Winter's First

First snow, that is! Finally!

We faced a real let down when the snow was no-show in Louisville the day after Christmas. But the snow we got over the weekend provided some good times. Em LOVED the snow and said so several times. I can't even remember the last time I made a snow man, so Wes and I had a good time making it. Em helped, of course, as you can tell if you notice that one side of our snowman has two arms coming out of it. And it's a girl snow person, by the way, which we indicated with girl colored buttons made with pink and purple sidewalk chalk. Resourceful, eh?

Without further ado, the little snow baby princess lady....

Christmas 2012

It was a crazy Christmas this year. The month went by too fast and now it's time to turn off the Christmas music and I don't feel like I even had time to say goodbye to my songs. As I've mentioned before, I've been....dealing...with some anxiety issues over Emersen and illness. I strive to supplement our daily lives with some other health boosting items to fight all the kiddie bugs that go around, but even that then is really probably about feeling like I'm in control of our health. I'm not, in case you didn't know. Well, I sort of think I knew somehow it would happen, and it did - Emersen was sick over Christmas. We had back to back travel and parties and when she came home from Granna & Grandpa's Monday (Christmas Eve), she was cranky. When she woke from a nap, she had bright red cheeks. And when I took her temp, an hour before Christmas Even service, she had a temp over 102. Come on. But she was acting okay, considering the temp. And I got to see what the Lord has done in me over the past couple months; I didn't become paralyzed because she was sick. I did dishes and laundry. I prepared food/drink in case my in-laws still came over. Me and Em played playdoh. And her fever dropped by itself, not going away, but dropping by bed time. I also discovered she's getting a two year molar. Now, I have never believed in fevers associated with teething but wanted to explain away the fever. But then research shows only a low grade fever should be accompanying a new tooth. Christmas morning she had a fever still over 101, but was acting fine. We celebrated and headed on to Louisville. She wasn't happy when we got there but better after a nap. And she had tons of fun getting more presents of course. The next day, she still had a fever but just barely over the threshold. All the while, she had really been pretty okay. Acting okay, sleeping okay and for the most part eating okay. I had started giving her Advil for the tooth. And we had a great Christmas - good food and company. Let down on the snow that was supposed to hit Louisville, but it was truly a vacation for to simply get away from our house, where I am all day every day, and to not have to make dinner, clean and do laundry. 

Thanks Mom!  

Emersen got some really great stuff and really had fun opening presents, showing her excitement with great facial expressions and hilarious exclamations. Unfortunately, after opening presents 4 or 5 days in a row, she was addicted I think. We are now taking things easy, relaxing, unpacking, and just chilling out over all because Wes is home with us having taken off work until the New Year. I hope you had a wonderful holiday, relatively speaking. Ours was probably better than I had expected it could be with Em having a fever. I know some others had sick kiddos too. It was really fun to celebrate Jesus' birthday with a kid that loves singing Happy Birthday and is always looking for the next person to sing about in the song! As we look towards New Year's, I'm finally done thinking "I want to do something exciting/different/celebratory" because that's just not what is realistic or really what we're into right now. We are looking forward to the new year of course, because it's another year. Plus, over the past few months, we've been praying towards truly seeking to please God with our lives. Things on the list to do that include discipleship (our family and other Christians) and service towards others as well as meeting new people and developing relationships. Especially after the Connecticut shooting, we both were faced with the realization that somebody has got to tell people about Jesus and until this point, we weren't obeying God's command in that way. I'm sure everyone had some response to that event; that was ours. So, what are you looking forward to next year? What are you working towards? 

Christmas Treats!

 

Just Emmy hanging out before church....

 

Emersen's great grandmother invited her over to carry on Cooper traditions this Christas. Wes and his brother used to go make and decorate cookies and decorate a cake for Jesus' birthday each year. Em and I got to celebrate this year with Gigi making the cookies, cake and even having Em's favorite - Papa John's Pizza. She had a BLAST! Her favorite thing while cutting out the cookies was to throw on a handful of flour to the dough...

 

Note the flour on her nose...

 

Traditional calls for kiddo to wear an old shirt of Gigi's as her apron.

 

 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

 

 

 

Emersen wanting to dump ALL the sprinkles out on the cookies at one time. And she didn't quite get the nature of dough being soft and fragile. While decorating the cake, she stuck her hand in the middle - there are holes you can't really see - and pushed the candles almost all the way into the cake. And she wiggled around the whole time. But she had so so much fun getting to do something herself. She loved playing with Gigi's antique toys. She talked all the way there about being excited. She bonded with the neighbor across the street. She looked at Gigi and said, "I love you Gigi." I am so grateful we had the opportunity to do something this special this season with her great grandmother. And nothing is better than family members passing on Christ centered traditions as well, explaining why we are celebrating this time of year and teaching her, in Emersen manner through cake, how Jesus loves us.

 

Merry Christmas!

Twas a Few Days Before Christmas

Well this is all I got uploaded - I now have the space again, but the laptop is still jacking up my pictures.

 

Things have been crazy this month, right? But busy has been pretty good for us. Em has been doing Gymboree for a couple months now, thanks to my mom paying for a month for her birthday first and now she and Mindy are helping pay for her to go. She loves the Play and Learn. We're moving up a level tomorrow because we started out in a class based on our schedule only. I'm excited for the new class so Em isn't the oldest/biggest on in the bunch.

 

She misses story time at the library this month - she sings the songs at home all the time. We've been going to the library some just to get out of the house. Fortunately, some of the other kiddos and parents did the same so that provided some good play time.

 

What else? Emersen is ridiculous as always. Just today she says "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Fayette Mall." That's from a commercial on TV. And she LOVES the State Farm commercial where the guy says "Bonjour" which Emersen turns into "by George." She has lost some of her baby belly now and is now solidly a 3T so not as giant. She is talking and talking. She is asking questions "Mommy, can you build blocks with me?" She is identifying herself with activities and things : "Emmy likes bananas too!" She is slowly starting to say "I" and "me" instead of "Emmy likes" or "Mommy hold you (which means her)." I'm a terrible mother who does not like hearing that phrase ONE BIT anymore. It's been a huge adjustment to Emersen needing to be held, and specifically by me.

 

Regarding Santa, the answer is NO. No to any question you have about him. She doesn't like him. She doesn't want to talk about him. She doesn't want anything from Christmas if it has anything to do with Santa. We've tried talking about it and reading stories. But when it comes to her having to see him or thinking about him coming to her house, nope. She FLIPPED out yesterday at Wes' office when another employee was dressed up.

 

What else? She is counting to 10 and can count objects occasionally. She knows most of her letters. She is picking up new words like crazy - from us, from TV, from books, from Dora, from Christmas songs. She likes to sing: Twinkle, Twinkle and Jingle Bells and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. We have Netflix right now, so she is loving watching Dora and her friends Boots and Swiper. She loves people and will tell them. After making cookies with Wes' grandmother, she looks over and says "I love you GiGi." This was after, on the drive there, she had been saying "I'm excited to go GiGis.'s" and "GiGi loves Emmy" and "I need to go GiGi's house." The kid is unbelieveable to us. I just didn't ever realize toddlers picked up on as much as she does and could talk about it. She loves to talk about what she did in her day, which I make her do with Wes when he gets home.

 

Some of you may think she doesn't talk, as some have asked. She just takes awhile to get going, trust me. We're very excited about Christmas this year. It was fun last year, she was walking and "got it." But this year she knows that Jesus was born at Christmas in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. And she knows about Santa and red nosed reindeer. And she actually has preferences and plays with so many different things that it will be very fun to see her get her presents.

 

In the coming days we will be visiting family, friends, traveling and celebrating, so I have no idea if I'll be back before Christmas.

 

So, from our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From Me to You

I have been missing for like 3 weeks from the blog. Oops.

I plan to get back on track.

Over the past few months of becoming a stay at home mom, I've had varying levels of adjustments to make. I had to develop a new routine for both Emersen and myself. As we've gotten used to that, we've become "busy" and it's been hard to do the blogging. Additionally, I've mentioned my technology issues. Well, today I was going to upload some pictures and now my storage on Google/Blogger has reached its limit. What the what? So now I have to figure that out.

I will say, frankly, that October was a rough month. And November flew by so fast. Emersen turning two proved to provide many unpredictable moments for us all. Where the routine we had in place ensured predictability, this age for my kiddo negates it all. Em has had some adjusting to do with me being at home with her at all times. This included making it a tear-filled ordeal to leave her in the church toddler class, which she loves. Additionally, she didn't like her dad for about a week last month. And now, when Em wakes from her nap, she's very whiney and clingly. Sometimes even shaky/jittery. This didn't help my anxiety issues that I was having about her getting sick, etc. I am just lacking in compassion and patience when Emersen acts this way for what I see as "no reason." But that's what I'm working on personally. I have had to change the way I speak to Emersen and foster flexibility for how to deal with a situation because what worked yesterday may not work today.

Through all of this, I turned to reading my Bible more regularly and faithfully. I now read, to myself and out loud (Em says "Mommy talk" to ask me to read out loud) at the breakfast table to start my day. And usually I try to follow a daily devotion on my Bible app on my phone. I've become dependent on prayer as well - which is how it's supposed to be, I just had to learn it through needing it, which illustrates when God says in the Bible that we see his strength in our weakness. I hadn't always been able to pray out loud on my own, like by myself, but now Em confuses when I talk to myself and says "Mommy's praying" because I'll do it in the car or kitchen. I think I sort of always thought you were good at self discipline if you could read your Bible and pray daily, but the truth of it is that it takes humility and submission to do it. It takes realizing that you can't do anything on your own long term and dependence on God's words and guidance as well as a personal relationship with Christ; this is the only way I can function.

I say all of this to say that I personally have been going through some stuff, with the result being a greater dependence on Jesus. It's been a time of refining in the fire - a tiny, kindling fire comparatively to others of course - but it's been good. I say all of this to say to others maybe dealing with anxiety or depression or frustration to turn to God's word. Literally just reading God's word holds power just because it's God's word. Just read it to read it, even if you're not sure it's applicable. Because it is. There is power in the name of Jesus. And I say all of this to be transparent because there have been times that FINALLY I got into real conversation with someone only to learn they struggle with something. WE ALL DO. And I say all of this to say that I'll be updating the blog soon hopefully! Upcoming are pictures of Emersen, us at the zoo, and playing outside, and other gems. I have to get caught up because then I'll have to post pictures from all of our Christmas celebrations too!

Also, I want to tell you all about a book I just read as well so that will come soon.

Finally, I know the blog is read by people that I don't talk to regularly and/or people that I'm not even aware are reading the blog. Know that I love hearing that people are reading and I love how the blog creates that connection between us. If I can be there for you if you're going through something, or if I can pray for you in some way, I really would love to do that. Feel free to message me on Facebook privately or email me mcooper1019@gmail.com to share. Thanks friends!

Happy Halloween...in November

 

The nice witch - without her hat on yet.

 

Again, forgive the quality of pictures. I don't have words. But here are some shots from Halloween and Halloween activities. Note in some pictures Emersen doesn't have her tutu on - she's with the neighbors and in the wagon just waiting until it was time for trick-or-treating!

 

Yep, that's Emersen under the table cloth. Whatever kiddo. Wes carved a mean jack-o-lantern face for his pumpkin & a nice face for the little one for Emersen.

 

Em loves her some Mason and Sadie, the neighbors across the street!

Emersen's Lexington Birthday Party

 

We did a Halloween birthday party because we held it the Sunday before Halloween. So we got another wear out of her Halloween costume and had a fun way to store our water. We had a great time. Em got some awesome presents - lots of fun activities - a basketball goal, a fun catch game with the Elefun (which she was of course afraid of at first, weirdo), and the Noah's Ark below complete with Noah and two of at least 10 animals. 

 

 

Sorry the pictures are jacked up. This is what my laptop currently does to pictures during the upload process. And I'll never catch up if I don't just post something. We were lucky to have the grandmothers with us as well. This Noah's Ark is handmade by Wes's grandfather that passed away years ago. Definitely a special gift from Nina. And thanks to Mom B's gift we were able to get some "baby songs" on CD for Em to listen to in the car. She calls them "baby songs."

 

Happy 2nd Birthday Emersen!

Em's Birthday - Louisville

 

Well, I didn't end up with many pictures at this party, I was just having too much fun!

 

We had a lot of fun with family and friends. The pictures below are actually the day after her party. That's when I discovered the pigtails were most efficient at taming her hair and cuter at that. But Em's party was on a cloudy and cold day, and of course the next day was sunny and nicer. The bottom picture is Wes putting together her new tricycle. She couldn't wait, so she sat in the seat of it on the floor.

 

I wish we could see our Lousiville family more often but such is life. It's hard enough in the same city much less between two cities. Same goes for "the neighbors" in Louisville as well. Nobody else compares! Thanks to our friends/family, big and little, that came to celebrate with us.

 

And thanks to Jess for the spa treat at the Clinique counter that morning for mom and me. It was a lovely treat! Plus, we did it on October 20th, the day after our 5th wedding anniversary, and Jessica is the person who did my makeup on the big day.

 

Ya'll I'm slow on the blogging. I'm sorry. I LOVE our blog, I love hearing from people that they read it. My laptop just doesn't cooperate as well with posting pictures anymore and my IPhone posts pictures so quickly! But hopefully I can make a more concerted effort to take pictures and post as well. And of course we're into my FAVORITE time of year - a radio station in Lexington is already playing Christmas music so I feel totally justified in my festive spirit. But we're going to make an effort to celebrate Thanksgiving all month long. I got Em a Thanksgiving book today and there will be turkey crafts of course. Especially in light of Hurricane Sandy, we can't every tell God enough how grateful we are that he made us and for all we have in our lives.

It's Happening Again

 

Well it's October...again. And Emersen Reese just turned TWO! It's simply crazy that it's been two years since that giant baby came into our lives. It's been totally fun and more amazing than I could have imagined. It's also been filled with anxiety and stress - such is life as a parent.  

 

I'm including the pictures from October 19th, Emersen's actual birthday. Our stay included a Starbucks date for Em and Mommy. Then we went to Storytime at the library, which she loves. That evening, she opened presents and we sang to her. Finally, we went out to eat with Granna and GiGi at McAllister's (which is WAY yummy).

 

 

 

We got her an I SPY book of small letters.

 

 

And we got her a game - you roll the squishy dice for a color, then choose a card of that color that has an activity (counting, colors, animal noises, emotions, actions) on it for you to do. She loves it. It's super cute and fun.

 

 

This is Em's newest and extremely annoying habit - hands in her mouth. We can't get her to stop.

 

 

And this is my sweet little girl. Sweetest of the sweet. I just keep telling myself that when she acts like a "normal" two year old. The new habits/two year old behaviors have been a bit stressful. I had a mommy meltdown about two weeks ago. The behaviors were exacerbated by a week home with her sick and then recovering from being sick. It included being inside, in our living room, with the tv on, for the majority of the time. The result was a devil child by the end of the week. This led to me and Emersen in the kitchen crying. And hindsight can allow me to thank God for the rough week because it took me down to the point of complete surrender. I was crying and praying while Emersen cried because I didn't have anything else to give. So she went to bed. I took a shower where shower and tears blended together. Finally, I laid in the hammock and ate my late lunch and read a book. Meanwhile, after a teary phone call to Wes, he recruited his parents to have some Emmy-time that night while we went out to do nothing. The next day I had to be in Louisville for a wedding and 10 hours of intense wedding coordination was just the distraction that I needed. And some sleep in a well made bed (by my mama) and relaxation set me up for good start that Monday. More activities, more quiet time, almost no TV, library time, playing with friends, etc. Someone once talked about how Satan's greatest tool is isolation. And I experienced the effects of isolation and not seeing the big picture. Focusing on how big God is allows a bigger picture view which helps me deal with anxiety.

 

Anyway, that's a lot for one post, but I'm slow at posting these days so I gotta get it all in! I just wanted to share things with people because I know that I often feel weak and not super-mom enough compared to others. But the comparison should always be to God's standards, which we all fall short of but have reconciliation of that when we surrender to Christ. I know the things that worry me or give me anxiety PALE in comparison to what others are going through. I also know that God uses many things and experiences to mold me to be more like Him. Sometimes, I begrudingly accept that fact and other times I relish it.

 

Last but not least - at her two year check up Emersen weighed 31 lbs (91st percentile) and was 36 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile). She's healthy, eh? Praise the Lord.