Things we love...

After reading Emily's blog last night and reading the blog of this family http://half12.blogspot.com/, it made me so sad for them and so proud of how strong they are, even though I've never met them. So, in light of that blog and one of my new year's resolutions (Dana, you know all about this), I thought we'd share some of the things we love.

1- Emily Grace's cute little strings of mumble jumble that she sings to herself day and night. "Martian" songs. Just thinking about it makes me grin. I find myself humming little tunes to myself sometimes too... I can't wait to get home at night to hear about her day and listen to her jibber jabber. There's no doubt about it, she has her mommy's gift of GAB!

2-The way she gets "Uh OH!" backwards. It comes out "Uh HO!" So innocent and sincere.

3-Our Faith in God, our country, and each other. I love that faith is in us. When there is nothing to grasp onto, there's always faith.

4-Mandarin Oranges. Our household would cease to survive without those little dollops of EGU- calming majic!

5-Our friends- You guys are the best. Your little comments, your checking-in emails, your phone calls of gossip or advise (Thank you so much Kim for your call last night- I needed that!). I can't tell you how much we rely on you, our dear friends. And yes, that's you, reading this now.

6- Pink pink pink (sorry Chris, but it's consumed our world now!) Monogrammed pink is even better!

7- Our WONDERFUL families. They have given us and taught us more than we could ever have asked for. We would be nothing without you.

8- Friends (the tv show). I could watch Friends re-runs for the rest of my life. I love it. And I'm grooming Emily Grace to love it too. From 6-6:30 we sit on the couch and cuddle-and she tells me about her day (Martian Talk). It's not every night but once in a while. That's our time and I love it.

9-Clemson Sports. I don't love watching sports, but Chris does and it deserves a shout out. Clemson Sports are much easier to watch than regular sports for teams that I don't know or care anything about. Last night I was clutching a couch cushion (clutching cusions tight and yelling at the TV has been proven to make teams win...) as Clemson squeeked ahead of VT to pull off the win. What a good game! I didn't get THAT into it because we kept going back to My Name is Earl and The Office when the game was slow, but regardless, my blood runneth ORANGE! I can't wait for the Super Bowl (uh hum, commercials!)

10- Snow. I want it so badly I can taste it. PLEASE SNOW!

11-Sunday afternoons at home.

12-Babies bathing suits. They're so cute and I love the big butt daiper look!

Getting the "run" around...

So yesterday was frustrating. Our pediatrician said to call them if EGU wasn't walking at 18 months. So, we waited a month, hoping with all of our might, that she would walk by 19 months. This is the child who, for sure, would be walking as a flower girl by Aunt Kimi's wedding, last October! Sorry Kimi.

She has made a lot of progress but isn't quite willing to let go. Chris and I are fine with her development and we aren't pushing her too much, but we do walk everywhere we go, either with the one or two finger hold. She's very adventurous and I know it'll happen soon. She climbs down off the couch, wants to jump off of the bed, climbs up on every chair and stool she can find and takes quite a few spills along the way! (we had another one last night!)

Anyway, being told that 18 months was the deadline was really bothering me, so I called. Basically, I feel like we've been brushed to the side. After getting the run around with one nurse, an appointment scheduling person, another nurse, and back to the first nurse I spoke with, they said that the doctor wanted to wait until her next vist.... at 21 months. So we now have to wait two more months to talk to a doctor who told us to talk to her last month!?! I feel very strongly that nothing is wrong but why give us that time frame if you aren't going to do anything about it? I'm not worried about her, Chris isn't worried about her and everything else seems to be normal or above normal (especially that talking! Jamie says Evelyn speaks in Martian! I think that's what we'll call it too- Martian talk!) Please don't get me wrong- we are in no way disappointed in our child. I know by the time she's five, you'll never know she was a late walker. I just hope it happens before she's two!

In the mean time, I think we may start some potty training here soon! Keep checking in for that progress!

Oh, and here is a picture from Christmas. It's kind of funny- you start with a walker and end up with a walker! Dad- we love you! But it's cute that you and your grand child are both on walkers! :)

The Golden Goose Egg...Bubble Wrap- STAT!

It finally happened.... a casualty of being a little tot-the massive goose egg! Last night after dinner Little Miss crawled away for just a minute and then we heard it- CRASH, tumble, WAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Where is she?!?! That little stinker can speed crawl with the best of them. She was just right here! She's like a little speed racer! She's late on the walking side of things (very late) but she's curious and wants to try. That height just gets the best of her and she continues to topple over.

Anyway, she went around the corner, into her nursery and within seconds either pulled the lamp down on her head or tried to use the lamp cord to stand up while leaning on her dresser and crashed head-first into the dresser. Either way, by the time we got around the corner she was flat on her back screaming and the lamp was on the floor. It took a second for that bump to form, but my-oh-my what a beauty! Poor kid- as a graduate of clutz-U, I know that hurts! A little hug and the comfort of a rocking chair and a binky (and a shot of baby tylenol) and she was as good as new.

Don't worry- I didn't go snapping pictures of her prize-winning bump while she was still upset. I gave it an hour or so. But we have now survived our first real goose egg! This morning it was quite a bit darker in color and the bump was still there- that's going to be LOVELY- but kids will be kids! My heart broke for her but hopefully this NEVER EVER happens again. A little piece of me wants to wrap her up in bubble wrap before she gets any more adventurous but I know I can't. This is probably the first of many. I had my poor parents at the ER so much that the doctors there probably knew us by name! Let's hope this isn't a sign that she has my clutzy genes.

Welcome to the World Baby Kale!!!

HE'S HERE! Our friends Will and Stephanie had their adorable baby boy on Saturday! Gosh, it feels like Stephanie was pregnant forever- I'm sure she felt the same way... But he's here and now she's a mommy and he's a daddy. Welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood! We're so happy for you THREE!!

William Kale H.

1-24-09

9lbs, 2 oz, 22 inches

Saying prayers

I don't know how many of us stop to think about how many blessings we really have in our lives but our little family is blessed beyond anything we could have ever dreamed. There are days when work gets monotomous or when I just want to pretend like I didn't hear the alarm clock but something stopped me today and said WAKE UP! I can't believe how lucky Chris and I are to both still have our jobs, to have such wonderful loving friends and families, and to have the beautiful little girl who sleeps so peacefully in her crib (at least until that next tooth comes in)! I complain about the things that "aren't" but I forget to stop and appreciate the things that "are."

We have foreclosures and job lay-offs all around us. There is the sadness of uncurable illnessess and the fear of peanut butter and the focus on how the president may or may not be officially inaugurated. WHATEVER! We spend so much time each day fretting over the bad that it's easy to lose sight of the good. As I watched Emily Grace fold her hands to say grace with us tonight, it hit me- my life couldn't get any better. That little piece of innocence is all that matters. She's so adorable and folds her hands like someone is sitting on her shoulder, whispering in her ear, telling her exactly when she's to say a little Thank you to God. And then she shouts "AMEN!" That's all I need to be assured that this world is full of good, no matter how much we focus on on the negative.

So- focus on the good stuff and count your blessings each day! AMEN!