Funny faces and swim dates!

So, I am SO not a good blogger!  Honestly, its just not my priority.  Although when I print this into a book again, I will be so grateful for the entries I made.  But how many precious moments did I miss?  I have even been horrible at writing those moments in her journal.  I just get so overwhelmed, because honestly there's so much I could write.  But when I sit down to post, nothing comes to mind.  ugh. lol   

Emery is so amazing!  But let me tell you.... she is definitely testing us.  She has a strong, stubborn will and frequently cries and whines when she doesn't get her way.  I'm constantly trying to balance when to ignore her temper tantrum and when to confront and discipline it.  Its so hard.  Its true... you really don't understand until you're a parent.  I hate to admit that now.  But I will lay down my pride and say... "you were all right!" lol  Things are so clear when you are standing on the outside.  But when you are in the middle 24/7, things are not so clear, and definitely not so easy.  Because it is moment to moment disciplining.  No wonder parents let their kids get away with murder.  haha  But I definitely do not want to produce a child that cries or throws a fit every time she doesn't get what she wants.  Let's nip that in the bud!  Its funny... I even told the Lord yesterday, "yes Lord, THIS is what I waited for for 10 years!  And I love it!"

But she is definitely precious.  She is so stinkin sweet and fun and beautiful.  She is learning to share and when she empties all her toys out on the floor or empties out a kitchen drawer, she is learning to put it all back.  She's a quick learner.  And we think the first word she's been trying to say lately is 'cheese'!  That's my girl!!!

 A couple of the many faces of Emery....

This was Emery's first time in her new pool.  Her cousins came over.  Mattie and I sat and chatted and drank iced lattes.  It was a perfect summer day!

 The hat is compliments of JamieRaeHats.com!  I LOVE them!! Thanks Jamie Rae!

 Emery, Owen and Mckenna

Last night we went to a friend's house for swim and bbq, Michael and Jamie.  They have 2 boys and a girl.  The boys did they're own thing all evening.  But Chloe played and swam with us and played with Emery.  She was cracking me up all night.  

Emery looks so determined in this picture.  I love it!  But she seriously was trying to climb up that slide!  She could climb up on the edge but that was about it.  We had a great time!

 Chloe, Emery and Sean

Em crashed as soon as we got home.  Not only did she have a long afternoon and went swimming, but she took a pretty hard spill off the swing. :(  Actually she completely flipped off the swing.  I really was devastated.  Sean told me to keep a hand on her and I did at first.  But then, as usual, I got too trusting and relaxed and in the 1/2 second I glanced at Chloe on the swing next to us, Emery flipped off backwards on the forward swing.  Luckily she landed flat on her belly, but I'm pretty sure her neck jarred a bit on the way down.  I wanted to cry.  I felt so bad.  I felt like an idiot.  I know things happen, but, Sean is right, there are definitely things we can prevent.  Well, she was fine, just very tired after that.  The worst part was she was crying so much and then I gave her Tylenol which went down the wrong way which then made her cough and it snowballed from there.  She began coughing so hard, she started throwing up the phlegm in her throat from crying which then only irritated her throat and she coughed the rest of the evening.  Whew!  Poor baby.  But luckily, once asleep, she was out for the night.  But don't think I didn't check on her frequently.  

Upon checking on her the first time, this is how I found her.... asleep in her BoBo's lap.  

So precious!

Sweet dreams baby girl

Happy Mother's Day!

Wow... the last time I posted was Easter!  Yikes!   From one holiday to the next!  Well I will catch you up on my entire Mother's Day weekend.

Friday was a ton of fun!  What started out as a relaxing, and needed, day at home with Emery, turned into a very fun evening with family and cousins.  Mattie and the kids ended up coming over for a spontaneous visit to have some water fun time with Emery in our front yard around 4:00.  She brought over a small sprinkler setup  for the hose.  This was Emery's first time in the sprinklers and she loved it!  She was a little shy but when I put her in the middle of it she didn't run away.  She would stay right in there and slap at the water and laugh.  It was so much fun!  Having taken so long to start a family means all my family and oldest friends have older kids.  But as I sat there with Mattie in the shade, watching the kids play, sipping our iced lattes, I realized how God really does provide and how blessed I am to still have family and friends with young kids, and even babies, to play with Emery.  She loves all her cousins, but for me, its so great to have the same age for her to hang out with. 

 Afterward, Brett came over after work and I asked them if they wanted to stay for dinner and we could get pizza.  And so they did!  (I love spontaneity!!)  I went to give Emery a bath and Owen and McKenna both ended up joining her.  Again... one of those things that I always thought of cousins doing. :)  It really was a reality check for me, that yes, this is really happening.  I am really a mommy with a beautiful daughter.  Sounds silly, but it is true.  We had a great evening of just hanging out.

And today is Mother's Day.  Sean brought me coffee in the shower. :)  We went to church as a family for the first time in a long time.  Between someone being sick and my work schedule, its been hit and miss.  So today was a nice treat.  I honestly didn't mean to, but Emery and I ended up matching.  So Sean took a couple pictures of us before church.  My niece was also dressed to match (who really looks like she could be my daughter anyway!).  Church was great.  Emery is napping now and then we're going to my brother's for lunch.  I am still amazed that I get the privilege of celebrating this day.  It is such a blessing.  I always have to pinch myself. :)  I praise God for all that He has given to us.  Emery is such a reminder of Christ's endless love and faithfulness to us.  She is His love manifest to us!  Thank you Jesus.

Happy Mother's Day to all my beautiful mommy friends, sisters and moms!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

When I got home last night from work, Emery looked much better. Although not anywhere near being rash free. Her face looked much better. The right side was the worst. But the blotchy patches of rash moved to her cheeks and all else was clear. However the rash on the rest of her body looks worse (to me) and extended down to her feet. But I suspect that will begin to clear today. It came on head to toe and will go away head to toe (I'm guessing). But through all of this she seemed pretty unaffected. I think the Benadryl every 6 hours has helped and has also helped to dry her runny nose up as well. In fact, she slept ALL through the night last night, not waking up once, for the first time in a week!!!! This is one happy mommy!

We had a wonderful time with her uncle Brett and auntie Mattie and her cousins, Owen and McKenna saturday night. Despite looking really bad and having a constant cough (to the point of gagging), she played hard with her cousins. She even pushed 3 year old McKenna around the room on her pirate ship car!!! It was hilarious! None of us could believe she could push her all by herself. lol She was putting her whole body into it! (I'll try to upload the video) We had a good time celebrating her uncle's birthday. I've missed these times of hanging out with them. Mattie texted me with the same sentiment after we left. Been having some great times with them lately. These are long overdue. :)

I have to admit, the rash threw me for a loop. I don't know rashes and they make me nervous (even at work). But it is Sean that I worried about as we went into his 2 day run taking care of her all alone. But I think these times make us stronger and better parents.... not afraid of anything. Sean is an amazing daddy. We have our complaints of each other's differences in parenting, but at the end of the day, I think we balance each other beautifully and are a great team! (I love you babe!!! You're awesome!!)

I had to work Easter this year. So Sean took Emery to his brother's again for breakfast. Unfortunately the kids naps were opposite each other, so they didn't get to hunt Easter eggs together. But Sean gave Emery an egg hunt when they got home. He said she "Rocked it!". I thought she wouldn't really get it this year, so I was kind of sad that I missed it. But I know its part of my job that I will miss holidays and these moments. Its okay. He told me I should do it with her tomorrow. I will!!! :)

Sean's Easter Egg Hunt!!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Although I missed church, I did walk the Way of the Cross at church on Friday. I will have to blog about that next, because it really was awesome! Had a good hour and a half with my Lord Jesus. I believe there was a work and healing done in me. Thank you Lord for always being faithful and near to us. I am so grateful for your work on the Cross for little ol' me! There IS power in the Cross and in your blood that was spilled out for me!!! Hallelujah!

Rash?? eek!

Emery woke up this morning with a huge rash on her face, neck and chest.  EEK!!!  Her first official rash.  :(  I immediately called a doctor friend of mine and gave him the run down.  Here's the course of events over the past 6 weeks.

Week 1 - Really bad cold with horrible wet, productive cough

Week 2-4 - better but cough turned dry and consistent, clear runny nose

Week 5 - mild cold again! cough still dry... finally took her to doctor who found the start of a mild ear infection in the left ear.  Started Amoxicillin. Bought a hepa air filter and cough finally stopped!!  yippee!!  still runny nose

Week 6 - still constant runny nose.  In the middle of the week, she had a fever of 100.8 ax but was cutting a tooth.  Tylenol and it was better the next day.  After the air filter, she finally slept through the night for 4 nights, but has been up every night, multiple times the last 3 nights.  Been giving teething tablets, Tylenol, honey elixir and finally Benadryl, along with cold mist humidifier and now hepa filter.

Today (end of week 6) - She wakes up with a rash :(

So after I talked with my friend, I gave her benadryl and she went down for a nap.  When she woke up 3 hours later, the rash was worse!  Its slowly working its way down her back, abdomen, arms and hands.  I finally decided to take her to urgent care and have someone look at her... her ears, throat, lymph nodes....  Luckily we got right in and the NP confirmed everything my friend told me.  There are two possibilities... 1) she is having an allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin.  Apparently, an anaphylactic rxn would happen within hours.  But a mild rxn, such as a rash, occurs 6-10 days after start of med.  Well its day 7!  However, itchiness is a sign of allergic rxn which I haven't noticed her scratching more than usual with the mild excema.  So... 2) its a viral rxn to the cold.  Basically he said the rash is the by-product of the virus and the body colliding.  So, we treat the symptoms.  Benadryl around the clock until it clears up.  And for the first time, this NP said she has allergies.  Every other doctor tells you children this age don't get allergies.  Yah right!  Not in this central valley!  So after the benadryl is done, I can use Zyrtec or Claritan for the allergies.  After 6 days of finally no cough, she started coughing again yesterday.  She coughs herself into gagging!  I slept on the floor of her room last night simply because it was easier than getting all comfy in bed only to have to get up again.  She was coughing and then gagging half the night!  Poor baby. :(   But all in all, doctor said its not contagious.  Not any more than a typical cold already is.  (so for all my playdate girls yesterday.... no worries :)

 This was first thing this morning.

 This was after her nap :(

Well she is back to nap again after another dose of benadryl.  Although this freaked me out a little, I learned a lot.  And I feel fine now.  I just feel for her.  She looks so much worse than she really is.  She was smiling real big at a woman in the urgent care... right through that face of horrible rash! lol   This is why I love being a pediatric nurse.  They are super duper little troopers!!!!

A relaxing Sunday with Emery....

Emery and I have had a great 3 days together.  From playdate on Friday to a doctor's appt (she has a mild left ear infection) to a baby shower on saturday with my OR friends to church, family and the park today!  We've been busy.  With all the busi-ness, I have to say that, thanks to our wonderful friend Heidi, Sean and I managed to get out a on real, live date saturday night!!!  Yep!  He took me to see The Hunger Games and then we went to Vino and Friends for food and drink.  We had a fabulous time!  You see, Sean long ago stopped going to "night" movies.  Not even for a date night.  The last movie he took me to was in the afternoon, matinee.  He hates spending the money.  I can't blame him.  But I am a hopeless romantic.  So when he said he was taking me out for dinner AND a movie!!  .... well, I could have cried.  :)  ... but I didn't.  I was overjoyed though!  We even had popcorn and soda!! lol  And of course, I snuck in licorice and junior mints (a movie must!!).

Well today, I have to give kudos to little Miss Emery!  Sundays are a bit of a challenge because at the time she would normally be going down for her morning nap, we are packing her up to go to church.  She is never sad about this once she is there and playing with her friends.  But after church, it is lunch and then immediately off to bed.  Except today, I needed to get her out of the house so Sean could run our open house.  So we had lunch then I packed her back up and headed for my brother's house.  She was out the minute the car started rolling.  But did she sleep once I got her into her pack-n-play?  Nooooo.....  So I finally got her up and let her play awhile.  Then I put her back down about an hour and a half later.  But did she sleep then?  Noooooooo.......  Did she sleep after an hour of trying to get her to sleep?  NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  So finally I got her up and let her play more.  It was hopeless at this point.  My niece Jenna finally suggested going to the park.  So the three of us headed off on foot (well, Emery in the stroller) to the park.  It was a beautiful day although VERY windy which made it a bit chilly.  My sister-in-law met us there.  We had a fun time.  The girls swung in the swings (ok... I just said schwung in the schwings as I typed that... lol... silly side note).  I took Emery down the slide for the first time and walked her across the hanging bridge.  We finally headed home around 4:30.  I fed her at 5, bath at 6, bottle at 6:30 and to bed at 7!  I'm just praying she's not too exhausted that she can't sleep tonight. I mean, logic would say she'll sleep like a log, right?  Well....

We'll see.

All in all, she was awesome despite the fact that she literally slept about 25 min for the entire day!  She IS a super trooper!  Never fussed.  She was just too excited to be at her Uncle T and Auntie Nae Nae's and with her cousins!  I'm always sad after a few days with her, to have to go to work tomorrow.  But it is only one day.  I'm so grateful for each and every day! :)

The outfit she is wearing below is from my cousin Lisa.  I have been anxiously waiting for her to fit into it.  I keep taking it out thinking it is still too big.  Today I finally got to have her wear it!  And it was a perfect day for it.  The top and pants are thin cotton, but the vest is very warm (and furry, as you can see).  So a cool spring day was the perfect day!  She was the fashionista of the day!!!  She turned everyone's head at church today.  hehe

 struttin' my stuff!

 I LOVE to walk!!!  Cousin Jenna says I'm walking the runway!

 Look how confident she looks walking!  I'm so proud!

 Spring chick!

 Hangin' with Auntie Nae nae and stealing her hat

 We made it across the hanging bridge... laughing all the way!

 She loved her cousin Jenna swinging her!

 Happy girl!!

 Jenna got in the other baby swing... lol

*These are from the other day.  I just had to share them too!*

 Check out my 60's doo!

Emery taking part in Maddie's lunch!

Wedding day... gettin all dressed up!

So, yes, I'm catching up on all my blog posts from the weekend. lol  (3 in one day!)  So, on Saturday, we went to a family wedding.  My step-dad's wife's son got married!  So to put it simply, my step-brother.  I met Milena on the day of Emery's dedication as she came with Sherril to church.  I instantly liked her!  She is great!  Outgoing, fun, talkative and so sweet. So this past weekend we had the honor of attending their wedding.  It was waaaaaaay out in the country off of 180 and Dickenson at a private home!  It was beautiful!  And despite the wind, it was a beautiful day!  However, the wind made it very cold especially once the sun starting going down.  But Emery was a trooper!  The service was a bit long, but Emery stayed quietly on my lap the entire time.  I had my brother on one side of me and my nephews on the other, both keeping her occupied!  She was awesome!  

The reception, on the other hand, was a different story.  lol  She would NOT stay on my lap for anything!  That little girl wanted to walk walk walk!!!  So she would hang out on the grass between me and my sister-in-law, or on the other side between me and my brother.  I would take her out of the tent occasionally and let her walk on the open grass.  But she was having so much fun.  However, mommy, was getting worn out. :)  Sherril would take her for awhile, then Auntie Nae Nae.  Papa even played with her for awhile (they had a little game going on where he would drop this large piece of confetti and she would pick it up and hand it back to him.  No matter where he dropped it, she would walk over, pick it up, walk back and hand it over!)  By the end of the night (3 1/2 hours later)

 mommy was exhausted!  

On the style side of things.... Emery got to wear her beautiful little dress again!  I bought this for her last summer for a wedding in August at the coast.  I suppose it was a little big on her then, but it still fits!!!!.... 7 months later!  I guess there are definite benefits for a slowing growing, petite little girl.  It was awesome seeing her walking around in that little dress and her new shoes (she DID grow out of the old shoes!)  We had a wonderful time with my whole (well, local) family!  

 hanging out between us at the table!

By the time the sun was on the horizon, it was getting colder.  Emery didn't seem to mind, but I decided to change her into her pajamas anyway.  This only posed a new problem because I didn't want her crawling around on the grass in them.  I knew she would fall asleep on the way home, so the plan was to put her straight to bed.  We made it work! :)

 Already tipping the champagne glass!

Auntie Nae Nae giving her whaaaat????... ok so it's just sparkling cider :)

Happy Wedding Day Brandon and Milena!!!  

We are so happy for you!!!

Gettin' my project on!!! Canvas Wrap!

So I attempted to create a canvas wrap at home!  And I have to say I am pleased with the finished product.  There is definitely room for improvement, but I hope to get better at it!  So much fun!!  And so much cheaper! :)  This one is a 16 X 20.

Life size Emery, hanging beautifully on my staircase wall!