still do.

Every year on our anniversary we like to watch our wedding video (which is really entertaining, because we forgot we were miked) Thanks Remedy Films! :) Really they are wonderful and you should see their work! Its such a fun day to look back on. And at risk of sounding cheesy we go back through our vows. Its amazing how much more weight they carry once you are living life together. Its ups and downs. The ordinary days, the sleep deprived ones, and the ones that seem to go just right. So here's to many many more years to being able to live out those vows. And many thanks to our wonderful parents to making that day so wonderful and offering continuing encouragement and support.

Images by Travis Bell

Weekend in review...

What I envisioned for Friday morning...

What Friday actually looked like.... :)

A mingling of anniversary and RSV.

We had been looking forward to this weekend for awhile now. Each year we try to go away somewhere for our anniversary. We try to keep it close and this year we decided to stay even closer :) Downtown Charleston here we come. We have such a fun city 4 minutes from our front door but sometimes it is hard to take advantage of. Chris had planned a few things for Friday afternoon, dinner reservations at Husk, and a night at Vendue. (Both of which I highly recommend) Anyway, I work Wednesday and Thursday and my parents were here to keep E, so they just stayed through the weekend to watch her for us. Needless to say I didn't pack a thing, planning to do that and last minute errands Friday morning. Note to self - don't count on those last few hours before an even when you have a little one. My plan, selfish as it may be, went something like this... Get up at 7:30 with E, pack, grab Starbucks, manicure, long shower, relaxing lunch with Chris. Reality went like this.... Get up at 5:15 with a very wheezy and uncomfortable E, call doctor as soon as they open, jump in the shower, run out the door with E in pj's, have E poked and prodded more than I could handle, cry with her, get an inhaler for her, frantically pack, have mini meltdown over leaving sick child, finally make it to relaxing lunch. Thank you to my wonderful mom for convincing me that she had done this before :) And that I still needed to go. And thank you to my ever patient husband who let me have my re-group time on the way to lunch.

E had been fighting a cold all week and after 2 trips to the doc and a few swabs and other unpleasant pokes they landed on RSV. Thankfully we left with just an inhaler to help keep her lungs open and clear. She was as pathetic as I have ever seen her. She is an on the go kind of girl and Thursday after her nap I just held her and read books for 2 plus hours. That would never happen on a normal day...she has way too much exploring to do:) Even something as simple as RSV makes you really aware and thankful for a healthy child. I am in awe of parents that have to face their children's medical struggles. Nothing is harder than watching your child hurt and knowing you can't fix it.

I realize this is a jumble of a post but that is how most things are these days :) Everything is intertwined and somehow it works. Thankfully E had a great night with my parents, and Chris and I had a great escape to celebrate 4 years! Complete with a carriage ride and wait for it.............sleeping in!!!

Happy 8 Months!

8 months! That sounds so old. Chris still reminds me that I carried her longer than she has actually been out in the world. Not for long though. She is definitely on the move this month. Crawling all over the place and pulling up on whatever she can get her hands on. She thinks this is the greatest trick. She then proceeds to play the surface of the table/box/chair like a drum. She has just started to get brave and take a step or two while holding on. She is loving her walker but it is a two person toy right now. I have to walk behind her because she tends to push faster than she can keep up. It appears that the Pampers box is her new favorite toy? who knew? She is finally getting the hang of the sippy cup. She figured it out today with the stopper in and was so proud of herself. As was I, you would have thought I just won the lottery by the dance I did to encourage her to keep it up. Here are a million and one pictures from yesterday. It is getting increasingly harder to get a still shot so excuse the blurriness. Oh and look past the yucky nose. She is fighting a nasty cold and thinks that the tissue is the devil himself...

And for my own record, because I will probably forget. She has started a new 6:00 pm bedtime. Boo! Not a fan of having to put her down that early but she lets you know her thoughts on being up any later. This has started since we dropped the third nap. She normally gets up 7/7:30 and will take 2 naps a day. Napping has been a disaster with this cold. Down for 30 min and awake....way too many times to count today. No idea on her stats other than weight. A whopping 16 lbs and 12 oz. at her sick visit yesterday. We love you peanut!

a little catch up...

I feel like the past few weeks have flown by. Here's a recap in pictures, because I really should be unpacking the massive amounts of supplies that are required to travel with a 8 month old.

Poor husband. This is what his Valentine's Day looked like...

The norovirus is reaking havoc on Charleston, and it seems more specifically our church. I don't think I can think of a family (that has kids) that has not been affected by this nasty bug. We were lysoling and cleaning like crazy to keep this away from E. Even though I'm not positive that she wasn't the first one to have it....sometimes it can be hard to tell if you have a reflux baby.

In the meantime we pulled out all the stops. Yes, this Type A momma dumped all the toy baskets. It was that kind of day.

Please excuse the lack of clothes. She is teething and drooling like crazy so I was trying to minimize the time a wet bib is up against her. Sounds like a good mom answer right? Well the reality is.... she is just happier with no clothes.

We did finally get a dose of winter down here. Just enough to break out the bear suit. But now the cold can gladly leave again. We will not miss it.

She's got her keys and is ready to go! We spent this weekend in Atlanta with the Hostetlers. Chris and his dad helped his brother with some renovations and the girls did some shopping and a lot of shuttling babies back and forth for naps. E got to spend some time with her cousin and they were hilarious. I'll have to get pictures from Chris' sister. E did great on the 6 hour car ride but we did learn one thing. Well I think we already knew, but it was confirmed...this girl needs her sleep. She sleeps ALOT. And I am thankful for it, but you would think with the amount she gets at night skipping a nap here and there wouldn't be a big deal. Its a HUGE deal apparently when you skip all naps. If people are awake and having fun there is no way this girl is going down unless she has her own space. So much so that I had to drape a blanket over the carseat on the ride so she couldn't see me. That was the only way car sleep was accomplished. Don't you worry though, we can scout out a bathroom or closet that fits a pack n play almost anywhere :)

Dedication

Last Sunday we enjoyed celebrating Emerson's dedication with our families. We are so thankful for the faithfulness of generations. Here are a few pictures from the day...

I am kicking myself for not getting a whole group photo with both families. Ahhh why do I forget these things?? Emerson thankfully made it all the way through (just barely...it was nap time) the dedication. Even doing her excited wave and bounce when Chris read his letter to her. I'm hoping to get the video. Her timing was hilarious. Sweet girl then came home and crashed while we enjoyed her cake. We are so blessed to be able to raise her with the help and guidance of family and friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

Emerson

Somehow it is already Wednesday again. And an added bonus.... I didn't have to work! So this post is actually going up on the right day :)

-I bought cookie dough the other day and made half of them for the super bowl. I was saving the rest for later. I went to the refrigerator a couple days later to make the rest. No cookie dough. Not anywhere. I opened the freezer to look for something else, and there stumbled upon the cookie dough. From the kitchen I oh so sweetly asked Chris why in the world he put it in the freezer and then continued lamenting the fact that now there would be no cookies. He just laughed, which only made me madder. Yep it wasn't him. It was me and mommy brain. He is a patient man.

-I love Clint Eastwood. The Chrysler super bowl commercial was my favorite. I am choosing to ignore all the talk about political undertones and just appreciate a good American rally cry.

- Since I didn't have to work today I was able to take Emerson to Mothers Morning Out. Whoooohoooo! I never knew how much I could squeeze into 3 hours. I had forgotten how quickly I could get in and out of stores without a car seat and strollers. So mostly the time was selfish, but I tell myself its good socialization for her too, right?

-I tried a new pinterest recipe this week. It turned out. The bread did not. How do you burn pillsbury crescent rolls, i mean seriously.

-The 75 year old in my class at the gym was my yardstick for success.

-I just ordered diapers from amazon. Mainly because I like to get packages.

- I got stuck in a dress today while shopping. I get so claustrophobic when things get stuck - jewelry, a seat belt, you name it. It makes me crazy. Thankfully before my self esteem had to be picked up from the ground I realized that the dress did indeed have a zipper. That would have been something to take notice of before putting it on. Next time.

my child loves ben.

....Harper that is. Thankfully not Ben from the Bachelor. I hope that we did not give birth to anyone with that bad of taste. She has long been in bed by the time this trash (that i watch) comes on. Back to the real Ben. I was on the way home from running errands and E was quickly approaching nap time. This means she is not quite her cheerful self. Combine that with her growing dislike of the car seat and it makes for a less than serene ride home. She seemed happy with the radio until a dreaded commercial came on. Then she would voice her opinion. (which i largely agreed with ) I just hit the first CD in the player and naturally it was a good throw back from high school. A few seconds into "Walk Away" she was silent. As soon as it would go to the next song the tears would begin, so back to Ben we went. On repeat. All the way home. I'll take it E. I'm probably only looking at a few more months of adult music anyway :)

And here are some pictures of her adventures around the house today.... She was oh so proud of her new moves.

She made a bee line right to Rigg's picture

On the move...

You are officially crawling. Like doing the full on from one side of the room to the other. You had been so close but you finally figured out how to move your arms to make it work. I "asked" Chris why he put you down in the middle of the dogs toys. Guess what? He hadn't. You took it upon yourself to sit among the bones and other half-eaten toys. Oh i have some baby proofing to do this week. You also are pulling up on everything you can get your hands on. You find it much easier to get up than back down. Here comes the bruises :( We made a last minute trip to Florence this weekend to visit Nana. While there we stumbled upon a beautiful fact. You sleep amazingly in hotel bathrooms. Weird? Maybe. But it worked and it will happen again. We just have to be sure to get a room near the lobby. That way the lobby restroom is close and available if needed. The pack n play pretty much consumes the in room bathroom. We jacked your schedule all around with family visits and car rides but we had to wake you up both mornings. I knew I always liked hotels. I'm gone to start baby-proofing before I find you gnawing on a bone....

Mid-morning convo with her favorite dog