Emma: 3.5 Years

I looked at the Lilypie Ticker to the right of my blog and it hit me...my sweet baby girl is three and a half years old today! Wow...it seems like yesterday I met her for the very first time...and my life hasn't been the same since!

Emma - You are the smartest, sweetest, prettiest little girl! You are beautiful on the inside and the outside. Mommy and Daddy love you so much, and our love for you continues to grow. You amaze us each day, and you teach us more than we ever learned in any classroom!

Here's what you're up to these days...

(in no particular order:)

• You are about 38lbs. and approximately 3.5 feet tall...you are a head taller than most kids your age and a "skinny mini"!
• You are such a big girl...and you love to help. You have a few chores around the house, like emptying the little trash cans, putting your dirty clothes in the hamper, and picking up your toys.
• You also do a lot of other things to help out. You usually feed Luke his afternoon bottle while Mommy gets supper cooked, dishes done, and bags packed for the next day.
• You play with Luke and try to keep him pacified when you want to...and when you don't want to you flat out refuse, ha!

• You are a hard headed strong-willed little girl, much like your mommy and daddy. We have to remind you often who is boss...and who Luke's actual mommy is...you even call him "son", "my baby boy", etc. quite often! =)
• While you are strong-willed, you are also tender-hearted and full of compassion. If you see somebody is hurting, crying, or in need you jump right in to help...or stop and pray! It melts my heart when you say "Mommy, let's pray"...you will stop what you are doing, grab my hands, and speak the most precious words! God hears you, baby girl!
• Your vocabulary is out of this world...your current favorite "big word" is actually...and I have yet to hear you use it incorrectly.
• You have keen ears...and you pay attention to your surroundings. We have to be very careful about what we say...because things that may not sound all that bad coming out of an adult's mouth DO NOT sound so pretty coming out of a 3.5 year old's mouth! (i.e. gosh, dangit)

• You love your friends, and you talk about them a lot! Mallie, Ensleigh, Aaliyah, and Faith are your current BFFs at Mrs. Elizabeth's. Faith will be going to kindergarten in the fall, and you will really miss her. The other girls will all go to kindergarten with you...and although I hope you make lots of new friends when you start school, I hope you always stay close with the girls you have been with since you were babies!
• Speaking of school...I cannot believe that in two years I will have a kindergartner...be on the lookout for a big mommy meltdown! ;)
• You started taking dance and tumbling in the fall...both of which you love. You run around the house doing flips, back bends, splits, and plies...which your daddy knows absolutely nothing about, so he is getting quite the education in all things girl! :)

• Your daddy...what can I say? He loves you more than words can describe...and you love him just as much. You are such a girly girl, but you love to put your boots on and get dirty too! You love to do anything Daddy is doing...especially if it has to do with cows!
• You love to play outside!
• When we can't be outside you are really good at playing by yourself.
• Your favorite things to play are "baby dolls" and "school". You are quite the little teacher...and you have "the look" down pat!
• You love books, and you love to read!
• You can recognize and write your name and a lot of letters and numbers.
• You love church, and you love Jesus! You started going to Sunday School (instead of the nursery) in the fall. You learn so much in there, and you amaze me with things you know.
• You have been to children's church a few times, but for some reason you won't go back. You tell me that you don't know anybody in there...which isn't true! I'm not sure if the vast age difference (3 years to 6th grade) has you intimidated or what...but you won't be able to go to the nursery anymore when you turn 4. I guess you will sit quietly in big church, or you will learn to love children's church...only time will tell!

• You are a great eater...when you want to eat. The only thing I can think of that you don't like is eggs...and who can blame you there? ;)
• You're also a great sleeper...except you haven't mastered the art of sleeping in. You go to sleep around 8pm (after bathtime, storytime, and prayer time), and you usually get up by 5:30am. On mornings we can sleep late we try to put you in the bed with us so you'll go back to sleep...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Even if you don't go back to sleep it makes for great snuggle time!
• You take a nap after lunch. When you're at home you usually sleep 2-3 hours...and then you're ready to roar again! :)
• You love bath time...and your current favorites are letters and bubbles. You don't get to play in the tub every night, but you sure do love it when we do have time!
• You love your grandparents...and you love to spend the night with them! I know that won't last forever, so I oblige most of the time! :)

• You keep life interesting...and you keep your mama and daddy on our toes! ;) I have a million stories, but I will share just one recent one. A month or so ago we went to the funeral home to visit a man from church whose wife had passed away. When I was putting you to bed that night our conversation went something like this:
• E: Why was that lady laying on that board?
• Me: What baby?
• E: Mrs. Frances...why was she in that box?
• Me: Well baby, she went to Heaven.
• E: When you go to Heaven will we put you in a box?
• Me: Yes, I guess you will.
• E: And then I'll get a new mommy?
• Me: No, baby...I will ALWAYS be your mommy!

Baby Girl - I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be!! Jesus, Mommy, Daddy, and Luke love you VERY MUCH! Happy 3.5 years precious one:)

Date Night, Lazy Weekend, Be Ready!

Friday night Emma had "date night" with MawMaw, Poppa Dale & Cheyenne. She was very excited, and I'm assuming she had a great time since she came home Saturday morning and laid on the couch for about an hour!

The rest of the weekend was spent being lazy and hanging out with my miracle babies (and the husband too:). In case I haven't mentioned it before...I am so in love with my little family! =)

On another note...we had a really good sermon at church on Sunday. I think a lot about my salvation, and I pray that my children accept Jesus as their Saviour at an early age. With all that is going on in the world it makes me wonder how long it will be before Jesus comes back (Matthew 24). As a Christian I know that this is just my temporary home...but there are so many people out there who don't know Him or haven't accepted Him. I pray hard for those people...because it would be a terrible thing to be left behind. Be ready!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

...a tooth!

Luke's first tooth finally broke through today. Daddy noticed it while Luke Man was eating his supper. I'm glad to know what all that gnawing, drooling, sucking, and chewing has been about. I can't believe how fast our sweet baby boy is growing up! I tried really hard to get a picture of his new tooth, but my photography skills are lacking. I did get a few pictures of the sweet, one-toothed boy!

Apparently his drool is very acidic...his poor chin broke out into a rash tonight!

Not to worry though...a little cortisone cream cleared it right up! :)

Thursday Rant

No pictures...just a rant. Read at your own risk! :)

Thursdays...the day Justin leaves before the roosters crow...the day he has driven over 100 miles before the sleep is good and out of my eyes...the day disaster tends to strike at my house.

Last Thursday I got up extra early, as usual, to get myself ready before the kids woke up. Things ran rather smoothly, and we left home around 6:40. I knew Luke's cough/congestion was bad, but I didn't have anybody to keep him so we headed on. As I was driving, he was coughing continuously. He sounded awful...then the "mommy guilt" kicked in. I grabbed my cell phone and called for help...in the form of my grandmother! "Maz" said she could come keep him, but it would be an hour or so. Next call for help...MawMaw Wanda! She said she would meet me at the house and keep him until Maz could get there. However, at this point I was going to be incredibly late for work if I went back home. So off I went...baby in tow...to work. Luckily my great co-workers were more than happy to pull baby duty until I could get things going in my classroom. Then they watched my class while I carried Luke home. By Friday he was worse, and I ended up having to take one of my endless supply of sick days so I could take him to the doctor. Luckily the breathing treatments have made a tremendous difference in our little guy!

Fast forward seven days to today...Thursday. I will spare you all the lovely details, but let's just say E woke up around 4:30 with a tummy ache. I gave her some pepto bismol, she used the potty, and she went back to bed...my bed to be exact. I got up at 5:30, got myself completely ready, and went into Luke's room to give him a breathing treatment. At 6:20 I started calling for E to wake up. She wandered into Luke's room around 6:25, gave him a kiss, laid her head down on the rocker (in a sleepy sort of way), lifted her head, looked at me, and THREW UP EVERYWHERE! When I say everywhere I mean everywhere...all over me, Luke, the rocker, the floor...EVERYWHERE! Here we go again...I called for help. MawMaw Wanda came to sit with her until Maz could get there. Luckily, I don't think it was a virus. She hasn't thrown up again today, and she is playing like her usual self. When I got to work...late, of course...one of my lovelies asked me, "Mrs. McCollum, are your kids always sick?" Yes, Johnny (name has been changed to protect the guilty), it seems that way, doesn't it?

Better, Birthdays, Naps & Big News

I am happy to report that Luke is doing so much better. He's still not 100%, but he is moving in the right direction. We go back for a re-check Tuesday afternoon, so please say a prayer that we get the all clear! :)

Our weekend was busy, as usual. Since Luke was making improvement Daddy and Nana were kind enough to send Ashley and me on our shopping excursion to Birmingham. We stopped back through Anniston for Cheyenne's birthday party. I cannot believe she is already six years old...it seems like just yesterday we were in the hallway at RMC listening for the sound of a baby crying and waiting impatiently to get our hands on that sweet baby girl!

The Birthday Girl!

Emma hung out with her "boyfriend" at the party.

Cheyenne's was the sixth party E has been to in five weeks!

We won't know what to do with ourselves for a while! :)

Cheyenne's cousin, Morgan, was the flower girl in my wedding.

My, how things have changed in a little over 5 years!

Sunday afternoons are usually spent with the kids napping, Daddy working, and Mommy running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to get things ready for the week to come. This afternoon I decided to lay down with Emma for a minute so she would get to sleep quicker...a minute turned into 3 hours! I could not believe it! Even Luke took a 3 hour nap...after which Justin said HE would purchase a Nap Nanny!

This is what a boy looks like after a LONG Sunday afternoon nap.

And finally...the big news! It's not my news, so I won't share it...but

let's just say thanks to Jana and April we will have a very exciting fall! =)

(Click on their names to see what all the excitement is about:)

Where's the manual?

Raising my babies has been the absolute most rewarding job I have ever had. It is also the hardest job I have ever had. Emma hasn't been sick over five times her whole life, but I just can't seem to get Luke better. I have tried everything including sitting in his bedroom floor, squalling, and begging God to please just knock me in the head and tell me how to fix him. No luck with that yet.

Apparently I misplaced the manual that tells mamas what we really need to know about raising our babies. It must have gotten filed with the really important pamphlets they send home from the hospital with you that say something like "feed baby when hungry"...Really?

Here's a look at what we've tried this week...

Hudson was sweet enough to let us borrow his

Nap Nanny, and it seems to be helping with the congestion.

We went back to see Dr. Ray today. He did an x-ray to make sure

pneumonia wasn't setting up in his lungs. Thankfully it wasn't, but

 Luke does have bronchitis. So...we came home with a nebulizer

machine. Please pray that these breathing treatments help our little guy!

We have also spent several days this week at the chiropractor's office. It seems to have helped break up the congestion, and Luke DID NOT have an ear infection when Dr. Ray checked him today! (I would have sworn earlier in the week that he did.) So...we will continue to let Dr. Steele work with him in an attempt to keep this baby well!

Luke just lays there and grins while Dr. Steele does his magic!

In other news...Nana's home! :)

Flowers for Emma

In case you didn't know...

Emma's Nana has gone back to work in Texas, and Emma misses her terribly! She doesn't understand why she can't go to Nana's and spend the night like usual. Nana will be flying home for the weekend, and E is so excited. She got these flowers at Mrs. Elizabeth's Tuesday to remind her it would only be a few more days before they were reunited, ha!

Really?!...How many 3-year-olds do you know

who have had flower deliveries at 'school'? ;)