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Saturday, May 17, 2014

life right now



i wrote this a few weeks ago and just realized i never added pics and posted.  so now here i am.  i'm stuck in the house with my babe who's sick and sleeping and my bigger (manly-er) baby who snoring on the couch so it seemed right to play catch up. 

our little angel baby is now (then) 20 months old and crazier than ever.  i am so overwhelmed with how sweet our life is right now.  i mean i could use a shower, my house is literally covered in clothes, my sink is overflowing with dishes that actually kind of smell (ew!) but as far as all important things go, i wouldn't change a thing.
: : : : :

i realized after writing this that no one besides ben & i would likely be interested or excited about most of these little tidbits & updates about ems but i have to write them down or i won't remember.  i understand if squealing over 'baby steps' ain't your jam - this is us right now.

emmie bear, here are some of your newest developments...

you clasp your hands up near your chin and then do tiny little claps.  you really love to make little "sweet" and darling little girly head tilts and hand on your cheek things.  i have no idea where you get that (probably a cartoon) but i love it.

we had back to back consignment sales to attend a few weeks ago and we loaded up on goodies.  besides the FIVE pairs of shoes i found (that i'm crazy over) for dirt cheap, we found a gem toy in this little kitchen.  you can play in your pretend kitchen for hours.  you move all your plastic food, one piece at a time from the mircowave to the oven, shut them both, bend down to check on the oven and then do the next piece.

you run like a wild woman.  sometimes she just runs laps up and down the hall.  you give her a little bit of room and she's gone. now i just need to get her some tennies - for the love, will someone please make baby tennis shoes that aren't hot pink with purple leopard print? update:  she has some, found by nana Karen and worn almost constantly.

em's had her first ever baby ponytail!  she could have probably had one months ago but i never bought those tiny little hairties.  now that we have them, ponytails for life.  just like her momma.  who would have thought flippy little chunk of hair would bring us so many smiles.  i think we just feel that way because it makes her look so grown up, it's a little heart wrenching but awesome at the same time.

emmie mems hums / sings along when i sing or when music is on.  she still doesn't say many words at all so anytime she uses her little voice in unexpected ways i basically melt.  she also loves dancing!  if she hears even just a few beats, this baby is swaying. she swings those arms and bobs that head. can't get over it.
 
you sing and mimic songs and words from Disney movies.  it kills me.  the fact that you've memorized scenes from frozen and act them out while using fake gibberish words - oh my goodness.  i didn't know this was going to happen so little.  
 
you're still loving bath and bubbles little one. 

you understand nearly everything that we say although you don't already listen.  you still don't fully understand picking up after yourself but you do love to throw things away in the trashcan which is really helpful and sweet, when its trash that you throw away.

you are so great at hugs and kisses.  you give really strong squeeze your neck hugs, you have all different kisses, butterfly kisses, eskimo, on the mouth shouting "MMWWAAHHH" and possibly my favorite when you want the kiss and you squish your cheek super hard in my face.  the best squishy cheeks i ever saw.

you like to go in your room, turn your fan on high, sit on the floor and 'read' all your books.  you can entertain yourself for a good long while.

calls ben "momma" still, it sort of bothers him but is also kind of adorable because she always says it in response to being so excited to see him.

obsessed with swings - squealed with delight.  i think spring is going to treat us right. update:  i was right.  we have had SO much fun going to the parks on every pretty day.  our morning park trips will soon be replaced with the pool but i think our park dates will just be moved to the evening instead.  man i love spring / summer!

you have been really rotten out to in restaurants lately.  i guess we've entered into that phase of toddlerhood.  it makes me sad because i kind of love sitting and relaxing over a meal with my family that i didn't cook or have to clean up.  i think the relaxing is done for now.  unless a sitter is involved. haha

i left em and ben for a conference, hope spoken, for 4 or 5 days.  the time away was really sweet and refreshing but i did miss my little family dearly.

i came home to spring break - woohoo!  we stayed in town for the week and this week has already been such a huge blessing.  AND we got a little nephew out of it.  i gotta post that!!!!!

i've really been processing more and more about the mom that i want to be and what i hope i give to em as she grows up.  it is utterly overwhelming for me to fathom living out the gospel in every little and big situation.  i'd love to think it'd be second nature for me as i chase after Christ & seek to know Him more intimately but it is just kind of terrifying to me.  i know that i will be imperfect and fail a million times but i just don't want to waste it, not one opportunity to point this little girl toward her creator who loves her so.  the reality is that God is good and that He is soverign, that Emmie will have to grow up and make her own decisions about what she believes but seriously, i want to be so faithful with what has been entrusted to me and i feel so clueless about the best ways to do that.  praying over you precious little heart my sweet one.

To celebrate

So I must have uploaded all these pictures and thought I'd write a post right away. Four months later I've got no details but I do know this was from
Mother's Day weekend. .  

We are surrounded by such great family. It is really incredible that out of all the people in all the world we were both born into the homes we were. The examples of mommas (biological, step, in laws, grandmas, friends, aunts, etc) that Ben and I have are such an encouragement to our family.  

From what I can tell I think we spent the weekend in Louisville, had a date night and then brunched with my momma and pop. 
And if memory serves, I got pampered by our little family the weekend before. My sweet family brought me donuts in bed and emmie colored in a book for me w pictures from the last two mothers days. 
I feel like its such a sweet gift and I can't even think about how my love for it will continue to grow as our little family grows and grows up. 
This isn't the book. This is a planner that emmie was obsessed w. and if you were wondering what emmie looked like in April or May of 2014, here she is. I'm so late!
This IS her eating donuts in my bed though. She really enjoyed this party of Mother's Day. 
Being a mom has been such a humbling and incredible gift. My heart could seriously explode when I think about her little life and us being entrusted with her while she's here. Even on hard days, it is so very precious to me. I know The Lord in new ways because of Emmie and Ben in new ways too.  I pray that I will be faithful with her, to point her (and future baby) toward Jesus everyday, what this whole life is really about. I'm so thankful for this sanctifying blessing of motherhood. 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

All play & no work

I always want to be a better 'journaler' but I ALWAYS flake. So I've been thinking about posting just really quick snippets to remember so that I may be able to commit to it a little more easily. 

Today was such a sweet day. A morning visit my momma, emmie's nana was long overdue and much enjoyed. Emmie is slightly obsessed with her and is stuck to her like glue the entirety of the time she's here. One of my favorite things was that when mom would walk away at all emmie would shout the same string of jibberish at her over and over. I love that she really was trying to tell her something. 
she's picking her nose. i'm sorry.
Em finally for some tennies to play in. HOORAY!! Nana always comes bearing gifts. She's had to play in jellies and ballet flats until now so this is amazing! She's in between sizes and baby shoes are so expensive or the amount of time they wear them, so hard for me. 

hanging dead-weight in the swing for a good few minutes.  she's something.
when Benny got home we got to have family time at the park (she got of practice on the big slide), a music / dance party with poppa on the guitar and then a walk around the neighborhood before bed. Em kicked a kickball up and down our streets and if you know our daughter, this is a BIG deal! Up until like a week ago she would try and hold on to something for balance to pick up her foot and kick. It was so fun to watch her learn to do something new and she was SO excited. 'ball' is one of her few words :)



last but not least, today was emmie's first ever top knot.  I took 500 pictures of her in hopes of getting a picture that encompassed how truly precious that mini-bun was but she wasn't too cooperative.  but never fear, I think that there will be many more buns in our future. 
we're in the laundry room because emmie likes to go into rooms by herself, shut the door and lean up against the wall.  normally she 'reads' books while she does that.  this time she was putting on chapstick.  she wouldn't leave the laundry room so in I went.  perfect place for commemorative pics right?  oh and I don't mean to be in these pics but i'm too lazy to edit them, ignore me.
teeny tiny top knot
ben kept said "she looks like such a little girl" and break my heart, she totally does.  I can't believe how fast she's growing.  so thankful to be along for the ride.  better get to work now {wink wink}