Emma today you watched your first Baby Einstein and you loved it. Your brother was very annoyed because the show did not have any words but you absolutely loved it. Your daddy and I attribute a lot of your brother’s brilliance to those movies. We stared him on them when he was just a few weeks old and he was always the first in his class to do things (ex. talk, walk, etc,).

Mary And Lucy Come To Visit 8/26/08

Aunt Mary and cousin Lucy came to visit us again today and we had the best time!!! We made Tutu’s for you girls and had so much fun (see pictures below).

Emma Grace in her Tutu :

Aunt Mary and Lucy in her Tutu:


Emma Grace in her Tutu:

Aunt Mary was historical today (she always keeps me laughing). To catch everyone up to speed Miss Lucy has not always been a very content baby she has spent most of her first five weeks of life very fussy, and Mary has handled her so well. Mary will just sit and bounce her and rock her to help sooth her to sleep or thru her fussy times. Well evidently today Lucy had a fantastic day – she did not fuss or cry at all. Most would think this was a miracle, but not Mary. Mary came into the house with tears in her eyes and she told me what was going on and told me that she thought Lucy was sick. When I asked why she would think this she said, “this is not my Lucy, my Lucy is a fussy baby, so she must be sick.” Mary was panic stricken, but I assured her that Lucy was not sick and she must just be turning a new leave in life. We had the best visit and Miss Lucy was so precious.

Miss Emma Sleeps Thru the Night

Hip Hip Hooray Miss Emma you slept through the night last night – 7 hours!!!! You went down at 10:00 pm and got up when mom panicked and woke you up at 5:00 am. No telling what your real potential could have been if mom had not woke you up. You are such a good baby and you Daddy and I are so blessed, and thank God everyday for you and your brother.

Miss Emma Grace is 5 Weeks Old Today

Today we had to take Emma to the Doctor because she has not been feeling well. She has had lots of congestions and a really runny eye, but her checkup went well her chest sounded great and ears looked great. The doctor thinks she just has a little cold. During her checkup she weighed in at 8 lbs and 11 oz. Wow I can’t believe she has already gained 2 lbs. and 5 oz.!!!! She is getting very big.

Homework for Preschoolers

We’ll I guess it is official I guess my baby boy is growing up. Recently Taylor moved up to a new classroom at his playschool (The Blue Room) the last and final room before starting kindergarten next August. Last Monday Taylor was given his first homework assignment which consisted of five worksheets all due the following Monday (tomorrow). I have to admit that from a parents perspective, homework sucks, and I am not looking forward to the real thing come next year. Of course in true fashion we did wait until tonight (the night before it is due) at 6:30 to start it. It was like pulling teeth to get Taylor to work through it. We have very good intentions to start really early next week. We’ll follow up and post whether or not that really happens.

Taylor baby you’re a little bit lazy because you kept saying “No mommy you do it, you color it, you glue it.” But we finally got through it and you did it all by yourself.

Back to School Shopping for Taylor

Well we’re not quiet there yet but we did do some fall shopping for Mr. Taylor today and the whole time all I could think about was next year at this time we will really be doing Kindergarten shopping for my little man. Taylor I can’t believe how fast you are growing up and that you really will be going off to Kindergarten next year. While I was shopping for you today I had to buy 5T’s because the 4T’s just don’t fit you anymore – they are all high waters. I love you little guy and I thank God everyday for blessing me with you.

Mary and Lucy Visit 8/21/08

Yesterday Mary and Lucy came to visit us again, and Aunt Mary and I crafted as much as we could in between feedings and diaper changes. We made great big hair bows and attempted to make tutus for you girls.

Miss Emma Grace One Month Old 8/21/08

Miss Emma I can’t believe it has already been one month since you made your debut into this big beautiful world. Time goes so fast when you’re raising your babies. Over the last month you have already outgrown all of your preemie clothes, starting sleeping 5-6 hours thru the night, almost starting giving a sincere smile, almost outgrown your newborn diapers, and most importantly grown a huge role in all of our hearts. I just can’t remember what life was like without you in it, and I’m not sure how we functioned without you just one month ago. I love you so much and I am so thankful that you are finally here. We are going to have so much fun in life.

My Little Talker

Taylor today Ms. Deb sent home an incident report stating “that during naptime you kept interrupting the group by talking and you would not stop talking even with you were asked by your teachers.” When I was talking to you about this incident, in the car on the way home, and asking you “why you would talk during naptime even when the teachers had asked you not?” Your response was simply “I’m just a big talker mom – you have always know this.” I could not help but to laugh to myself at your comments (I’m so thankful that you were in the back seat and could not see the simile on my face). Sometime it is very difficult to discipline you because you are just so funny.

Aunt Emily’s 21st Birthday Celebration

Saturday we all got together and celebrated Emily’s 21st birthday a few weeks early, since Emily is getting ready to leave us to go study abroad in Praha, Czech Republic. (We are going to miss you so much sis – please be super careful during your travels.) Well we all wanted to get Emily some adult beverages to celebrate with but you Taylor had other ideas. You thought it would be extra special to get her some “roses,” so we made a special trip to the store so you could pick some out for your Aunt Emily. And you were so proud of yourself when you presented them to her.


Taylor and G-Daddy playing with the train set:

Question from Taylor

Taylor this morning you asked me how many bathrooms we had in our house? My response was “Taylor you tell me how many bathrooms we have.” You said, “well we have two, one for you and Daddy and one for me.” Out of curiosity I asked you if you were going to share your bathroom with Emma Grace and your response was “Of Course I’ll share my bathroom with sissy.” You are such a sweet and thoughtful little boy and I could not be prouder of you.

All Girl Outing

Well today my mom and sister Emily treated me, Mary, Lucy, and Emma to a trip to Fayetteville so we could hit some of our favorite hot spots. We visited Target, TJ Maxx, The Mall, Bella Jacks, and of course lunch at the Olive Garden. It was a wonderful tip but let’s just say that Emma and Lucy had their own agenda and it did not necessarily correspond with ours. But all in all it was a fun day hanging out with the girls and getting out of the house. See a picture of our favorite purchase below!!!

Thanks mom and Emily for putting up with us and our children all day today. We truly had a blast.


Our new bow:

Watermelon Princess: You hated the hat that went with this outfit, you kept pulling it over your eyes. Plus the dress was too big for you. You have outgrown all of your premie clothes and now the Newborn sizes are just too big.

Emma and her Manna:

Six Year Anniversary

Yesterday Ryan and I celebrated our Six Year Anniversary. Since Emma is only four weeks old and we are nursing we did not feel it appropriate to find a sitter to go out, so we decided to do something to celebrate with the whole family. We packed up and took Taylor and Emma to Shogun for dinner. Taylor had so much fun watching the show and the chef “put fire on it.” He surprised both Ryan and me by eating his whole meal with his chopsticks. It was such a wonderful anniversary and I am so happy that our children could celebrate with us.

I love you so much Ryan and this has been the best six years of my life - thank you so much for my amazing children!!!

Funny Taylor Stories

Taylor yesterday you came into our room and climbed in our bed at about 6:00 in the morning and you were wide awake and of course dad and I wanted a few more minutes of sleep, so we turned cartoons on for you. At one point we heard you say “I love TV, TV is so great.” Then about one hour later we heard you say “alright absolutely no more TV” as you turned off the set. Thanks for the extra sleep!!!

Today after I finished feeding your sister I sat the Boppy down on the floor, and before I knew it you had picked it up and were walking around the room with it on your belly saying “I am a lady.” You are the funniest child I have ever met.

Aunt Mary and Cousin Lucy

Yesterday my beautiful sister and her precious baby girl Lucy came to visit Emma and me. We had so much fun watching movies and devouring a whole pizza. This type of behavior is going to make it difficult to loose the rest of this pregnancy weight, but fun the time spent with Mary and Lucy is well worth it.





This was about the time that Emma started to nurse Lucy’s cheek: