3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!

I'm having a quiet New Year's Eve at home. Emma is tucked into bed and Kevin is working tonight and won't be home until the ball is about to drop. I got a wind of energy tonight and did some cleaning around the house. One of my most absolute favorite feelings in the world is the feeling you get when you walk in your house after being gone all day and it is spotless. I figure if I know I have a clean house to come home to on Wednesday it will be a sweet ending to a day of work.

I've been doing a lot of introspection this past week. I suppose most people do, this time of year. Christmas and New Year seem to be natural backdrops to renewing commitments, righting wrongs in your life, and making fresh starts. I've never been a "resolution" kinda gal but I seem to have several this year. For starters, like many people, I want to get in shape. I'm still carrying 20 Emma pounds and would like to get rid of them. Mainly, I don't have any clothes that fit and it would be nice to not have to chose between maternity wear or gym clothes.

Second, I want to clean up my language. I don't even know how it has happened but I've developed a potty mouth and it's got to go. It's not a good representation as a Christian and I don't want Emma to pick up my bad habit. I haven't figured out a reward/punishment method yet. I really don't want to wear a rubberband on my wrist and inflict pain everytime I goof. If you have any ideas, I'll take them.

Third, I really want to re-new my relationship with God and re-dedicate my life. It's weird how life can hand you the greatest blessing (eg. a child) and you are so at peace with your life and have every reason to be thankful...yet at those times it seems to be the easiest to get too caught up on Easy Street and forget to give thanks. This has happened to me over the last several months. And even though my life is more perfect than it has ever been I'm feeling a void. Kevin's brother and wife gave us Sacred Parenting for Christmas. I've started reading it and even though I'm only on chapter three it has given my core a shake that I really needed.

So, after some prayer and meditation I'm feeling very excited about my New Year resolutions. It makes me really happy to think about re-connecting with my old friend Jesus. I hope that all of you are anxious to ring in the new year like I am. I love you all, Happy New Year!!!!!!

Long time, no blog

We made it home yesterday evening from our fantastic Christmas in North Carolina. We had such a fantastic time and a great visit with family. My sister-in-law Cortney and I are like little kids and we talked the rest of the family into letting us open 1 present each night leading up to Christmas (3 nights in a row!). Santa was generous to all of us, especially me. Kevin got my a beautiful ring and necklace with saphires (Emma's birthstone) and I got some much needed clothes from Dave and Cort and Joe and Jill. Mae, Kevin's sister got me glass coasters that can hold pictures. She had the most beautiful pictures of Emma printed in black and white and had all the coasters loaded for me when I opened them; they were so beautiful and touching that it brought tears to my eyes! *Thanks, Mae*

Emma had a great visit with everyone. She hit two new milestones while we were there. First, she found her voice. She had started to babble a little bit the past few weeks but never more that a few syllables here and there. Now, she goes on and on and on. She is so excited to yell and coo and talk. It is so precious because her voice is really high pitched. It melts my heart listening to her talk. Also this week, Emma learned she can belly laugh. It only happened on one occassion so far, but she did it 3 or 4 times in a row. I was giving her kissies on her neck and making funny noises when she totally laughed until she was red in the face. It was awesome! We haven't been able to get her to do it again, but you can bet I'll keep trying.

We had a great day at church today. It was just me and Em becuase Kevin had to work this morning. I'm going to relish the next few days at home because I'm returning to work on Wednesday. I hope all of you had a relaxed weekend and will have a great week. XOXOXOXO

We Made It!

We made it to N. Carolina Saturday morning around 9am. During the 16 hour drive, Emma only cried ONCE! I could not believe it; we are so blessed to have such a content little girl. Prior to this trip, the longest I had ever spent in a car was 5 hours, so I was fairly proud of myself, too. We have been having a fabulous time during our visit and so glad that we get to spend a whole week. We'll be headed back to Missouri some time this coming Friday. We have made some fabulous food during our trip and have been having Guitar Hero battles. Here are a few pics of our family fun so far, more to follow. We hope all of you have a fantastic X-mas eve and X-mas day!!!

Early Christmas Present

A guy Kevin was in the Guard with gave Emma an exersaucer. If you aren't familiar with these things, they are fabulous. It's kinda like a walker without wheels. You can buy different toys to attach to the tray, that way you can trade them out and it is always like a "new" toy. Emma is still a little small for it, but she seemed to like standing. Her feet don't touch the bottom, so they just hung there. Her eyes were really big, though, and she seemed intrigued and pleased by this new experience.

In other news, we're going to meet with Emma's nanny Thursday night so they can have a little meet & greet. I will be returning to work when we get back from North Carolina. Luckily, Kevin will still be on break from school so Emma will be going to daycare part time for a while. Hopefully it will make for a smoother transition for all three of us.

Oh, by the way, we were in the church cantata this past weekend as........Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. I will post a picture later. Trust me, though, Emma was a fabulous baby Jesus. She did so good through three services and our whole church is in love with her now. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it.

Hope you're having a good week!

What a Year (Well, 18 months)

Kevin and I always joke that we hope the upcoming year will be very boring. We have had a crazy life for the last 18 months.

• Last June, we bought a house


• August, we got married


• December, my mom died


• Also December, we found out Kevin's mom had cancer


• January, we find out we're pregnant


• Also January, the ice storm happens, our house is wrecked and we live in a hotel for 3 months


• September, our baby girl is born


• Now it's December again and we're excited to be celebrating Christmas, but it's also a reminder that my Mom is gone.

Along with the obvious saddness of losing my mother, the biggest stress has been over my 3 younger siblings who still live at home. My 15 yr old sister and I have the same dad, and the twins (11) have a different dad. So, on top of losing our mom, they had to move to a new town/school and were separated. Luckily, they both moved to the same town: Farmington. We were so afraid that it would be more stress than they could handle and cope with, but I'm happy to say that they have strived this past year. My little brother, Eric, has cerebral palsy and is continuing to excel in his therapies. Laura is in marching band and theatre and Lindsey has just started band. They still think about Mom all the time, obviously, but they are adjusting, doing awesome in school, and have made many new friends. I am so proud to call myself their big sister. I thought I'd post some pics of them that we took this last weekend when we went to Farmington to celebrate Christmas and a pic of me and Mom at my wedding. Please keep our family in your prayers as the 1 year anniversary of Mom's passing is next week, the 18th. Love to all!

Santa is flexible!

Emma is lucky enough to have Santa visit her twice this year. This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my family in Farmington. It was so much fun. My step-sister has 2 children (4 yr old and 6 month old) and my step-brother and his wife are due with their first baby in days. My dad said,"Can you believe next X-mas there will be three 1 yr olds and a 5yr old?!" It's pretty fun to think about.

Today is Kevin's last day of the semester and it couldn't have come a moment too soon. It has been a tough few months but only 1 semester left until he graduates! Yay! I'm a proud wife; he has done amazing in his program on top of working, taking care of a pregnant wife, and then caring for his new baby girl.

Today is the Christmas party for my work and I'm going to take Emma. It will be nice to re-connect with co-workers before starting back up in January. I have the most fabulous job and boss which is the only reason I can bear the thought of leaving Emma in daycare. I'm praying for a smooth transition...

Now we're just waiting for next Friday when we'll make our journey to Charlotte for Santa's 2nd visit. I hope you are all having a great week!

Presents????

This may sound kinda crazy, but we've been doing lots of Christmas shopping lately but haven't really gotten anything for Emma. I know that she isn't aware of presents yet, but I wonder if we're being cruddy parents for not loading the space under the tree with gifts for her. We've gotten her a few little toys because she's starting to play a little bit, but they're nothing much. The truth is, the girl doesn't need anything. If she could voice her feelings, I'm sure she doesn't want for anything, either. Emma has enough clothes to last her until Kindergarten (or at least until she's 1 yr) and has a zillion toys (or at least dozens). I've told all my family to buy her books as gifts because you can't have too many. I think Kev's family will probably get her little "somethings" too. I told Kev that this is the last year we can spoil ourselves because the next 18 Christmases will be all about her. He agrees. I think we'll maybe get her a few more little things, just for fun but otherwise we're going to wait until next year to buy her a pony.

Growing Girl

Emma is growing so fast! Every day she is doing new things and interacting with us more; it is so exciting to watch someone mature and learn about their world. Emma is becoming very aware of her hands which she is now clasping together all the tme. She is starting to reach for things and bat at her toys. I've noticed that she uses her right hand a lot more than her left, so I'm wondering if that means she'll be a righty.

Her other favorite thing to do is stick her tongue out. All the time. It's so funny because she looks like a little lizard moving her tongue in and out.

A sleep update: She is doing fantastic. She has learned our routine and is happy to go to bed every night. We usually only have to go in to her once before she falls asleep, and sometimes not at all. She goes right back to sleep after feeding AND, dare I say it and jinx ourselves, she's starting to sleep 5-7 hour stretches instead of 4!!!!!

Being a mom rocks and I'm cherishing every moment I have with her before I return to work the first of the year.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I know I'm probably bias, but we have the cutest baby in the world. We had her Christmas pics taken this week by the same photographer who did our wedding. We got the proofs back last night and they are fabulous with a capital F! I so wish we had the digital rights to these like we did with our family pics so I could post some. We have to decide what prints we want over the next few days which is going to be next to impossible. I know it's an evil ploy to make you buy more pictures than you wanted because you can't bear to let them all go. Maybe once we get some I can try scanning a few and see what the quality looks like. Until then, you'll have to settle for this cute video of Emma and the Christmas Tree. Cutest. Thing. Ever. Have a great weekend!