Emily - 3 years

Emily's 3 year check up went great!  She weighed 29 lbs and 15 oz and was in the 42nd percentile for her weight.  She was 36.7 inches long and was in the 41st percentile for her height.  She pointed out different colors for the doctor, identified different shapes, and counted to 12 and then started skipping around with her numbers after that!  The doctor also looked at a book with Emily and had her tell her if the characters in the book were happy or sad and what they were doing...just by looking at the pages.  She did great.  On one of the pages there were lots of cars and the doctor asked what was going on this page and Emily said "All the people are going to church." :)  We are so very thankful for her healthy, happy, so-cute-I-could-just-eat-her-up-sometimes, 3 year old!!

Sleeping:  
Emily sleeps about 11 hours at night.  She almost never wakes up in the middle of the night.  She is fully potty trained during the day (she even wears panties at nap time), but she's still wearing pull-ups at night.  She wakes up dry in the morning about 80% of the time and in the next week or so we're planning on giving the night time potty training another shot.  She usually naps from about 2:00-4:00.  About every 3 days or so she will stay awake and sing/play in her bed instead of falling asleep at nap time, but she never gets up until I come to get her.  She sleeps with her bunny, a bear named Courdy, her blanket that Aunt Carrie made, and baby Stella.  A dog that Caroline gave her (that she named Papaditto) sleeps beside her bed (we had to put a limit on things in the bed with her or she wasn't going to have anywhere to sleep in her little toddler bed.:) )  She never gets up from the bed once we lay her down...not totally sure why, but it's nice to have to keep putting her back to bed.  She will just start playing in her bed when she wakes up and waits for us to come and get her.  We have a video monitor so we can hear and see her playing.  Every time before she lays down at night or for a nap she tucks her Baby (named "Baby Snuggle") in.  Baby Snuggle sleeps in the little doll cradle that is across the room from Emily's bed.  She gives Baby Snuggle a kiss and a hug and says prayers with her.  She started saying the food blessing on her own one night when she was laying baby snuggle down "God is great, God is good...." It's sweet to hear her pray over her baby, even if there is no food in sight.:)

Eating:
I would say Emily is a pretty good eater.  She's actually gotten better over the last few months.  She's not quite as picky.  She will now (if she's in the mood) eat a sandwich whole, without taking every piece apart and eating it separately.  She especially loves macaroni and cheese and any sweet that she can find.  She definitely has a sweet tooth.  Unfortunately, I do too, so we pretty much don't keep sweets in the house in the house or it would mess up my weight loss goals.:)  Don't worry, she still manages to get her fair share.  She LOVES to help me in the kitchen.  She's happy to help with anything from washing dishes to making sandwich's to making dinner to sweeping.  I try to let her help as much as I can b/c I feel like she is much more interested in eating whatever she has fixed.  She will often say she's not hungry when I tell her it's time for a meal.  We tell her she has to come to the table and sit with the rest of us.  She will usually start eating, but if she doesn't eat what I've prepared then she just doesn't eat anything until the next meal.  Meal times used to be such a battle for us, and I feel like we've come such a long way.  So thankful!

Talking:
Emily is (and always has been) very verbal.  She is very good at articulating exactly what she wants/needs.  She LOVES to sing...make up songs and sing songs that she has learned.  She loves to be read to and is beginning to enjoy "reading" books herself or to Hannah.  Not that Hannah will sit still, but Em will try. There are a few words that she still pronounces incorrectly and I don't correct her.  She calls canisters "cana-coasters", she calls the refrigerator a "refridgerlator", she calls CVS "CBS", she calls hand sanitizer "hanitizer". Ha!  If she sees an "E" on anything, anywhere she says "Look...it's an E....it says Emily Watts!"

Playing:
Emily loves to play dress up.  Most of the time when we are at home she is in one of her princess dresses.  She is getting such an imagination...she pretends that we are on picnics, going to the doctor, at church, going to the store, etc.  She also says all the time "I'm the mommy and Hannah's the daddy" or "I'm the princess and Hannah's the prince."  We will often say...."What if Hannah wants to be the Mommy?" She just replies with "No, I'm the Mommy."  Hannah couldn't care less so we let it go, but soon enough Hannah understand what's going on and I'm sure she'll have something to say about it.:)  Her favorite game right now is a Sesame Street Memory Game.  She asked to play it all the time and she's actually pretty good at it...she's got quite a memory.  She LOVES to play outside....side walk chalk, a ride in the wagon, going to the park, swinging on our swing, playing with a ball...she doesn't care....she just loves the great outdoors!

Emily's got such a tender little heart.  She easily gets her feelings hurt. If we talk to her with any kind of serious/no-nonsense voice she will often run and hide behind our glider.  She's got several fears right now: If she's outside when she hears a train coming she will run to my side.  She says her monitor scares her.  Her latest is she doesn't like the interstate.  She tells us over and over while we are driving down the interstate that she doesn't like the interstate because the cars drive too fast.  Sweet girl!  She is SO protective of Hannah.  If we are outside or in a public place and Hannah literally takes 2 steps away from me Emily will start saying "MAMA, MAMA....get Hannah, get Hannah" in a panicked voice.  She keeps very close tabs on her.  She really is a good big sister!:)

She's got lots of nicknames:  Emmy, Em, Emmy Lou, Lou, or Lou Lou!

We Love you so so much, Lou Lou!  You are a precious gift!  We pray for you all the time that you will one day put your trust in Jesus.  He's the way, the truth and the life!  I tell you all the time (at least once a day) that I love being your Mommy and I mean it with all my heart.  You are blessing to our family and we pray that you will be a blessing to others!

Due Date

Today, April 24th, marks the due date of our sweet baby #3.  It seems like yesterday that we found out that our baby had gone to be with Jesus.  It's not a day that I love to relive in my mind....it's sure to bring tears to my eyes.  

We should be excitedly wondering when he/she will arrive.  We should be figuring out what we'll do with the girls when we go to the hospital.  We should be living out of semi-packed bags as we try to stay ready to go to the hospital at any time.  Instead of those things we are missing our sweet little one.  We are so thankful that the Lord allowed this sweet baby to be part of our family for the time He did.  This baby was one of our greatest blessings!

As I've been thinking about and missing our sweet baby I decided I would like to have a picture with all three of our children.  Since it's not possible to have them all three snuggled up in one chair together, I decided I would have Em and Hannah hold the frame that we have in our room of our baby #3's ultrasound picture.  I didn't make a big deal about it with the girls...just asked them to hold the frame.  I'm not going to be weird and hold a frame in all of our family pictures from now on, but just wanted to have this one.  One picture...showing all three of the precious children the Lord has blessed us with.  

Sweet baby, you are a precious gift!  As your due date passes part of me is sad because I feel like my last piece of you is passing along with the day.  But I know that's not true.  I trust in the the One who is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.  I trust in the One who holds us in the palm of His hand.  I trust in the One who knows the number of hairs on our head.  I trust in the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  You're with Him now...you're in a far better place!  We're thankful for your life and we're honored that God entrusted us to be your parents even for such a short time.  Love Always, Mommy and Daddy

Another Park

One day last weekend we  had about an hour and a half before we needed to start dinner.  It was such a beautiful day we decided we would run down to Falls Park in downtown Greenville and walk around for a little while.  We loaded the girls and the wagon up, told the girls where we were going, and we were off.  Emily talked the whole way there about sliding down the slide.  We tried to explain to her that this park didn't have a slide and that we were just going to enjoy walking around, being outside and being together.  She still wanted the slide. Ha!  

Here are the girls in their wagon!  

They loved their wagon ride but several times while we were there Emily would look around and ask "When are we going to go to the park?"  We would explain that we are at the park...Falls Park....but it never seemed to sink in...she was still looking for a slide.:)  

As we were loading up the car and driving home Emily asked over and over if we could go to "another park....please, Mommy, can we go to another park."  Poor girl!  She really wasn't that impressed with their lack of playground equipment.  Thankfully, we learned our lesson.  From now, to our family, "Falls Park" is just "The Falls."  We'll be dropping the "park" in order to keep the peace with our slide-loving 3 year old!:)  

Box Fun

Who knew empty diaper boxes could make little girls so happy?  Emily had climbed in one of the boxes when we were playing hide-and-seek one morning and Hannah thought it looked like fun.  She kept trying to get in the other box by herself, but couldn't quite get her leg over the side without a little help from Mommy.  

I love watching them play together and I am pretty sure I will never get tired of it!:)  

Myrtle Beach Trip

I thought Bert was planning a fun date night for us for my birthday but I had no idea what else he had up his sleeve.  He had talked with Patrick (Keri and Patrick are our good friends...I went to Clemson with Keri and Patrick....I was roommates with Keri....we were in each other's weddings....we lived next to them in Seminary....you get the picture) and they came up with the idea to surprise Keri and me with a trip to Myrtle Beach.  Patrick's parents own a condo there.  One night about a week before we were supposed to leave for the trip he asked me if I wanted to know what he had planned for my birthday and I of course said yes (my type-A personality couldn't say no to a question like that).  The plan was to leave on Wednesday morning and come back on Saturday.  He had already asked off work.  He and Patrick had everything planned.  I was so so excited!  Bert knows how much I love family time....he just loves me so well!  

Just minutes after arriving at the condo I followed Emily and Hannah out on the porch....this is where I found them.  The ocean was beautiful and we were all excited to be there!  

Our first morning out on the beach ended up coinciding with Hannah's morning nap.  She was maybe a little unhappy about being set down in the sand for a picture.  

I tried to get Hannah to fall asleep, but had no luck.  Her Daddy took her and she just cuddled up on his chest and was out.  He took two long walks along the beach while she was napping.  She loves her Daddy!:)  

Jackson (almost 2), Emily (3) and Kayley (4 in August) playing the sand.  None of them are looking at me, but it just shows they were having fun playing together.  

Emily was actually scared of the water this year.  If you asked her if she wanted to go down to the water she would give you an emphatic "No....I don't like the water."  

She may not have liked the water, but she couldn't have been happier playing in the sand.  Literally.  She was perfectly content to play in the sand near our chairs even if the other three kids were playing down by the water. In her defense....the water was a little cold in early April.:)  We'll see how she does at PCB in August.  

Covered from head to toe in sand...

Kayley and Emily spent a lot of time playing with the sand toys.  Kayley loves the beach...I mean the ocean, pool, sand...all of it.... more than anyone I've ever met.  She was soooo excited!  Her excitement was contagious.  If you're looking for someone to get you motivated to get out to the beach every day ask Keri and Patrick if you can bring Kayley along on your vacation.:)  

We went out for seafood one night.  We'll admit it was a bit wild with 4 kids 3 and under, but it was fun!:)  

After dinner we headed over to Barefoot Landing.  

Can you find all four kids faces?  

Emily and Kayley got to be good friends on this trip.  Kayley's 8 months older than Emily.  They played so well together!  Their favorite activity was playing dress-up.  There is no telling how many times those girls changed throughout the weekend.  Thankfully Kayley happily shared her dress-up clothes with Emily, since I forgot to pack any.  They had fun!  

Below is a family picture that isn't exactly a framer, but it's still sweet.  Can you believe that we probably took 5 pictures and this was the best one?  Haha!  It makes me laugh b/c it accurately portrays the tricky picture-taking-stage that our family is in.:)  

Hannah wanted down and Em wasn't interested in smiling or looking at the camera.:)  

Emmy and her Daddy

Me and Hannah. Most people tell us that Hannah looks like Bert, but she can't deny where she got those blue eyes.:)  

One morning we had a few errands to run and we decided it would be more fun to all ride together so the guys loaded all the carseats into the Harmon's van and we all piled in.  Eight of us in one minivan...all bucked!

Hannah loved the water.  She would try to get as close to it as she could and when the waves started coming in she would try to get back in time, but often didn't make it without the waves catching her or falling down....it was really cute to see her try though! 

We finally talked Emily into coming down to the water so that we could take a few pictures.  It took some serious work.  Emily was thinking 'Come on Hannah so we can get this over with'...as she drags her sister along!

Sweet girls watching the waves come in...

After a few pictures Emily was done and ready to go back to the sand.  Without warning she dropped Hannah's hand and took off running back to the chairs without looking back.  

Happy girl again...

It's hard to tell from this picture because I cut off the bottom of their tail, but the girls are supposed to be Mermaids.  

After we got back in from the beach that morning Hannah laid down on the floor while we were all still getting ready (in the same room) and just closed her eyes.  All the fun in the sun wore her slap out.   

The Harmon's and the Watts:

We had such a great time on our mini-vacation with the Harmon's!  A big thanks to Patrick's family for letting    us stay at their condo!  I'm so thankful for my family and friends....very blessed!  

The Masters

Our good friends Keri and Patrick live in North Augusta, SC.  Patrick called Bert on Tuesday afternoon, the day before we were supposed to leave for the Myrtle Beach for a mini family vacation (we were going to the beach with Keri, Patrick and their kids and staying at Patrick's family's condo) and let him know that he had two tickets for Wednesday at the Masters.  We thought about it for just a minute, but decided that it was totally worth it to drive down there Tuesday night and postpone getting to the beach by a few hours.  Bert loves all things sports, so I didn't want him to miss an opportunity to go to such a prestigious golf course/tournament. 

Here are a few pictures from their day...

I can't even believe they were this close to these big name golfers...

Left to Right below, Keegan Bradley, Fred Couples and Tiger Woods:

Fred Couples on the tee at 18:

Tiger Woods

2012 Masters Champion Bubba Watson, a UGA grad...Go Dawgs!:)  

Rory McIlroy:

Many of the players had their families as their caddies for the Par Three Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.  Bert said it was really fun to see the kids run around and the players be so laid back.  

Phil Mickelson with two of his daughters serving as his caddies at the Par Three tournament:

Phil putting with Bubba Watson watching...

Absolutely beautiful!!  

Bert and Patrick

Thanks so much to Patrick for offering Bert  the ticket!  He had such a great time, and the girls and I had fun hanging out with Keri, Kayley and Jackson!  The guys left August National early in the afternoon so that we could hit the road to Myrtle Beach before all four kids were ready for a nap.  It was a fun day!!:)  

Emily's big day!

We had already celebrated with Em's party, but we wanted to make sure she felt special on her actual birthday.  On the night of the 7th, Bert and I snuck in and decorated her room.  She woke up on her birthday morning with a smile on her face and excited about all the decorations in her room!  

When Bert came home for lunch we gave her one last present...a hula hoop.  She's played with one at church from time to time and she LOVES it!!  She's definitely not big enough to actually use it (correctly), but we knew she would be so excited!  

After opening her last present we came in for a little left over ice cream cake.  Yum yum!  

Happy birthday, Emmy Lou!  You are a precious blessing and I LOVE being your Mommy!:)  

My 30th

So this year was a big one.  I turned thirty.  Yikes! 

My birthday fell on a Sunday, so we started out the day at church, where I was greeted with "happy birthday" after "happy birthday."  Our church definitely knows how to make a girl feel loved!  After church we headed to Red Bowl for lunch.  I love that restaurant and they have a great little back room where we can all pile in and enjoy being together.  

After lunch the girls were past ready for their naps, but I of course wanted to get a few pictures before we put them to bed.  

My favorite kind of cake is, without question, an ice cream cake (from Dairy Queen).  I love birthdays so I get excited about the fact that it's my birthday, but then I also get so so excited about eating my ice cream cake.  Thankfully, DQ's ice cream cake is also my brother's favorite kind of cake, so I at least get it twice a year!  

A picture with my hubby and my brother just before we cut the cake.  The girls were actually napping during the cake cutting process.  Stanley had to leave before the girls woke up from their nap and he wasn't about to leave without getting any cake (also his favorite)!:)  Don't worry, the girls got some cake later.  

They're crazy!  

When I think about turning 30 sometimes I think...Yikes, that's old.  Other times I get tears in my eyes and am so overwhelmed with all the Lord has blessed me with in my 30 years.  I am so thankful for my loving husband, my beautiful daughters, all our other family, our friends, our church, our city, our house and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I pray that over my "next 30 years" I would desire to know Him more each day, love and serve my family well, and be a blessing to those I come in contact with.  I pray that my life would point others to One who gives true and everlasting life!    

Emily's Dora Birthday Party

Emily is a big fan of Dora the Explorer so we thought it would be fun to have a Dora party for her 3rd birthday!  We all had so much fun!  

Here are a few pictures of some of the decorations...

Lauren Buczkowski made the cake for me again for this party!  She did such an amazing job!  The cake could not have been more adorable and it tasted so good!   

Family picture before the party got started!

Opening presents.  You can see Grandmama (Bert's mom) on the right of the picture below...she FaceTimed with Aunt Carrie and Aunt Alison so that they could be part of the party too, since they weren't able to make it.  We were so glad Linda and Jeff were able to make it to the party.  They had several other things going on this weekend so they just came up for the day.  Since it's a three hour trip each way, a day trip makes for a long day of traveling, but they said they wouldn't have missed it.  They LOVE their grandbabies!  

About to blow out the candles.  She did it all by herself this year...she's growing up.:)  

Eating some cake at Emily's new table.  Don't they just look too cute?!  

After opening presents and eating cake we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather, and it was beautiful!!  It was so fun watching all the kiddos run around!!

Group shot...all the kids...minus one cute 4 month old who didn't make the picture.  

It was a fun party!  We are so thankful for our family and friends who came to make our sweet girl feel loved and celebrated!!:)