The invitations

I have been busy and haven't had time to scan this so I could post it, but here it is. Emmaline's invitation for her 3rd Birthday party.

She wanted a princess party this year and there are going to be little boys at the party so I turned it into a Royal Ball.....

I tried to make this bigger - but blogger won't let me. Click on the image if you feel the need to see it bigger.

They look much better in person. Apparently textured cardstock doesn't scan very well :-)

Come one, Come all
There is going to be a Royal Ball
Gowns, Crowns and Castles too
Nothing short of a celebration will do.

Our little princess is turning three,
And she wants to celebrate with thee.
Your attendance is a must,
We need your help to spread some pixie dust.

Please come and help us celebrate
With Princess Emmaline
February 29th is the date
6:00 p.m. is the time
Don’t forget to dress up fine!

She did it......

AGAIN!!!!!

Last year right before Emma's birthday party she decided to make herself "pretty" by putting Vaseline in her hair. You can read about it when you click here. The picture with it is hilarious, even though I was not laughing at the time.

We did not do much over the week-end because Steven still has the crud and Emma is coming down with it. So we pretty much stayed in. Even though Emma wasn't feeling good, she still managed to get into mischief. Twice - yes twice - she stripped herself down and Pee'ed on the FLOOR!!!! I was soooooooooooooo mad, but I didn't beat her (though I really wanted to at the time :-) ), I just cleaned up the mess and we had a talk. I made Steven come and clean up the mess the second time while I cleaned her up and we chatted - then she went into time out. After I told her she could get up, she said she wanted to go play in her room. Sure, no problem. After about 10 minutes, I thought it was way too quiet, so I sent Steven down to check on her. Immediately he hollers for me (this is not a good sign), I go down there to discover that she has put Vaseline in her hair AGAIN!!!! It is not near as bad as it was last year, but still.....

Jill wanted to know if I took a picture this time - but I was too aggravated to even think about it. I just hope it all comes out by Saturday, otherwise she is going to be a princess in a ponytail :-)

Happy Birthday Emmaline Grace!

I am officially now the mommy of a three year old J

This is an "Emma Sandwich" - yummy!!!

Today did not end up going as planned, but it turned out to be a wonderful day. We got up and got ready this morning just like every other day – we did sing to Emma, but she was not impressed with it and kept telling up to stop. I bundled her up into the car and off we went - - - - - - - - - - - - - - for about a mile, it was all good - - - - - - - - - -then it all came to an incredibly slippery icy halt! It ended up taking me almost 30 minutes at that point to make it back home. While everything seemed fine at my house when we left, Kentucky was in the early stages of an ice storm! I made it back home thinking I would try again in an hour – an hour passed and Steven went outside to check and almost fell on his keester when he stepped off the back deck. A couple hours after that I tried it…….and almost fell on my keester! Needless to say, we didn't leave the house! So, even though we didn't plan it, it worked out great since it was Emma's birthday. I did get a few things done around the house and Steven was able to sleep some (he has had that nasty flu virus!), but we both enjoyed playing and cuddling with Emma all day. We even tried to sing to her some more, but she wasn't having anything to do with it.

It finally started to rain around 3:00 and the ice started to melt (or get washed away), so we went out and met the family for dinner at Culver's to celebrate Emmaline's birthday. Emma was a little confused at first about the whole birthday thing and kept saying she didn't want Culver's she wanted her princess party. I don't think she ever really understood that she was getting both (can we say spoiled!). I had told everyone not to get her anything, but everyone brought her gifts anyway. Her Aunt Tricia and Uncle Michael got her some very pretty dresses and a Tinkerbell "jammie dress" that she had to wear to bed tonight. Michael also brought her a big inflatable princess airbed for when she comes and stays with them. Grandma and Grandpa got her a one size fits all gift $$$$$, Aunt Jill brought her an adorable little summer dress with big purple polka dots all over it and of course we brought her a few gifts too. But her favorite gift tonight came from Aunt Bethany I think. It was a set princess figurines. We got home and she immediately wanted them out and proceeded to sit down right on the kitchen floor and play with them. She even took a couple of them to bed with her.

Thank you everyone for coming and spending the evening with us and helping to celebrate Emma's day! Here are a few pictures from tonight.

Thank you Jill!

Thank you Tricia!

Thank you Aunt 'Nee!

Cherish

My daughter is turning 3 in two days!!!!!!!

I still cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. It's like I blinked and here she is, this little person, with her own thoughts, opinions, likes, dislikes and full of love.

I had a conversation with a woman in Wal-Mart last week that has been on my mind. She was a young mother who seemingly had it all together. While we were talking, her youngest wanted to be picked up and kept saying "hug me Mommy, hug me". She just shushed her and kept up the conversation. This went on for a few minutes and I finally told her that I certainly wouldn't be able to resist a plea for hugs from such a cutie. She said that she had given her hugs when she got up this morning and she was fine. We kept talking and I learned that she had a total of 4 children, had gotten married when she was 24 and always knew she was going to be a mother. She then tells me that "I may not be a good Mom, but I am great at being pregnant and having kids. We think we may have a couple more, but I hardly have time for the ones I already have." I was speechless!!!

I also was 24 when I got married but it was almost 11 years later before Emma was born. The long wait was not by choice. We struggled with infertility like so many other couples today. I am so blessed to have her in my life and I feel blessed because she is. I don't know if mothers that are able to easily get pregnant just take it for granted that they are a Mom and God has given them this little person to love and care for, but I know that there are days I feel like I am living a wonderful dream and I worry that I will wake up and it will be just that – a dream. So when Emma tells me she wants a hug – she gets one. Emma wants to be cuddled, and then if it is physically possible at the time – I do it!

I am not trying to put anyone down who is able to think about having a child and boom – they are pregnant, but I feel like sometimes people forget that not everyone is like that. We tried for 8 years to get pregnant and Emma is going to be 3 in just a couple of days and she is still the only one. Again, not by choice. I guess I am trying to make a couple of points: One is to think before you speak, especially if you don't know the person – you have no way of knowing what they are struggling with. Second – don't take your children for granted. They are a gift. An amazingly, beautiful, blessed gift from God. And lastly, cherish your children. If they want a hug from you – stop and give them one.

Psalms 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights..

Enough of me being on my soap box – but it has been on my mind for days now. Hey – did I mention that Emmaline is turning 3 on Thursday – YIKES!!!

My little princess

Silly Old Emma

Emma has been watching Tigger and Pooh in the mornings while we are getting ready. Or maybe I should say that it is on while she is up running around and getting into mischief! I never really thought that she was paying any attention to it until I heard her talking in her room one Sunday morning while we were getting ready to leave for church.

I thought I heard her say "Stop that! You silly old bear!" But I thought I heard her wrong, then.... I hear again "No, no! Silly old bear!" I came around the corner into her room and this is the sight that greeted me....

Emma had put Pooh Bear's sweater on her head!

Story behind the Pooh Bear:

The Christmas before Steven and I got married, he showed up at the house with the large wicker basket FULL of things. There was a nice warm fuzzy flannel Christmas blanket (I love blankets), a cute Christmas moose, a Pooh Bear, a new watch, a book and a few other things that I really don't remember all these years later. Anyway, in the card that he also gave me, he mentions that the Pooh Bear was for me, for now, but when we had our first child, it was to be given to the baby. Well, since it took us almost 8 years to have our first baby, needless to say, I had forgotten all about that. Right before Emma was born and I was cleaning things out, I came across that Christmas card. After I read it, I went and found the Pooh Bear and it has been in her room since she was born!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day!

Good Getaway

It was a busy, tiring, hectic weekend, but it was good to getaway for a couple of days. This was the first time that Steven and I had actually left town without Emma. We have left her a couple of times overnight and went to dinner and a movie and then early the next day, I would go and pick her up, but it definately felt different to drop her off and then LEAVE!! But it was soooooo nice to be able to just relax and enjoy myself and not have to worry about Emma in the next room and I didn't have to worry about her waking me up before the sun came up either (Patricia and Michael had that pleasure – she was awake before six) J

Steven rode up to Louisville with a co-worker early on Friday and I spent the morning with Emma at home. She was an angel all morning and we had so much fun playing and she even "helped" me pack. Around lunch time, I got the car loaded and took her over to Grandma's house where she was going to stay until her Aunt Tricia got off of work and picked her up. I ran a couple of errands around town and I hit the interstate. I don't think I had even made it 20 miles before I started to ask myself "Am I there yet?" I just wasn't in the mood to drive – I just wanted to be there! But I made really good time and arrived at the hotel about 4:00 pm. (For those of you that don't know, my husband works for Aflac (you know – the talking duck), and they have a BIG annual kick off dinner every year. This was our third year to go and it is held at the Marriot Downtown Louisville.This is one really nice hotel too!) Anyway, I valet park the car, they carried my bags in and made sure I was taken care of immediately (I wish I had someone like that everyday!). Steven came out and we checked in and got our room keys and he helped me get the bags up to the room before going back down to his meeting. I relaxed for a little bit and finally went down to join him and watch some of the new associates "Run the Gauntlet" as they call it. I think the only other time in my life that I have seen this much confetti was in New York City during a ticker tape parade. I was so glad that I didn't have to worry about cleaning it up or getting in the middle of it. Let's just say that for those that had to 'run the gauntlet' – the confetti was everywhere!

The meeting ended and the reception began about 5:30 with dinner at 7:00. Dinner was excellent! And dessert was even better (cheesecake with a chocolate sauce and strawberries!) – YUM-O! Then the DJ started and the dance floor opened up. That part of the evening was okay – but not as good as it usually is……..at least it wasn't if you aren't into rap and hip-hop. The last two years the dance floor had stayed pretty crowded – but not this year. You could definitely tell the difference! Hopefully next year, he will cut back on the rap and hip-hop some. We ended up sitting outside or in the lobby just talking and having a good time. Finally at some point after midnight, we decided we were hungry again and went into the sports bar at the hotel that was still open to get something to eat.

And while the quesadilla was really good – I really don't recommend eating one at one o'clock in the morningL. I finally went up to the room and crashed around 1:30 or so. That bed felt awesome and the feather duvet was incredible! I didn't get up until 9:00 which also felt incredible! We got ourselves ready and packed up checked out, met some friends and went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and just enjoying being together! But I have to admit that everything that I bought that day (with the exception of food) was for Emmaline – go figure!

All in all, it was a good getaway. It was good to get home and pick up our girl. I was ready for some big Emma squeezes! Luckily, some of the puppies were still left, so she was able to play with them one last time, but she did wonder where the rest of them were. I would love to be able to take one of them home, but I really don't think Patches (our little Chihuahua) would appreciate it. Plus – I am busy trying to get Emma potty trained (which is turning out to be a very slow and tedious process), I really don't have time to potty train a dog too!

Hope everyone had a good weekend and have a GREAT week!

The many faces of Emmaline

After church on Sunday, Emma was full of smiles and very happy to be riding in her Aunt Tricia's car. I had my camera with me and wanted to get a couple of pictures of her, but she wouldn't stand still and let me take a picture. I hit my shutter and just let the camera go........

Puppies & Pigtails

Emma wanted to wear 'crunchies' (as she calls them) on the side. I hadn't put her hair up like this since Thanksgiving because it is really hard to do with a wiggly toddler. I could not believe how long they were - and this is after her "haircut".

Anyway......Emma is doing much better. She still doesn't really have any appetite and wants to cuddle more than she wants to play (that part I don't really mind!). But other than that, she is doing much better. Saturday we took it pretty easy and didn't even leave the house till after 2:00. We took Emma up to her Aunt Patricia and Uncle Micheal's house so she could see their puppies one last time before they all go to their new homes. She refers to them as 'her puppies', so she is not going to be real happy on Friday when she goes up there and most of them (if not all of them) are gone.
There are seven puppies and they are all either black or brown. A couple of them have a bit of white. This was my favorite black one - it looked like he had a little tux on. This brown puppy was the only girl in the litter. She was adorable - her fur was almost curly. And I just love how they all cuddled up together in one bed towards the end of the day when the temperture started going down.

Emma was very sad when we made her come inside, but the wind was picking up and the temperature started falling and I certainly didn't want her to get sick again! So she sat inside and looked out the back door. It was so cute to see the little puppies peer inside at her and push against the door trying to get in.

Sunday was the usual - church, lunch, a little shopping and a nap! The nap was great! Emma slept for almost 3 hours. I would like to say that I got a lot done during that time - but I can't! I have however finally started working on her birthday invitations.

That's it for now. I need to go and get Emma, get her bathed and fed (if she will eat) and over to her Grandma's house. Steven and I have a date with a ballroom instructor. (more on that later!)