Good morning

Ahh. It's been a great morning. First, Emma slept in until 8:30! She's starting to sleep longer and longer and that is amazing. I haven't slept pass 6:30-7 in forever. Kevin went to play frisbee golf this morning and I sat around in my house robe until noon. Actually, it's noon now and I don't plan on changing out of my robe any time soon. We kept the curtains drawn and watched Mona Lisa Smile and drank coffee. Emma played with a new toy and took a long nap in her swing. I love days with no agenda...

Cramming

So, I plan on cramming lots of info into this post (in a condensed manner.) Sorry it has been so long since I have posted but we have been busy!

On May 16th Kevin graduated with his BSN!!!! yay!!!! I'm so proud of him and so excited as he starts this new endeavor. Tommorow is his first day of work as a nurse. He accepted a job at Cox South's emergency department. A nice perk is that he'll get to work with a good friend ours, Dr. Lee, that we go to church with.

We had lots of family in town for graduation (Kev's brother also graduated with his MSW). Kev's sister Mae came to visit from Charlotte. She is expecting her first baby in December. We're all betting that it will be a little boy. She's starting to get a little baby-bump and we had a lot of fun shopping for maternity clothes.

Also that weekend, Emma hit a lot of milestones. She learned how to clap her hands, she learned how to make kissing noises AND..........she learned how to crawl!!! It's more of an army crawl than a hands and knees crawl but that's okay. The whole family was standing around her as she made her first lunge. It was such an awesome thing for all of us to witness. My next project is to do some baby-proofing (I've put this off too long.)

Kevin's older brother Joe and his wife Jill came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. Joe is in the Army physician assistant program and will be finished this January. They are currently stationed at Ft. Campbell but we are hoping there's a chance they can move closer after he graduates.

Are house is still on the market for sale. We've actually had an offer from a buyer but it was a really horrible one so we turned it down. We've shown the house 5 or 6 times now and are hopeful the right buyer will come along before the end of summer.

For Sale!

We officially listed our house on the market today. It was a fairly lengthy process with lots of papers to sign. I'm glad to finally have it done, though and now we can relax a little bit. Kinda.

Part of me is naive and thinks the house will sell in a month or two. The other side of me is playing worse-case-scenarios and thinks that with the market being so cruddy it will be a year before it sells. Hopefully reality will fall some where in the middle.

Turns out realtors jump on new listing pretty quickly. The first 4 weeks a house is on the market are the most important. Everyone wants to see the "new listing" and so we should expect high traffic over the next month. Our realtor said we have to make sure that we keep the house in "showing condition" and be prepared to start fielding phone calls from other agents who want to show the house. We picked a pretty dumb month to finally move forward with things. This weekend we have family in town for Mother's Day, next weekend family is in for Kevin and Dave's graduation and the following weekend we have family for Memorial Day. Figures.

I'll keep you posted on our progress. Hopefully we'll have a SOLD sign in our front yard soon!

Emerging from the cave

That's what I felt like this morning. I woke up with no headache. At lunch, no headache. Tonight, no headache. Praise God Amen! Woo-hoo. Thank you for your prayers.

My day wasn't all smiles and rainbows. My cell phone was stolen today at work. The biggest bummer of it all is that I've always been one to have cheapie, bottom-of-the-line phones. But on this past Saturday, Kevin got me a new Katana II from Sprint as my Mother's Day gift. It was fabulous. It was sleak and light and had some pretty cool features. But now it's gone. I'm very sad. We have insurance on our plan so I have a replacement on the way but we had to pay a $50 deductible. It's partially my fault for leaving it on my desk. That will teach me.

The girl was great today. Kevin brought her by my work at the end of the day and she was quite charming for everyone. I meant to weigh her but forgot. Maybe later this week...

Another tidbit of news, we are meeting with a realtor on Wednesday afternoon. We have decided to sell our house. The truth is, we really love our house but we hate our neighborhood. After 2 years of dealing with all-night parties, bickering, disputes, frequent police visits, and questionable behaviors of our neighbors- we're leaving. At least, we hope we are. I am praying that our house will sell quickly in this crummy market. It makes me sad to give up our house but we're confident that it's the right decision for our family.

Prayer Request

I could use some prayers. I have had a migraine every day for over a week and it is really starting to wear on me. Some days the medicine works, some days it doesn't. I stayed home from church today because of it, which really has me bumming.

I've had migraines since I was 16 but it's rare that I have one that drags on for days and days like this. I'm kinda thinking an adjustment to my braces has triggered it. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow.

Emma was SO good this morning and let me lie on the couch for a few hours so my medicine could take the edge off (kevin was at work.) She was being so cute, I had to grab the camera for a quick picture!

Happy Birthday Lindsey and Eric!

My brother and sister turned 12 this past Sunday. We were able to go to Farmington for their party and it was lots of fun. Eric, my brother, kept yelling, "Cake! Cake!" He was not at all interested in candles, presents or singing songs. Eric has spastic type cerebral palsy. He is our little miracle baby and such a blessing to every life he encounters. Eric is always happy and always friendly. He never complains about anything; not even when he must endure painful surgeries and therapy treatments. He is an inspiration in my life.

Lindsey is your typical tween; she L-O-V-E-S Hannah Montana, she has posters of cute boys all over her room and her earrings always match her shirt. But, she's so special, too. Lindsey has a heart of gold and is full of love. She is my snuggle baby. Even now, she will curl up beside me or on my lap and rest her head on my shoulder. She still wants to hold my hand and gives lots of hugs. She wants to help with everything. Cleaning, cooking, folding laundry, changing a diaper. She doesn't mind, she just wants to help.

I love them both so very much and it breaks my heart that I can't see them as often as I would like. I hope they had a really happy birthday and that they feel surrounded in love.

"I said I wanted brownies!"

Sorry, I had to change the template again. I didn't really like the other one but have been too lazy to look through my options again.

Emma cracked me up tonight. She was sitting in her bouncy chair and I was feeding her some veggies. About half way through, she put her hand up to her mouth and spit a big bite out; then she threw it at me. She didn't mean to throw it at me, or at least I hope not. It was just so funny because she seemed so deliberate and then laughed about it. I'm sure I won't think it's as funny when she's throwing plates off her high chair and flinging spoons across the room. Maybe she just didn't like Beech Nut Vegetable Medley...

Great News!!!!

The cat is out of the bag! I can officially announce that I'm going to be an Auntie!!! Kevin's sister, Mae and her husband Ian are expecting a baby in October. We are so super excited to welcome baby Villanueva!!!! Please send up some prayers that the pregnancy continues to be healthy and Mae gets over morning-sickness!

Everything's good on the homefront. I'll post more later when I have time. I'll leave you with a cute pic of Emma.

Play Date

Emma had a play date with her BFF Erin tonight. (Actually, Mommy and Daddy had a playdate with Erin's mommy and daddy, Carrie and David.) Carrie had Erin almost 6 months before Emma was born. Throughout our pregnancies, we joked that Erin and Emma would be BFFs.

They were so cute tonight! David grilled us some awesome steak and asparagus at their house. Emma thought Erin was so cool; she laughed and giggled hysterically just watching Erin run around and play. By the end of the night, Erin was patting Emma on the back and giving her hugs. We had a great time.

"Please, no autographs; I can't read yet"

This is kinda long, but bear with me.

So, I know it's cliche when people always say, "I know I'm probably bias but my baby is the cutest baby in the whole world." I'm beginning to think Emma really is the fairest baby in all the land.

People are constantly telling Kevin and I how gorgeous Emma is, how long her eyelashes are, how blue her eyes are, what a pretty smile she has, blah blah blah. I truly feel burdened by it sometimes. I hate it. Now before you start thinking I have nothing to complain about and I should be thankful, let me explain a few things. Lets go back to when I was pregnant....

**Imagine Wayne and Garth wiggling their fingers and saying "Dodudo, dodudo, dodudo"**

Kev and I teased each other constantly that we were probably going to have an ugly baby but hopefully she'd have a great personality to make up for it. Our "joking" escalated to the point that I was actually afraid we really might have an unattractive baby which would lead to no one liking her, she'd never get picked for dodge ball, no date for prom, no college scholarship, etc. (You can see I easily let things snowball in my mind). Anyway, I had a dream one night that totally changed my fears. I dreamed that I had just had the baby and was still in the hospital with her. I was holding her swaddled in my arms just staring at her. I was overcome with this sense of joy and pride and peace. I look up at my friend and say, "Wow, what a beautiful baby." "Yeah," my friend says, "you hardly even notice she only has one eye." What!?!?! In my dream, my baby was a Cyclops. The thing is, she was mine so in my eyes she was flawless; I truly didn't even notice that she only had one eye! I realized that, as a mom, I'm never going to look at Emma and worry about whether or not she's pretty nor will it matter to me.

Ok, now fast-forward to today. Emma's daycare sends little "report cards" home telling us about her day. Today's note said, "I should be in a fashion show with my pretty purple outfit and gorgeous blue eyes!" Now I know that they are just trying to give a compliment. Or, maybe they couldn't think of anything productive from the afternoon so they were making something up. The point is, I fear that she will continue to be so beautiful, that's all people will notice. Again, I know, I know, I'm snowballing. I know that beauty is from God and beauty can be part of God's plan (just ask Esther). I just pray that Emma will have a heart for Christ a and soul as beautiful as her dimples. I pray that people notice her for her character not just her cuteness.

I know I'm just on a rant. (Thanks for listening). And please, don't stop telling me Emma is cute. I always love to tell mommas how precious their baby is, too. Maybe I've had too much coffee today...

Knock on Wood...

...but I think everyone in my house is healthy now. Kev's bug only lasted about 12 hours and Emma's was pretty much gone by yesterday. I had a little bit of stomach flu several weeks ago and it is miserable! I felt so bad for both of them; it stinks when you can't do anything to make it feel better!

Things have been pretty busy in our world. Kevin is trying to finish last-minute projects that need to be completed before graduation. My new position at work has been a little stressful and Emma is growing and changing every day. She wants so badly to crawl. I think it's still going to be several weeks before we see any creeping but she has her eye on the prize. She will stretch and reach and grunt trying to get a toy. She high-centers on her belly with her hands and feet in the air; she almost looks like Superman!

Today was Emma's first day at a new daycare. Ugh, that's not fun. We got a call a few weeks back from Cox's daycare (local hospital where Kev works) saying that our name had come up on the waiting list (we were put on when I was 6 months pregnant.) At first we totally dismissed it, thinking, "We already have daycare." But then, we started weighing the pros and cons of our current vs. potential situation. We don't have any real gripes with the lady who had been watching her, (well, a few but not worth the details) but we felt like Emma could benefit from a little more structure and curriculum. It's more expensive but the hours are more flexible, it's closer to home, they provide more supplies, and most importantly: they make a true effort to work with the kids to meet goals and develop skills. Even 6 month old Emma has goals they will consciously work on with her. She's starting to sit without support, drink from a sippy-cup, and is wanting to crawl.

She had a bit of a rough day. Apparently she cried a bit and wouldn't let the photographer take her picture (today was school picture day). When I called to check on her at lunch, she was in the middle of a melt down! Apparently, she had a dirty diaper shortly after that and was in a much better mood :)

Kevin's at a Cards game tonight with his brother David. He just texted me to say they were losing. Bummer. I'm going to a game tomorrow afternoon with my work. I heard it might rain. Bummer. Oh, well.

Poor hubby

Emma has passed the torch on to Daddy. Today was the first day she hasn't thrown up...and the first day Kevin has. Poor guy. Hopefully Kevin's will be shorter lived than Emma's and I won't catch it!

Poor baby: part deux

Last night, she had another vomit/heaving spell around midnight. After that, though, she slept through the night until about 7:30 this morning. I went to work while Kevin stayed home with her. He introduced liquids a little at a time and she seemed to be doing better. I came home for lunch to check on her and decided I'd feel better if we had her looked at (just in case.)

Even though she had managed to keep everything down this morning, she was kinda listless and her eyes were a little gunky. She also had a low grade temp and a little diarrhea. So we loaded her up and headed for my work to see the doctor. Something told me to sit in the back with her on the way there and am I glad I did! She started vomiting everywhere! We were almost there when this started so I told Kev to not stop, just get there. Then I realized that we hadn't packed a change of clothes. Nice. I ususally have some random clothes/blankets in my car but not today. Nope, that would have been convenient. There was puke ALL over her, her carseat and her blanket. Yeah, good times. Luckily, my work stocks packages from Newborns In Need, so we borrowed one of those when we got there.

After her exam, the NP said it's probably just a viral bug that's got her. One of her lymph nodes was a little swollen so we started her on an antibiotic just in case it's bacterial. Sweet girl, she's decided that amoxicillin tastes fabulous and takes it like a big girl. She and I took a nice long nap when we got home and she seems to be doing better. She just took some Pedialyte and some diluted formula. Cross your fingers that it stays down!! I'm hoping she'll be fine tonight and able to return to daycare tomorrow- she only has two days left at her current babysitter. Oh, did I forget to mention? We're switching daycares. More on that later...

Poor baby

My poor baby is sick. Projectile-vomit-high-fever sick. Turns out, two kids at her daycare went home puking today and she has started with it tonight. We called the on-call doctor because I was worried; she's never been sick before and her temp was 102.9! He wasn't too concerned and said it was probably a virus. Kev's going to stay home with her tomorrow and keep an eye on things. We set the pack-n-play up in our room so we can keep her near us tonight. I had put her to bed in her crib earlier, but she woke up after about 30 minutes from puking everywhere. I had to give her another bath. Say a little prayer for my poor baby. I'll update you tomorrow.

Happy late Easter

Sorry I haven't got anything up here sooner. We had an awesome Easter. After an uplifting sermon at church we spent the day with Dave and Cort. Emma had an adorable Easter dress. So cute. For Lent, Kev and I both decided to give up TV. It has been awesome. It's now 4 days later and we still haven't turned the tube on. I don't know that we will totally give up all television forever (we really love a good movie...and Guitar Hero) but we have learned alot about our priorities and what can give.

Kev's mom came for a visit Monday - Wednesday. That was really great because we hadn't seen her since January. And, I'm excited to say, we're going to Farmington this weekend. We haven't see my dad since the first week of December. That is entirely too long for a grandpa to go without his baby granddaughter. We're also going to meet up with my Aunt Cindi and cousin Lesley. I'm really excited and will hopefully have some fun family photos to post.

Hope you're all having a great week!!