Here's a picture of all the FOCUS staff kiddos. As Lesli put it..."All the dads are off staff retreating. The moms decided to combine the chaos for our "un-retreat"...it was lots of fun!! After playing at the park, we decided they all needed a quick bath (and, of course, a pic too!!)
Those are some cute kids, huh? The one on the right is Joshua (or as Emma says, "baby Jos-uh-da"). Rusty and Lesli just adopted him from China in July. He is precious!! You ought to check out their adoption journey and story! You will be blessed!
http://www.our-china-doll.blogspot.com/

The Mysterious Flying Leaf

This morning I looked out the kitchen window and saw a leaf hovering over the grass. I watched from the window for several minutes with great curiosity, then decided that I had to go outside to check it out. In the back of my mind, I was kinda wondering if (and hoping that) this might be some kind of cool "burning bush" experience that God was using to speak to me.....but it wasn't. :o) It was pretty cool though!! Emma and I sat and watched it for quite a long time. Even she was really amazed by it. Apparently, as the leaf was falling to the ground, it got caught up in a spider's web overhead and is now hangin' on for dear life.

Pretty cool, huh? :o) So maybe it wasn't a "burning bush" experience, but I certainly am glad it drew me outside this morning to enjoy His creation.
Just wanted to share....

FUN &/or FUNny Emma Moments:

• Such a thoughtful child..."Dis is for da fly" as she often puts food beside her plate to share with any poor fly in the area who might be brave enough to land on the table...
  
  
• "Stop moving"....I caught her trying to balance a Lego on her head one day, then telling HERSELF to stop moving whenever it would fall off.
  
  
• "Ta-Da"...not sure where she learned this, but she now says "ta-da" after she cleans up her toys and/or finishes her meal.
  
  
• "Don't do dat!"....this one is even scarier than the "stop moving"...Several times now, she appears to be having a "disagreement" between her left hand and her right hand. One hand tries to take something, and the other hand grabs it back and she tells herself "Don't do dat!" Hmmm.....all you psychology friends out there...should we be worried?!?! :o)
  
  
• Night-time procrastination...On nights when she apparently isn't quite ready to go to sleep yet, she entertains herself with all kinds of fun activities: Taking off her PJs and attempting to put them back on (usually either backwards, inside-out, or occasionally not at all); Taking her pillow case off (and trying to put it back on-usually unsuccessfully); Starting at one corner and rolling her area rug up, etc. On nights like these, she is very quiet....we almost always (naively) make a comment like "Wow, she hasn't made a peep tonight...must have been super tired!" Yea! Right!! It's only when we check on her before we head to bed that we discover just how busy she has been!!
  
  
• Nutritious? Nope!...Apparently, from a very young age, the only thing I ever wanted to eat were bean and cheese tacos. My parents eventually "gave in" b/c I simply wouldn't eat much else. So Emma's food of choice: pancakes and waffles. Really and truly, she would eat them breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day if we would let her. Of course, we're trying hard to "make her" branch out a bit, but sometimes unsuccessfully. Whenever I start to worry about the nutrition side of things, I just try to remind myself about all my bean and cheese tacos. SURELY the high sugar content in syrup and waffles is a little better for your body than all the lard in tortillas and beans, right?!?! UGH!!!
  
  
• Grammar 101: Emma is a little confused with her pronouns (fairly normal for her age). She used to say "you" for pretty much everything. (ie: "Mommy hold you?" for Can you hold me Mommy?) Now she seems to be saying "my" for lots of things (ie: "My fall down" instead of "I fell down"). It's quite embarassing when she gets the "he, she, him, her" thing confused. Several times now, she has said the wrong pronoun when talking to/about a stranger. (ie: "What is he doing?" talking about a woman or visa versa). I usually just repeat her question using the correct pronoun and then try to give a friendly smile as I tell Emma to wave to him/her. It's been a little embarrassing/akward at times.
  

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Mommy: "Emma, what is the little girl doing?"
(notice the Lego that the little girl is sitting in)
Emma: "Girl is going potty"

POTTY SUCCESS!! Nope, not much around. :o(

Those 3 weeks that we spent in TX earlier this Summer pretty much put a stop to all potty success around here. Emma spent most of those 3 weeks wearing pull-ups because we were doing so much driving around and busy seeing friends and family. (At her age, it's normal to wait until the last minute to tell you they need to go, so there better be a potty nearby....Thus, she wore pull-ups all the time b/c we never knew when we would be near a potty.) Anyway, before we left for TX, she was wearing "big girl panties" all day long on most days, except when she slept. Now, when you put a pull-up and "big girl panties" in front of her, 9 times out of 10, she chooses the pull-up. :o( I'm pretty disappointed, but I'm still trying not to push her too much. I have another "potty-plan" that I'm implementing very soon, so hopefully we'll be back on track before the Summer's end.

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In case you haven't heard....
Many of you know that I've been "brainstorming" ideas for years about something that I can do from home to earn a little extra income. I have finally come up with something that I am super excited about doing and it will enable me to continue staying at home with Emma, which I believe is so important. Hopefully my new, fun business will be up and running by October sometime. So here it is...

Nuts About Notes
Trendy, Personalized Paper

From scratch, I will be designing, printing, cutting, mailing, etc. personalized stationery (notes in acrylic boxes, cards & envelopes, notepads, luggage & diaper bag tags, invitations, announcements, etc). It will be primarily an online business, although at some point I may consider selling my products in local retail stores. I already own the domain name, but my website is not finished yet...it is currently being worked on and will be ready by October...just in time for Christmas, so be sure to check out my website soon for fun gift ideas!! :O)
www.nutsaboutnotes.com

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Not sure why, but I've been on a kick lately with the video camera. Out of 7 videos from the last month or so, I picked out my 3 favorites. Hope you enjoy!! :o)


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Emma loves to "dance"...if you can really call it that!! :o) When I watch this video (taken about a month or so ago), I'm amazed by how much her hair has grown in the last month!! It's still not "long" by any means, but she does have lots of curly hair in back and I usually have to keep her bangs swooped to the side b/c they've gotten so long.

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This kid LOVES to jump! You know that book, "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"? Well, that didn't help much! We decided she needed SOMETHING that was okay to jump on. (Mommy really enjoys jumping on it too!! She has always wanted a trampoline....this small one will have to do, I guess).
In the very beginning of the video, she is talking to her doggy: "Me hold you? You jump with me, Doggy?" Then she starts singing "Ring Around the Rosie."

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This last video was taken in the car (obviously) on our way home from TX this last trip. It started raining pretty hard at one point, and so Emma started singing/chanting...

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And one quick pic from the zoo this morning. On the left is my friend and small group leader, Pam. Next to her is my friend, Jade (also in my small group). Each of them have 3 kids of their own and then I had Hudson and Hannah with me...so there were 9 kiddos between the 3 of us. CRAZY!! The kids had so much fun though!! They ran around holding hands and screaming with excitement over all the different things to see. Emma tried keeping up for a while, but ended up staying in the stroller most of the time because it was HOT!!!

We just got back yesterday from TX, and I wanted to share some pics from our trip.
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We had such a great visit with each of our families!! We're so grateful for the time we had with them!

Here's Emma with my parents (on left) and Brett's parents (on right).

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While we were in TX, we also got to see nearly all of our friends from Brazos Meadows. We spent lots of time meeting different people for lunch, dinner, coffee, etc. It was so good to be able to catch up with everyone! Unfortunately, I didn't pull my camera out much during these times, but I did get some pretty cute pics of Emma and her friend Haley.

Are those not 2 of the cutest kids you've ever seen!?!?! :o)
Emma misses her friend, "baby Haley"... who is not a baby anymore, of course, but that's what Emma (lovingly) still calls her.


And we miss Haley's parents A BUNCH!!! These are our good friends, TJ & Laura. We sure do love you guys & really enjoyed hanging out with y'all....just like old times!! :o)

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This is the one and only family pic that I got during our time in TX. It's not the best, but I thought I'd go ahead and post it since I hardly ever have pics of Brett and I.

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Just a heads-up....
I have 3 videos that I am wanting to post. I will try to post them within the next 2 or 3 days. They're super cute!! (Of course, I AM quite bias) :o)

Hope you all are having a great summer!!

I just have a few minutes so this will be a super quick post...

1.) My doctor finally called me back today to tell me that my ultrasound looked good and that I do NOT need a D&C. Thank you so much for your prayers!

2.) So I've had several questions about something I mentioned in the last post and I wanted to explain it real fast.... Emma has, what seems to be, a chronic cough (mainly at night when she lays down), and her doctor is basically trying to rule some things out....allergies (none), red & white blood count (normal), immune system (slightly lower than normal, but "nothing to be concerned about"), and one or two other things that I can't remember at the moment. As I mentioned in the last post, she was also tested for cystic fibrosis last Tuesday (people with CF have a defective gene that essentially causes the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus, which can make them cough a lot)...Emma's test was normal. Since everything has come back normal and she seems to be extremely healthy (other than this cough which has lasted for a year or so, off & on), he is treated her for a mild type of asthma. She takes a quick breathing treatment at night and so far has been cough-free. :o) Yea!!

Love you all! I'll try to update again soon! :o)

It's been one crazy week, that's all I can say!!

I (Julie) am doing much better now, physically & emotionally. Those first few days after finding out about the miscarriage, I did not want to talk to anyone (except Brett, of course). But after about 3-4 days, I started answering my phone again and getting back into a somewhat normal routine. I found out that it was actually helpful for me to talk to people about everything.

Unfortunately, I've had a pretty bad experience with my doctor's office and plan on finding another OBGYN as soon as all this is over (mainly stuff like them not calling me with results when they said they would, one nurse telling me something and another telling me the opposite, etc). All that to say...I still don't know if my body has fully discarded of everything and I'm now having to wait until Monday to see what the next step is. One thing I do know for sure is that my hCG level (a hormone produced during pregnancy) is definitely dropping, which is a really good sign. From my own limited understanding of things, it appears that my body is doing what it is supposed to do, so hopefully I will not be having a D&C (but like I said, I should know more from my doctor on Monday).

Brett has been SO amazing and supportive through all of this. He has loved me and served me and comforted me and prayed with/for me, etc. every step of the way (despite his own painful issue going on , which I'm about to tell you about). What a wonderful husband and friend!!!!! I can't even begin to imagine what this would have been like without him. I'm so very grateful!

So let me tell you about our other "excitement"...
5:20am on Wednesday morning Brett woke up with a very uncomfortable feeling in his lower back, right side. By 6am, he was in excruciating pain. By 6:25, we were at the ER. They fairly quickly diagnosed it as kidney stones. He was given morphine for the pain, which thankfully kicked in very fast. His CT scan showed that he has 4 or 5 more stones, but they said they're small enough that he shouldn't feel them pass. So after several hours, we were dismissed from the hospital and went home. Brett was quite drugged up and slept for a good bit of the day, which he really needed! He has continued to stay on his meds and is doing much better now. He received quite a bit of sympathy from nurses and hospital staff . Apparently, passing a kidney stone is comparable to the pain experienced during labor (or like "peeing barbed wire" as one of the doctors so kindly informed us). Brett said it was, by far, the most painful thing he has ever had to go through. Hopefully, all that excitement is over and done with!!!

There were a few other stressful events during the week as well...locking our keys in our car, several nights in a row with little sleep, Emma being tested for cystic fibrosis (which came back negative, PTL!!), all the miscommunication with & unpleasant visits to my doctor's office, etc. Let's just say we're REALLY looking forward to the weekend. Brett's mom came in town yesterday to visit and help us with Emma. We are excited about getting some good, long naps in and having a fun date night together. Sue, Emma, and I, (assuming I get the "okay" from the doctor on Monday) will be going to TX on Tuesday for a few days. It will be a fairly quick trip to see our family. Then Brett will be taking some vacation days the first of July and we will get to spend some more time in TX seeing family & friends. We're so excited about that!! Thank you all SO MUCH again for your prayers and encouragement through all of this. We are so very grateful for each of you!!! :o)

First of all, we just wanted to say THANK YOU for the many prayers, emails, cards, etc. We wanted to update you on the situation & ask for your continued prayers...

So, yesterday wasn't the best Father's Day ever, but it will certainly be a memorable one. I had my actual miscarriage yesterday around 5:30. Of course, this is a huge praise b/c (hopefully) that means I won't have to have the D&C; however, I don't think anybody realizes how awful of an experience this is until you go through it.

I certainly won't give you all the details, but I know that before this experience I understood nothing about what actually happens during a miscarriage. I used to think, "Oh, how sad that they lost their baby." But it is so much more than that! Actually WAITING for this miscarriage to happen was the hardest! Falling asleep at night, I used to put my hand across my belly and pray & think about our baby that would be coming soon. On Thursday night, it was heartbreaking to lay in bed and know that the baby within me was dead...there were 3 nights of that. Our whole mind-frame had to change all of a sudden...all my thoughts of pregnancy, maternity clothes, working on the nursery, picking out a name, looking forward to feeling the first kick, preparing Emma and ourselves, etc. came to a screeching halt. Our hearts have felt so saddened.

WARNING: You may wish to skip this next paragraph. I'm about to share a few of the physical aspects of a miscarriage.

It is, of course, very difficult emotionally to go through a miscarriage, but I'd say it is almost equally hard physically as it is emotionally. There's LOTS of cramping and bleeding involved. I had bad menstrual-like cramps for 36+ hours and then the more intense cramps lasted about 3 hours (comparable to early labor contractions). I lost an INCREDIBLE amount of blood, which made me feel very weak and light-headed (after a phone call to the doctor and assurance that it was normal, we ended up not going to the ER). Once the tissue passes (which the doctor asked us to collect and bring in for testing...ugh!), the cramps stopped immediately. The bleeding has definitely slowed down, but I'm told may last for another week or two.

We're praying that everything is over & that I have passed everything that needs to be passed. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow (Tuesday @ 1:30) to see what the next step is. There's always a chance that my body didn't fully discard everything and that they'd have to still do a D&C. Please pray that this won't be the case.

I hope I didn't offend anybody with too many details. As hard as this has been, there has also been a sense of awe and praise through it all. God is so AMAZING!! Pregnancy is such an amazing and complicated process! It's incredible, really, all that has to happen in order to make a healthy baby!! And in His infinite wisdom & love, God created women's bodies to do this (to miscarry) when something is not happening the way He designed it to. We are obviously saddened by our loss, but we are so grateful that we serve a God who is sovereign and takes care of us when we are hurting.

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There are 2 songs that we have listened to a lot in the last few days that I wanted to share. One song, "Blessed Be the Name," is a very familiar song to many of us, but it sure meant something new and different to us as we went through this experience.

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME
by Matt Redman

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

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NEW DAY
by Robbie Seay

I'm gonna sing this song
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you're like me You need hope, coffee, and melody
So sit back down Let the world keep spinning ‘round
For yesterday's gone and today is waiting on you to show your face.

It might not be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
But it’s a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day
And it might not look like
A beautiful sunrise
But it's a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day

I’m a pilgrim soul
I've traveled far and come back home
This land is hard and cold
For those who long to love
And I know it might seem
That the world is crumbling
But it’s me and you dancing in the kitchen at 2 am
And we're still alive

It’s the calm of the storm that comes blowing in
It’s the springtime saying I'm back again
The clouds that roll by
Crossing moonlight
Me and you love – everything's alright
Standing in the rain with nowhere to go
Laughing and we're spinning and I hope that you
Remember this day
For the rest of your life
Me and you love – everything’s gonna be alright

And it just might be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
It’s a new day
Oh baby, it’s a new day
If you look outside
To see a beautiful sunrise
It’s a new day

June 12, 2008

This may be kinda weird to blog about, but I figured I have to tell everyone somehow...and it's just easier to type it than to talk about it.... We found out this afternoon that I had a miscarriage. It's been a really difficult day. So much to take in.

I hope this doesn't come across rude, but please don't feel like you need to leave a comment or call us...especially right now because, honestly, I'd really rather not talk about it. I may feel differently about it in a few days/weeks (and possibly even need to talk about it to help with the grieving process), but for now, it's just too hard to talk about.

I WOULD, however, like to ask for your prayers for something specific. It's Thursday right now. By Monday, if I have not "passed" everything naturally, then my doctor said we'll need to schedule a D&C for next week (which is a procedure that removes remaining embryonic or placental tissue, etc). I would much rather my body take care of this naturally. There's some pretty scary risks and possible complications for future pregnancies that come along with a D&C procedure.

Ultimately, we're resting in the knowledge that God is good and He loves us and He knows best. He has been so faithful already to pour out His love, peace, and comfort on us through all of this. We're trusting Him and depending on Him completely for our strength to get through this. Again, I would ask that if the Lord brings us to mind this weekend, please pray that I would pass everything within the next couple days on my own so that I don't have to have this procedure next week.

We're really grateful for your love and prayers (now and always)!!

Yes, I finally updated!!! :o)

Hmmm.....8 days short of 2 months......TWO MONTHS that I haven't updated our blog!! That's a little ridiculous, huh? Sorry 'bout that! Well, as you can imagine, lots has happened in our world in 2 months time. I would tell you that I'll just cut to the chase & keep it short, but you know me better than that, right? :o) Sorry, I can't help it....believe it or not, I really am just giving you some highlights of our last 7 weeks!

• Emma is still doing GREAT with the whole potty training thing! She wets her pull-up occasionally at night, and every once in a while she has an accident during the day if we don't hurry to the potty. But overall, she's a pro at it now! YEA!!! It's so nice to have a break from diapers....at least for a little while!! :o)

• O-week has come and gone. This is one of the most important events that the organization that Brett works for does. The focus of the week is to prepare students (spiritually, emotionally, culturally, etc) to go "to the ends of the earth" for summer projects. There were 145 students this year and about 100 volunteers. Brett's job: to organize the meals for all 245 people throughout the week, among other things. My job: I was the "snack-guru" for the week. I ran to Wal-mart and/or Sam's each day to keep the 2 volunteer snack rooms stocked with yummy snacks for everyone, as well as plan a snack each night for all the students. We both had a great week, but it was pretty exhausting.

• Emma spent all of o-week (plus an extra day on the front & back end) with both sets of grandparents in Texas (they traded off mid-week). She had a blast! We are so thankful that she was able to spend all that time with Grammie, Poppie, Nana, Pawpaw, and Aunt Carrie. Unfortunately, Emma was sick before, during, and after her trip to TX, with 2 different things. She's finally all better now, but it was kinda a bummer that she wasn't feeling 100% during the relatively short time that she got to see our family. We're hoping we'll get to make a trip to TX again real soon!! :o)

• Brett celebrated his 35th birthday this past weekend!! I think I kinda embarrassed him on Friday by bringing a bunch of balloons to his office. Each balloon had a note (words to unscramble) that told the "plan" or activity that we'd do next. I tried to make his birthday celebration last all weekend long b/c for some reason my birthday celebration always ends up being several weeks long (mainly b/c Emma and I's birthdays are so close together so we usually see family around that time). Anyway, we had a fun weekend together and I think Brett had a good birthday.

• Summer is definitely here in Kansas! Today felt miserably hot....I think it was only in the low 90s, but it sure felt hotter than that with the humidity. Back in TX, I'm sure low 90s sound good. From what we hear, Wichita gets just as hot as Waco in the Summer, it's just that the Summer doesn't last as long (ie: it's June already, and we're just now having hot days). Along with the Summer weather, a new & different Summer schedule has started too. I have a break until the Fall from doing the childcare on Wednesday mornings for a women's small group. My small group is meeting at night over the summer (w/out kids) instead of Thursday mornings (w/kids). My friend Lesli invited Emma and I to join a "mom's day out" group every Tuesday....basically, we watch all the kids once a month and then we have the other 3 Tuesdays to run errands, clean house, etc. That's been awesome!!! (except that we've only made it to 2 of them since we've been out of town some and Emma was sick). Another thing that always seems to come along with Summer is busy weekends.....out of the 13 weekends left, we have plans 8 of those weekends already (many are work-related and most of those weekends are out of town, which means lots of traveling...ugh!!)

• We have a garden! (thanks to Brett's mom & dad...They basically did it all for us on their last visit...and Brett has done all the work on/in it since). Are you ready for this??? Out in our back yard, we have: lettuce (3 kinds), green onions, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, red & yellow bell peppers, garlic, cucumbers, asparagus, parsley, oregano, thyme, cilantro, dill & jalapeños. Also, we have 2 pear trees that look like they are actually producing fruit & a grape vine covering our back patio that seems to be making grapes as well (these were already there from the previous owners). Cool huh?!!?! We're pretty excited!!
  

One last thing...I have a pretty good video that you might like to see. Emma has something to tell you.... (play button should be at bottom left of picture).

Did you get that?








"Mommy, a baby in da' belly."


Woohoo!! We're so grateful and excited!!!!! I'm about 9 weeks or so. Due date is January 5th. I've been dying to blog about this for weeks now, but we wanted to wait until we were able to share the news with family first. Then we decided to wait a few more days until I went to my first doctor's appt. So, anyways, that's our big news!! :o) Emma is going to be a big sister.....and she has no idea what that means, but she's pretty excited!!
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I'll end with a few pics of our little cutie!!

Once again, here's the face she makes when I say, "Emma, SMILE!!" I may end up with an entire album of just these type pictures!!!


Drama-mama! But oh, how the ice pack makes everything all better!!


TULIPS!! My favorite!! Growing right in our own yard!!!! I love it!!


Yep, it's an asparagus spear!!! Who knew you had to harvest them every couple days?!?!! If you don't, this is what happens! Crazy, huh?!?! This is pretty amazing....it's worth zooming in on for a closer look!!

POTTY SUCCESS!!

WOOHOO!!! I think Emma may be potty trained!! :o) As I've mentioned before, she's been interested in the "big girl potty" for quite a while now....we were trying to be really careful not to push her before she was truly ready. She's been using the potty off and on since 15 months old, but never very consistently. She has been increasingly interested in the last few months, and so a few weeks ago I decided it was time to start doing some "research."

I read some things on the Internet and got some advice from other moms. Then looked ahead on the calendar and blocked out 3 days that we would be able to stay at home and be really intentional with "practicing." For those 3 days, we didn't leave the house. I set my sports watch timer to go off every 30 minutes...it became a game! Whenever she heard the beeping, we'd get all excited and silly, saying "It's potty time!" She loved it! I gave her as much juice as she would drink (which was a treat b/c she's used to only water and milk).....this helped provide lots of "opportunities" to practice. I bought an incentive chart at the teacher store and she gets stickers every time she goes. She's so proud of her sticker poster....when Brett got home from work one day, she brought him into the bathroom to show him! I like the poster too because it helps me keep track of when she has gone.

From all that I read and people I talked with, I decided "cold turkey" was the best method for Emma. She's been diaper-free for 4 days now (even at night) and hasn't had an accident in nearly 2 days. In fact, the last "accident" she had was partially my fault for not getting her to the potty fast enough....it happened as I was pulling her pants down standing in the bathroom. Anyway, I know this is probably TMI, but we're pretty excited around here! All you parents that have been through this already probably understand completely. :o)

Surely this is fairly common when potty training girls especially, but now that Emma is a "big girl" she ONLY wants to do "big girl" things! For example, just in these last few days, Emma has started resisting her bib, insisting to dress herself, wanting only "big girl" cups (not sippy cups), etc. Basically, now that she sees herself as a "big girl" she wants to do everything on her own. Whew! I think we've opened up a whole new can of worms! It's great to be done with diapers (hopefully) but I'm not sure if we're ready for all the other things that come along with this! :o)

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In other news, :o) Emma fell asleep in the strangest place a few days ago for one of her naps....on the floor in the corner of her room. It was pretty cute! She usually sits on the floor or in the rocking chair looking at books for a while before falling asleep. We're guessing she was reading over in this area when she became so tired that she just decided to cuddle up in the corner instead of walking all the way across the room back to her bed. Being a toddler is exhausting, you know!

What a great age! Brett & I are having so much fun with Emma right now & loving getting to watch our sweet, baby girl grow up! :o)

Here's a funny video of Emma playing "Ring Around the Rosie" by herself in our backyard. I started recording just a tad late so I missed the spinning in circles part. Basically, the clip starts at the "ashes, ashes...fall down" part, except the grass was a little wet so she ends up getting frustrated with being "dirty" and quits playing altogether....but it's still cute!! Of course, I'm a little bias :o)

Tonight, Emma was "sharing" her bedtime snack with her baby doll. Here is the "conversation" that she had with her baby:
More crackers?
I share, Emma.
There you go.
Thank you.
Welcome.

First of all, I want to apologize for how ridiculously LONG my last post was. I'll try not to do that again. I tend to only blog once a month or every 2-3 weeks, and by that point I always have so much I want to share.....but that was just too much last time. Sorry.
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The "Easter Sun Run"
Well, I DID end up running the 2 mile race last Saturday!! (I'm not a long-distance kind of runner--never have been--so it was a big deal for me!! :o) I wasn't too concerned about my time....my goal was just to RUN the whole thing. I ALMOST made it! I walked for about 5 seconds on 3 separate occasions. I am SO VERY THANKFUL for the friend that I ran with, John Brooks. He encouraged me all along the way...I would have given up if it hadn't been for him. I don't know my "official time" but we estimated that it was between 21-22 minutes....my goal next year is to beat that time! :o)

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As you can see, we TRIED to take a picture of Emma on Easter Sunday....some days are just not good "picture days!" :o) I feel this way sometimes, don't you?!?!!


Some afternoon playtime....


The highchair is officially in storage! YEA!! She now sits either at the table with us in a booster seat or at her own little matching table that her Nana and Papa got for her. She loves being able to do "big girl" things!


Here's a pic of Emma with her friends, Rachel & Cora, at the zoo. I couldn't ever get all 3 of them to look at the camera at the same time, but this was a cool shot showing how close they got to be to the bear. Emma LOVES the zoo! It's so nice to finally have decent weather now and not feel all cooped up inside all the time. Yea for Spring!! :o)

A few "Emma stories"....

1. Emma has a new "habit" that we're working REALLY HARD to try to break. She has started pointing at things with her middle finger!!! When we're alone at home & she points at a picture in a book.....those times, it's kinda funny. When she points at something out in public, or better yet, a person, then it's not so funny! Brett's grandfather used to point that way too....maybe it's a genetic thing?!?!??
2. Emma is really into playing games now. A few of her favorites: "Guck, Guck, Goose" ; "Rosie" (Ring around the Rosie); & "Mommy, Hide!" (Hide & Seek) This ones super cute...she always hides in the same place and just waits for me to come find her. More than just loving to hide and be found, we think she's also learned the meaning of procrastination...hide & seek always seems to happen at bedtime. Even though I try really hard to stick to the bedtime routine, she's so stinkin' cute that I just can't help but to "play along" with her. Such fun!! :o)
3. I'm convinced that there is no sweeter thing than to hear your child say the name of JESUS!! After we pray together, she smiles real big, even giggles sometimes, and then claps her hands, saying "Jesus." What JOY it brings to my heart! It makes me think about our Heavenly Father and how He loves to hear His children (young & old) speak His Son's name. I'm finishing up a book right now called "The Road to Reality" that has challenged me & reminded me of all the unreached peoples in this world and how our Father desires for them to know His Son, Jesus, too. It's been making me so sad to think about because I know that my sweet little Emma is no more precious to Him than all the beautiful faces of children around the world, whom He created for His glory, who have not yet heard the name of Jesus. How grateful we are to be able to teach Emma about Jesus, and yet, still our hearts desire to also be able to share with those who have never heard His name & do not know of His love.

My heart is so full right now....I could keep typing, but I'll stop for now. Sometime soon, I'd like to share more about this book that I've been reading and how God has been challenging me and convicting me through it.
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I'm really sorry....this post ended up being long after all. Thank you for reading all of it!! And thank you for your continued love, support, and encouragement! We are so grateful for your friendship!! :o)

FEB 28

Hey there! Guess it's time for another Spivey update....I've been really looking forward to sharing a few pics and telling a few stories on Emma.

But first, I wanted to share pics of one more room in our new house. Not sure what to call this room, exactly. We tend to call it "the office," but it's more like "the catch-all" room. It has all of Brett's music & sports stuff, all of our photo albums & picture stuff, and all of my sewing, hobby, misc stuff. It's awesome to have a room that all this can go in. In Waco, all this stuff was spread out all over the house, garage, my classroom, storage, etc. We're loving it! It's hard to get a good picture, so I took 3 different shots of it. Notice the 2 different ceiling heights....it's kinda weird for a guest room, but perfect for "the office."

and my favorite part about this room.....check out all of my organized & labeled drawers!! I am, and probably always will be, unfortunately....A PACK RAT!!! But at least I'm an organized pack rat, right?!?! :o)

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and now for the Emma pics...

Here's our sweet baby girl (who's not really a baby any more....turns 2 on Sunday, March 2nd--WOW!!) She loves trying to wear our shoes, clothes, gloves, whatever she can manage to find....it's just a tad too big though, what do you think? :o)

Emma loves having her friends, Hudson & Hannah, over to play. We've enjoyed living right down the street from Rusty & Lesli and are really thankful that our kids are having so much fun together!! (PS-notice how Emma is wearing Hudson's boots....apparently she likes to wear everyone else's stuff except her own!)
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My parents came to visit us a couple of weeks ago...to see the house, Wichita, meet friends, etc. and also to celebrate Emma and I's birthdays. We had a really good time with them! The girls had a fun time shopping on Saturday afternoon, while the boys worked on a couple projects around the house....but don't worry, they were still able to squeeze in a Saturday nap too! :o) I was really sad to see them leave!!
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Then the next weekend, Brett's dad, mom, and sister came to see us (same thing....to see the house, Wichita, celebrate birthdays, etc.) We had a great visit with them as well! It even snowed a bit that weekend, which made it extra fun.
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So, yeah....Emma has quite the ouchie on her nose this week (you may have noticed it in the picture above with Brett's family). Last Friday, she had her THIRD tumble down the stairs, and this time...a carpet burn to prove it! She did cry a bit when she fell, but do you know why she was the MOST upset?!?!?? Because her Elmo paper got torn on the way down!!! It was traumatic, let me tell you! Even with tape on it, she was just so distraught..."ELMO BOKEN!!" Crazy girl!! I'm so grateful that nothing ELSE was "boken"......you know, like BONES!!!!

All joking aside, that fall gave me a real good scare! I saw it as it was happening and immediately started crying & praying b/c I thought there was no possible way that she'd be okay from a fall that bad. I'm told that she will learn & that this event might even help her remember to be more careful, but so far I still haven't been able to let go of her hand as we come downstairs.

By the way, take a good look at that face above....this is the face that she now makes when I say, "Emma, SMILE!!" What a stinker, huh?! :O) Oh, but she is sooooooo cute!!! I wish there was a way to share, or at least record, all the joys I receive on a daily basis! She is AMAZING!! Who knew that being a mommy would be so wonderful!?!!?! (okay, I know, LOTS of people knew.....but it's truly one of those things you just have to experience for yourself to really understand!)

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Regardless of what our day is going like, she can ALWAYS bring a smile to my face!! I have a few stories I'd like to share of things Emma has done lately.

1. As I was cooking the other day and Emma was sitting at her little table eating, I heard her making a funny sound so I looked over to see what she was doing. She was feeding herself...airplane style (food flying around on her spoon before landing in her mouth). I could have watched that for hours....
2. Every night before bed, I read Emma a few books. One night last week, we were reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle, and I noticed that she was doing something funny every time I turned a new page. She was sticking her finger "into" the animals' mouths and then pulling her finger back real fast, whispering "ouchie" (then just sitting there like normal until I turned to the next page where she'd do it again). Where she learned that an animal can bite your finger, I don't know....I don't remember ever teaching her that, but I'm glad she knows! She's like her daddy though...she learns quick, soaks up new stuff like a sponge!
3. Today, on the way to meet Brett for lunch, I was watching Emma in the rear-view mirror. She did 2 separate things dealing with "ouchies." First, she was softly rubbing her doggy's head and saying "ouchie." Then she kissed the spot on his head and rubbed it some more! And 2nd, evidently doggy had an ouchie on his nose too, because she was rubbing the medicine off of her nose (onto her finger) and then putting it onto doggy's nose, while whispering "ouchie" again. So sweet!!

I guess "ouchie" has kinda been the buzz word around our house lately. I know there's plenty more stories that don't include ouchies, but I'm kinda drawing a blank for now. I'll have to start keeping a list of random stories to tell on Emma.

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As far as life here in Wichita, things are going great! We're really happy and this is feeling more and more like home as time goes by. We both love our church and small groups. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter group of girls! My small group has done a wonderful job of making me feel a part of the group so fast. We have a lot of fun together!

Projects around the house are definitely slowing down. We've pretty much just got all the biggies left to do (painting, adding a wall, finishing a bathroom, etc). We'll hopefully paint in the spring/summer months, and then all the other projects will just be "as we have time/money" type things (long-term projects).

Emma and I have been consistent going to the Y for the most part. I've gotten to the point where I really do enjoy working out and miss it when I don't go. I have lost a little weight so far, but still have a bit to go.....my goal is to try to lose about 15 total before my next pregnancy (I'm not quite halfway yet). Hopefully, this next time around, I won't gain so much weight. Overall, Brett and I are just trying to live healthier lifestyles. We're eating smaller portions and more fruits/veggies (and exercising too)....something that we should be doing anyway. It feels good!

Our church sponsors a city-wide 10K each year. Yeah, I'm no where close to being able to run that, don't get excited!! BUT, they also have a 2 mile run and a 2 mile walk that day. I had originally thought I might try the 2 mile run, but so far I don't know if I'll make it. I have never been much of a jogger....but I'm trying! Our small group was talking today about pushing strollers and doing the walk together. I would enjoy that time with them. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing, but for now, I'm just gonna keep on training! (I know some of my joggin' type friends--I won't name any names, Beth,Pasha, Kristin, Melissa--are thinking..."Training?!?!? Who needs to train for a two mile?? That's nothing!" I've always admired you-joggin'-type! :o) Maybe someday I'll aspire to do the 10K. :o)

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Well, that's enough rambling for one day. Thanks for staying interested in our lives. We love each of you and miss you greatly!! By the way, that offer still stands.....there's a guest room with YOUR name on it!! We'd love to have you come visit anytime!! SERIOUSLY!! :o)

A few more pictures of our new home...


This is our living room upstairs (we also have a "family room" in the basement with a TV, fireplace, more of Emma's toys, etc. You'll see that picture in a later post). The picture on the left is taken standing at the front door, and the second is taken from the dining area. Notice the curtains....Brett's mom made them for us while she was here visiting. I love them! :o)

And a guest room with YOUR name on it!! :o)
No, really! We'd love to have you come & stay with us!!! We sure are missing all of our friends from home (& Boston, Florida, and Colorado too!!). Please come visit!! You're always welcome!!
Someday soon, I'm hoping to get curtains hung (I actually already have everything to do it; it's just a matter of finding time for the project). And we will be painting the trim & baseboards white too. This is the ONE room that we actually kind of LIKE the wallpaper....it will probably be staying up.

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Kansas weather is CRAZY! 60-70 degrees one day, and then snowing the next day! Here's our latest snow, which was last Thursday (4 days ago). I never heard an official number, but I know for sure we had at least 6 or 7 inches. By the way, it's 81 outside right now...& the forecast for tomorrow....SNOW!!! :o)

Emma enjoyed playing in the snow on our back porch (for about 5 minutes....then she was happy to return to the warm inside).


We snacked on some good, clean snow when we got back inside. Then she played in the tub so that she could warm up....her poor little nose & cheeks were so pink!

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After we got back from all of our traveling over the holidays, we decided it would be a good time for Emma to transition from her crib to a toddler bed. Overall, she's done really well with it. There have been a few heartbreaking times that she stands at her door and yells "MOMMY!!!!"....oh my goodness, that is sooooooo hard to listen to. Her room is pretty bare so that she can't get hurt. I DO keep some books in there for her to look at in case she truly isn't sleepy (she loves books & loves being read to, which I'm super excited about). It's very normal to find her asleep in her bed with 4 or 5 books surrounding her. This picture below is my favorite....she fell asleep "mid-sentence" with the book opened up on top of her. Such a cutie! :o)

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I kinda already mentioned this, but Brett's mom came and stayed with us for about a week & we had a really nice time together. She helped us with several different projects as well as watched Emma for me so that I could work on a few things myself. I'm not sure why, but I didn't pull out the camera even once while she was here.....it just didn't even cross my mind, sadly enough. So, I have no pictures of Grammie and Emma. Sue, guess you'll have to come back again real soon....hopefully Charles will be able to come next time too! :o)

My parents will be coming up to visit us in about 2 weeks, so we're really looking forward to that. It's so fun to get to share our new home, friends, city, etc. with the people we love. We're really grateful that they are able to come and see us....it means a lot to us!

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Here's Emma playing with a few of her favorite toys from Christmas....both of course from her grandparents. They sure do enjoy spoiling her! :o) Aunt Carrie & Uncle Sloan do their fair share of spoiling her too.....they got her ALL the food that goes along with the kitchen (and believe me, there's A LOT of food!) My OCD tendencies come out every night when it's time to clean up....it really bothers me for some reason if the food is not put away in it's "proper place" (you know....refrigerated stuff in the fridge, dishes in the cupboards, etc). Just wait until #2 comes along.....SURELY my "OCD-ness" will stop then, right?!?!?

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One final thing to share for today...
Emma is doing a WHOLE LOT of talking these days....most of which we don't really understand, but SHE sure knows what she's talking about. Sometimes she gets really frustrated b/c she's trying to communicate something, and we just don't understand her. She's starting to talk in sentences, and we get a kick out of how many uses she has found for this one sentence:
I have _________.

What she says=blue
What she means=red

1.) I have booders. (oo as in hook) Please wipe my nose....I have boogers and I can't even continue playing because they're really bothering me, so PLEASE, hurry and wipe my nose. (there's a real urgency whenever she says "I have booders.")

2.) I have nigh-nigh. This means one of two things: a.) Hey! Let's play the night-night game.....you know, where you lay down and I cover you up with a blanket and pat your back or b.) I'm super tired and I'm actually admitting that I am ready to go to sleep (surprising enough, she actually says this on a fairly regular basis).

3.) I have milk. This too can mean multiple things: a.) Stating the fact that she has or is holding her milk or b.) telling us that she WOULD LIKE TO have her milk (asking for it) or c.) pretending she has milk when she is playing in her kitchen.

4.) I have poopoo. Once again, you have to interpret what she really means by this: a.) I pooped in my diaper and I'd like to be cleaned up please or b.) I've peed in my diaper and I'd like to be cleaned up please (yep, she's still not differentiating between the two) or c.) I haven't gone yet, but I need to poopoo/peepee. Can I try to use the big girl potty?

5.) I have Elmo. Oh my, you wouldn't believe what all this one could mean.... a.) Where's Elmo?!?! I can't go to sleep without him!! (usually said in her bedroom before nap or bedtime) b.) Let's watch my Elmo video (usually said as we're going down the stairs to the basement where the TV is) c.) I want to use the big girl potty (usually said whenever we walk into her bathroom which has an Elmo child's toilet seat that has been a great hit) d.) Let's read my Elmo book!! (usually said anytime she sees one of her Elmo books.....notice I said "one" of her Elmo books....yes, she has several different ones!!) e.) ANY other time that she sees something Elmo or wants something Elmo, etc. (yep, Elmo is her favorite for some reason....it's getting a little annoying, I must say.

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Well, guess that's it for now.
BTW, I know I haven't been so good about updating the blog (when have I EVER been, right?!?!) Oh well.....I try! Really, I do. I've been terrible about checking email and facebook as well. Just wanted to throw it out there that I'm all caught up again on email and am hoping to start checking it again daily.....I apologize if you emailed me in the last few months and never heard back from me. Life is somewhat normal again (whatever that means) so I'm hopefully going to be back on track as far as communicating better with everyone. :o)

We love you all!!
LOVE getting to hear from you too!!!