Emily Grace

Emily,

Four years ago, God decided to send you to me. I am so very proud that He chose me to be your mommy. I very honored to be able to watch over you, be there for you and watch you grow. You are a true blessing to your daddy and me.

You are so full of life! Your smile can light up a room. You have a charisma and can charm anyone. I love how you have really blossomed and come out of your shell. You will talk to anyone about just about anything! Sometimes I get embarrassed but I love you regardless.

You have taken on the role of big sister with gusto. Your brother loves you so much! You are his world. You are mostly gentle with him and are willing to share your toys with him, as long as he doesn’t slobber on all of them. His eyes light up ever time he sees you and he misses you when you are not home. The love that he has for you is a testament of your sweetness.

Even though you can be sweet and wonderful, you do have your dramatic times. Sometimes I wonder if you are turning 4 or 14! Little things set you off at times and seem like the end of the world. I sometimes call you “drama queen”. Stub your toe- the world knows. Zachary chews on your baby doll’s hand and I come running, wondering what is wrong. I can only imagine you in ten years. Be gentle to your mommy!

You love princesses and dresses. You love to be fancy and dance and sing. Your little imagination is springing out and I love it! Hearing you make up songs brings a smile to my face. Your favorite thing is still your babby (blanket). You sleep every night with your stuffed friends Frenchy, Lucy and Nick on the end of your bed. You love to listen to Laurie Berkner, Katie Perry, Lady Gaga and much more. “Turn up the radio Mommy!” “Stop singing Mommy!”

You speak so well also. Many people can’t believe that you are four years old by the way that you talk. I am so very proud of you. You love preschool and Sunday School. You love learning! Your best friend is Chase. You are so full of life and spunk.

As you grow and change, some things will stay the same. I’ll always love you. I’ll always hug you. I’ll always be on your side. And I want you to know that. No matter what happens I will always be there for you. I can’t wait to see you grow and blossom.

Thank you for being you.

4 years ago

Four years ago my life changed forever. My name became “mommy”. I never knew that my heart could hold so much love for someone who I had just met but have known their entire life. The moment Emily entered the world, I knew that she was someone special. She was my daughter. She filled this hole that was in my heart with her tiny cries and warm snuggles.
Four years ago. Seems like it was only yesterday that I was crying tears of joy and disbelief when the nurse called to tell that I was having a baby. A lot has changed in the past four years but one thing has remained constant. My love for that little girl has never wavered. And never will.

I have this little angel. For me she left her wings.
She has no idea how much happiness she truly brings.
She brightens up my days with her smiles and her laughs.
She helps me to remember all the blessings that I have.

Her face, it is so perfect, she’s sweet and soft and pure.
Sometimes she can be willful and sometimes she is demure.
She tries her very hardest to please and do what’s right.
She gives the greatest hugs from morning until night.

I know that God must love me, He showed me with His Grace
I knew just how completely when I saw my angel’s face.
And in that very moment when she came into my world,
I knew that she was so much more than just my baby girl.

She would be my sunshine, with a sweetness that won’t end.
And when she grows up one day she would be my closest friend.
She would be the reason I would always try my best.
For my little angel baby girl would be my greatest test.

When God entrusts to you an angel, who has left her wings for you.
Encircle her with love with everything you do.
Let her know God made her, and that He trusts you with her care.
Be sure to make time for special moments with her to share.

And when at night she finally says her prayers and goes to sleep
I Thank Him for my angel, and ask for him to always keep
A watchful eye and hand to protect her from this world.
Protect my little angel; protect my baby girl.

Tina M. Marascia

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

Say what?

When I took Zachary for his check up they were asking questions about his development. Does he crawl? Yes. Does he stand? Yes. Does he wave? Uhhhh, no. Does he clap? I don’t think so. Does he point? I don’t know.
How do I not know these things? Then I realized that the second children really do get the shaft in a way. I really worked with Emily on some of these things. I knew when she accomplished new things. Poor Zachary. I feel guilty that he doesn’t get as much one on one time as Emily did. I am always trying to divide my time between the two if them and not really doing a great job. I have major mommy guilt about this. Especially after coming off of a week of single-momdom. I really need to let some housework go at times and really focus on my kids. They grow way too fast. Dust bunnies will always be there but my babies won’t.

That was totally not what I meant to write about. I got way off track. A few days after Zachary’s appointment he waved! I was so excited when he waved as I was getting ready to leave. And he said his “first” word.
He says momma and dada but not often. I think he uses those words to me Stephen and myself but I am the person who doesn’t know if her kid claps. He also says baba and I know he means that for his bottle. But he said a real word on Tuesday! Not that the others aren’t words but you know what I mean. He said “bye bye”!
It’s kind of funny too because Stephen was out of town this week and made a comment about how he would miss something regarding Zachary. Zach must have heard him because he said bye bye the day after Stephen left.
And no, I am not hearing things. Emily has heard him say it. Yeah, she doesn’t really count, does she? Well, Grandma heard him say it too so I am not making it up.
I am going to try to get it on video. So far I have just managed yo get him waving. He’s so darn cute!

Princess Chloe’s birthday

Princess Chloe is 346 days younger than Emily. For 10 whole days, they will be 3 at the same time. We went to Centralia to celebrate Chloe’s birthday last weekend. Emily was so excited that she couldn’t get to sleep Friday night and she was up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning. She loves Chloe if you can’t tell.

The kids all had so much fun! My sister had a little bounce house for the kids to play in and that was a HUGE hit! Even Zachary got in on the action! It’s always a good time seeing all the cousins together. Our family is growing by leaps and bounds!

Happy birthday Princess Chloe! We had a great time at your party!

Project #3: Mommy, what day is it??

I hear that, seriously, 25 times a day. Maybe even 50. It took us a few days but I taught Emily the days of the week. She sings through them every time she asks what day of the week it is. What day is preschool? What day is tea party? What day is church? The questions are never-ending. Might just drive me crazy.

I borrowed my friend Julie’s idea regarding days of the week. I thought it was brilliant and am hoping to curb the number of questions I get on a basis. I’d like to eventually be able to say “Go look at your wall” and be done with it. Eventually. I still have to tweak my version a bit but we are getting there.

I first printed off pictures and had the days of the week on them. The next thing I did was attach them to scrapbook paper squares and cover them with contact paper. I then punched holes and attached ribbon. I was going to be all fancy and sew the days of the week to a larger piece of ribbon but took the easy route and used fabric glue. We then put them on Emily’s wall. Each day, she gets to turn over the previous day of the week. She can always go in there to see where she is at and what is coming up.

Stephen asked me why I didn’t print pictures of her preschool and church so she would know what day they were on. I was thinking ahead. I was thinking about Christmas break and summer when there wasn’t school. What I eventually want to do is print up pictures, or find stickers, that indicate preschool, church and special occasions. Since the cards are covered in contact paper I can easily add and remove things. Eventually that is the plan. I just wanted to get the ribbon up there quickly so I answer one less question about what day of the week it was.

Project #2- Operation: headband

Emily loves hair accessories. Barrets, bows, headbands, you name it. In the past 3-4 years, she has acquired quite the selection to choose from. I have been trying to figure out the best way to organize all of her junk accessories. It seems like as soon as I have it neat and organized she decides that it’s “beauty day” and dumps it all out.

I ran across this idea months ago and never followed through with it. After buying yet another package of headbands (all my fault, I know) I decided that I needed to take action!

I used an empty formula can, scrapbook paper, mod podge and princess stickers to create a headband holder. I think it turned out pretty nice. It’s definitely a lot better than hanging them on her shelf, only to have them get stepped on when they fall off. If I were to make another one, I would probably use an oatmeal container instead. I am just a bit worried that the formula container is going to stretch them out a little bit. But then again, Emily has a rather large head so I might be worrying for nothing.

9 months down

It’s hard to believe that 9 short months ago Zachary entered our lives. Pretty soon I will need to start planning his first birthday! I don’t even want to think about that yet.

Stats:

29 1/2 inches long (87%)
19 lbs 14 ounces (39%)
Head is in the 71%

Still a long, skinny dude! He is a an eating machine though. He is just so active and always on the go that he burns off everything he eats! We did have a little bit of issues with his bottles but come to find out it was due to a formula recall. Poor kid was ingesting beetles in his formula! He was getting an upset tummy and not wanting to eat his whole bottle. We couldn’t figure out what the issue was and even called the doctor. A few days after talking to her, the news of the recall came out. He’s been devouring his bottles now that we have him on a new formula. Guess he just didn’t like Ringo very much.

Zachary loves to feed himself as often as we let him. He has been eating puffs, Cheerios and biter biscuits. He also has tried his hand at pasta, string cheese (cubed) and meatballs. He is expanding his palate and loves to try everything at least once. I am going to try tofu pretty soon. It’s funny how I can’t remember what all Emily was eating at this age.

He’s a healthy guy for the most part, just dealing with seasonal allergies as I think we all are. He did great at the doctor’s office and didn’t even flinch when he got his flu shot. He just looked at the nurse like “is that all you got?” Zachary is still crawling like a speedy maniac on all fours. That boy has some serious speed! He is also pulling up on everything and cruising to where he wants to be. Crawling is still his main mode though. Much faster.

Zachary is also more mischievous that his sister. I have to do an all-new round of child proofing. Things that Emily never even thought about getting in to- Zachary adores. The toilet for example. I can’t even begin to say how many times I have had to wash his hands because someone forgot to put the lid down and he was discovered to be splashing in the water. Drawers. He loves to open drawers. He is an explorer extraordinaire.

Emily and Zachary are two peas in a pod. They just adore each other. He is always looking where she is at and she is a little mother to him. Always letting me know when he is doing something he shouldn’t be. He won’t appreciate that as he gets older. His favorite room in the house is still Emily’s room. There is so much to get into there! Emily doesn’t mind for the most part. Until he starts drooling on all of her stuff that is. It’s funny because he is always so concerned if his big sister is crying. When she has to spend time on the time out pad he always crawls over to her and makes sure she is ok. He is starting to think that the time out pad is the cool place to be and really likes playing with it. Those two kids love each other so much!

This past month was full of new and fun things for Zachary. He got to attend another parade in our fair city. We also went to the apple orchard, a Cardinal’s game, and to Pumpkinland for pumpkins. We have also been enjoying the fall weather by spending as much time outdoors as we can. Pretty soon it will be too cold for our daily walks so we are trying to take advantage while we can.

9 months. Wow.

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Project #1- shirts

I have had a few projects that I have been working on since finishing Emily’s blanket. Unfortunately, they don’t involve sewing. I need to start a new sewing project soon.

Project #1 was applique shirts. I made two shirts for Zachary, a shirt for Emily and a shirt for three of their cousins. Emily helped me make hers. It’s really hard to let go and let her do. I have to remember perfect isn’t always the way to be. She really enjoyed helping so who cares if there are a few smudge marks.

I think they turned out pretty cute though. Applique shirts are super, super easy. I just made them take too long with all the pieces that I had for Emily and Chloe’s shirt.

Somehow I am missing the picture for Emily’s shirt. I’ll have to post it later.

To the ‘patch!

Last weekend we decided to go to the pumpkin patch while the going was good. October is a super, super busy month for us so we wanted to make sure that we made it. Unfortunately, mother nature is bipolar because she can’t decide what she wants to do. The whole Indian summer thing is way over-rated. After having some really nice, cool fall days the weekend was shorts warm. Not pumpkin patch cool. We had a great time regardless.

This year we all went to Theis Pumpkinland. It always promises to be a good time. This was Stephen’s first time there and I think he really like it. Emily and Stephen went through the corn maze while I let Zachary play in the hay pit and took some photos. We all then hopped on the hay ride and toured their farm. I honestly didn’t realize how much they grow there. And they have a produce market! We might have to go there more often. Much of the produce is grown on site and is very yummy.

Emily got to enjoy a few of their other attractions before we picked out pumpkins and mums. She and Zachary both had a great time. Truth be told, Stephen and I did too. Both kids took an amazing nap that afternoon to. Bonus!

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Lagniappe

I have been reading  “When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair” by Geneen Roth. The book is her 50 ways to feel thin, gorgeous and happy. I enjoyed the read. There are a few ways that really resonated with me. One was when she talked about wearing your “special” clothes on non-special days, especially on days where you feel pretty crappy about yourself. She states that by “wearing special-occasion clothes on any old day means being willing to believe that you are special on every old (and new!) day.” You should pick out some gorgeous clothes on days when you would tend to pick out your grubby sweatpants/yoga pants/stained t-shirts/insert your go-to clothes. You need to remind yourself that you are not a slug, that you are a human being that has bad days and move on. That you are fabulous, no matter what you ate the previous day, what the scale says, etc.

The other one was a chapter on lagniappe (pronounced LAN-yap). One of its meanings is an extra that you weren’t expecting, but are now immensely glad to have. Try to live like every moment is lagniappe. People and possessions are fleeting. When you live like every moment is a gift and time is fleeting, every single blessed thing you see, feel and touch is lagniappe.

I have been given two major gifts of lagniappe. My children. Emily is definitely a gift and blessing. Zachary is my lagniappe. My extra that I wasn’t expecting. I am immensely glad that he is my son. I need to work at living the rest of my life in the moment, not taking anything for granted. It’s a hard thing to do. I

t’s so easy to get carried away in the day-to-day grind. Feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities and worrying about having enough when enough is possibly too much. Clear as mud? Basically living my life like it is a lagniappe and, as the one song goes,  like I am dying. It’s going to be an ongoing process, with many backslides. I just want to become more thankful for every blessing that I have.

Back to the book, I would recommend it. While I didn’t “get” all 50 ways, many of them at least made me say “hmmm”.