My little swimmer!

At the first of summer Emma Grace was on my hip if she was in the water at all. She hated any and every life jacket we tried. Until.....we found the miracle life jacket. Apparently it is the new thing because all they little ones at the lake have them. It is wonderful! It is just around her waste so it doesn't come up around her neck and bother her. If you don't have one yet you have to get one!!! Emma Grace is now swimming on her own and jumping of the steps of the pool. The total opposite of the first of summer. Here are some pics of her splish splashing around!

Pray for Avery and her family.

http://keepingupwiththekeirseys.blogspot.com/ This is the address to a sweet family who has a very sick baby girl. She has been fighting for her life since she was born. After more complications her parents have decided to take her off life support and let her go to be with Jesus. I just pray for peace for this family at this difficult time. I can't even wrap my mind around what they must be going through. Dear God please be with this family. Amen.

Potty Training Fun!

I really can't believe that I am at this point in my daughter's life. Is she really old enough? Anyways, I really want Emma Grace to be finished or close to finished with diapers by the time she turns two. Well that happens in September so we better get busy! I have read several different articles on the best way to do it, but I think I will let it happen the way it happens. She has only gone one time in the potty but she loves to sit on the potty chair, and stand on it, and put her foot in it...etc. She has started holding her diaper when it is wet or dirty and wants it changed, if I could only get her to tell me before it is. So lots of fun is ahead of us! Wish me luck and I would love any advice! Oh, and here are a couple of pictures that I couldn't help but post. P.S. she did this on her own....I didn't stage it. :)

Cleaning for Company and my other babies.

Well I just put Emma Grace to bed and now I am getting to sit down and blog. From the minute my husband and I got home from work we having been cleaning like crazy. Why is it that it takes visitors to make me clean my house so good. Maybe I need company more often, in fact I know I do. Chris's big golf tournament is this weekend and his friend/partner and his wife are going to be staying with us tomorrow night. So our house is wonderfully clean now and my back is killing me.

On another note, my aunt and her family lost their yorkie today. He was ran over by their house. He was their baby. I had this happen to me about four years ago and I thought I was going to die. So please if you are reading, pray for comfort for their aching hearts. It is amazing how attached we get to dogs. So this made me think about my too first born children, my dogs, Elle and Lilly. Even though they don't get near the attention they did before Emma Grace, I still do love the rug rats. So here they are! They are both yorkies even though Elle our big one doesn't look like a typical yorkie.

Our first lake trip of the summer!

Thursday night after I rushed home and we finished packing up the car, we headed to the lake for the weekend. This weekend we stayed in a little cottage with my mom, step dad, two sisters, and brother in law. It was a packed house but lots of fun. Not to brag but I have the best family and there is nothing that I would rather do than spend time with them and one of our favorite things to do together is go to the lake. Due to all the rain in our area lately the water was up alot. There were no beaches to stop at so we stopped at a closed campground that was partly flooded. The water was really cold but it usually is this early in the summer. My mom finally got Emma Grace in the water after several tries. She had fun once she was in there. I only got in once because we all decided to jump in together and I got right back out because it scared Emma Grace when I jumped in. I am sad the weekend is over but we will be back next weekend and several after that. Oh and thank you God for the most BEAUTIFUL weather. Here are a few pics from this weekend and by the way I ruined my camera this weekend so I am taking suggestions on a new one.

What a difference a year makes!

What a wonderful vacation we had in Destin this year. We go every year and what a difference a year makes! Look at baby girl last year!

She has grown so much! At first miss priss didn't care much for the water, like last year, and was scared until she met this cute little boy who showed her that the water was pretty cool! She was never scared after that! She also loved chasing the birds around the beach it was so funny. Just when she thought she was getting close they would fly away.

Time on vacation just goes soooo fast. I can't believe we are back home. But being home is nice too. Emma Grace was reunited with all of her toys and her fourwheeler and she was happy about it! She also slept in until 10:00 and she slept aweful in florida! I think she was missing her bed as bad as I was. We both slept so good last night. Poor daddy made it home about 4:15 after a flat in mobile put them behind. For those who don't know, Emma Grace and I flew with my sister and everyone else drove. But now we are all home sweet home.

Goodbye Destin, see ya next year!

Beach Babe!

Look at this hot body Emma Grace has been working on. She really got her bikini body ready!

We have arrived!

Well Emma Grace took her first ride on an airplane yesterday and she did good. I am so proud of her! She was scared on the first take off but acted like a pro during the second one. She went all day without a nap so when we got to the hotel she and I cashed out and we both slept like babies last night. (don't really understand that analogy because most babies don't sleep well at night, but anyway) This morning we had a yummy breakfast at our hotel and are packing up to go into Destin! Yesterday was a beautiful day when it was forcasted to storm, so I hope the rest of the week is the same! Here are a few pictures of our first day and there will be more to come!

Rockin' on the ipod in the airport!

Somethings are just so hard to understand.

When I heard this morning that sweet baby Kayleigh went to be with Jesus last night I was sick. I can't imagine what the family must be going through. Please keep them in your prayers. And on another note, I also watched the local news last night and heard a story of a father who killed his three month old baby by abusing him and stepping on him. Why? Why? Why? As thoughts of these sweet babies went through my head, the fact that they wouldn't get to grow up and experience life kept making me ask why? I guess we will never completly understand why God allows these things to happen. I tell myself that I must turn to my faith and believe with all that I am that these babies are in a wonderful place where they will live an eternal wonderful life.



Since I have started following several blogs and seeing these numerous families struggle with the pain and grief of sick children, family members, and the loss of loved ones I have realized how truly truly blessed I really am. I have learned to appreciate everything about my little girl from the smiles to the fits. Oh my gosh how I love that little girl. Also seeing these families turn to God in these times and keeping up their faith has been such an inspiration to me and helped me draw closer to God and I have to thank them for that. I know that is was know coincidence that I stumbled upon their blogs. There was a bigger reason....he always has a reason.

The infamous lovey!

We were leaving for chucky cheese on Saturday and out the door we went, but not without lovey. I just had to post a picture because I thought it was so funny that I had just blogged about how she doesn't go anywhere without it!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is mother's day and I just have to say thank you to God for blessing me with Emma Grace. Being a mother is the best thing I have ever experienced. What an amazing gift I have been given. I also must say thank you to my mother who raised me to be the person I am today. She has always put my sisters and I first in her life! She is also a wonderful granny to Emma Grace! We love her so much. I also have two wonderful grandmothers who I am very thankful for. Wow I am so blessed to have all of these women to be thankful for today. So thank you to them and to God for having them in my life. I love you all and happy mother's day!

Loving the Lovey!

Does everyone know what a lovey is? If not, it is another name for a security blanket. Emma Grace got one from her cousin Ruby when she was born. I started putting it to bed with her when she was about seven months old and started sleeping in her own bed. Well I kinda created a monster in a way. The poor blanket "luvey" goes everywhere with us now. It was so pretty and soft at first. Its Little Giraffe brand and it HAD a velvet polk a dot side and a silky side. Well because she loves to put it in her mouth and bite it, she started tearing holes in the velvet side so I had to completly rip it off. I have considered buying another one but I think she would know the difference. She drags is everywhere and it doesn't get washed near as much as it should because it is almost impossible to sneak it away from her! Well I finally did tonight and ended up in a pickle! I washed it and we got busy playing outside and I forgot to put it in the dryer. Well then bedtime rolled around and I realized it. I first tried to put her in bed without it, she was so confused. She kept running to the living room to get it. I gave her nightnight kisses and put her to bed, but she wasn't having any of that. She screamed until I finally got it out of the dryer only half dry and gave it to her. Needless to say, she is sound asleep. That girl loves her lovey!

Dear God, Thank you for the sunshine. Amen.

Wow, what a happy little camper Emma Grace was to get back outside today. I think she was craving the sunshine like me! What a beautiful day it turned out to be. I am going to keep it short tonight and add lots of pics! :) Thats all people want anyway isn't it?

The girl loves to dance and American Idol!

I first must apologize for the video being sideways...I tried to rotate it but I was obviously unsuccessful.(if anyone knows how please share) But I had to add it to show you how much the child loves to dance. This is during the duo performance by Adam and Allison. She was rocking out! We love AI and so does she... if they are singing slow songs she will sing along to it too! Maybe I will get a video of that sometime. I have to say Adam did do great tonight, but it was his week. I mean come on, Chris and Danny didn't have a chance tonight. I think they should get to sing whatever they want, because that lets them show their true talent. Anyway thats just my opinion. I would love to see Chris Allen win because I have heard he is a great person and christian. Adam is good, but I looked him up on Youtube and haven't liked him since.

rain, rain go away!

Ok, I am pretty sure we are close to 100" of rain! Well maybe not quiet that much but it seems like it. I had to add this picture of Emma Grace's toys right where she left them on the last day she got to play outside. Look how much water there is! I think my body is literally craving sunlight! I need the Vitamin D! Isn't it amazing how good a beautiful sunny day can make you feel? The weekend before last, when it was so nice, we worked in the landscaping, planted flowers, cleaned the garage, I think we were outside 90% of the day! Emma Grace even got a little sunburn. Its like you get a great boost of energy. I did nothing but lay around this weekend because the weather was so yucky. I could never live in Seattle because I would never get anything done. I just keep telling myself that the weather is going to be beautiful on the beach in Florida! The annual trip is just 11 day away. YES! It is much needed for all of us! My sister Hillary text me tonight and said she was going to make us an appointment for pedicures next thursday before we leave! :) Ahh that brings a smile to my face to think it is just next week. I am praying already that Emma Grace will do well on the plane! Well until then, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a sunny weekend!

Groundbreaking blog post!

I follow several blogs and have for several months but I have never had the nerve to set one up myself! I started thinking about what a wonderful way it is to document my family's life. Most of the blogs I read are very well designed and I hope to have mine unique before long. But until then don't expect to much. Wish me luck on my new endeavor! Also because I hate posts without pictures I included this one of miss priss enjoying a push up pop from the ice cream truck last weekend, when the weather was much better. Come back sunshine!