daily devotional

I've been reading a daily devotional book every night, and wanted to share something from last week. The September 23rd entry was about reaping what you sow, and the author closed with this quote:

"When the apostles 'were filled with the holy spirit' (Acts 2:4), they did not lease the Upper Room and stay there to hold holiness meetings. They went everywhere, preaching the gospel." -Will Huff

I LOVE that. Get off your butt and do something. I'm going to work on that~

would you like some cheese with that whine?

This is a question that has I've been pondering ad nauseum lately. So I'll flip it to you~ Why do children whine?

I have become aware during the last year or so that I essentially have a myna bird living in my house in the form of my darling Emerson. I've seen her pick up both cute and annoying habits and sayings of both Jeff and myself. But I can assure you that we don't whine. Sure, we may forget to say please with every inquiry, but we certainly don't whine to each other.

She doesn't go to daycare or preschool, so she's not getting it there. Sure, we play in public areas and of course, we encounter other whining kids from time to time, but is that enough for her to contract this nasty habit? If so, score another point for raising the kid in a bubble.

Just as a side note, when the whining gets unbearable {usually around lunchtime}, Emerson takes "a break" in her room. This is different from a timeout, and I remind her of that as we walk to her room. I sit her in the comfy rocking chair, give her a book or a stuffed animal, leave the door open, and I tell her that she is free to come out as soon as she feels under control. She holds the power, and there is no time requirement. It's just a chance to reload and try again. And so far, it's worked. My daily parenting mantra is "Love is patient. Love is kind." I feel that this "break" strategy works to that end.

Project 365 pics

Hi all~

Here are a few of our latest Project 365 pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

One afternoon, as I glanced through the mail, Emerson happily covered herself and me in smiley face stickers. It was pure bliss for her, and I was glad that the camera was within my grasp.

Emerson has a new kitchen, and she literally spends hours in there whipping up haute cuisine for us.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I made a delicious ham and bean soup last weekend. It was my first time cooking with ham hocks. Not my favorite part of the pig, but the soup was uber- yummy!

As long as the sun is shining, we spend part of our day outside "doing chalk." Emerson really doesn't do much drawing, but she sure loves holding the chalk and commanding that I draw various difficult items.

This picture is significant in that it is the very first picture that Emerson has ever taken. Somehow, she got both her Papa and her arm in the shot.

Make it a great week~

6 days

I know, I know. It's been 6 days since I last blogged. But it's been a busy, week, ok? I have finally gotten my energy back and am spending Emerson's naptimes actually DOING stuff. Here's what I've been up to this week~

I washed my car, cleaned out my closet, dug out all the maternity clothes (still not wearing the pants, thankyouverymuch, but I like the length of the tops so I do wear those), started a new business venture (more about that in a different post), tutored, grocery shopped, ran 7 miles (that's actually not a very good effort for me, but I missed a day), comforted a sick kiddo, had an OB appointment, got a flu shot, did 5 loads of laundry, made a huge pot of US Senate Bean Soup, read about 100 stories, ate countless plates of pretend food cooked by my personal chef Emerson, watched the Hawkeyes beat Arizona, started a Bible study on the book of Ester (it's a fascinating and short read. You should check it out.), baked brownies and cookies (I think I'm nesting early!), got a manicure, went to the pool, played at the park, drew on the driveway, and generally ran around like a crazy girl.

There you have it. The week in a nutshell.

I PROMISE to post some Project 365 pictures later this week.
Make it a good week~

excited for Halloween!

During my days as a classroom teacher, one day filled my heart with dread like no other: Halloween. Not because of the raucous behavior and lack of interest in learning. Rather, it was the elaborate costumes worn by some of the kiddos, lovingly crafted by the expert hands of their mothers. On more than one occasion, I announced to anyone who would listen that I was most certainly not ready to become a mom because there was no way I could fashion a ballerina/tootsie roll/astronaut/insert-fancy-costume-here costume for my child, no matter how much time I was given.

During the last 2 years, I've gotten away easy. Emerson was only a few months old in 2007, and I bought a pair of bunny jammies and put some ears on her. And last year, she wore an Iowa Hawkeye cheerleader costume that was a gift from a cousin. That brings me to Halloween of 2009. Being that Herself is 2, she's not given to making long-term decisions, so I knew better than to consult her about her choice of costume. And I know that I want something very easy to fashion. Hmmm...what is she in to these days? And then, like a shot, it came to me. Candy. She LOVES M&M's, especially the blue ones. (Do you remember her birthday cupcakes?!!?) So, I'm going to make her an M&M costume for Halloween.

How hard can it be, right?

Stay tuned...

new routine

I'm happy to report that naps have once again returned to our realm. Yippee! But we're taking them an hour later these days, at 2:00. The upside is that we have an extra hour to play if we're out and about. The downside is that we have an extra hour to kill on those s-l-o-w days. You know what I'm talking about. But Em is so much happier come the end of the day, and in turn, we are happier too. Dinner has become a fun time again. Peace has been restored to our universe.

And the world heaved a collective sigh of relief. Or at least the Mama did.

i'm gonna go mia...

My beloved Emerson has decided that naps are out of fashion. We've had our little phases before, but I fear that this time, she's gonna give them up for good. I'm still going to insist on some "quiet time" in her crib everyday, but if the last 3 days are any indicator, it's a losing battle.

I'm trying really hard to inhale, relax, and go with the flow. But WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?!?!?!? I *need* that time to myself during the day to get things done around here. Or to do nothing. And with a new little one on the way, I'm really freaking out. But, I keep reminding myself that there's lots of time between now and March, and either she'll start napping again, or I'll adjust.

Ok, I'm off to take deep breaths now.

Alright, you caught me...

As promised, here are the pictures from our girly photo shoot last week. Looks like the cat is out of the bag :)

This one is my favorite of the bunch. She looks like she's in the Tournament of Roses parade, for goodnessakes.

We are very excited to announce that Emerson will be a big sister sometime around the end of March. And no, we're not finding out ;)

Now you know why I've been such a bad blogger this summer...I've spent the last 3 months napping and trying not to vomit!

Are you satisfied with yourself, Miss Megan-smarty-pants? :)

some pics from the weekend

Happy Labor Day, all. I hope you're not laboring too much on this lovely Monday. I'm kicking back on the couch while my two favorite people take a nap. We went for a run as a family this morning {literally, all three of us ran...Emerson wanted no part of a few miles in her jogging stroller, and since she was wearing her new running shoes from Uncle Craig (with her jammies), we thought, what the heck? I wish I had on the helmet-cam...so many passers-by laughed, cheered her on, smiled, or made some other comment as the three of us ran down the path, Em and her papa side by side, and me pushing the empty jogging stroller.} I can honestly say that I dream of the day when my kiddo and I will go for runs together. I guess I just didn't foresee it happening at age 2. But, as with most things, she never ceases to amaze me.

Anyway, onto the pictures. We went to Grandma & Grandpa Girlings to celebrate Em, Papa, and Grandpa's birthdays. Each of them turned a number that ended in a "2", so that was the theme of the party. Fun.

We played some "football" (with a rugby ball that we got her in Ireland, mind you...) on Friday nite after dinner. The Hawkeyes opened their 2009 season on Saturday, and we were all in the mood for some football.

I feel compelled to interject here about Jeff's shirt: Yes, it says "We love Adri's Boobs." Emerson insisted that he wear it and since he didn't foresee a photo shoot ensuing (you never know when I'll get'cha!) it was no big deal. I did the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in 2007 to honor a friend and we had shirts made for the husbands to wear when they cheered us on. Yes, I know this one is blurry. I don't care. I love it. Her expression and her dimple and the soft light...to me, it's just perfect.

On Sunday, the Girlings hosted the extended family for a nice party. Em and Grandpa had a blast zipping around on the tractor. I used to do the same thing with my dad's dad, and I'm happy that she'll have that same fun childhood memory.

Grandpa has an apple orchard and he sells several varieties of apples. Emerson seems partial to the Macintosh.

That's all from the home front. Don't forget to make it a great week~

the secret word is obstinate

Don't know what happened to my sweet babe today, but she was replaced by a testy, sassy, obstinate beast. I honestly lost count of timeouts, including 2 in jammies, both am and pm, to bookend the day. Sheesh.

Gotta love being 2...

in the famous words of w.c.fields...

...never work with kids or animals.

Here's what happened when I tried to take some "fancy" pictures of Emerson this morning. I convinced her to wear the darling tutu from Grandma (after many chants of "I don't want to wear a tuba," I convinced her to love it. Score.)

But when we got outside, she was much more interested in playing baseball and raking the sidewalk than sitting prettily by the flower bed. Many of my pictures looked like this:

Or this:

But I have to say that I do LOVE this one:

We'll make another attempt, I guess.

Toodles~

it's a special day!

Happy Birthday, Papa! We hope you have a wonderful day and we're looking forward to celebrating with you tonite.


We love you!!!
Love, your girls