Emma Victoria: 21 Months

Emma turned 21 months last Wednesday!  

At 21 months, Emma takes one very long nap each afternoon.  She's usually asleep by 1:15 and often sleeps until 5, if not 5:30!  Then, she's ready to keep up with Isaac until she goes to bed at 8:00 p.m.  

Even just a few weeks ago, we didn't think Emma was saying too many words.  All of a sudden, though, her vocabulary seems to have exploded.  Emma says: Mommy, Daddy, I-aac, Bubba (for Isaac), ap-po (apple), pum-in (pumpkin), please, down, up, no, bye-bye, yes, bow, owie, cheese (as in smiling for the camera, not the food), boo (book), shoe, Bi-bo (Bible), obey, mine, cookie, cake, & pa-pi (paci).  

Today was the first time she put three words together: "No Mama, mine!"  :)  

Emma pretends to act shy and burrows her head into my shoulder when I bring her to her class at BSF and Keystone Church.  The second I pass her to her teacher, though, she is wriggling out of the teacher's arms and trying to find a toy.  When I come back to pick her up, she runs toward the door as soon as she sees me and says, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" over and over.  It is just the sweetest sound!

Emma's favorite food is yogurt.  She also loves oatmeal, pancakes, cookies, ice cream, and applesauce. 

Her favorite toy is whatever Isaac is playing with at the time.  :)  She loves taking baths with Isaac.  Her favorite book is "Wheels on the Bus," and we sing (read) it at nap time and bedtime each day.  She traces the shape of the wheel on the bus around and around while I read the book.

This is probably my favorite picture of Emma from the past few months.  I was taking a picture of Isaac as he vacuumed while wearing his helmet.  Emma walked over to me, patted my leg, said "please," and then POSED!  This picture makes me laugh so hard.  

 Emma loves dressing up!  My mom bought this ballerina costume many years ago.  I found it in a bin when I was pulling out clothes for fall.  Each time Emma sees it in the drawer, she brings it to me and says "please" to wear it.  :)  

It's getting harder and harder to get still shots of Emma...she is always on the go (even with one shoe missing!).  :)

Emma loves her toothbrush more than toy, doll, or blankie!  If I ever can't find Emma, she's most likely in her bathroom with her toothbrush.  She's also happy to take anyone else's toothbrush, too!  :)  (This was also the first time I got her hair into a ponytail...so cute!)  

Speaking of ponytails, Dave brought Emma to church with these adorable pigtails a few Sundays ago.  I was at church early to serve, and Dave picked out Emma's outfit and did her hair.  :)  He surprised me backstage with Emma so I could see her pigtails...he is one proud daddy! 

 Emma loves her daddy!  She lunges out of my arms and into his as soon as he walks in the door each night.  Lately, she asks "please" over and over for Dave to let her sit in his truck and play with the steering wheel. 

This girl!  This smile!  We just couldn't be more thrilled that she is ours.

Isaac: 4 Years and 20 Questions

I am belatedly posting Isaac's rocking chair picture!  He said, "Mommy, I am too big for this chair!"  And, he's just about right...but he squeezed in for another year.  :)  

I asked him the same set of 20 questions that I used one year ago.  It was fun to see how many of his answers have changed.  

1.  What is your favorite color?  green & blue & red

2.  What is your favorite toy?  big horse and little horse...that's my favorite toy

3.  What is your favorite fruit?  pears

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  pizza for lunch

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes with candles on it for 4 year old Isaac

6.  What is your favorite thing to eat for supper?  pizza

7.  What is your favorite thing to drink?  apple cider

8.  What is your favorite snack?  raisins...not raisins....cookie with frosting for 4 year old Isaac with I-S-A-A-C...that's my favorite snack

9.  What is your favorite show?  Christmas show with baby Jesus

10.  What are your favorite clothes to wear?  my shark one with the blue on it

11. What is your favorite animal?  orca whale

12.  What is your favorite song? "Joy to the World"

13.  What is your favorite book?  "Dangerous Book for Boys"

14. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  go camping

15.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  going to the tubes

16.  What is your favorite thing to do outside?  play on top of the roof from my playground

17.  What is your favorite holiday?  What holiday?

18.  What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you each night? my teddy bear

19.  Where is your favorite place to go?  to the tubes

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  an astronaut

At four years old, Isaac is 46 pounds, 11 ounces (97th percentile) and 42" (84th percentile)s.  He still naps 3 - 4 days a week.  On the days he doesn't take a nap, he lays in bed for 30 minutes before I let him read books in bed.  Books are one of Isaac's very favorite things.  He loves when we sit and read with him, but he is also content to page through books on his own.  "Richard Scarry" books are his favorite!  

Isaac also loves playing little friends...and most of the time, that means Emma!  If he is upstairs playing and she's downstairs, he'll keep calling for her to come upstairs and play beside him.  Right now, Isaac asks a million questions about polar bears, grizzly bears, and Antarctica.   He also loves talking about scuba diving and ocean animals.  Some days, I feel as if all I do is answer his questions.  When I don't know an answer, he'll ask, "Well, why don't you know, Mommy?  Daddy knows all the answers!"  :)

He loves going to Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesdays and is always so proud to tell me when he had a good day.  "Mom, I was great today and didn't even have to go in the hallway with my teacher!"  His teachers tell me nearly every week how he is enraptured during story time and doesn't move a muscle.  In his BSF class, the teachers tells the Bible story without any props or pictures.  Isaac has become very animated in re-telling the Bible story for me after class each Wednesday.  Last Wednesday, he said, "Mommy, there was a man whose legs didn't work.  His arms didn't work, and he couldn't even TALK!  He had friends...four friends...one, two, three, four.  And they put the sick man on a mat and went to where Jesus was.  Jesus was in a house and it was SO PACKED they couldn't even get in the door.  So, they went up up UP to the ROOF!  And they CUT A HOLE!  And they lowered the man DOWN TO JESUS!  And Jesus said TWO THINGS to him. 'Get up!'  And HE GOT UP!  And 'go home'...and he went home!  HE OBEYED JESUS!  And, he was healed.  Now can we go to Chick-Fil-A?"  ;)  I couldn't resist writing that all out, because that's what I hear every Wednesday in my vehicle after BSF.  I absolutely love how Isaac is soaking in the stories from the Bible!  

 He also loves going to Keystone Church on Sundays.  Now that Isaac is 4, he is old enough to go to Funatics, which is a class for children of volunteers who are at church for two services over the weekend.  He is in there with older kids and loves playing with the bigger boys!  Our church is in the process of buying land in Keller to build a church building, and Isaac said he wanted to put his $20 from his birthday into his offering for the new church.   We had a baptism yesterday morning at Keystone, and Isaac wanted to be right next to the tank!  He was SO excited! 

Besides tomatoes and cilantro, there's not much this boy doesn't love at four years old!  And, there's no way we could possibly love this four year old more!  

An Autumn Walk

For as long as I've wanted to be a mom, I've dreamed of dressing my children in matching outfits.  A few months ago, I realized I could still match a boy and a girl.  It took a little bit of extra shopping to find a feminine chambray shirt for Emma to match Isaac's, but I finally found a sweet one with smocking around the neck.   I absolutely love dressing Isaac & Emma in these outfits! 

 Our leaves are finally falling in North Texas, and they are just beautiful!  On Monday morning, we went to Bear Creek Park to take pictures.  I teared up over and over...the leaves were gorgeous, Isaac and Emma were having so much fun walking through the leaves, and I was taking pictures of my own precious children in matching outfits.  A few years ago, I only dreamed of a day like this.

I've looked at this picture over and over since Monday...I can't believe how big Isaac is getting!

As we were packing up to leave the park, I told Isaac that we should come back soon and hike through the leaves again.  He looked at me and said, "Yes, but next time, let's not take any pictures." :)

Oh, I love these children.  And, I love how God knows and fulfills both the big and little desires of our hearts...even the dream of having children in matching outfits. 

^"Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,  to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday

our little pumpkin

Fall 2012

Fall 2013

 Yes, these are the exact same pair of pajamas that Emma wore two falls in a row!  I can't believe how she looks like such a little girl in the second picture!  I feel like it was just yesterday--not a year ago!--that she was the bald, gummy-toothed smiling baby in the first picture.  

We couldn't possibly love this little pumpkin more!

Finally Fall!

This week, our weather has been gorgeous!  

Our highs have been in the 60s with lows in the 40s and 50s.  We've had a little bit of rain, but it's mostly been sunny, cool, and gorgeous!  Needless to say, we've been outside as much as possible enjoying our fall weather!

We went on a "leaf-hunting" walk through our neighborhood.  Emma tries so hard to keep up with Isaac!  I think they held hands for two seconds before Isaac started sprinting again.  :)

Then, he found a gecko!  "Look, Mom!"

 We went to a fun park in Grapevine with our friends Landrie and Tatem.  I couldn't believe Isaac was brave enough to climb to the top of this play structure!

And, speaking of fall, we finally carved our pumpkin last Sunday night.

Isaac loved the "yuckiness" on his hands!  

David found a dead porcupine on his jobsite and brought a few of its quills home for Isaac.  So, Isaac has been very interested in porcupines!  He asked for a porcupine pumpkin with "pokes" (these are skewers, not the real quills).  :)

Halloween 2013

The very best part about Halloween was bringing Isaac David home 4 years ago!  I told him the story of how we brought him home yesterday morning at breakfast.  Of course, I cried through the entire story.  Isaac listened attentively and then said, "May I please have more eggs?"  :)  Throughout the entire day, though, I reiterated to him that as fun as it is to dress up in costumes, the very best part of Halloween is that it's Isaac's homecoming day!  

Halloween 2009--Isaac's Homecoming Day!

We never would have chosen for Isaac's story to have happened the way it did, but God never left us when we lost Isaac.  He sustained us in our pain, and then God gave us the best surprise we ever could have imagined when we got Isaac back!  Isaac David has brought such joy to our lives.

Here are a few pictures from Halloween morning :)

We visited Grandma Joan yesterday morning.  Grandma Joan loved seeing Isaac and Emma in their costumes, and so did many of the other residents where she lives. 

I tried so hard to capture a picture of Grandma Joan with both of her great-grandchildren, but it was impossible!  I think this picture of Isaac and his great-grandma is just precious.  I think they like each other!  :)

Isaac was so excited to go trick-or-treating.  He waited by the front door with our bucket filled with candy for nearly 30 minutes before anyone ever came to our door.  He told every trick-or-treater, "Happy Halloween!" and then filled their buckets.  But, if he thought that was exciting, he was ten times more excited to actually go trick-or-treating.  I had Emma in the jogging stroller and tried to keep up with Isaac.  After getting his candy at each house and saying "thank you," he'd run down to me on the sidewalk and say, "Look what I got!"

"Look what I got, Mom!"  Isaac said this after nearly every house!  I thought it was so funny.

Then, he was off.  He sprinted to every house.  We were trick-or-treating with some other little friends, and Isaac led the entire line of them from house to house.  :)  

At one point, Isaac tripped on the sidewalk and spilled all his candy.  His friend, Carson, and I helped him pick it up, but the whole time Isaac was muttering, "This is terrible!  This is terrible!"  I think he was worried he was missing out on getting candy at more houses!

I did get him to finally slow down long enough for a picture with Emma. :)

Some of our neighbors had a huge harvest party (complete with hayrides on a tractor!) at their house, and they were grilling & passing out hot dogs!  

Who needs candy when you can eat hot dogs?!?

Yes, Emma is in the same costume as last year.  Her Taylor cheerleader costume still fit (though it may have been a little short!).  ;)

hApPy Halloween!