Apparently Our Little Sticker Nose Didn't Want to Leave the Kitchen!

Of course, being Emily's parents, we think every stage she is in is THE CUTEST STAGE. So, it would not surprise you that Micah and I think she is in the CUTEST STAGE right now! She is so full of expressions and smiles!! Plus she LOVES it when we put a sticker on her nose! We put this sticker on her nose last night before dinner and she left it on the whole time and during our trip to the grocery store too! We finally had to take it off before we put her pajamas on for bedtime!!

And this huge, cheesy smile just cracks us up too! Reason #1 for the smile itself and reason #2 is because it is usually followed by heavy breathing and giggles!! She is just TOO FUNNY! She can definitely make you smile when you are feeling down and make you feel on top of the world when you are already happy! What a special little girl she is and we are so happy she is ours!!

Here's that Big Contagious Grin!!

And this morning after Emily's breakfast she was playing while I was finishing up the dishes and this is what she did to all of the chairs, before she headed to "her cabinet" to play. Apparently she wasn't intending to leave the kitchen any time soon! So, we are still here. She is inspecting the latest junk mail and I am posting these adorable pictures!! She is such a special girl!! I Love Her With ALL of my heart!

32 Weeks Pregnant and Loving Life!

Well, I am 33 weeks now and as a matter of fact Haley will be in our arms 6 weeks from today!! Man, I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. We are all doing well though. Micah and I are doing what we can to prepare to welcome another daughter into our family and Emily is being her usual excited, happy little self!

Since we have the play room ready, and Haley's dresser and closet is full of her clothes we are just waiting for her to arrive and soaking up every moment with Emily that we can! Emily is at such a fun stage....she LOVES to smile and smile BIG!! She is also starting to give hugs and kisses and that is absolutely adorable....it just melts this mommy's heart!

And Micah is the best husband that I could truly wish for. He is always looking out for his girls and he loves playing with Emily, he gets excited when he is able to feel Haley moving and he gives me back scratches and massages on a daily basis and the greatest thing about him is that he NEVER complains about doing any of it. He comes home from work and jumps right in to help out!

I am so grateful for this special time in my life that Heavenly Father has blessed me with to be able to have Micah, Emily and Haley. They mean the world to me and sometimes I wonder just how I got so blessed!!

Here are a few pictures of my 32 Week Baby Belly.............

Smiling in the Playroom at 32 weeks and Counting!

Man, I sure love my girls! And we are looking forward to March 9th when Haley can come out to play!!!

A New Niece for Us and a New Cousin for Emily.....Gracie Kaye has Arrived!

We were so excited for Jacob and Tiffany to welcome their first little girl into the world today! Little Miss Gracie Kaye was born around 9am and weighed in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces. Tiffany and Jacob were both amazing as Tiffany had to endure 16 hours of labor.

Micah, Emily and I got to go to the hospital to visit them tonight (although Emily had to stay in the waiting room). It was really nice to be able to sit down and visit and get the story of how things unfolded for them yesterday and today. Both Tiffany and Jacob looked super tired, but you could still see the new parent glow in their eyes!

Birth is such a miracle. It is one of those experiences in life that really allows you to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for each of His children. And I love seeing a brand new baby and seeing the glow of the Spirit in their countenance. And little Miss Gracie definitely had a glow in her countenance.

Here are a few pictures from our time their visiting with them in the hospital tonight......

Emily enjoyed hanging out with her Uncle Jacob in the waiting room for a few minutes, although she was in a shy mood tonight:)

Little Miss Gracie under the heat lamp in the nursery getting all warm and toasty!

Tiffany soaking in the beautiful reality of motherhood!

A Close-Up of Gracie all snug in mommy's arms!

Spending a Few Precious Moments with my brand new niece! What a treasure!

Jacob, Tiffany and Gracie with Sandy...Tiffany's Mom stopped for a photo! Jacob was even talking on the phone but he put it down for a few photos!

The Brand New Tired, But Happy, Little Family together at last!

After our visit to the hospital we went to dinner with Mommers and Dooders at Ruby Tuesdays. It was nice to spend a little time with them and catch up on the happenings of the week! Emily really enjoyed herself too! At the hospital she was a little shy and perhaps a bit dazed, but once she got a little food in her belly she was back to her usual bubbly self again!

I love this new look that she has!!

One of the things Emily really enjoys is drinking water out of a big straw!! See the concentration look?

Such a Big Helper!

Today Emily and I went into town and met my friend, Julia, and her little 4 month old son, Gavin, at Mommers and Dooders for a little play date. We LOVE play dates and this one was no exception. Emily and Gavin both really enjoyed each other's company. Gavin is such a cute "go with the flow" baby and Emily did such a good job of making sure that Gavin was always happy and when he would start to fuss she would go over to him and gently pat his head, or rock him in his car seat or show him how to work the toys on his walker.

Julia and I don't get to get together very often because of schedules and location...she lives in Fluvanna and we live in Greene so it is quite the event to actually get together. But I am so glad that we did today! Emily and Gavin are both at really cute and sweet ages. They got along so much better than either Julia or I even imagined, and we definitely experienced some "Kodak Moments"....some that we were able to capture on the camera and others will simply be etched in our memories! But overall, it was a fun and eventful day. Then we made it back home for Emily to take a nap, which she definitely needed. It takes a lot to entertain a 4 month old, ya know?

Emily checking out Gavin all cozy in his car seat

Playing the "big friend" and rocking him to bring him comfort. Looks like it worked!

It's Play Time....Emily and Gavin enjoyed playing on the Walker together!! Emily enjoyed showing Gavin how to work the toys and Gavin was happy to take it all in!

Time to say Bye Bye to Gavin!

Emily rocked him until he fell asleep and then I guess she felt like it was time for a little R and R too!

Watching Emily play with Gavin today brought a lot of joy and excitement to this Mommy's heart! I often wonder how she will do, being so young and having a little sister, but it is glimpses like the one I was granted today, that allow me to know that everything will be okay. Emily will be a great big sister.....her usual self ~loving and kind~ with some bumps in the road, but aren't there bumps on every road?

Emily Has Moved to Her Big Girl Car Seat!

When Emily went to her 12 month appointment and we found out that she had officially hit the 20 pound mark, Micah and I thought it was a good time to get her a big girl car seat! Especially since she screamed on all the trips we had gone on recently in her infant seat....whether the trips were big or small...didn't matter!

So we found this awesome seat from Graco. It is a Graco MyRide 65! Micah did his best to install it the night that we bought it, but he couldn't quite get it so that he was comfortable with how tightly it was secured. So the next morning Emily and I took off for the Earlysville fire station and they helped us get it in there properly. They were also nice enough to move our infant seat the the other side and install that one again too! So, now we are ready for when Haley comes.....at least we can take them both riding in the car!

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped of Emily before we headed out to a play date yesterday. She is really enjoying this new "princess ride" she has going on!

Doesn't get any better than that, a roomy car seat and her yellow duck from Dooders!

Totally relaxed and ready to ride ANYWHERE!! She is just like her Mommy, always ready to GO!

Life's Precious Moments!!

Micah and I have been planning a weekend getaway for about 2 months now. We were supposed to go last month for our anniversary, but that was the weekend that the Blizzard of 2009 hit, so that cancelled that out~So we were fortunate enough to not lose our money and be able to re-schedule for this past weekend.

Mommers and Dooders were more than eager to take Emily for the night and so we were excited about that, and we were off! Micah and I had such a good time together and it was so nice to be able to get away and strengthen our relationship. Something that we strive to do all of the time, but with kiddos around sometimes it is difficult to squeeze in that bonding time, anyone else understand what I am talking about?

Here are just a few pictures of our weekend fun.....both at home and away!

One of Emily's favorite pass times, standing ALONE by the junk mail and reading!!

View from the top!

Here we are in front of a historic bank in Downtown Staunton! On a brisk walk, early Saturday morning after a yummy breakfast!

In Front of Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace. Our tour guide was so excited that we were having our second baby that they wanted to make sure that she was "showcased" in this picture! I did the best I could, but TRUST ME, she is DEFINITELY there!

Emily's Great Aunt, Gail, gave her this adorable little dress. And she got to wear it to church yesterday. And last night when we were getting ready for dinner, she was being so adorable we couldn't help snapping some photos! This one is BY FAR MY FAVORITE ONE! I LOVE these two!! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to be an eternal family!! Life is made of these moments, that is for sure!

Here's Emily looking all cute in the middle of the kitchen floor playing with a magnet!!

Now when it come to dinner time, this girl gets serious and seriously messy!! But she enjoys every minute, singing the whole time!

Getting the last few bites!!

Our Content, and Full, little Princess!

Brody is Back Home from Hawaii!

My cousin, Brody, has been living in Hawaii for the past year and a half while his girlfriend has been finishing up her college degree. She just graduated in December so they decided to leave Hawaii. And now they are back in Charlottesville for a few months until they head off to Pennsylvania so that he can further his education. It was great to see him tonight and hear some of his Hawaii stories and see some beautiful pictures.

It was also fun to see him and Emily interacting. He was so excited to meet her that he came out to the car to meet us. She hesitantly let him carry her inside and she would play with him on and off throughout the evening. Just let them play together a couple of more times and I am sure he will be her new best friend!

Brody is such a good guy and it is so good to have him back home for a little while. And hopefully he will be able to be in town when our little Haley is born. He is so cute with little kids, I can't wait to see him hold our tiny newborn.

Here are just a few pictures from our night together.....

Brody and Emily just coming in from outside!

Sharing a Happy Moment together!

When Emily needs a little comfort and Mommy and Daddy aren't too close by, a little lovin' from "Lilly Mae, the frog" and she is good to go again!

Group Shot in front of Mema's Mantle! The only person missing was Dooders, who had to go and teach a class at the American Red Cross tonight!
(From Left to Right: Tede, Me, Emily, Brody, Micah, Mema and Mom)

This Little Face Just Makes Me Smile!!

Emily is really starting to smile BIG these days!! And I just can't get enough of it!! Here are a few pictures to start of 2009! Hope it is a Great one for everyone!!

What a Ham!

Can you feel the joy and happiness??

12 Months Has Flown By!

As I sit here working on this blog post, I find it so hard to comprehend that our little baby has just turned one. Micah and I were talking about it the other day, on her actual birthday which was December 29th, and reminiscing about the things that we were doing or preparing to do last year at this time. Then we had no idea what parenthood entailed ~ the joys, the pains, the happiness, the sadness or the immense love that we could feel in our hearts for this absolutely beautiful (on the inside and out) little girl that our world was soon to be built around!

It has been wonderful, to say the least, to have been blessed to be Emily's parents for this first year of her life and to watch her develop and grow by leaps and bounds! She is an absolute princess and we love her more than words can adequately express!

Here are just a few of the things she has learned in this 12th month of her life:

~She has become quite the little dancer. Whenever she hears music she can't help but move her hips, no matter where she is or what she is doing! And throughout this Christmas Season she has also developed a great love for Christmas music as well. Since that is all that gets played in our house from Thanksgiving to Christmas it has been fun to watch her shake her little hips to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and listen to the radio intently when she hears a song like "Silent Night" or "Joy to the World" being played.

~ Emily is also ALMOST walking all by herself!! She still hasn't mustered up the courage to let go to the hand or the chair that she is gripping while she goes, but she is getting closer!! She definitely takes after her Mommy and really enjoys being on the go!

~ Emily also has 8 teeth now! She has 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom! Her latest one just came in on Saturday January 2, 2010! And she uses them to the fullest. She loves her food! She will try ANYTHING, even lemons, limes and olives without wincing!!She is one amazing little girl!!

~ Emily is also getting a lot better at using her potty too! We put her on it when she wakes up in the morning and different times throughout the day and even though she doesn't always go and diapers are still her main way of "outsourcing" she is getting more and more used to the potty which is fun to see!

We are just so grateful to have this little girl in our lives. She has brought so much joy into our lives over this past year and has taught us so much! Micah and I were just talking last night about how we can hardly remember not having her in our lives! She is a tremendous blessing to us! Heavenly Father definitely knew what He was doing when he sent her to us! She is a perfect fit!! We love you Emily Marie!!

Now for some fun photos from our 12 month photo shoot.........

This one is obviously not from our 12 month photo shoot, but this is one that was taken of Emily when she was only a few minutes old in the operating room, just after she was born! So precious then and still so precious today!!

Here is our very first family photo together!! What a sweet and tender moment that was! One look at this picture and it takes me right back to that very moment!

And here she was on Sunday during her 12 month photo shoot! She definitely has quite a relationship with her bear, that has been in the making for 12 months!

Another thing Emily loves to do now is to give Hugs and Kisses, especially to one of her favorite furry friends!

And when she gets tired, she can't resist putting that thumb right in her mouth. She has become quite attached to it, hopefully when the time comes to change that habit it won't be too rough on her!

All laid back and ready for this part of the photo shoot to be OVER!

But we had to snap just one more shot to get her in "mid-clap". She looked so adorable on Sunday in this nice dress that Mema gave her for Christmas this year!

Here she is in front of her dresser! Note: this is the first time that we have taken this pose and she has been standing on her own, unassisted!! We are going to have a little walker on our hands in no time!

What a precious shot of two of my most favorite people in the whole world!!

You know Mommy had to sneak a shot with her 1 year old Sweet "P"!

Let the happy moments roll, along with the photos!!

Our Family Photo at the end of Emily's 12 month photo shoot!! I am so grateful for such a wonderful family! Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed when he sent Micah into my life, followed by Emily and now Haley!! What a blessed Mommy I am!! Happy One Year Sweet "P", here's to many, many, many more!!

Look Who Just Turned ONE!!

We got to have the opportunity to celebrate Emily's FIRST Birthday on December 29, 2009! She thoroughly enjoyed her day of celebrating!! It started with Mommy coming in her room and singing Happy Birthday to her and then she got to come to the kitchen for cheerios and raisins and a bottle!! Nothing like starting your birthday off with a yummy breakfast, ya know:)

Daddy had to work the whole day, but we were fortunate to have Mommers, Dooders and Mema come up to our house for a visit later that morning! It's always exciting to have company, so we loved the visit! Mema was especially excited to see Emily and give her a rocking chair for her play room that all five of her girls sat in when they were young! Here is a picture of Mema and Emily enjoying some play time together!!

And here is Emily trying out her new rocking chair! She really enjoyed it, despite the look on her face! It was just a new experience for her so she was very SERIOUS about it!

After we played for a while in the playroom, we decided to go to the living room, so Emily could show off her new skills, since she just got this keyboard for Christmas!! She LOVES to type!! She also has fallen in love with her new PINK bear that she got from the Morses, good friends of ours, for Christmas!

I love this picture, totally true to form for Emily. She loves her animals so much~always looking out for them to make sure they are comfortable!! Don't you love how their little arms are interlocked?

We decided to move her rocking chair to the living room to see how she would do with it in there and as you can see she is getting a little more comfortable sitting in it, although she is definitely holding on to her reindeer for dear life!!! What a precious little girl!

At first Micah and I thought we might just celebrate Emily's 1st birthday at our house with dinner and a small cake and invite a few people if they wanted to come, but thanks to Mommers and Dooders for once again agreeing to host another family get together, we had a birthday dinner for Emily at their house! Their house is a lot bigger than ours, so we were able to invite a lot more of our family and friends!! Emily enjoyed all of the attention, even though she is sometimes shy around big groups of people!! She enjoyed the lime light today!

Here's a picture of Emily with her Daddy and her cousin, Eliza! Micah is getting in practice for the routine of our lives in a couple of months when Haley joins our family!

Emily sure has enjoyed having her cousin, Eliza, to grow up with so far! They have always enjoyed being in each other's company, but it is getting a lot more fun for them now that they can play together!! They had a blast pushing each other in their little "car". Emily is just making sure Eliza's hair is fixed "just right" before they take off!!

Emily is all ready to eat some dinner and get this party started, but is waiting as patiently as she can while Daddy snaps a few pictures of some of the people who came to our party!

From Left to Right: Emily's Aunt Danielle, Uncle Mark, Cousin Colton, Uncle Jacob and Aunt Tiffany!!

A precious picture of Emily's Aunt Jessie and Cousin Avery!!

We are so thankful that Pop and Grandma Jeannie were able to make it to Emily's Birthday party too!

Eliza Lynn, and her Mommy! Checking out one of Emily's new toys!!

Avery LOVES giving Emily kisses and love!!

Time for presents!! Emily, being only one, was not all that into opening gifts this year ~either at Christmas or for her birthday! But we made it through and eventually we got everything opened:)

One of the great things big cousins can help with.....Opening Gifts!! If Avery hadn't have been at the party, we would not have gotten Emily's gifts opened nearly as fast! She is definitely a "pro- gift opener"!

Ahh! But just because Emily didn't enjoy opening the gifts, doesn't in any way mean that she didn't enjoy playing with them!! As you can see from this picture!!! She got this cool learning toy from Mommers and Dooders and it is definitely one she never gets tired of!!

The best picture we were able to get of the three little princesses at the party with their crowns on! Dooders also made a party hat for Colton, but since he is only 3 months old he didn't have a lot of interest in it. And he probably had less interest in taking his picture with these three little busy bodies!! That's okay, next year he will be all over it!!

Daddy with his little princess right before she got to try her birthday cake, as you can see Emily was a little preoccupied!!

Family Photo before Emily experiences her cake!

Mommers was nice enough to offer to make her this cute cake! And as you can from the damage that was done the cake was a HIT for Little Miss Emily! With the amount of cake and icing she consumed tonight, Micah and I were both surprised she didn't get sick!!

Stealing a few kisses from my tired Princess at the end of her birthday celebration!

You know how we LOVE to get group shots, so here is one of Everyone that came to Emily's First Birthday celebration!! She is one loved little girl and we are so thankful for all of these people, and so many more who have helped us make it through this first year as a family! It has been amazing and Micah and I are so grateful to be her parents!! Happy Birthday Emily Marie, we love you with all of our hearts!