Beach Trip

We took our first beach trip to Destin Florida on Sunday July 26, 2009 and it could not have been more perfect! It was just us three... our happy little family. I was a little nervous about riding Emmry for 6 1/2 hours but to my surprise she was an angel. She slept the entire way except for about an hour or so!Once we got to our condo, our child magically changed. She just started talking, saying words like "Thank You", "Girl", "Good Girl", and "Duck". I was speechless when she looked at herself in the mirror and said "GIRL"!! Todd and I laughed hysterically!The 5 days we spent there were amazing. Emmry loves the ocean (yes we took her out in it), she loves the sand, but her favorite is the pool. She is our little fish. We spent the days between the pool and the ocean and the evenings either walking the beach, taking pictures or watching movies (while it was raining). Although the drive and ride home wasn't so pleasant, I can truly say this vacation has been the best by far.I got a little camera happy so I will apologize in advance for all the pictures!!(check out this hair!)

Our Very First Road Trip Part 1

We haven't exactly left yet but I figured I would blog to let everyone know what is going on. Yes, our family is taking our very first, longer than an hour, road trip! We are going to Destin Florida and I am beyond excited... THREE reasons.
#1: It's our first family trip.
#2: We are going to the beach & I can't wait to stick Emmry's precious toes in the sand.
#3: It's mine and my hubby's 1 year anniversary!
So what better time to go on a trip! I am a little nervous about the lng car ride there, but I have high hopes (VERY HIGH) that everything will be smooth sailing! I can't wait to take pictures of Emmry at the ocean and in the sand. I also can't wait to come home and blog about it! See you in a week!!! :)

The Time Is Now

This is it... The countdown is really on and there is no turning back. Today Miss Emmry is 11 months old! It's harder to say than it is to type but I cannot believe we are actually here. 11 months ago, I could not picture this day and these feelings. Having a baby is more than just changing dirty diapers, feeding them bottles, giving baths, and putting them to sleep. It's about the time you send doing these things that make it all worth while. Like the way Emmry runs from me when I finish changing her diaper, how she still to this day doesn't hold her own bottle, when it's bath time her face just lights up, and tucking her in her bed at night knowing she is safe. Those are the moments that make it all worth while.

At 11 months, Emmry is wearing size 4 diapers, has 4 jars of food a day along with 2 bottles, clicks her tongue non-stop, says "Dada, Cat, Hey, Bye-Bye, and Look", and she loves her blanket endlessly. Emmry also sleeps in her own bed, goes to sleep by herself, crawls, walks (along the couch), and loves to swim. She likes to laugh and LOVES her 4 favorite people... Daddy, PawPaw, Nana-Gayle, and her Mommy. Emmry watches "Your Baby Can Read" at least twice a day and guys, it really works. She likes to jump on anything she can and loves to play "rope"with Sammy. Life for this child couldn't be any better.

She is definitely a wild child with an attitude and I love it. Her personality just shines beyond belief. I swear I could watch her for hours and find so much humor in it. I can't say it enough but God has truly blessed us with this wonderful miracle! I am so happy to have her! Now, in 30 days, I will have a ONE YEAR OLD so let the countdown begin!

And The Wait Is Over...

Though the invite hasn't arrived at our house yet, here is the final copy. It's perfect and yes, I cried when I saw this finished product. It's so very hard to realize that almost a full year has gone by. I keep telling Todd that one day when I turn to look at Emmry in the backseat, she is going to be five years old. As much as I look forward to that day, I know I will be sad and a bit heart-broken at how fast my baby has grown!

So without any more waiting... here is the invitation to my baby girl's first birthday party!!(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Party Planning...

Yeap, that's right... the party planning for Emmry's 1st birthday has begun! I am seriously in disbelief that in about 46 days (not that I'm counting), my sweet baby girl is going to be a year old... A FULL YEAR! I can't say this enough but I can remember the moment she was born. I can remember the hours prier to delivery, the start of the "real" contractions, the mad drive to the hospital hoping and praying I was past 4 centimeters dilated and the very second the nurse said the BEST words of my life, "You are about 5 to 5 1/2 centimeters dilated"!

At that moment, I knew my life was forever changed. You would have thought that I had just had about 20 red bulls because I was bouncing off the walls and it was 4:30 in the morning and I hadn't had any sleep since the night before. Nearly six hours later, I saw the most precious, gorgeous, tiny little face. That was my Emmry, the baby that wasn't supposed to be.

Now, eleven months later... I am typing this. Where did these past eleven months go? Is is always this good? Can it really get any better than this? This child, this mircle child is my light and my life. I can see everything in her eyes. I melt at each smile, each sound, each funny face, each touch, and each breath. I knew our child would be perfect for us but this perfect is undiscribale. God made her just for us and I cannot thank Him enough!

Happy 4th of July!

(Check out her teeth!)

I can honestly say this was one of the best days! And truly, we didn't do much but it's the precious moments with family and the pictures that make each memory count.
I started off the day by working on Emmry's scrapbook. When I saw work, I mean that too. I first started her scrapbook when she was about 2 months old. I did 4 or so pages and quit. I was either too busy or too tired to work on it. Then, just the other day... I decided that I wanted to have it completely finished for her first birthday party. I wasn't sure where I'd find the time to do it but it was something that just had to be done. I started on Friday afternoon and within 3 days, I completed 8 pages; it was everything from Christmas to Easter to Weddings to Mother's Day to Father's Day and finally ending with summer! I have 4 pages left! YAHOO!Todd cooked out on the grill and made the best hamburgers and french fries I have ever put into my mouth. They were amazing!! =) Once Emmry woke up, we headed off to PawPaw and Nana-Gayle's house. There, we took tons of pictures.Emmry LOVES fireworks and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kim invited us so come watch them from their backyard. It was perfect. Emmry ooo'd and ahh'd and pointed at them! We stayed out a little later than usual but it was well worth it... Quality time with the ones we love. This will always be one of my favorite memories!!

A "Crying Stage"???

With this blog, there will be NO pictures. I think the title says it all. Yes, our sweet princess is going thru the WORST, absolute WORST crying stage. It's awful. She cries from the time she wakes up, during the day, throughout the rest of the day, at night and right before she goes to sleep. Even worse, she is waking up crying in the middle of the night. This has NEVER happened. The ONLY time she isn't crying is if we (myself, Todd or Nana-Gayle) are holding her. It's so pathetic. I feel bad for her but seriously, we have GOT to get past this.... or I might just have to pull my hair out! When does it end? How long does this last?

"Our" Countdown Begins...

That's right... In less that 30 days, Todd and I will be celebrating our big One Year Anniversary in Destin Florida and this anniversary and trip cannot get here any faster. Let's see, a lot has happened to us within the past year. We had our first child, our dogs gave birth to two sets of puppies, Todd's daughter Breanna got married, my sister Jaymie got married, Todd's umpiring, dirty diapers, trips to the doctor, sleepless nights, and we had our "first" of the holidays with a baby.

I am sure there is more to our "one year" than just all of that! =) But I am happy where we are today. In fact, I couldn't be any more happier. Times are tough with the economy and sure, we could always use extra money but truth be told... if we can make it thru this, we can make it thru anything. For most people that know me, they will say how very independent I am but when it comes to Todd (I know this is VERY corny BUT) I just lose myself with him. I am 100% comfortable. He always makes me feel beautiful and even though we are both "hot tempered", somehow we just meet in the middle. It's hard to explain and sometimes even harder to understand but we love each other more than words can say. I am happy I found him. I am happy we fought and beat all the odds. But most importantly, I am happy that we have a strong and very full-filled family!