6 months

Everett David, you are 6 months old!! Despite my daily pleas to quick growing up so quickly you continue to grow grow grow. I am so thankful for your joyful demeanor. The Lord truly blessed my soul when He gave you to me. You are the light of my life and I love you in a way I didn't know was possible!

Here are your stats:

*You're holding steady at about 16.5 pounds. You had a stomach bug this past week that caused you to lose a little weight (lucky, ha!). When I took you into the dr. your weight seemed to have stayed the same since I took you in for your 4 month appointment (which was when you were about 5 months).

*You wear a 6-9 months size in clothes and a size three diaper.

*No teeth yet, though you are teething like crazy!!

*You enjoy rice cereal and we'll be introducing some solids this week.

Here is a picture of you and your big sister at the same age, do you think you look alike?

I don't really see it as much as I did when you were younger. You guys definitely have the same nose and mouth but very different eyes. One thing is for sure, you're both so darn cute!!

This past month of your life has been an exciting one! You experienced your first Superbowl, the NE Patriots (Daddy's favorite team) against the NY Giants. Sadly, the Giants won.

I bought this Patriot's onesie for your Daddy's first Father's Day when you sister was in my tummy. It was fun to see you wear it again, just like Emersyn did for her first Superbowl. Only for her first Superbowl, the Patriots weren't even playing! I like your tough guy face in the picture above you. It looks so silly on your normally jubilant face.

I loved your little football socks.

You are quite the ladies man, almost always surrounded by beautiful girls. We had some friends over for dinner a couple weeks ago and took some cute pictures of you and Emma. Emma is only 6 days older then you are!

You two are sure to be good friends.

Your favorite person in the world (other then mommy of course) is your sister. Whenever I even say her name your eyes light up. We usually call her "sister". I wonder if you'll call her by a nickname the way my brother did when I was growing up. To this day when David calls me Patti it gives me the creeps....he has called me Sis for nearly 25 years, why change it up now??

You and Emersyn have such a special bond. I love watching you both become better friends and playmates.

Here you are looking darling as ever in the bathtub. You got a LOT of baths this past week with your stomach bug.

You celebrated your first Valentine's Day! Your great grandma Inglis sent you this cute card.

You still love being swaddled and have started falling asleep to your special lullaby CD that says your name in the songs. You like personal space when falling asleep and prefer just to be laid down to fall asleep instead of cuddled. Emersyn was the same way. I miss the days of you snoozing in my arms.

You are so unbelievably handsome.

Mommy nearly blacked out when she saw how darling you were in this hat at "Crazy 8" at the mall. I just had to get it for you and you will wear it for Easter. You haven't had any hats really other then your cute beanies. I need to not try hats on you because I'm pretty sure I will have to buy whatever you try on due to your cuteness!!!

Here you are hanging out with Daddy and laughing at your sister.

I took you to the Dr. this past week for your stomach bug. We had to wait an hour to see the dr. since they were running behond. The dr. was so apologetic, especially since once he finally saw you and determined there was nothing they could do for you since this is a virus. I told him that I didn't mind waiting since I got some cute pictures of you checking yourself out in the mirror. Sometimes you smile SO big that I think your face is going to explode from joy!

I booked the park for your first birthday this past week. I can't believe in 6 months that big day will arrive, wow. I am excited to plan a special celebration for your party. The theme will coordinate with your nursery, just like Emersyn's first birthday party will. I wonder if Miss Rachelle will help me design custom birthday invitations like she did so cutely for your baby shower (just putting that out there early Rachelle!!). :)

I am so excited to introduce you to some of your extended family in California next month. I am sure you will bring them the same joy that you do to your daddy and I. This will be your first trip on an airplane!

I thank God for you every single day and pray that He uses me to be the best mommy I can be for you and your sister. I love you sweet boy!!!

Love, Mama

One Month

Dear Everett,

This past weekend you turned one month old, I can hardly believe it! We were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate your one month birthday in Sunriver with some close friends and it was so much fun.


Everett, I am so in love with you. I can't believe that God gave you to us, even when we were not expecting you! I am so humbled by God's provision in my life and you are just another physical manifestation of God's love for me.


You are just the sweetest baby and you remind me a lot of your sister, both in your looks and temperament. I'm not sure how much you weigh or how long you are right now, I'll know more at your next dr's appointment in a month. You are still in size one diapers and in 3 month clothing, although the 3 month jammies with feet barely fit you. You are looooooong and lean. You are so handsome and I just love your dark hair. Your daddy was hoping you would have dark hair like your mommy and sure enough, you do.


You have started being awake more and I just love looking into your big dark blue eyes. I wonder what color they will turn? Dark like your sisters or light like Daddys? We'll just have to wait and see.


I love getting you dressed each morning. I thought boy clothes were going to be so boring but I truly love going through the cute outfits and picking out something for you to wear. I feel just like I did with Emersyn, like I have my own real life doll to dress and I love it.


You are a good eater and I thank the Lord that nursing has come easily to both you and I. You like to eat every 2-3 hours or so but can go longer stretches in the morning. You will sleep in almost as late as I will let you but I often have to wake you up so you can eat something before we head off to wherever we're going that day. You only wake up once or twice in the night and I am grateful for that. There have been some rough nights where you've been kind of fussy but I think that usually has to do with me eating something I probably shouldn't have for dinner, like onions or broccoli. Naughty mommy. :) Sometimes after I feed you at night, I just snuggle you and pray for you. Even though I'm tired, I treasure those snuggles together and know that before I know it, you are going to be a fiesty toddler, just like Emersyn.


You have had a lot of fun during your first month of life. Your sister turned three and you got to celebrate her birthday when you were just 5 days old. You went to your first amusement park for her celebration. You've been to a baby shower, to two of your sister's friends birthday parties, visited your great grandparents in Albany, showed a house with me and acted as my real estate assistant, been out to eat several times, been to church several times and been to many playdates as well.


I can't imagine our family without you Everett. We love you so much and are having so much fun watching you change and grow. Emersyn is OBSESSED with you! She loves kissing you and snuggling with you. The first thing that she wants to do every morning is give you hugs and kisses. Whenever we pray for her before she goes to bed, she reminds us to pray for you too and then she will often pray for you. She prays, "dear Jesus, thank you for Everett, make him strong, in Jesus name, AMEN". Emersyn loves it when you lay on her bed with her and you guys snuggle before she goes to bed. She loves rocking you in your swing and giving you your binky. You are lucky to have a big sister that loves you SO much. Your daddy and I pray that you grow into be the best of friends.


I love you so much Everett David. I'm so thankful that you are my son.

Love,

Mommy

A Beautiful Wedding!

Last Friday was Emersyn's second flower girl event. Of course I have to share some pictures and let you know how it all went! :)

At the rehearsal, feeling very proud of herself for walking down the aisle. :)

Killin' time on Mommy's iPhone while the practice continued.

As I posted last Friday, Emersyn threw up on Friday morning and I was a FRANTIC mess for the entire day, just ask my husband. She has never thrown up before and I kept having these awful thoughts of her throwing up while walking down the aisle or worse yet, while the bride or groom were holding her. Of course I was concerned for her well being and health, but there were logistics to worry about too. Brett kept telling me to relax but I just couldn't. If worse came to worse, she just wouldn't be in the wedding but that would have been SUCH a bummer. She did fine for the rest of the day but wouldn't eat much. The only thing I could get her to eat at home was frozen blueberries and then I was scared she was going to barf those up but she didn't, hallelujah. She even laid on my bed while I got ready and watched TV, something she has never really done before. I struggled with knowing whether to try to get her to eat something or to not push it in case she was still sick. Finally right before the wedding she ate some banana and a kids clif bar. I prayed that it would stay down and it did. She was REALLY tired before the wedding and seemed a little out of it but then started to perk up once the banana hit her system I think.

Waiting for the wedding to start seemed to take FOREVER with two kinda restless toddlers. I think my friend Jonette (Estella's mom) and I totally bonded through this experience, ha! Once the wedding started, I went to sit in the church so that I could meet the girls at the end of the aisle.

My pretty girl.

Can I just tell you that Emersyn and Stella did AMAZING!?!? A good friend of mine snapped this picture and I think they look angelic. The girls held hands the entire way and walked kinda slow, stopping to smile at everyone. Stella is the social butterfly out of the two of them so she would totally stop and smile and Emersyn would tug her hand and keep them walking. They were precious and I totally got misty eyed. Watching my daughter walk as a flower girl was a dream come true for me. Not that I have always dreamed of her being a flower girl specifically, just I was so grateful to be celebrating the marriage of some good friends and watching my little blessing of a daughter be healthy and strong enough to even walk down an aisle. Oh the things we take for granted. Anyways, they walked all the way down the aisle perfectly and my heart was overflowing with joy.

Emersyn and daddy walking to the reception downtown.

Wendy & Tyler, the beautiful couple.

I had made arrangements for Brett's parents to take Emersyn home after the reception so that Brett and I could stay and enjoy the party. Emersyn was getting really tired and June offered to take her home a little earlier but I asked that she wait until the dancing started because I just wanted to dance one song with her and Brett. Okay, when the fast music came on, something came over my daughter and she turned into a dancing machine. She ran onto the dance floor and was twirling and clapping and raising the roof, it was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!! She totally got a second wind and she danced to ALL of the fast songs with everyone. I loved this picture of her and Tyler below, dancing away.

I am so thankful to Tyler and Wendy for including us on their big day. It was a joyful occassion and I am blessed to have friends in mine and Emersyn's life that are such quality people. :)

Sleepover!

On Thursday night Emersyn had her first "friend" sleepover! :) Her little best friend Estella came over while her parents went to the beach for the night to celebrate her daddy's birthday.

We had such a great time with two little toddlers running around but I gotta say, I cannot even imagine having multiples. SERIOUSLY. I am sure if you have twins, you get to ease into it gradually versus just having two toddlers instantly but still....the meal times and bath times were tricky!!! There are major logistics to consider when you've got two of everything. The Lord blesses those who He sees fit with multiples, and for that I am grateful!! :)

My mom got them matching shirts. Too cute!

It was fun for Emersyn to have a friend over. They are such big fans of each other and are exactly 2 months apart (Ems is older). They are going to be flower girls in a wedding this summer together too, how fun will that be? Fun/interesting.... :)

Today we are relaxing at home. Brett had to work which was kind of a bummer but he gets to take next Sunday off instead of today which is fun. I love Sunday family days. This evening we are headed over to our neighbors for a Memorial Day bbq feast...I am so excited!! David and Jenny are going to join us too.

The weather here in the northwest BLOWS right now. It has been two straight weeks of rain with another week forecasted. Poor Emersyn keeps going to the garage door and saying "bike bike". I think the rain is making her stir crazy too! Hoping sunny days are SOMEWHERE in our future. It is crazy reading about friends across the country whose kids are wearing full on summer outfits. Meanwhile, Emersyn's summer clothes are still crisp and new, unused thus far. GRRRRR. There are far worse things in life then a little rain though. I am still blessed and happy and looking forward to a great week.

Happy Memorial Day!

Cute things at 19 months

Ems is always doing or saying cute things, I need to be better about writing them down so I don't forget!!! Here are some:

*Whenever we drive by a lake, Emersyn points and yells "DUCK DUCK"!!!!! Then for about 15 minutes after she sees the lake, she keeps saying duck because I guess it is a fun word to say.

*A friend of ours let us borrow their toy slide and Emersyn loved it!!!! We just took it back them last night and this morning Emersyn ran around our downstairs saying, "side side??" (slide). I told her we would go to the slide at the park when the weather is nicer but she seemed so bummed that her fun indoor slide was gone. Going to see if I can find one for cheap online.

*We dog sat a cute little dog a couple weeks ago, I will have to upload a video that Brett took of Emersyn laughing hysterically. Anyways, the dog's name is Henry and Emersyn LOVED him. He left a ball of his at our house and every day Emersyn brings me the ball and says, "aww-hee?" which is how she says Henry. So cute.

*Every time I lock the car with my keyless remote and the horn beeps, Emersyn goes "bye bye car".

*Emersyn can spot our cars now, it is cute. She will see my van out the window and go "Mama car". Last night we were following Brett in his car somewhere and Emersyn kept yelling "Dada car, Dada car" because he was in front of us.

*Every morning Emersyn goes and plays with her kitchen and gets really quiet and pretends to be watching TV but she is really pooping. I always ask her if she is pooping and she says "no" in this grunting sort of way and I let her finish her business but it cracks me up!!!

*Emersyn loves chores. She is very task oriented. I find that when she is whiny and clingy, often times she is just bored. I ask her to do things for me all the time, like pick up her toys or put a diaper on her baby. This morning she helped me make the bed and handed me all the pillows, helped me bring the clean laundry into my room and put the wet laundry into the dryer, picked up all the toys in the bathtub and put them away, and took her dirty clothes and put them in the laundry. Sure, things takes five times as long when she is helping me but it is an activity for us and I get something done, she feels proud of herself for helping mama, and we get to spend quality time together.

*Yesterday she was taking a bath and when she washed her baby's face, she whispered "gentle" just like I do when I was her face. My heart melted.

*Emersyn's word for water is "abba" and don't ask me how she does it but she rolls the "b" sound so it almost sounds like "agua". NO clue where she got this from.

*The other day Emersyn was running around saying "up high up high" and I realized that she was talking about high fives. Her Uncle Brock had been playing with her doing high fives the day before and she loved it!

*Emersyn loves saying "car seat" and "high chair". Anytime we drive by a Starbucks she says "high chair, high chair" or anytime we walk into a restauraunt. She loves to say car seat and play with hers too when I give hers to her Nana on their days together.

*Emersyn got a purse for Easter. The night before Easter, she put her purse on her arm, grabbed her keys and went and opened the front door and said go go go. I asked her where she was going and she said "be back" because I always tell her I'll be right back. And whenever she has her purse, she starts saying "keeeth, keeth" (keys). So funny.

*Ems loves to talk about pottys. She will go to my toilet and say "mama potty" and then "emmy potty" and she sits on her potty. She has yet to actually go potty on a potty but she is comfortable with them anyways. :)

*While on a walk with my friend a couple weeks ago, we stopped at a playground that had large bark chips. I let Emersyn play on the playstructure. There were bark chips on all of the stairs, probably from other kids. Emersyn proceeded to clean all the bark chips off each stair before climbing up them. My little neat freak!!

Okay, I am sure I am forgetting so many more cute moments but I will try to be better about writing them down!

Queen for a Week!

Thanks so much to Elizabeth for crowning me "Queen for the Week"! What an honor, especially on the conclusion of my birthday week!!

I has SUCH a wonderful birthday getaway this past week. We went to Bonneville Hot Springs Resort for a night. We had bought gift cards to this resort at Costco in November for 20% off (score!) and decided to use this as my birthday celebration. It was our first night away from Emersyn and I was actually much more relaxed then I thought I would be. Emersyn stayed overnight with her Nana and Papa and they had a lot of fun with her.

The resort is only about an hour away which is nice. We dropped Ems off at noonish and then had a sushi lunch date. Sushi is one of my favorite foods, seriously. And by sushi, I mean California Rolls and seared salmon, not anything fancy like squid or spicy tuna rolls. :) After sushi we went to some outlet stores that were on the way to the resort and found all sorts of cute things for Emersyn; a sun dress and capri pants from Baby Gap, some amazingly cute $50 Ugg type boots that were 75% off, and some super cute and cheap jammies at the Carters outlet for next winter. We were laughing at even though Emersyn wasn't with us, most of our conversation and ALL of our shopping revolved around her.

We checked into the hotel a little after 4pm and headed straight to the room. The best part about this resort is that they have hot tub rooms, see picture below. The hot tub is filled with natural hot springs water and it is absolutely AMAZING. It is a little bit pricey but totally worth it to us.

(See the hot tub on the deck? I borrowed this picture from the resort website, I forgot my camera!)

We love hanging out in hot tubs. We went in ours several times, even brought water proof playing cards and played some card games. We relaxed and had great conversations about us both being in the last year of our 20's and some of our goals for ourselves and our family. I think one of the highlights of my night was sitting in the hotel lobby by the giant fireplace, me reading my book club book, Brett working on Emersyn's first year blog book, and both of us listening to live music. It was so relaxing and just perfect. I even got to read two of my Parent magazines, which I never seem to find time to do at home.

On Friday we took our time heading home and stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way home. I would have loved to hike but I was feeling a little under the weather (thank you Eve). We had such a relaxing time, I can't wait to do it again!

On another note, Emersyn has started talking up a storm!!! She is saying uncle, Elmo, purse, cook, and the vocab list is growing every day!! It is soooo cute.

Happy Sunday everyone!!

Happy 17 Months Emersyn Grace!

Dear Emersyn,


It's been awhile since I wrote you a letter on my blog so I thought that in honor of your 17 month birthday, I would let you know what you are up to.

Sometimes these letters to you are so hard to write out because it is truly impossible to put into words how special you are and how much I love you. Time is going by so fast and I need to be better about documenting all your new talents and traits. This could be a long one. :)

*Words you say: "Ma" (Grandma/Grammy), "Pah/Bah" for (Grandpa), "Papaaa" (Papa), "Nuh" (Nana), up, ball, kee (monkey), keekee (kitty), stap (stop for when we are tickling you), DAH! (dad), mum, tucka tucka (not sure what this is yet), geh (again), hot (usually accompanied by trying to take off a jacket or sweatshirt!).

*You are obsessed with your baby Gloworm. You sleep with it, you play with it first thing when you wake up from your night or a nap, and before I get you out of the crib you have to go press the button again so that you can enjoy the music while I change you. :) It is really cute. You have had the Gloworm for awhile but just recently realized that you could make it make music.

*You love your new kitchen. Your favorite thing to do is not pretend that you are cooking, it is to open and shut all the doors, except for the oven which you still refuse to acknowledge. You figured out that there is a manual turn table in the microwave so you will stick something in there, usually something too big that barely fits, shut the microwave with such a force that it scares me sometimes, and then turn the wheel under the microwave until you think it is done. So cute. One of my favorite things to do is watch you play with your kitchen when you aren't looking at me. I love seeing your little mind process things and wonder what you are thinking.

*Whenever you find a cell phone, you put it up to your ear and yell "YEAH?". SO cute.

*You have decided that you do NOT like cheese. I wish you would have decided this BEFORE I bought the 6000 count string cheese pack at Costco. :) It's okay sweet girl, your daddy and I will eat it. But I wish you would eat it too, as string cheese used to be your favorite food!

*My favorite thing to do with you in the mornings is make you oatmeal, toss blueberries in it and then we go sit on the couch and watch Sesame Street while I feel you breakfast. I know it isn't good to eat in front of the TV so we don't do it every morning. But when we do, it is so fun.

*You love your babies. You like to take your baby dolls and go sit in your rocking chair and rock them and pat their backs. You also LOVE the baby doll "backpack" that our neighbors have. Might have to get you one of those soon.....you are so cute with a little baby on your back.

*You are obsessed with your cowboy boots. I think it's because they have a little heel on them so you think your sassy. Today we took you to Starbucks, your favorite place. We put you in the high chair and you ate your yogurt just fine but then you refused to eat your banana because you wanted what we had. After Daddy and I finished eating our breakfast, you wanted to get down and show off your boots, which totally did NOT match your outfit. You then decided you would eat your banana but only while walking around in your boots. After you finished your banana, you decided to roll your high chair clear across the room to the little cubby where it goes. You are so smart.

*You love knocking on doors, particularly bathroom doors when people are in them. :)

*You love the pink hippo/cow (we aren't sure what it is) that Uncle Brock got you for your birthday. You like to slide it around all over the downstairs and then climb up on it and bounce.

*We have started giving you time outs. Not too many yet though. Your frequent offenses are climbing onto furniture and then standing up and trying to stand on the dishwasher, both very unsafe things to do. Mommy and Daddy love you so much but you know better and you get a little gleam in your eye when you are so obviously testing us. For the record, you get ALL your stubborn-ness from your Daddy!! ;) But you do get some of your fiesty-ness from your Mama, that I will admit....

*You seemed to be amused by the fact that Mommy is working out these days. Today you sat in your pink chair in the living room and laughed at me while I was doing "high knees". I realize that it is probably pretty funny looking so I don't mind. You also laid down on the floor with me when I was doing my crunches and gave me kisses. You are such a sweet girl!

*You love baths! When I ask if you want a bath, you run to the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and start shaking it aggressively in hopes of knocking it down so you can get upstairs to the bathtub!

*You have started to understand the concept of cleaning up. The other day you took all your play food out of the crate. I asked you to pick it all up and put it back and kind of didn't think you would but sure enough, I looked over a couple minutes later and all the food was picked up! Also, today we were on our way out the door to go to Starbucks and you saw a coaster lying on the floor in the living room. You ran over to it, picked it up, and then ran into the kitchen, opened the bottom drawer and put the coaster right back where it came from! (Where YOU got it out I might add, you love the bottom drawer that has my placemats and dishtowels and coasters. You also love taking out ALL of my tupperware and stashing it throughout the house!)

*Yesterday while Miss Roxanne and I were chatting, I looked over at you and you looked like you just wanted to be one of the girls, lounging back your chair with your feet up on your pink stool!! It was SO cute! I wish I got a picture but sure enough, you bolted before I could snap one.

*You get sooooo excited when Daddy gets home from work. About 30 minutes before he actually gets home you start walking over to the window by the side of the door and yelling, "DAH!". Usually when he gets home though, you run to me and get needy for mama. I love this. :)

*You love watching DVD's in the car. I try not to let you watch the DVD player all the time, but when you do watch it, you only watch something educational. Right now your favorite DVD is "Blues Clues ABC's". You laugh when all the kids laugh on the show and really get into it. When I tell you that we aren't going to watch a DVD in the car, you get frustrated but then we talk about all the trees that we see and the cars and you have a good time pointing to them all and start jabbering to me. You have so much personality.

*You love your Nana and Papa's dogs. You know each of them by name, Sadie and Gracie and give them lots of loves. You also love our kitty and have learned to pet her very gently.

*You like bling. When you see my watch or wedding ring, you try to pull them off. This is probably because Daddy lets you play with his wedding ring by giving it to you and then you put it on his finger and laugh hysterically.

*You love to dance. Whenever you hear a musical ringtone, whether it's mine or someone in public you start to move and groove.

*You weight 24.5 lbs as of last Friday, which puts you in the 47th percentile. You have such a petite little figure, I love putting you in leggings and dresses. You are such a beautiful child and I spend a lot of our time together just staring at you and thanking God for you.

This doesn't even begin to sum up of the amazing traits and abilities that you have sweet girl. I am so happy to be your mama.. I pray that God would keep you healthy and strong and grow you in the sweet little girl that He has called you to be with a little assistance from your Daddy and I.

With all my love,

Your Mama

So long, farewell.....

This post is a little outdated, seeing as we are already three days into the new year! But still, I thought that 2009 deserved a little recap. It is always good to pause and reflect on the blessings of each year......

In January I went back to working part time after a gloriously long maternity leave. With tears in my eyes, I drove to my work (which is a job that I am tremendously blessed to have) and joined the ranks of workin' mamas. Praise the Lord it's just part time and that it affords me the luxury to do things that I enjoy like blogging! :)

In February I turned 28 and we celebrated Emersyn turning 6 months old. We also took a trip down south to Sacramento, CA to introduce Emersyn to some of my family members over President's Day weekend, so much fun!!

In March we said goodbye to our kitty Jack after she developed a blood clot. :( Grammy & Grandpa came to visit and Emersyn started eating solid foods and drinking from a sippy cup!

In April we had a lot of outdoor adventures! Emersyn and I planted our first hanging basket at Al's nursery. We took Emersyn to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn and got some great pictures, and we enjoyed the swings at the park as much as the weather allowed!

In May we celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss. We also said goodbye to our beloved doggie, Molly Brown, who had kidney failure. (Totally just re-read that post on when we put her down and cried like a baby again, who would have thought an animal could evoke such emotion?? Not me...) We celebrated our anniversary and Memorial Day by going to the Oregon Garden Resort; our first hotel stay with Emersyn!

In June Grammy came to visit again! We took Emersyn to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time! Emersyn started swimming lessons. We celebrated Brett's first Father's Day by going to "Famous Dave's" for the first time.

In July I was able to scrounge up just enough hair for Emersyn to have pig tails in honor of her first 4th of July! I was also hit by a car on the way home from work, sending the rest of my summer into a tail spin of chiropractor appointments and recovery time.

In August I was off work due to my accident. I enjoyed more of my summer bible study, "Me, Myself, & Lies" at a dear friends house. I learned some tough lessons about only needing the Lord's approval in my life, not the approval of others. I celebrated a sweet baby girl's very first birthday with many of our closest friends and some family too!

In September we were fortunate enough to take an amazing vacation to the island of Kauai. Joined Ladies Bible Study at church and enjoyed learning about Esther and how her life lessons can translate into my own life. Brett turned 29.

In October we started a book club for our Young Adult's group ladies. I have been blessed by the challenges issued by Frances Chan in his book, "Crazy Love". Emersyn was the cutest cowgirl you have ever seen and got a LOT of wear out of her costume. She wore it to visit her Great Grandparents in Albany, to Estella's first birthday party, and then to our church's harvest party!

In November Grandpa came to visit! Enjoyed Thanksgiving and was extra thankful for Emersyn's health and overall wonderfulness this past year.

In December we travelled to Minnesota for Christmas with my family. We celebrated our Lord's birth and were able to relax, enjoy the snow, and get caught up on LOST: Season 5!

I started the year with a baby and ended the year with a toddler. I started the year with a LOT of insecurities as a new mom and ended the year having been able to abandon most of those insecurities and have a renewed faith in my Lord. I started the year with many expectations and some disappointments but ended the year with re-defined expectations and a feeling of being content.

I can't wait to see all that 2010 has to bring. New Year's resolutions/thoughts to come later....... :)

Seven Years Ago Today.....

...these two crazy kids got engaged. Brett had planned a special night out for us and I SO knew e he was going to propose! The night before our date I had been snooping around in his room while he was in the shower and I found a Shane Co. (our favorite jewelry store) box and I felt so guilty for even having found it. I didn't open it or anything, I was scared to jinx myself!

We decided to start our date out by going to the Pittock Mansion to look at the Christmas decorations. As we were in line, we noticed that every single person there was over 60 years old. After some eavesdropping, we realized that the mansion had been reserved that evening for a private event. We gracefully slid out of line and laughed our way back to the car.

Since the Pittock Mansion was closed, we went to Portland International Raceway and drove through a lights display. It was very fun and romantic.

Afterwards we headed to dinner at Pazzo's restaurant downtown. We had never been there before but it looked very cozy and like the perfect place for a special date. On the way to dinner, Brett had gotten out some cash from our bank account. (Yes, we had a shared account at this point. We knew we were getting married from day one of our relationship and I needed a bank account so I just signed up on Brett's.) Anyways, while we were at dinner Brett was looking at the receipt from getting cash out. "Look at our bank account....it's HUGE!!" he says and shows me the balance. My heart sinks. It was huge. Which meant there was no way that he could have bought my ring. I start to silently sulk. Did he plan that ring box the night before as a decoy? I feel my eyes squint as I stare at the man who totally had me going.

But then he started saying all kinds of sweet things. He had asked me when we first started dating what my dream proposal looked like. I said that the only thing that mattered to me was hearing why he wanted to marry me. And so Brett started saying these really wonderful things, I wish I had written them down but I just know that they were perfect. Then the waitress brought out a "Build-a-Bear" cardboard house and in it was a bear that had a recording of Brett saying "Patti Green, will you marry me". :) The bears name on the "birth certificate" was Merry Me. :) My husband is so clever. He got out the ring and asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES!!!! He had taken the bear downtown before dinner and had planned the whole thing out. It was one of the most special nights of my life! After we basked in our delirious happiness, we headed to each of our parents houses to celebrate. They knew in advance that Brett was going to ask me that night. My mom had sparking cider and a card, very thoughtful. We took the picture above at Brett's parents card, you can see the bear too.

Thank you for asking me to be your wife honey, I love you more and more each day!!!

Zoo Lights

On Wednesday night we went to "ZooLights" at the Oregon Zoo here in Portland. We bought a membership this last fall and with the membership comes free admission to this exhibit, which is normally about $11/person! Wednesday was the "member preview" night so I was thinking there probably wouldn't be THAT many people there. Also, it was the night before Thanksgiving so I hoped that everyone would be home cooking up a storm. Boy was I wrong! :)

We went to eat at Baja Fresh and then headed to the Zoo.....on the way there, there was a sign on the freeway that said "Zoo Parking Lot FULL. Use shuttle lot". Not a good sign! We parked at the shuttle lot, got out our bundled little baby, stroller, blankets, etc. and prepared to load a school bus which is not easy to do with the bundled baby, stroller, blankets, etc. :)

Emersyn's first ride in a school bus. I don't think she was impressed! Twin came along for the ride too, of course! :)

Finally we arrived to the Zoo! :)

Overall, it was a pretty cool thing to see but let's just say that I am glad it was free. If we had paid full price to see the exhibit, I would have been pretty disappointed I think.

The highlight of the night for Emersyn was watching the live Jazz Band. She heard the music in the distance and started dancing like crazy in her stroller, frantic to get out. I wish I had a video of it! We went over to listen to the band and Emersyn just danced and clapped....it was TOO cute!!

Watching the Jazz Band with joy on her face! Love it!!

Giving the otter a high five.

I had read that in order to REALLY experience the ZooLights for all it's worth, you had to go on the train. It was $3/person with Emersyn free so I thought, that isn't too bad. It was pretty lame! We waited 45 minutes which for a toddler is like an eternity and for some reason, half the lights along the train route were either out or just not on. FAIL! I don't regret out experience....just am not in a hurry to do it again! :)

I am so excited for holiday things to do this season! Emersyn seems to have caught a bit of a cold and I can't help but think if it is because she was out in the cold for so long that night. We kept her good and bundled up but there is only so much you can do I guess. She needs to build her immunities anyways....we are going to the Frozen Tundra for Christmas after all!