Valentine's Day Party (I'm super late)

Here are a few pics from Emma's valentine's day party at school. I am so behind at downloading pics from the point and shoot camera. I had pics on there from November! I am so spoiled by my DLSR that I don't like taking any pics with the point and shoot. Oh well, I was still able to capture some pics from her party. I couldn't post many on here...because I didn't want to post any pics that showed other kids faces. She had lots of fun making crafts and passing out valentines. :)

The Stomach Flu Sucks

Emma has had a stomach virus for the past 3 days (vomiting/severe diarrhea). She was looking pretty horrible last PM and very dehydrated. So, we called the pedi and they sent us to the ER.
Got to the ER and they took us back quickly. Gave her some Zofran to stop the vomiting and gave her IV fluids. She was such a trooper with the IV. I was so proud of her.
The IV fluids perked her up a bit, but she's still having the massive diarrhea. Just got off the phone with the pedi, because she still hasn't had any urine output, even after the IV fluids.
Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update. I know some of you have been following my updates on facebook. Thanks for the prayers.

Organizing, Organizing, Organizing

I have gotten on an organizing kick the past few days. I have been slacking in this department since Emma was born, almost 5 years ago! I am normally a fairly organized person, and our house has been driving me crazy! So, the other day, I just decided that I was taking our house back!

So far, I have completely redone the downstairs bathroom. I'll post a pic later :) Shawn hates it...says it's too 70's...but I freaking love it!

I organized the living room, buying two canvas baskets for underneath our tables. Organized the pantry...it looks great! And, organized our coat closet, making room for some of my photography stuff, which seems to be taking over our house currently.

I made 3 trips to Target in 2 days buying stuff, but it was so worth it.

I ordered some more stuff from the Container Store. So, when that stuff gets here, the Master Bedroom Closet is next.

I am feeling so much better about our house now. My next major project, after the closet, is Emma's playroom. We need to do a major purge!

Pics to come in the next few weeks!

Mommy's Little Photographer

After our last photo session, Emma wanted to take a turn behind the camera. It was so cute watching her try to handle my bohemeth of a camera! She did great though. This is a pic of me that she captured. All I did was a quick crop. She was adorable, "lay like this mommy, smile mommy," hehe. She said she wanted to be a photographer like Mommy when she grew up! I would be okay with that! Creativity is a gift, and I hope she can get the same enjoyment that I do out of sharing her creativity as she grows older.

Why is she always lying down? :)

I was going back through a session that I shot with Emma in February, finally having time to edit the pics, and found these gems. She was such a cooperative little model that day. However, over half the shots are with her lying down :) For some reason, when I take her pics, she always wants to lie down. They are still super cute pics! I just love this girl!

So Proud

When I picked Emma up from preschool yesterday, her teacher stopped me in the hall. She told me that Emma asked to lead prayer before circle time yesterday. During her prayer, she prayed for a little girl's mom who was sick, our dog because she had been throwing up, and she prayed for her teachers and her class, that they would make good choices. Miss Lori was SO proud of her, saying how hard it is for adults to pray out loud in groups, and even harder for a 4 year old.

I am such a proud Mommy right now, my heart is smiling. It makes me happy that Emma has empathy for others, and is showing. It also makes me smile to know that she has a relationship with God. I love that girl!

More yellow belt pictures...

Getting her new belt on by one of the helpers in her class, a junior red belt.

Modeling her new belt.

With Ms. Thompson, her instructor.

Yellow Belt!

Emma got her yellow belt last Thursday night at Taekwondo. She was SOOO proud! They had a series of tests they did, plus they broke a board with their foot! The 2nd picture down is her breaking her board. Her next level in Little Dragons (they have a different belt structure than the older kids) is gold. Unfortunately, she's been sick, so she missed class on Saturday and Tuesday. Hopefully, she'll make it to class tomorrow.

Mommy's Little Model

I was playing with my indoor studio setup today. I finally got my softbox! YAY! And, of course, Emma was my model. She was actually cooperating today. Let me tell you, I am in love with the seamless paper look and my softbox. I am doing a maternity session this weekend, and am excited to get to use my new equipment. Just thought I'd share these pics of Emma with her blankie. For those that don't know, her blankie is my blankie that my Grandma made for me when I was a baby.

Kindergarten Decision

We had Emma's parent/teacher conference at her preschool today. Her teachers had so many wonderful things to say about Emma. She is doing super at preschool. They were so impressed that she knew her phone number and address :)

I asked about Kindergarten readiness, since she has a summer birthday. I have been suffering through this decision for months now. Emma doesn't turn 5 until the end of July, and I didn't want her to be at a disadvantage at Kindergarten because she would be one of the youngest ones. Her teachers couldn't tell me what to do, but they did say that we would not regret holding her back and waiting to send her until she was 6. So, I think that we are going to send her to the 5 day/week pre-k class at her preschool next year, and hold off on Kindergarten until 2010.

We just want to make the right decision for Emma and not put her at a disadvantage when it comes to school. I think we're making the right one.

Fun in the Snow

Emma had so much fun playing in the snow the other day. Shawn went out to clean off his company car and Emma went out to play. I stayed inside and took these pics through our storm door. It was cold, and momma doesn't do cold! :)

How cool is this?

There is a great site, called Wordle that you can make these from your blog. It automatically populates based on the words that are in your blog. So cool! Try it out :)

Happy Gotcha Day!

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since we were in that courtroom professing our love for our little girl. Judge Samuel Peppers III proclaimed us a forever family 4 years ago today. What a bundle of emotions!

We always do something fun for Emma on her Gotcha Day. I think this year we are going to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese to play (Emma has never been there), and then probably to Red Robin for dinner (Emma's favorite place). I'll be sure to post some pictures later.

Happy Gotcha Day Baby! We love you!

Hot Chocolate Makes Everything Better

Emma has been under the weather for the past few days with a cold and a cough. In fact, today is the first day she has worn anything other than PJs since Saturday. She wanted some hot chocolate today and kept saying how much better she felt after she drank it. Apparently, to a 4 year old, hot chocolate fixes everything :)

Miss Heidi

Just had to share this pic of Heidi that I got last night. Seriously, the cutest dog you've ever seen, right?!?!? She'll be a year old in a couple of weeks :)

Her Favorite Pose

Emma's new favorite pose for me to take her pics is laying on the floor. I have no idea why...but at least I got some cute pics!

Taekwondo Video

Here is a video of Emma at Taekwondo tonight. She really loves it. And, she loves her instructor. She's great with the little ones. (I don't know how to rotate it...sorry!)

Taekwondo

Emma was not happy about getting her picture taken tonight! She had a great time at Taekwondo though. She earned a blue stripe on her white belt tonight. In about 4 weeks, she'll be able to test for the next belt, which is in between a white and yellow!

Night Shift

I have been working night shift for 3 years now. I switched to nights when Emma was 18 months old, because we lost our babysitter at that time. Things were good for a couple of years. But, now, nights are definitely getting the best of me.

I am working Friday and Saturday nights now from 7p-7a and one night during the week from 7p-3a. I am exhausted all the time. My body so wants to sleep during the day. I find myself falling asleep when Emma takes a nap and then sleeping for a couple of hours when Shawn gets home from work at around 4:30pm. Then, like last night, I am up until 3am. That turns out to be a problem when your child gets up for the day at 5:55am.

So, this has turned out to be a perpetual cycle that I am in. It is miserable. Shawn complains that I sleep all the time, when in actuality, I am just sleeping in 2 hour shifts throughout the days of the week. Something has got to give. Dayshift is not an option for our life. So, I need to figure out a way to get myself on a better schedule.

I want to have the energy to do the things with Emma I used to do. She is getting so used to hearing, "Mommy is tired." I don't like it one bit. I don't want that to be her memory of growing up. I don't know what the answer is.....but hopefully I'll find it!

Taekwondo

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Emma if she wanted to take dance class or karate. She picked karate. So, we found a great Taekwondo place and signed her up. Her first class was tonight. She had so much fun, and did great. The instructor is fabulous and was actually able to keep a class of 8 four year olds reigned in! She got her uniform tonight, and her white belt. She also earned a yellow stripe on her white belt tonight.

I wasn't sure if we were able to take pictures, and no other parents were taking them, so I didn't tonight. I'll ask them on Tuesday if we are able to take pics.