Merry Christmas and a prayer request.

It has been a while since my last post! We all got a little flu-bug and we were sick the end of last week through the weekend. I am still catching up from it! It is amazing what a couple days of doing nothing will get you--NOTHING!!
Not a lot has been happening, just finishing up some last minute Christmas preparations and working. We did go see Santa one last time, but that was a pointless visit. All well, I am sure Emma will dig Santa sooner or later. Be sure to check the picture out at the end of the post.

Please pray for a man named Carl. He used to be my Pastor, but left to pastor in Idaho in July. He is married and has two kids. I love this family so much and they have been through so many obstacles. Carl had leukemia and had a successful bone marrow transplant September 2005. Since then, Carl has been in and out of the hospital with infections and other ailments. He has been on his deathbed at least three times(that I can remember). God has done many miracles in his life and our small church's congregation lives.
I received an email last night from Carl's wife and she said that Carl now has skin cancer on his backside. It is pretty advanced and the option to cure it is not an option for him because his platelet count is too low and he would not be able to heal. So they are going to burn the skin off and let him heal from that-that alone will be 2nd degree burns on a lot of his backside. However, the doctors also think there is a good probability that Carl may have either anal or colon cancer as well. This news is just devastating. Carl is only 41 and his kids are 14 and 9. Please pray for this family and for another miracle. We have all seen what the Lord and I know He will be with this family.

Finally, everyone have a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy every moment! I know I will! I can't wait to see everyone's pictures :)

Christmas Memories

I remember when Santa was real.

I remember writing Santa every year the night before Christmas and him writing me back.

I remember reading those letters later on in life seeing how my Mom wrote me back one year, my Dad the next...the pattern continued on.

I remember laying in bed just thinking that Santa would be in my house in a few hours.

I remember being so excited Christmas morning.

I remember all the gifts tags said "From Santa"--they still do!!

I remember doing all kinds of Christmas pageants at church and wearing my Christmas dresses.

I remember Christmas carrolling.

I remember learning all the Christmas songs at church.

I remember going to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas morning and waiting for "forever" until Grandpa finished his food so we could be able to open gifts.

I remember being the official present passer-outer.

I remember getting my Fievel.

I remember getting my baby doll that was supposed to act real.

I remember getting my Pound Puppies.

I remember sticking bows on our dog's head.

I remember unwrapping each individual gift in our stockings.

I remember wrapping presents for my Grandma in the nursing home.

I remember Christmas parties at school and how fun they were.

I remember doing Secret Santa at gymnastics; and how one year my Secret Santa wrote my "hint" letters completely backwards.

I remember watching my mom curl the ribbons she used to decorate presents and just wondering how she did that.

I remember knowing Christmas 2007 that I was pregnant with Emma and could hardly hold in my excitement.

I remember REMEMBERING WHAT and WHO Christmas is all about.

I pray Emma has the same kind of wonderful memories I do about Christmas. It was always so magical for my childhood.

What are YOUR memories of Christmas?

Christmas Decorations!!--Warning, LOTS of pictures!! :)

Finally, finally....we finally put our Christmas tree up on Saturday! Yes, completely un-American, I know! We were a little hesitant with a 16 month old running around, but actually, Emma has done great with the tree(for a 16 month old-ha!) Here are some pictures of Daddy putting up the tree.....

Then, we have Daddy falling down with the tree.....
I thought Emma had been kind of quiet while Daddy was hard at work, so I looked over and saw her munching on Daddy's sunglasses....
...and here is the aftermath of "mean old Mommy" taking away the sungalsses.

These next few pictures are some ornaments that I had planned on putting on the Christmas tree this year.

Here are some ornaments on the tree. I love the way they sparkle with the lights!

Here is the final product. Not too bad!

Not too much longer after I had taken the previous photo, little Miss Emma found her favorite ornament!

These next few pictures are of random decorations we have for Christmas around the house.

Finally, to work off all of that hard work, we took Emma out to play in the leaves we raked up and never got rid of!

Finally, Emma's future boyfriend, Quinten came over after church to hang out for a while. Aren't they so cute? He likes to get into all over her toys and she just follows him around like a lost puppy. It is too cute!!

It snowed here in Middle America last night. For just one inch, traffic was horrible-it took me 3 1/2 hours to get to work today! I am not ready for this yucky traffic. All well, at least I had my Pottery Barn catalogue with me to pass the time by while I was at a dead stop(for 30 minutes!). I hope your Monday was better. :)

Teething

We have had a looonnnggg week! We had a great Thanksgiving, we saw a lot of family and we were able to just relax and enjoy our new house.
However, Miss Emma has had some different plans for us. Her molars are coming in and let me tell you--these are WAY different than her front teeth. She had no problem at all with her front teeth while teething, but these molars have been horrible! She will not touch anything that is harder than a banana and she has been so whiny and fussy! I think I have given her more Tylenol in this last week than I have in her whole lifetime. I feel so bad for her, but I also feel bad because I just needed a break from her the other night. She will not go to anyone but Mommy(sometimes Daddy) and I just couldn't take it anymore. I felt so guilty because I had to hand her off to Brandon and leave the room and lay down. Of course, I cried the whole time because I felt like I abandoned her so I went right back in and took her and just held her. We were up until 3AM Monday night/Tuesday morning. I was in a daze all day yesterday...lol. The good news is that she seems to be doing better. She ate a lot more last night and was in a better mood. She is still whining a lot, but it seems to be the "toddler whining". I just want my girl to feel better soon!! It is so funny because I was so worried about her eating less, but then I thought to myself....when she teethed last time, she had all soft food, so that is why she never ate less then. I felt better soon after I calmed down and let my rationale thinking take over ;)
On a better note, Emma had her 15 month check-up on Wednesday. She weighs 22lbs 10oz and is 30 inches long. She is a little short, but is pretty average in her weight and head circumference(which I can't remember what that was.....sigh). She ended up getting some vaccines-MMR, chicken pox, meningacoccal(sp???) and H1N1. She did GREAT with them! Well, afterwards. She screamed during the shots, but I expected that-I think I would have screamed with her if I had been allowed- I HATE seeing my child in pain!! There were no bad side effects once again--thank you God!!
Well, there is my update for the week! I hope everyone is doing well. By the way please keep Bentley in your prayers. Check out her mom's blog for more info. This is a very sweet family that may have some obstacles coming up in the future and they would really appreciate prayers and support. Thank you!!

Thankful WEDNESDAY and Ten Times WEDNESDAY!

I am a day late right now....with moving and a fiesty 16 month old(well in 4 days), things are hectic! We are technically moved, we just now have a mountain of items to unpack, organize, throw out, etc. I never realized how much stuff we have-that really makes me thankful. We are going to go through it and take a lot to Goodwill so someone else can have what we do not need. I am so thankful that my husband is here to help me with it. He is so good to me and is a blessing in my life! He can make me laugh in a second and helps me when I cry. I am also thankful for my daughter who is my whole world. She is such a miracle herself. When she came premature, we all expected the worst even though we KNEW God would protect her and be with us. When little Miss Emma came out, she was loud and pink and just perfect. God has truly blessed us with her. I am also so thankful for my parents, as they have helped us out emotionally, physically, financially and faithfully. My friends and co-workers are also wonderful people in my life who have been there for me through all my ups and downs. Last, but definately not least, I am thankful for my Lord and Saviour Jesus. Without Him, nothing is possible. God has been good to me.
Now, I have seen this on some other blogs and I thought I would try it. I think it is fun to find out some fun facts about people whose blogs you read on. I hope you enjoy this!
1. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Not at all. I feel like my whole Christmas spirit is wiped out by that one day!
2. What was your favorite childhood toy? (Think Easy Bake Oven, Cabbage Patch Kid, Shrinky Dinks, etc.)
I received a Fievel doll when I was 6. He is still my most favorite toy!
3. Favorite Christmas movie?
A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
4. What is the "must have" item on your Christmas list this year?
A positive pregnancy test(praying for one!!)
5. Do you go all out with decorations or do you keep it simple and classy?
A little in between, but it is still classy.
6. What are your Christmas Plans this year?
Going to each set of grandparents houses and just enjoy time together.
7. What is your favorite Thanksgiving dinner item?
Turkey, cheeseball and black eyed peas!
8. Do you watch football on Thanksgiving?
Yes
9. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Go Tell It On The Mountain
10. What is your favorite Christmas Memory?
Being all excited to go to bed at night just thinking that Santa was going to be there soon! I miss those days of simplicity....

Everyone have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hi all! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and you are able to spend some wonderful time with your family and friends! May God Bless you all and I pray you are able to relax and enjoy your holiday!

Older Pictures

I wanted to post some pictures of Emma of when she was younger. Since I started this blog, I really didn't start keeping it up until she was one year old. I just wanted to share some of my favorites of her! (From when she was younger than a year!)