Our Merry Christmas card

So it's only 5 days after Christmas, not too late to share our Christmas card is it?



Sorry the picture quality isn't great. It's a picture of a picture. And not sure if you recognized the family picture, but it was taken by shea.

The verse reads "the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy". It's true. Even through the hardship of the last two weeks, we remain joyful for the things in which we have been blessed.

Here is just a short list of those things( and sorry for all this rambling, it's been hard to go to sleep. I actually will myself to stay awake at night knowing I must get up at 615 the next morning for work. If I stay awake until my eyelids barely stay open, then going to sleep doesn't bring about such sadness. Oh, how I digress). Back to my blessings list.

I have been extremely blessed with:
-my health, the last time I was really sick was in may with a sinus infection
-a job/employer that has put up with me for four years
-wonderful neighbors who have enriched our lives
-family that lives us beyond measure
-time with my dad this fall as he worked in Tulsa for a few months
-a healthy, growing, beautiful, babbling, hungry, intuitive, curious, lovable, ornery, smiley little girl
-a loving, supportive, encouraging, hard working and giving husband
- two dogs who always smell like poop
-finding a true friend
-a wonderful life group
-seeing the beating heart of a new life and the promise that we can try again
-a roof over our heads, two steady jobs, two dependable cars, food I'm the fridge and meals on the table, enough clothes to go for weeks before needing to do laundry

Really, this last l bit of the list could go on and on. God has proven that He provides me everything I need to be the person that He desires me to become.

I will try to remember that now and always. He will not withhold nor unnecessarily give unless it is held in His master plan.

Today I feel more at peace than I have the past two weeks. I pray this continues. The more "sane" that I am, then the easier it is consistently hand things over to God. It's 1am, I hope that made sense.
If it doesn't, then I'll either delete this post or later correct my errors.


My eyes are heavy. My heart is lighter. Thanks bloggy friends for listening to my random thoughts.

Samtsirhc Yrrem

Merry Christmas from us.... To you.

Chris and I have had a very busy day, but now we are sitting in Christmas pj's (I should probably be more specific here. I'm in normal clothes, chris is in the footed jammies. J/K)

Tonight we went to our church's candlelight service. I wish I could sit here and tell you how wonderful the service was. However, Miss Emmy was a pill so we were quite occupied with keeping her entertained. Oh well, it was an experience to write down in the baby book.

So now miss priss is sound asleep and we are laying on the couch watching TU mutilate Hawaii.

Hope you are having a very Merry Christmas.

Location:Valley W Dr,Claremore,United States

15 euros...really?

#1) I may or may not have written about this before
#2) I am too lazy to look back to see if I have indeed written about this
#3) I don't like to go to sleep these days, I associate tears with my pillow
#4) So here goes, an 11:41pm post, wow- it will probably have many errors.
#5) Oh well.

Can I share with you one of the happiest days of my life?
It is June 8, 2006 (oh, dear...I hope it was the 8th...)

Anyway, that is the day a vendor at the Spanish Steps in Rome asked Chris to pay him 15 euros for roses. Seriously Roman dude....$30 for three roses?  Ugh.  I think we ended up cutting a deal, 10 euros for 3 roses.

See, isn't that a happy day?

No?  Ok, well I suppose what made that day happy is that the love of my life...well, he asked me to be the love of his life FOREVER.  And of course I said yes.  What girl wouldn't?

(please take the time to click on this picture, enlarge it and OOOH and AAAH over the flowers)

Little did I know then what kind of husband Chris would be now.  You see, my poor dear didn't date much in college.  He did have a girlfriend for just a little while before we dated (I need to thank her for refreshing some of his "how to impress a girl" skills).  Anyhow, I knew that Chris was a great boyfriend, and then a great fiance' (for a short 4 months)...but honestly he is a WONDERFUL husband.  If I could choose just one adjective to describe him as a husband it would have to be SUPPORTIVE.  Obviously he is loving, but I wanted to choose a word that really describes him.  In my journey to going back to school and eventually wanting to put school on hold for family, he supported me.  Through the many daily decisions that I make, he supports me.  When I go on a shopping spree...he supports me..hah, j/k.

But really, in our most recent chapter of life...he has been SO SO SO amazingly supportive.  Honestly, I didn't know that a man could be so in tune to how a woman is feeling.  And let me say, it's not all the time...none of us are perfect.  But he has been so sweet in checking up on me throughout the day at work, and to let me know that if I wake in the middle of the night and need to talk- he's there.  I am truly a lucky girl.

I will write more later about how great he is as a father, but tonight- I wanted to focus more on the wonderful husband side of things.

Oh, one last very RANDOM thought (as if you haven't figured out yet how random I am). I mentioned earlier that our engagement period was very short...here's our actual timeline

Dec 17, 2005: first date
June 8, 2006: He popped the question
October 21, 2006: We both said "I will"
August 6, 2009: Happy "Birth" day Emmy
Dec 17, 2010: saying goodbye to my baby (my gut tells me BOY)

Why...why a happy thing and a crummy thing both on the same day?
,
But I don't want to end this post on a sad note...so here, a pic of my baby girl when she was a baby, being so delicately loved on by her dada

And PS...the reason for the midnight blog is b/c I was trying to get my mind away from my sad state....but somehow it turned into the very thing I was trying to avoid.  I promise happier, more care free posts soon.

Already The Skeptic

I'm gonna let the pictures do most of the talking here. 

Let's just say that the visit to the jolly ole fake Santa did not go so well.

My feelings, I do have them

My last blog post was written in somewhat of a hasty manner. I don’t like much attention and I don’t like having to explain things umpteen million times. Thus, I wrote the blog post about what was happening on Friday as more of an “informative” post.

This will be more of the “insightful” post.

I’ve had a few days to think things over. The first thing I can tell you is that the daytime is easier than the nighttime. I suppose it’s because daytime keeps you busy enough to where you don’t have much time to stop and think. And even though it’s the more solemn time of day, there’s also something magical about the night too. It’s the only time Chris and I can lay there, hand in hand, face to face- whatever, and check-up on one another. Even though the physical portion of the miscarriage and D&C happened to me, I can’t forget that he shares in the emotional portion. We are both a little more emotional at night. It’s almost a simultaneous event- my head hits the pillow and a small tear (or many large ones) emerge from my tired eyes. Chris posed the question the other night, “Why do things like this have to happen?” I wish I knew the answer. All that I know is that our God still loves us the same as He did Friday morning before the appointment and that we have to trust in His decisions- however much we want to disagree.

Something I else I want to say is that I’m not as stoic as the blog sounded on Friday. I often have a tendency to get all the facts out, and then think about them, and finally display some emotions because of them. I WAS very sad, today I AM not as sad, but I MIGHT ALWAYS be a little sad. In the short month and a half that we knew about this baby we had started planning; thinking of how we’d transform the guest bedroom into Emmy’s big girl room, decided on names, looked at double strollers, received a baby gift…..ya know, all the things you do when you are expecting. It was easy to shift my mindset to having a new baby join us, it’s much harder to shift back. I would give anything to be pregnant with indigestion, 4am trips to the bathroom, and overwhelming exhaustion at the end of the day- but I know it just wasn’t meant to be.

The other realization Chris and I now have is that our daughter is such a MIRACLE. You think that since female mammals are equipped with these bodies to reproduce that it should be easy. IT’S NOT! My pregnancy with Emmy was not a breeze, and there was a small risk of premature labor because of my effacement issues. In talking to so many women about their pregnancies, it really is hard to find ones that were simply flawless. Every baby that is born is a miracle, that’s why the careless and irresponsible abortion just makes my stomach turn (but that is a subject deserving of its very own post).

Lastly, I want to thank you all for your out pouring of love. Your words, whether they were in person, over the phone, through an email, blog comment, facebook post, or text message meant the world to me. So many people offered food, company and help I am so lucky to have such an amazing support system. I have no doubt in my mind that prayers for the procedure and my body were received and answered. I couldn’t have asked for a better recovery. I amazed my nurses at my ability to function so quickly after the D&C.

The healing process has made much progress in just a few short days. I am very lucky that we were able to get into the OR Friday afternoon. Really, the physical healing is practically complete. As far as emotional healing- it’s going well too. Chris and I are focusing ourselves on each other and Emmy. We want to make sure we get all the spoiling in that is possible before we try again, and hopefully make her a big sister. Chris and I thank you for your prayers thus far, and we ask that you continue to pray for us. Mainly, we need continued peace over the situation and will need peace when we decide to try again. I can only imagine how hard the first 12 weeks of the next pregnancy will be. Again, thank you for your love. We are blessed beyond words.




I'll leave you with a picture of my baby who had an amazingly strong heart (175 beats per minute) but just wasn't compatible with further development. I am sad that our plans did not come to fruition, but also glad that the baby ( who I still think was a boy) never had to experience anything crummy in its life.

Just the Three of us

My computer is wimping out on me so please excuse any typos that WILL happen.

I'm going to make it short and sweet. Today at my Dr appointment I was 12 weeks and 4 days. We started the ultrasound and the baby looked exactly as it did at 9 1/2 weeks. There were no arms and legs, still buds, and there was definitely no heartbeat. Man, what an awful sound. Silence.

About a week ago I started feeling my symptoms subside, it kind of corresponded to the end of the first trimester. But I didn't remember ALL symptoms disappearing when I had Emmy. I just felt.......not how I thought I should be feeling. I shared my concerns with Chris this week but tried to downplay the worry. By nature I am not a worrier, so I've been a mess this past week. You couldn't see it externally, but the worry ate at my nerves and my patience. I completely went berserk on Chris last night for a no good reason. It was just the worry coming out.

So even though the news we found out this morning was sad news, I had a slight feeling of relief. I didn't have to spend every day worrying and wondering. Peace of mind really does feel good. Thank you God for restoring my sane mind.

Back to the appointment. After the ultrasound we met with the doctor and discussed options. After talking it out we opted for a D&C. It will actually be at 330 this afternoon. Pre-op begins at 130 and I should hopefully be headed home by 5ish. Just in time for rush hour traffic. If you are of the praying sort, I ask for you prayers for the anesthesiologists, doctor, and my body and that all things go well in general. Pray too for Chris as he has an emotionally heightened wife the next few days, and for Emmy-that she will
intrinsically know that my body will need to take it easy.

A few last thoughts before I end.
I'm so happy and excited for each and every one of you out there that is expecting your bundle of joy. For you first timers, it is the most amazing experience.

We will try again soon, after I have my first full cycle we are cleared to try. But I did get an rx for some birth control to keep our options open on the timing.

I know God looks out for us. And his plans were written long ago as far as my family goes. He also rocks because I believe it is more than coincidence that my sister( who lives 9 hours away in Indiana) will be in Kansas this weekend. What amazing timing.

If you see me out and about, don't feel you have to say anything profound. It's ok to acknowledge it and then we can go onto other fun topics.

Ok, that's it for the random thoughts. Thanks for making it this far and thanks for your love.

And Emmy makes three...

Well, I suppose I need to change the name of my blog.

But seeing how I haven't posted about thus baby yet or Emmy's 16 month post- it'll probably be awhile until I get to the renaming part.

I want to introduce to you, the finest looking peanut out there.



( if this picture is bad, I'll redo when I get on my computer at home)

Why the blue you ask? Well, obviously we don't know yet what the gender. And frankly I don't really care. I just had an early feeling that it was a boy, but now my mind is wavering. I'm hoping at my appointment in January( 16 weeks, 4 days) they will be able to tell.

We also have names picked out.

I will reveal when we find out the gender.

And because I posted some pictures of number two, here is a pic of number one.

16 months...the post in which I backdate.

Ok, so it's officially December 12 but I am JUST NOW doing Emmy's 16 month post. Whoops. Only 6 days late.

SO...I backdated the posting to make it look like I posted this on time. But who am I trying to kid?!?!

So here is what has been going on in our world the past month:

• Emmy has a few new words: cracker, more (signing it too), milk (sign only), bye bye tree, weeeeeeeee (that's an old one, but too cute not to mention), bah-bah (spider), soos (shoes)
• There are SO many more words that she's trying to say.  If we speak words slowly, she tries to repeat.  It's the best, but it also means we both need to start watching what we say a little more closely.  NOT referring to terribly bad words, but just ones we wouldn't want to hear come out of her sweet mouth.
• She loves looking at the fire but has never attempted to come close to it.  She stands, points and says "OOOOOOOOOOH".
• Also, when Chris and I are adding wood to the fire, Emmy loves to come and hug our backs.  She's not a huge front hugger, but she CANNOT.RESIST.HUGGING.OUR.BACKS.....odd, I know.  But I love it.
• She can take her socks and shoes off, she also tries to put them on.
• Emmy moved up a class at school and is now down to one nap a day, about 1.5-2 hours long.  This has yielded a much longer total nap time, but I think she is still missing that afternoon nap just a bit.
• Little miss thing loves the ornaments on the Christmas tree, so we have moved them all up past her reach.  She has one snowman ornament that she's allowed to hold. 
• In lieu of touching the tree and ornaments, we told Emmy to just say "HI" to everything.  So now she says HI and when we leave for school, we say "Bye Bye Tree"....actually, bye bye in general is now bye bye to the tree.
• We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up in KS with the Ensley fam.....until 7 people came down with the Great Stomach Bug of 2010.  We did not, thank you Lord.  Really........thank you Lord.
• On occasion Emmy has shown signs of temper tantrums: stomping of feet, gently throwing herself on the floor....I know this is just the beginning.  OH BOY!
• Always an outdoors girl, it doesn't matter if its 20 degrees, that's all you want.
• Maybe we are boring?  Emmy asks to go bye bye allll the time, even if we've only been home for an hour.
• Wearing a size 5 diaper, 4 1/2- 5 shoe, clothes range from 18 mos to 2T, weighed in at 27# at Thanksgiving.
• Lower Left Lateral Incisor finnnnaaaallllyyyy broke through Nov 30.
• Everyday Emmy's personality, strong will, and loving personality shines through even more.  We are excited to be adding to our family and can't wait to see her with her new little brother/sister.

Life is Good

So pardon the repeat picture from facebook, but I am absolutely smitten with this little girl. She is such a happy girl, with a few tantrums in the mix, and this picture absolutely captures her spirit.



I love that she is mainly easy to please. In this picture, all I am doing is taking handfuls of leaves and dropping them on her. It's that simple.

Grapes make her happy, as does singing " The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and playing said app on my phone, watered down juice on the way home from school, bathtime, pulling off her own socks, and the Backyardigans all make her smile.

Ohhh, the life of a toddler.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the spout again



15 months.

Oh my, I have a 15 month old!  My little baby is not such a baby anymore!  Here is what we have been up to since the last month:

• Trip to Indiana for Elyse's birthday, got to visit with our friends Meredith and Finn again.  Finn is so cute and such a hugger!  Elyse is getting so big, and has bypassed Emmy in height....almost there in weight.  Emmy and I flew out there with my parents, she did a good job!
• Pink eye and a few trips to the doctor.
• Emmy is now the proud owner of squeaky shoes and she really thinks she is hot stuff in her shoes!  She was starting to walk on her toes and these have cured that bad habit.  She is VERY close to running now.
• Up until this point, Miss E didn't care much about the boob tube unless it was "The Office".....but we found a show she cannot live without now....The Backyardigans.  My niece Grace also watched this show 7 years ago and it bring back such good memories.
• We bought Emmy a little Backyardigans couch, it's one of the collage pictures.
• In all the trips to the doctor, we found out that Emmy really hasn't gained even a pound since her 12 month appointment.  She eats, she's just moving so much more.  She is definitely thinning out, so she must be growing in height.
• Not too many new words, but Emmy is trying to imitate the things we say.
• We have rediscovered "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and her favorite part is "washed the spider out".
• For Halloween, Emmy was "Pebbles"- the only thing missing was the orange hair.  She was too cute.  We didn't do much trick-or-treating.....maybe next year.
• Emmy has a little "primal" yell...I'll have to scour the phone and video camera to see if I have it captured.  I'm afraid that if she continues, she'll hurt her vocal chords.
• If possible, this month has been more fun than the last month...it is so fun watching Emmy grow into her own little person, with her own little idiosyncrasies.

Chillin

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Anniversary #4

Happy Anniversary to us! Here we are celebrating year number four @ Tucci's (our traditional anniversary dinner spot).

Since it's year #4, I'm going to make a short list of 4 things that I love about my hubby.

1. Chris is very adaptable to change.  This comes in handy many times in marriage, whether it be big changes or just small day to day things.
2. I've never dated, been friends with, etc ANYONE with a stronger work ethic than my husband.
3. He puts me in my place when I need it.  This one may sound a little harsh, but I don't mean for it to come across that way.  He stands his ground, I don't always win.  At the moment I dislike that feeling, but in the end I am glad for this.
4. I think he might love our daughter even more than me.  He is tender and gentle when needed.  He rough houses and can get her to belly laugh.  He has her attention before he even walks in the door.  When she hears the garage door closing, she knows that daddy is home.

There are many more things, next year I'll come up with 5 new ones (well, I might have to reuse some if I'm tired that day!)

Month 15 for Emmy is coming to a close.  We have done lots in the last month, so I might need to make 2 collages.

The Essentials In Life Include...

....too much food

 .... some adult beverages

 ....showing off of new KU gear with my seester

 ....the lovelies, being.....the lovelies

 ....a run through the cornfield

 ....a trip to an apple orchard and taking a picture with a giant, goofy ghost

 ....a beautiful sunset

 ....lots of fall goodies

Here's to a successful girls weekend.  May my reserve of estrogen remain full until next year!

EARTHQUAKE

So apparently there was a 4.5 earthquake centered in Norman, OK at 9:06AM.  And guess what?  I didn’t feel a THING.  I have a theory (my coworker insists it is only a hypothesis…)  If you were standing or sitting in a regular you didn’t feel it.  If you were sitting in a chair that can swivel, rock etc AND if you had most of your weight in your rear (not on your feet) then you DID feel it!  I’m just so bummed I didn’t feel it like everyone else!

Well, that’s the breaking news for the day.  

7*2 months

Our little girl is 14 months old and becoming increasingly more fun and stubborn each day.  Seems that rarely a day passes where she hasn't learned something or picked up a new habit (dear Lord, help me watch my behavior so she picks up good habits from me)

Here's the scoop:

• Hovering in around 26+ pounds, but walking now so my arm will probably lose some muscle mass in the upcoming months.
• Red hot chili peppers....phew, I cannot wait for the terrible twos and threes if you are already throwing these temper tantrums.
• You got your 6th tooth, I need to look at a diagram- but I think it's the right lateral incisor.
• You have some new words.  Some you can pronounce well, some you can't- but we love them all : book (bk), bottle (bah), banana (bobo), whoa, wow, uh oh (sometimes pronounced ut-boh), car (more like gaaa)
• I love your school b/c I know we work on body parts with you at home, but you are learning so fast and I know they must be working with you during the day too, you can identify: head, teeth, belly, toes, eyes
• You are starting to sign! Hallelujah.  You have an "emmy" version of PLEASE and sometimes you'll sign MORE.  We are still working on ALL DONE.  Most of the time you just throw food off your plate, but sometimes you will say "ahhh".
• I've placed your bin of books on the lower shelf so that you can go pull a book out, read one page, and then pull out another book.  You are a diabolical genius because you then keep us busy until your bedtime and then some how we end up being the ones that get to pick up your mess!
• You like to hold hands, you like for us to identify objects for you in books or around the room and on occasion you have walked to your high chair to indicate that you are hungry.
• You are consistently keeping your shoes ON, hooray!  I found a great deal on some Merrells today at Marshalls, I hope they fit!  You wear a size 4 now.
• You try to helps us get you dressed: put your shoes near your feet, push your hands through the sleeves.....such a big helper!
• Speaking of helper, hello wipes obsession.  You love to wipe your mouth, wipe the floor, suck on wipe...repeat.  A weird version of a clean freak?
• You don't like for us to distract you, ie carry you to the bathroom for your bath time if you were doing something else.  But if you enter the bathroom on your own will then we are A-OK!
• Really though, all of this independence is OK.  I want Emmy to be a strong woman who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes, and to be a little fiesty.
• You like to climb up your slide and then go back down on your belly, sometimes your bottom.
• You sleep from about 730 to 630 with 2 short naps inbetween. You are taking milk from a sippy now, but you still take it as though it was a bottle
• This month you went to the Samson Mid-Continent division picnic and the Tulsa State Fair!
• We also had a fun night with our neighbors, the Plunketts at the park @ 41st/Riverside

urban life girls can (sc)rap

Oh, tonight- some much needed girl time with some great new friends.

Chris and I started attending FBC Tulsa in the summer of 2008 and quickly joined a life group class.  Life groups are great because it makes a larger body feel much smaller.  We recently joined a new class and have had fun getting to know new couples.

Tonight (while my hubby and dad were at the OSU/A&M game...oh, my hubby is an OSU hater, so it's very intersting that he was at the game, no?)  oh, how I digress.  Anyway, tonight I had the girls over to make just ONE scrap page to hang in our life group classroom.  A few pictures and a few factoids, just a "get to know us" on one page.  I'm not sure I quite like mine, but it's 90% finished, so I guess I'll stick with it b/c without the support of others around me- I won't re-make mine.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thursday night, it should be wonderful just for the fact that tomorrow is Fabulous Friday! 

willkommen zurück

The Year: 2007
The Place: Oktoberfest, Tulsa

So Oktoberfest is coming up here in just a few weeks.  It was listed in USA Today's "Top 10" Octoberfests to attend (of course, in OK, we spell it OKTOBERFEST).  I haven't been to any other events, but I can tell you that the Tulsa fest is a pretty fun one.  We did not go last year because Emmy was just a babe and I wasn't ready to leave her very often.  And we did not attend in 2008 because...well...I don't know.  Maybe we did attend but nothing major happened.

But in 2007?  That was a fun year.  Thursday night is the "trial" night aka Corporate Night.  During the day of corporate night there were some pretty crazy storms that passed through Tulsa.  No tornadoes, but some fierce winds.  Well, as the evening approached it seemed that the winds had subsided and it would be safe to go out that night.  Things were going well, lots of general milling and meaningless chit-chat happening, and not much happening with the weather. 

Chris and I went and got a $500 pitcher (not really that much....I exaggerate you know) of brew, bought some pretzels and German food and found the Samson table under the big tent.  After finding our area, we promptly put down the food and drink and did the chicken dance- like all good Tulsa Oktoberfest attendees do.

The big tent was filled with picnic tables for seating, and instead of sitting on them the conventional way- we were sitting on top of the table facing another Samson couple just talking.  A few winds blew in and slightly inflated the tent.  My civil engineering husband, with concentration in structural, leans to me and says "if a big wind comes in, be ready to run".

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" I thought to myself.  This tent ain't goin nowhere.

But, lo and behold, what happens less than 5 minutes later?  A HUGE gust of wind comes in, practically picks up the tent, and then it quickly crumbles to the ground.  My Indiana grade school drills come back to me and I start to duck and crawl underneath a picnic table for safety.  Apparently Chris' Oklahoma drills came into his mind and he grabbed me and started running towards the exit.  But when you put together a person ducking, and one person running, it basically looked like I was in a headlock being dragged out of the tent.

We get out of the tent, and Chris tells me to "stay right there, I'm going back in to help people".  So I stand there, in the wind, in the rain and eventually in the hail.  I take my hoodie and put it over my head for shelter.  I have to wring it out every 2 minutes.  I'm staying plenty entertained b/c as people find their way out of the tent, it looks as though they are running from King Kong waving their arms in the air like a rhythmic gymnasts ribbon.

Other people decided that standing out in the open in 80mph straight line winds is not a good idea, so they jump into port-o-potties....really people?  Portable toilets?  For shelter in the wind?

Wow.  Anyhow, I'm happy to report that no port-o-poops fell over on the geniuses that jumped into them.

Eventually the storm does its damage and passes through.  As we are leaving we see alot of things:  people searching for beer pitchers that survived the wind and rain, people with head wounds with blood running down their head, people sobbing, and people just looking lost.

Chris and I make it back to our parking spot at the OSU med center.  We found a tarp to cover one of the seats and stopped later at a gas station for a garabage sack for the other seat.

It was cold.  It was crazy.  It makes for a good story.

Were you there?

The Master

bedroom, that is.

I'm so excited for the 2nd week of the 2nd installment of Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live" Fridays.

What a great idea. I enjoyed peeking at everyone's living rooms last week. All I have to say is that there are some great rooms out there, and some great designers. I could use help from SO many of you!

So I will apologize in advance for the quality of my pictures, I snapped these before jumping into the bed. There was the illusion on the camera display that these pictures looked crisp and clear with absolutely no blur. HAH. Maybe I'll take more pictures tomorrow when I get home from work when I have some nice sunlight to work with. Until then......let me present.....our master bedroom (which really isn't all that big. I guess the architects of the 1960's didn't find it necessary to have a big, luxurious master area)

Our queen size bed (hubby is really pushing for a king size) with bedding from Kohls, lamps from Hobby Lobby and pictures that were taken during our trip to Italy and Ireland 4 years ago.

MY NIGHT STAND: lotion that I put on every morning (I swear I'll be wrinkly by 30 because my skin is so dry), Jungle Juice to put on my mosquito bites to kill the itching, OU coaster even though I AM NOT a Sooner fan, old iPhone that i use as an iPod now, Lorex video monitor base, Nook, "Financial Peace", "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" and The Pioneer Woman's cookbook.

HUBBY'S NIGHT STAND: Bible, my Bible, "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters", OU coaster, Chapstick (this is proof positive that women are more complex than men, just look at the list of crap things that reside on our night stands)

ONE CHEST OF DRAWERS: This, along with a 4drawer, vertical chest of drawers belonged to my parents. They received/bought this furniture when they got married, back in 1965. The finish was a wood veneer. Now? It is satin black with new pulls and knobs and I absolutely love it. I guess what was old is now new again. It is well made furniture and I hope we keep it for a LONG time.

JEWELRY TREE: my attempt at organization. I bought a smaller tree b/c I didn't think that I had very much jewelry. Much to my surprise, I overloaded this poor little tree very quickly.

CLOSETS: Just need to brag on my husband a bit. All of the bedroom closet doors (except the nursery) were once on rollers and were sliding doors. I can't begin to count how many times I'd be looking in the right side of the closet only to need something on the other side. Then, as I stood there looking in the left side- I would find myself needing something on the other side. Murphy's Law at its best I suppose. My talented hubby took our old doors and put them on hinges. Sounds easy but it involved so much work and I'm so proud of him. We aren't quite finished with this project, but we will get there...someday.

Thanks for swinging by and taking a look! With hope of all hopes, if Kelly repeats this home tour next year- our closets will be completely finished with door knobs and all!

a girl and her daddy

I am a daddy's girl through and through.  As a child, one look from my father and I knew I was in trouble.  One tiny word of encouragement and I was on top of the world.

They say that little girls have their daddies wrapped around their little fingers, but I think the saying goes both ways.  I would do just about anything for my father, and I know that Emmy will one day be the same.

Right now, she's actually a mommy's girl.  It's pretty much a direct result of me being the primary caretaker for the last 13 months.  But now that she is older, it seems that Chris is able to help with much more.

I'm cherishing this time that I'm her #1.  Someday that will change. At some point I'm sure that friends, sports, her driver's license, boys, shopping, etc will be #1. 

But when it's all said and done, when Emmy has cycled through all other #1's, I hope she realizes that....

daddy holds the top place in her heart.

(well, the #1 mortal...hopefully God always ranks first)

My transformed den

 So I figured it was time to participate in Kelly's "Show us where you live..." Fridays. 

Chris and I poured lots of time and love into this room.  Before we moved all of our belongings into the house, we stayed here and painted in the evenings after work.  We had enough at the house to shower, get ready and eat dinner.  We didn't have a clock, just a radio.  We would paint and just lose track of time, some nights we wouldn't go to bed until midnight.

Here is a BEFORE picture (picture that was from the house listing)

Wood flors, wood panel on the walls, wood door, wood blinds, wood ceiling fan, wood bookshelves with scalloped edging, wood doors on bookshelves...need I say more?

Here is our transformation:

This is the view as you walk into the house.  We added a mantle and a Buck stove (wood burning).
Wood floors, door and beams are the same- everything else has been painted.  This was definitely a labor of love, primer, tape and paint! (If you are a soap opera person, the screen shot is that of As the World Turns.  The series finale was today, so sad.  And if you are very observant- you'll see the red lights on the monitor.  I was trying to convince Emmy to nap)

The wall of pictures (frames from Exposures). This is also the "dump spot": diaper bag, shoes, purse, magazines, a stroller box that's 2 weeks old, shoes, camera bag, etc.

The view from the rocking-recliner (many hours were spent in this chair when Emmy was a newborn)

Another view, this time with the pertussis commercial on TV.

Since I posted a pic of all the other walls, here's the last one.



Date Night

My mom, Chris and I are watching Date Night and we are about 20 minutes into it.  Funny so far!

The first few minutes of the movie were funny but all too realistic.  The part where the friend thought that having sex twice a week was "sparse", the part where Phil walks in the door and Claire is all dressed up and at first he doesn't notice her, the part where she realizes they may be stuck in a rut....it's the opening scene on this movie but I think it closely mirrors reality too.

Lately, I have kind of felt like I am stuck in a rut.  A rut at work, at home, etc.  How do you get out of these ruts?  Ya know, besides a trip to Bora Bora?

12 months + 1

*finding new ways to play with old toys, an abacus turns into a walker, anything rectangular becomes a phone, etc

*can locate these parts of the body: head, eyes, belly, toes

*taking some steps, usually just a few at a time, but took 10 on thursday night (aug 26)

*another round of diaper rash, loose stools and puke...i guess just sensitve skin and digestive system.

*will not lay still for a diaper change

*can be very adament about doing things by herself

*new phrase "whoa, whoa, whoa" when in cozy coupe, or in a real car

*does gagging yourself feel good?  you do it all the time!

*walking many steps at a time

*you are rediscovering your voice and you babble while flipping through books as though you are reading

*papa has been visiting while he works in Tulsa, but when he's not here- you point to do the door and say papa's name, you miss him when he's gone

*trip to Sylva, NC to see TJ and Austin, first flight and you did pretty well.

*size 5 diaper, 18-24month clothes, size 3 shoe (but what does that matter? we've gone back to not liking shoes), 4 bottles/day (we are working on this one and transitioning to sippy)

*some days you eat table food like a champ, and other days you just want baby bananas. You always want soft food when your teeth are bothering you.

*you started eating cereal bars this month, they are very convenient....when you are in the mood to have them.

*it's the end of the month, and you are definitely a walker now!

*no new distinguishable words, but alot of "talking"

*you make us laugh, so genuinely- so often.  We love playing with you.  You like to rough-house, and that's ok because I'm pretty certain someday you will be prissy and I'll miss these days. 

*You wave your hands to music and your face just lights up. 

*You laugh at me when I spank your hand, unless I get really loud and give you "the look".  Then and only then do you realize that I'm serious.  I wish you would just stop when I say "no", I don't like to see you get teary because of me. 

*You are starting to slim down and the rolls on your legs are getting smaller, sniff sniff.

just as you are

Bunco (my sister, Jodie) got a book for Emmy titled "God Loves You".  It is written by Kathleen Long Bostrom.  I love this book because it completely emphasizes the fact that God loves you for being...YOU!  This is something that I want to instill in Emmy.  I want her to be a confident young woman who does not feel as though she needs to conform to the others or to the world to be accepted.


As a pre-teen and through the college years, I feel as thought I felt fairly true to myself.  I know there are times in middle school when I joined in on the gossiping in order to fit in.  I wish I would not have done that.  I know I hurt people.  When I knew that others were talking about me, I really could just brush it off and continue on with my day.  But I know not all people are like that- and I wasn't very cognisant of that fact.


I heard someone say once, that if all your friends from all of your different circles could be friends- then you are doing a pretty good job of staying consistent in who you are.  I feel that statement holds some truth...do you?  If you gathered all of your friends, could they get along?  Would they hold the same values?


Wow, I went off on a tangent and I didn't mean to- really, I just wanted to share this book with you.  I hope you enjoy as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with Emmy.


"God Loves You"

You can be silly or you can be sad.
You can be merry or you can be mad.
You can be grumpy or you can be glad,
God loves you just as you are.

You can be short or you can be tall.
You can be big or you can be small.
Your size and your shape don't matter at all,
God loves you just as you are.

You can be messy or you can be neat.
You can be poky or fast on your feet.
March with the others or to your own beat,
God loves you just as you are.

You can be dark or you can be light.
You can be shades of the day or the night.
Whatever your color, it suits you just right,
God loves you just as you are.

God made each part from your head to your toe.
Day in and day out he is helping you grow.
God made you special and that's how you know,
God loves you just as you are.

12 month pictures

Hi friends!  I am coming to you live from a very uncomfortable, albeit king size bed in a Holiday Inn Express in Sylva, NC.  Emmy is snoozing (Hallelujah!).  We had a long night last night (she felt like being awake and playing from 230-445am and only feel asleep after two 5oz bottles and me patting her back for 10 minutes, this could have a whole post of its own) followed by a VERY.L O N G.DAY with only a 30 minute nap.  So, back to the Emmy is snoozing part- I think she's in deep sleep.  I have some college football on the tube and she's still snoring.  I think we are OK.  I think I can blog without her waking up.

Anyway, the real reason for the post....Emmy's pictures!!!  My very talented friend Shea Casey took these (as well as our newborns and 6 month pictures).  This was by far my favorite session.  Since E's best time of day is the morning, we got started bright and early at 745.  I was a little worried bc it seemed like she wasn't very smiley- but I am super impressed by the results.  Hope you enjoy...

EMMY IN FRONT OF THE RED DOOR @ TRINITY EPISCOPAL

FAMILY PIC AT SAME LOCATION AS ABOVE

WITH HER COZY COUPE ON BOSTON AVE, BOK BUILDING IN BACK

MOMMY, DADDY AND MISS INDEPENDENT

EMMY AND THE TICKLE MONSTERS

Closet Help

So...Chris works for this company.  They have been kind enough to let him work during the nights this weekend.  Yay!.....NOT.

First, I hate that it messes up his sleep/work cycle.  Second, I hate that he's out patrolling construction projects at night, not really the safest job.  Third, I'm sooooo glad he's being compensated for his extra time (did you catch any of the sarcasm?).  Fourth, ....OK, so you get the point?

With all those complaints being aired, I do have to say- I consider us to be very blessed that we both have jobs that pay well and that we work for companies who seem to be in it for the long haul.  I just feel a little sorry for myself because I'm home alone, and I wanted some sympathy.

The good news, the very good news, is that I finally put all the clean laundry away.  As I was hanging things up in the closet I though to myself "maybe if I post pictures of my rockin' 1960's closet, I can get some closet organization tips".  In our master room and in the 2nd largest bedroom, we do not have walk in closets.  What we have are two beautiful closets in each room, that used to have doors on sliding tracks.  I found myself so often standing on one side of the closet, but needing something from the other side.  Then, inevitably, once I made my way to the other side of the closet- I would need something from the first side.  Ugh.  My wonderful, handyman husband went to work after my nagging suggestion to put the doors on hinges.  They rock.  Oh, I forgot where I was going with this statement...pictures!  Of the closets that only a 4 year old would consider BIG.

So here goes, I'm going where very few women have gone before. 

Behold................

MY CLOSET(s)

 My Closet

The Shared Closet

The Baby Hangers

Last year, Chris decided to move some of his things into my our 2nd closet in the master bedroom.  I had to do a little rearranging, but I understand that going to another bedroom every morning to get your clothes could get a little old. 

For the most part, I think our closets are OK...but do you all have any items you'd suggest for a more organized closet?  Here's what I've come up with so far:  I put my clothes in color order for the most part.  In the "my closet" picture I have my Collegiate shirts, cardigans, gray, brown, orange, yellow, green, blue ,purple shirts and dresses.  In the Rubbermaid container I keep seasonal socks, swimsuits, leggings and non athletic tanks.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the shoe rack on top (except for the fact that I can't reach the top row, hah!)

In our shared closet I keep my pants, skirts and red/white/and black tops.  The tubs on the shelf have flip flops (which I probably haven't worn in 3 years, old purses and random winter clothes).  If you look at the bottom picture, I'm proudly displaying my baby hangers.  They work great for pants so they don't hang as low.  They are a few inches shorter than adult hangers and not near as wide, so pants work great.

We have no drawers/shelving that you'd find in a walk in closet so we each have a chest of drawers in the bedroom.  But even with that furniture, I still find myself putting my shorts out in the hallway linen closet and my pajamas and sweaters in boxes under the bed.  I just need help organizing...any ideas?  Or anyone that wants to come over and help?