Sadness

Emma and the rest of our family lost her Grandma Great today. Francis Humes was Nana's mom and Todd's maternal grandmother. Emma was a little cautious of the oxygen and other medical supplies, but would often ask to see her grandma with the crazy dog.

Emma has been so fortunate to know so many great grandparents. We will cherish the few photographs of her and her Grandma Great.

a clean room

Today I finished unpacking Emma's new room at our new house. This has been a hectic but exciting time. Emma has been enjoying her new big girl bed that Aunt Betsy and Uncle AJ put together. She has even slept in said bed almost every night since! We have had many people stop by already.

a clean room

Today I finished unpacking Emma's new room at our new house. This has been a hectic but exciting time. Emma has been enjoying her new big girl bed that Aunt Betsy and Uncle AJ put together. She has even slept in said bed almost every night since! We have had many people stop by already.

a clean room

Today I finished unpacking Emma's new room at our new house. This has been a hectic but exciting time. Emma has been enjoying her new big girl bed that Aunt Betsy and Uncle AJ put together. She has even slept in said bed almost every night since! We have had many people stop by already.

Balloons, dirt, and ice skates

Today Emma got a guitar from Papa. She was QUITE thrilled. She strummed her "tar" enthusiastically the whole way home. By the end of the night, Emma performed a song for Aunt Jill and Grandpa. For Aunt Jill... a song about dirt. the chorus seemed to have went "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." Grandpa's ice skating song was hard to follow, but she was just as passionate in her performance!

Balloons, dirt, and ice skates

Today Emma got a guitar from Papa. She was QUITE thrilled. She strummed her "tar" enthusiastically the whole way home. By the end of the night, Emma performed a song for Aunt Jill and Grandpa. For Aunt Jill... a song about dirt. the chorus seemed to have went "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." Grandpa's ice skating song was hard to follow, but she was just as passionate in her performance!

Play date

We officially have the perfect "family" friends. Tonight consisted of the Daddies fixing the car, the girls watching movies and drawing with chalk, and the Mommies chatting and drinking wine. Nemo and Pooh... tubby timme... and plans for a sleepover.

I can sense that Emma is getting to know her first forever friend. It was a great night for all!

When the whole is greater...

Some days a moment sticks out... for others it's the whole she-bang. Today we started out at 7:45, drove 2 hours, went to Baby Gwen's baptism, lunch to celebrate, 2 more hours of driving, and finally 3 hours of house hunting. Emma just had 2 minutes of devilishness. At the end of the night she was asking to stay on the couch so that she wouldn't fall asleep. I asked her if she wanted to snuggle. She protested. A few minutes later she said Mommy? Snuggle.

All day she followed the rules and cooperated and listened and made me a proud Mommy. And at the end? She just wanted to snuggle. It's one of those days that just makes you want to pause. So for today? The day is greater than the sum of its moments. But really it's more than that. My life... our life... is greater because of our days like these.

When the whole is greater...

Some days a moment sticks out... for others it's the whole she-bang. Today we started out at 7:45, drove 2 hours, went to Baby Gwen's baptism, lunch to celebrate, 2 more hours of driving, and finally 3 hours of house hunting. Emma just had 2 minutes of devilishness. At the end of the night she was asking to stay on the couch so that she wouldn't fall asleep. I asked her if she wanted to snuggle. She protested. A few minutes later she said Mommy? Snuggle.

All day she followed the rules and cooperated and listened and made me a proud Mommy. And at the end? She just wanted to snuggle. It's one of those days that just makes you want to pause. So for today? The day is greater than the sum of its moments. But really it's more than that. My life... our life... is greater because of our days like these.

Catching Dragons

Today we were driving home and Emma spotted a dragon. At first, she thought it may be a cloud. It was in fact a dragon. Apparently, the only way to solve a dragon problem is by rolling down the car window, having Emma catch the dragon, and then having her throw it back out of the car. For the next 10 minutes, Emma caught and threw MANY dragons. I finally asked Emma what would happen if a dragon got in the car. She said that she woiuld catch it for me. i asked her what happened if she didn't catch it. She said thyat the dragon would eat me for suppr and then she wouldn't have a Mommy. But, she reassured me that she would catch the dragon and it wouldn't get me.

Emma's Buddy

Emma and Maddy had a play date this weekend. It's wonderful to see them interact more and more. Maddy's mom, Jess, is a great host and always has treats for the girls... as long as she made it to the store! I think grocery shopping is her favorite thing (huh Jess? ) The girls had pizza and did a "project". They made beautiful door hangers and Jess and I had to make the necklaces! But the highlight??? A whoopie cushion. HAHA! Maddy's aunt had just bought one and the girls had so much fun! Maddy threw herself on the floor and only landed on the whoopie cushion half the time. Either way, she laughed hysterically. Emma had it down to a science. I don't think we could ever spend too much time with Jess and Maddy. The girls make a cute little pair!

For me it's always nice to chat with Jess. It's nice to vent on our hectic lives with oiu husbands working their crazy hours. It's nice to have a mommy-and-me Saturday night date!

Why's it raining?

Some moments you want to capture, but don't have a chance. As I was putting Emma to sleep last night (or she was putting me to sleep) Emma was caressing my cheek just like I do to her. She sang me, "Are you sleeping?" The line that goes "Morning bells are ringing" sounded more like "Morning raining." After singing it twice, she stopped and asked me "Mommy, why is it raining in the morning?"

Scrap Challenge

My little group of scrapbookers holds a monthly challenge. We gather paper, embellishments, and supply a twist to challenge each other to break out of our scrapping comfort zone. This month, I challenged the group to scrap an "everyday moment" with a focus on journaling. This prompted me to start a blog--one of those things that I've wanted to do but never got around to.

With a 3-yr-old, every day she surprises me in some way or another. Same days good :) and some days not-so-good :(.

So, rather than making one or two pages for this challenge, I'm further challenging myself to start to blog the everyday moments of our lives. That way... the stories that I share about Emma petting worms, or telling me "how it is", or a day that the hugs are abundant... are just as important to document as the many pictures that litter her scrapbooks.