Just Because You Can't See It...

Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it isn't there...

This is Emma's latest discovery!  She is crawling everywhere, including into our glass door.  She hasn't yet figured out that there is a such thing as an obstacle that you can see through.  

It doesn't stop her from trying, though.  She continues to crawl over to the door, bang her hand against it and the proceed to bang her head against it.  She is determined to get through!

She can see all sorts of interesting things on the deck that she would like to check out.  She will watch the birds land on the deck and her eyes get huge.  She is amazed by them.  She also likes to watch the leaves on our banana plants sway in the breeze.  She definitely loves the outside!

I love to watch as she discovers new things.  The look on her face is priceless when she sees something new. It is truly a joy to be home with her every day.  She is growing so fast.

I picked up pictures today that I had taken when I was about 32 weeks pregnant, when Emma was 1 week old, 6 months old, and 7 months old.  Wow! How she has grown and changed.  It is so bittersweet.  I am so glad that she is healthy and growing like she should.  It is just happening so fast, too fast.

Ear Aches and Heartbreaks

27 days, 3 different antibiotics, 2 different ear drops, 5 doctor appointments, 3 doctors later, a million tears and a broken heart later...

Emma has been battling an ear infection for almost a month now and my heart is breaking for her.  She has been miserable and there really isn't much I can do.  As a Mama, I want to make it better.  Her doctors have been trying everything they can to treat her, but nothing seems to be working.

Today, I decided to take her back to the doctor to see if the latest antibiotic has helped any.  Unfortunately, it hasn't and we had to take the next step.  Emma had to get a shot of Rocephin today (see her band aid) and will have to go back tomorrow and Saturday for shots each day.  Her sweet nurse came in apologizing for what she had to do to help her feel better.  She told me that Rocephin shots are pretty painful.

Of course, Emma screamed and cried and it just broke my heart.  She doesn't understand that I have to let them 'hurt' her to help her.  She cried most of the 45 minute drive home.  Hearing her crying and knowing that it is her "pain" cry just makes me sick to my stomach.  There was nothing I could do to make her feel better.  And, I have to endure it alone again tomorrow!  Chuck is out of town and will be back tomorrow, but not in time for our appointment.

I am so dreading it!  I know I have family that I can call, but honestly I don't want anyone other than myself or Chuck to touch her!  I go into SUPER OVERLY PROTECTIVE mode when it comes to my baby... especially if she doesn't feel good!

You have heard people talk about how protective a mama bear is... Let me just tell you, you would rather mess with a mama bear than with me when I get in this mode!

It's hard to keep myself from screaming at the doctors and nurses that are helping her.  I just want to protect her from ANY type of hurt.

So, say a prayer for us that these shots work.  We are also being referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.  I don't want her to have to have tubes, but then again, I know how much they help.  And, I know it is a pretty 'routine' procedure.  It is just scary knowing that my baby may have to have surgery!

My Cup Runneth Over

Figuratively... And so does Emma's literally! See...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Couldn't you just squeeze her!?!?  She and Chuck are truly "My Happily Ever After."  Even though it isn't always put together perfectly, it is what I love!

So, with that... Emma showed me two of her new tricks today.  First, she can drink out of a sippy cup with the 'no-spill' valve in it.  And, second, she knows how to drink out of a regular cup!  She is full of surprises!

While watching her play in the tub tonight (and yes, she did drink a little bath water... oops!), I just sat back - but not too far from her - and thought about how extremely blessed I am and how the analogy of a cup running over is so fitting.  

Let's see, what all have I been blessed with?  A wonderful husband, a beautiful, healthy baby, an amazing family, health, laughter, freedom, the ability to be a stay-at-home-mama, etc... I could go on all night!  

Most recently, like real recently, as in this week, I launched a new project... bibies!  In just a few days I have already had orders for 6 bibs!  Wow!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to those who have purchased bibies!  Also, a huge thanks to all my fabulous friends who have given their endorsements and spread the word to the people in you circles!  I am forever grateful!

So, with the beginnings of bibies, I have decided to create an online store called The Aqua Owl.  It isn't quite up and running just yet, but it will be soon... And you know that you'll be hearing all about it!  

I am so excited about this new venture and look forward to the challenge it will give me.  I will be adding other items for monogramming/appliquéing.  These won't be handmade, but they will be just as adorable!  It will take a little bit of time to get it going, but these are just things for you to look forward to!  

So, I hope that you will join me as I venture through this.  It's sure to be a wild, but rewarding ride!!!!

bibies

So I mentioned an outing the other day that I said I would elaborate on later...  Well, here goes.

Emma and I went on a little outing to Jackson the other day.  It was a pretty serious outing considering that it was POURING down rain and I took her anyway.  We made several stops and came home with LOTS of fabrics!  When I say LOTS, I mean,             
L-O-T-S, LOTS!

So what does that mean?  Why did Emma and I tromp through the POURING rain to get fabric... LOTS of fabric????

Well, what that means is... After thinking about this and trying to work out all of the details in my head, I have decided to finally do it!  Do what?  Do IT... I have decided to go into the bib making business!  All handmade and customizable for you!  And, let me tell you, I am so excited to do this.  And, did I mention the adorable name my dear, sweet husband came up with for me?  bibies.  So, precious, isn't it?  

I am working on getting a web site going, but for now, you can email me!  You can click here:  bibies to check out some samples and fabric swatches.  I will be adding more fabric swatches soon, so check back often!  And, if you don't see something you like, let me know what you're looking for and I'll see what I can do!


Hope to send bibies your way soon!

Under the Table and Dreaming...

So, it's been a few days...

A few BUSY days! Emma started crawling Wednesday and life is dramatically different! She is everywhere, but still doesn't truly realize her new found freedom... thank goodness!

Anyway, with her crawling, I am constantly trying to keep my floors clean and household hazards out of reach.

First of all, I am a clean person, but now that I am truly 'inspecting' my floor for anything she could eat, I realize that I am not as clean as I thought. Seriously, where does all this stuff come from??? I swiffer at least twice a day and it is still not enough!

And, what really gets me is that we were gone all day Thursday... more details on that excursion later... but when we got home, my floors needed sweeping. Hello, when did dirt fairies move into my house?

So, in the midst of all my sweeping, Emma has found a new favorite place. I lost her the other day and panicked. I knew she wasn't far from her play mat, but it was still unnerving. I found her though... Can you guess where?

Yep, under the table!

And, seemingly, day dreaming! She loves it under there. She gets so tickled when you peek at her.

Wouldn't you just love to know what she is thinking?

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Just a swinging

What a fun weekend we had! Emma and I went to 'the city' to my parents's house. And Chuck had a fun guys weekend playing in a golf tournament.

While at my parents', Emma and I welcomed Pop home from his summer business trip and just had a blast! We played outside with Laila all morning and Emma found a new favorite pasttime...

SWINGING

As you can see, it brought much joy to her...

And a little terror, maybe...

But mainly joy, especially to everyone who was around to watch...

Okay, maybe not everyone...

Laila decided to 'help' Emma out, literally and figuratively. She told Pop, "Emma Cate (pronounced EN Cate) wants out. She get out." To which Pop replied, "Don't you want to give Emma Cate a turn?" Laila said "Uh-huh," let Pop push her once and tried again... "Emma Cate wants to get (pronounced GIT) oooout."

When that still didn't work...

Laila decided to take another approach... showing Emma Cate the dog, Maddy. She would say, "See Maddy. See Maddy. Emma Cate wants to get out to see Maddy." At two and a half, she knows how to work the system!

And even when that didn't work, she tried yet another angle... she said, "Pop, I want to go to my house." Pop said okay, but then she looked up at him and said, "I want you to come with me!"

DING! DING! DING!

That was the correct button. Pop got up, got Emma Cate out of the swing, and headed off to play with his girls!

Purpose

For most of my life I have struggled with trying to figure out my purpose in life. And, although I still am not completely sure of what it is, I think that I am one step closer to it. Not that I think that I will ever completely understand what God has planned for me, but I heard something today that really changed my way of thinking.

I went to Sunday School and Church this morning at the Church that I grew up in. It is honestly the first time I have been to any Sunday School in years. The class that I attended is studying a book called Crazy Love. (I decided to borrow it and read this morning so that I would be prepared, at least somewhat, for class.)

As we went through the lesson and talked about differents points, I was very pleased with having made the decision to attend. And it was when we were wrapping up the lesson with a complimentary video that God made himself known to me in a way that truly opened my eyes.

In the video, Francis Chan, the author of Crazy Love, was talking about our purpose. He said that we need to be concerned more with God's purpose for our life TODAY and less concerned with our life's purpose. Not to say that our life's purpose isn't important, because it is. And, trust me, he put in words that make more sense than what I am able to right here.

But anyway, this hit home with me because I have, so many times, lost the purpose of the day because I am too worried about the rest of my life. Also, who am I to think that I have any more time on this earth? This is a huge eye opener to me to realize that yes, I have a purpose in life, but I also have a purpose in EVERY SINGLE DAY. Wow. That is huge.

How many days have I failed God because I was overlooking the purpose of that day and trying to focus on a bigger picture that may or may not be in my future? A huge weight has been lifted off of my chest and I have a whole new perspective! It is okay to not know my purpose in life yet. But what is not okay is to go through so many days, like I have been, biding my time until God was ready for me. Hello! He is, and has been, ready for me... I have been the one who hasn't been ready!

Before today, I don't know if my brain could have accepted this information. Notice that I say ACCEPTED... I still do not claim to truly understand all of it. But, what I do know, is that God has a purpose for me EVERY SINGLE DAY and I need to ask Him to help me fulfill each and every one of those. Because, as much as I would like it, my purpose in life may not be something big and great that will change everyone's life. My purpose may just be to live for God every single day in all the little things that I do so that one person can see that and have a desire for Him.

Do you know how much pressure that takes off and, at the same time, puts on me!?!?! It takes pressure off because I am no longer feeling like a failure because I haven't saved the world. It isn't my job to save the world... And, thank goodness for that because I have been trying for years to figure out how and I still am stumped.

However, this new knowledge puts lots of pressure on me. By realizing that I have a purpose EVERY SINGLE DAY, no matter how small it is, by realizing this, I now have to make a choice to do something about it. I have to live in this new found knowledge and hold myself to a different standard. Even when I am tired or it is hard or I am busy, I have to keep my priorities straight and keep my purpose in God's will FIRST.


So, I am embarking on a new chapter in life. It has been the desire of my heart to know God better, but I wasn't really sure how. I have been struggling with so many different things like, churches in the town I currently live, sending my child to the nursery with people I don't know, attending Sunday School or not, the list goes on and on. And, today, after attending a Sunday School class, it hit me. I have just got to do it. I just need to take that first step and go and let God lead me there. I have to let go of the idea of planning everything out and waiting to start attending until things calm down.

I just have to go and know that God will lead and does lead; but He has given me the choice to follow or not and I have to make that choice. For me it isn't a hard choice. I want to follow. But now, I can quit over thinking it; I can quit analyzing and re-analyzing. Now I can just go knowing that it won't always be easy or perfect (by my definitions) or planned out like I think it should be, but it WILL be what it is. And I find purpose in that.

I have included the link for the book Crazy Love(www.crazylovebook.com). I have only read the first two chapters, but what an impact it has had on my life already. Thank you to my sweet sister-in-law for sharing this book!

Peace, Love and NOISE

How is it that sometimes we find peace in situations that do not at all seem peaceful?

Emma and I came to visit my family for the weekend; and as I sit here, there are at least three televisions BLARING, my 2 1/2 year old (absolutely adorable) niece, Laila, squealing, my Mama trying to quiet her (so she doesn't wake Emma), and conversation taking place between my Daddy and Sister, yet I am at complete ease and peaceful. The only way to make this even more perfect is if Chuck were here with us.

I am very much a family oriented person and obviously delight in being surrounded by them. It is such a heart warming feeling to sit and be surrounded by some much love.

I am a little teary-eyed and sappy tonight over family because my Daddy came home today. He is a crop duster and spends a good bit of the summer in Iowa working. I always miss him, but this summer, the first that Emma has been here, well, was worse.

Also, my Mama, Sister, Grandmother, Great Aunt , and Papaw were here today. And, it was like seeing them all through fresh eyes. Each of them is so special to me and I look forward to the bond that each forms with Emma.

I realize more and more how blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life and thank God for them daily.

But, before we made it to my parents' house today and I got all teary, Emma and I went to Chuck's work to help him with a benefit cook that he was doing. One of his co-workers has some medical problems and so Chuck and our friend Matthew cooked and sold hamburgers to raise money to help. It was a successful cook and it felt great to help someone else out.

I am truly so lucky to have a husband that has such compassion for others. (I haven't talked much about myself or my family yet, but I am working on descriptions to go with the pictures along the side of my blog.)

Chuck is such a wonderful and talented man. He is a fabulous cook and uses this talent for the good of others. He makes me laugh daily and feel loved always. I fall in love with him again and again every day when I watch him with Emma.

As a new Daddy, he is genius and has a way with her that amazes me. He has such charm and charisma that he is instant friends with whomever he meets. Also, he is an unbelievably carefree, yet serious soul who never stops living life to the fullest. And, even if God had allowed me to, I couldn't have created a more perfect match for myself!

Wagon Wheels, Yogurt Melts and Elmer's Glue

Emma was sitting in her high chair today feeding herself while I prepared her bottle. Being just shy of eight months old, she is still learning the art of getting pieces of food to her mouth. And, this truth has not at all been lost on our Yorkie, Meiko.

When he hears the high chair being adjusted and containers opening, Meiko comes to find his place directly underneath the chair waiting on whatever may fall. Today, however, he got more than he bargained for. Emma was eating yogurt melts and after mouthing one and getting it nice and gooey, drops it to the floor.

Instead of being his usual finicky self, Meiko dives right in and picks it up. However, he wasn't prepared for the sticky texture of the yogurt melt. As soon as he picks it up, he tries to drop it, but it stuck to his tongue! I couldn't help but watch and giggle as he pawed at the goo and shook his head trying to get it out of his mouth. Bless his heart, it finally, as the name suggests, melted away and he went to hide under the bed.

Then, after Emma finished her snack, I was trying to wipe the sticky off of her and found myself in a similar predicament as Meiko. No matter how much I wiped the sticky residue of the wagon wheels and yogurt melts, I couldn't get rid of it. Just when I thought I had her clean, I would find a chunk of goo on the back of her leg, in her hair, and even in her diaper!

All I could think about was "Can you imagine if Elmer's Glue was this strong?" Random, I know, but being "Back to School" time and all, it is what came to mind. Don't ask me why!

But really, think of parents' reactions when they came to pick up their kids from school and every thing and everyone in the classroom was stuck together! That's what I felt like, though... Everything that Emma and I touched stuck to us... napkins, cloth diapers, wipes, spoons, toys, everything! So much so, that it went past aggravating and became comical! Well, at least Emma thought it was pretty funny. It was then I realized that my laughing at Meiko's predicament had caught up with me!

However, as I finished 'cleaning' her up, Emma took her still sticky little hands and pressed them into my cheeks and she leaned her gooey face into mine. And it was at that point, that I, like the yogurt melts, melted!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

That is the question... on my mind as well as many others. I started working on this blog in July 2008, but seemingly had writer's block.

Even as I revisited the idea of beginning this blog, I have had writer's block. My issue has been with my 'ordinary' life.

Don't get me wrong, I love 'ordinary' and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I kept asking myself who will want to read about it.

I am finding, though, as I explore many different blogs that a lot of people with 'ordinary' lives are blogging. And, people are reading them! Shocker, I mean really, how else would blogging still be around???

So, now that I think about it, most people out there will be able to relate to my blog, because I am, well, ordinary!

Joy!

I may have just overcome my writer's block.

So, join me as I chronicle my 'ordinary' life and the adventures of it; because, let me tell you, there are definitely some adventures around here!