Lunch with Mema

This is my grandmother, who everyone knows as Mema.  She is 91 and Simon loves to go visit Mema "at her partment."  We go to have lunch with her almost every other week.  Mema loves the little babies (my sis-in-law and her daughter usually come to) so we are quite the entertainment at the Cafe where we eat lunch.  Wednesday's is B1G1 scoop of ice cream - the highlight for Simon! 

It feels pretty crazy to take three kids under the age of 2 to eat lunch plus all of the other hoopla kids require. And nevermind the time that Simon pulled the fire alarm in the cafe right after Emery had a huge blowout - seriously thought I was going to have a breakdown!  We are very fortunate to have such a loving Mema who is so proud and loves her great-grandchildren!

Celebrating Emery

On Labor Day weekend we had this precious princess dedicated to the Lord at our church.  We are so blessed to be this sweet girl's parents and are so glad to have God guiding us as we go.

 

The dedication is probably a five minute ordeal but to a 3-month-old a lot can happen in five minutes!  Soon before we were to go up on stage Emery was gnawing on my shoulder so I rushed down to the nursing room to give her a quick snack.  She was really tired so I was hoping she would just nod off and not get fussy.  She didn't make a peep once we got up front and even gave the Pastor a little smile when he smiled at her (right on cue)!  Big brother Simon was a ham the entire time....saying "Hi Pastor Jamie", "There's a video camera!"  and "Pastor Jamie's on the dvd (video screen)!"  Whew, we made it off stage with no mishaps!

 

As soon as I walked out of the sanctuary Emery spit up all over me and onto the floor!  Good timing, girl!  AND as soon as we got home from church she had an enormouse blowout.  And then to top it off she slept for 3 hours - the entire afternoon that family was over to celebrate her!

 

All in all, it was a great celebration for our little girl.  God is good!  We love you, Emery!

 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Hearing a toddler say certain things can really make you laugh.  Our 2-year-old will repeat anything he hears including the occasional "Oh crap" which we just ignore as to not make that a big deal!  Here are a few I've heard this week:

"Emery, you just chillin' with your pacifier."
"Get on your stool, fool."
"I know, I know."  (to Emery while she's crying)
"Oh no!  Emery spit up!"
"Bernie, you stink!"  (Bernie's the dog :)
And then there's the oh-so-common Ellen or Chris or Honey! 

Makes you realize how much those little ears hear and how important that our speech be uplifting and kind!

He Loves Her

 

 

I did not pose Simon at all for these pictures.  He just loves his baby sister that much!  In fact he loves her so much he smothers her with kisses, sits on her, bites her, steps on her head....at least that's what he tells me.  Yea, we're still working out the jealousy kinks and that it's ok to play rough with daddy but not baby sister.  Little girl is going to be tough after putting up with her brother's antics!

The Kid Who Doesn't Sleep in the Car

Taking a road trip with Simon is always interesting.  If you try to plan your trip so that we're driving during his naptime thinking he will nap in the car....FORGET IT!  AND if you plan to leave at 3am and whisk him from his bed to carseat thinking he will sleep in the car at least for a little....FORGET IT!  This kid has to be bone tired to fall asleep in the car! 

 

Yes, we left for the Outer Banks at 3am and Simon would not go back to sleep.  Talk about a long ride for momma who had to entertain him so he wouldn't wake his sister!  I knew we were in trouble when we put him in the car and he said, "I can't see the moon!" 

 

For the record he did finally fall asleep in the car as soon as we made it to our destination 9 hours later!



 

7am breakfast - going strong for 4 hours but looking pretty tired

Summer Highlights

It was a busy summer for me adjusting to a family of four and my poor blog was neglected.  Rather than "go back in time" I'll hit a few of the highlights from the summer!  And here's hoping to a little more love to the blog in the upcoming weeks. 

Emery Elisabeth joins big brother Simon May 21, 2012

Emery 1 Month Old June 21, 2012

My new Swagga Wagon!

Emery 2 Months Old July 21, 2012

Vacation to Outer Banks, NC August 2012

Just Because I Don't Want to Forget

It was Friday, May 11 2012.  It was a beautiful day outside and my dad and my husband finished our gorgeous new paver patio just in time for Simon's second birthday party and before our second child joined us on May 21 via scheduled c-section.  We had a lot of projects we wanted to finish before baby came with the paver patio being the biggest one of all!  Needless to say the week before the baby was to arrive was full of last minute details, freezing more meals, doctor appointments, shopping trips, etc. 

So when Monday, May 14 rolled around I was ready to face my last week as a mom of one head on!  Little did we know where the week would take us!  Simon went to bed Monday night and Chris headed to the basement to work out.  I heard him yell to me and my initial thought was rain water was coming in the basement again.  In hindsight we joke that that would have been better but unfortunately Chris had injured his knee!  He had injured the same knee 7 years ago and he knew it was a recurring injury and he could not straighten his knee out.  What do we do?! 

Long story short....he went to see an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday afternoon, May 15.  He had to have an MRI scheduled and we had to travel to the next county to get that scheduled on Wednesday, the 16th.  Thursday the 17th we went back to the orthopedic doc to review the MRI and confirm that indeed he did have a torn meniscus (again).  And Friday May 18th (just three days before my c-section) he had surgery to cut his meniscus!  So much for my week of finishing last minute baby things!  My mom was out of town at the beginning of the week so I had to recruit my sister-in-law to watch Simon quite a bit so I could drive Chris to all of these appointments.  But we think having a 9-month pregnant wife surely helped to push the surgery to happen so quickly. 

Chris's surgery went well and had a pretty great, quick recovery.  He was off crutches and bearing weight within two days of surgery and then Monday morning we headed to the hospital again for my c-section!  I'll save that for another post but wanted to blog this first.  We are thankful for great doctors who took great care of Chris and overall I think the distraction was probably good for me in keeping my mind off my own pending surgery.  Now over a month later we still laugh about the unfortunate timing but are greatful for God's provision!