Emmersyn @ 18 months!

I have done such horrible job at keeping up with this blog, and even worse at updating about Emmersyn. Such is life as a third child! Emmersyn just turned 18 months this past week and I'm not quite sure how that happened! Where has my baby gone? She's definitely turned more into a toddler the past 6 months. She is seriously so. much. fun. She has the biggest grin and most contagious laugh. She is quite the Momma's girl and she loves her big sister and brother (and Daddy too!). Every day when Ty gets home from work she screams in her highest shrieking scream yelling DADA while running as fast as she can!! It's so cute!

As much as she loves playing with Lincoln, she adores her big sister. Riley takes such good care of her and just loves helping with her. When E gets fussy, Riley will say "Lets go up to my room and play". She often dresses her up in princess dresses or puts her on her bed to feed her "breakfast in bed". Emmersyn is so tolerable of all Riley does. She is at the stage where if you try to take something from her she freaks out and throws a fit, but Riley will calmly go over to her and say "Emmersyn, will you please hand that to me..." and Emmersyn puts it (whatever it is!) right in Riley's hand. I love watching their relationship flourish!

Lincoln loves wrestling with her and she seems to hold her own. That's probably because she only weighs 3 lbs. LESS than Lincoln. It's crazy how big this little girl of mine is (well, Lincoln is on the smaller side, for a boy, too!). At her 18 month appointment, she weighed 27.5 lbs and was 33 inches tall! That's the 85th percentile for both height and weight. I do realize she had a head start, but she really is a big girl. She's wearing all 2T clothes and will, probably by the end of winder, be in 3T shirts. Some days her and Lincoln are wearing the same size clothes!!

One of Emmersyn's favorite things to do are puzzles. She loves the chunky Melissa and Doug puzzles! She also LOVES Violet, the talking puppy that she got for Christmas. She loves patty-cake and singing "This Little Light of Mine" and always puts her light up when I'm changing her diaper. She also LOVES squinkies. OH. MY. WORD. The older kids got them for Christmas and I had a rule they couldn't play with them when she was awake, but somehow that rule didn't last and she discovered them. I'm not kidding, she has one in her hand at all times and is constantly getting them out of the closet and dumping them all over the floor. Good thing she doesn't put stuff in her mouth very often!

She isn't talking as much as I thought she might be, but considering she has two older siblings who don't stop talking she doesn't have time to get a word in. She says mama, dada, uh-oh, bye bye, hi, eyes and a few other words you probably wouldn't recognize :). She knows where her eyes, belly, head, nose and toes are. She knows most of the animal sounds and can't point out most animals in a book. She loves to give hugs and kisses and she loves to be held. I've learned to do just about everything with her on my hip. She really is my little sidekick. Ty takes the older kids out often, but usually taking three is a lot to handle so Emmersyn is literally never without me. She's with me 24/7 and has a lot of stranger anxiety. She doesn't like when I leave her anywhere. She's a clingy little thing. I love it and enjoy the time I have with her because I know soon enough she won't want to be on my hip anymore!

E is a big eater and isn't picky at all. She'll eat anything I put on her plate. She was recently (this week!) introduced to goldfish and I'm pretty sure she's in love. When she sees the bag she screams and points and gets really excited. I don't usually buy snacks for the kids, so goldfish were a big treat. Ha!

Although Emmersyn sounds and seems like the most perfect little angel, let me tell you, she can have a temper. Like a throw yourself on the ground temper. That's usually when I'm trying to take something from her that she's not suppose to have or getting her off of the counter. I've learned (thanks to Riley!!) to not take things out of her hand, but ask her instead and she responds so much better! Speaking of getting on the counter, all this girl does is climb. I'm not kidding she's always on top of something. The counter, the table, the beds, the closet shelves...if it can be climbed on, she's probably been on it! It can be quite tiring getting her off of the counter (especially) all day.

I am so thankful for such a sweet and fun-loving little girl! It's hard to believe how quickly the past 18 months have gone by and as much as I WISH she'd stay little forever I can't wait to see what's in store for her future!

LOVE that smile!

Big girl!

Dancing!

FOOD!

R dresses her up in her princess dresses!

Sisterly LOVE!

Breakfast in bed, anyone?

Lincoln took off all of his clothes, one day, and put them on Emmersyn! She would make a cute boy (AND she looks a lot like Lincoln here!)

Checking back in...

I know that I've kind of checked out of the blogging world and to be honest, it's because I'm getting burnt out on blogging. However, I also know that if I want to "remember" things about these years down the line I need to start writing them down again. So I am going to attempt to check back in and we'll see if I can keep it up. Three little ones have kept me busy so blogging has definitely taken a back seat.

Where to begin...lots of fun and new things have been going on in our lives.

Yesterday, after I had gotten Riley out of the bath tub, she pointed to her nipples and said "I need to cover these things up. Mom, can you go to the store and buy me a bra". I about died laughing and told her in 10 years I would. Oh the things that come out of this girl's mouth...Next year, most 4 year olds will be going to kindergarden, however, Riley will miss the cut off (which in IL is Sept. 1st) by mere weeks so she won't be going. Ty and I have also decided that we're not putting either her or Lincoln in preschool in the fall. Maybe I'm trying to keep them home as long as possible since I know once they start school our lives will change, but right now we feel it's best. I am also starting BSF in the fall and feel like preschool would just be ONE MORE THING to keep us even busier. Riley is still biting her nails and it drives me INSANE. All I keep picturing is one of my best childhood friend's hands. She bit her nails so bad and her nails were so short they'd bleed and I used to tell her that they looked like "Grandma hands". No offense, Katherine :), but I don't want Riley's hands to look like yours :)!!

Lincoln is doing great. We took his pacifiers away months ago and although he had no problem giving them up he has now given up naps--probaby for good. Riley takes naps more often than he does. The only plus is that he now goes to bed by 6:30. He is probably the sweetest little boy you'll find. He loves to cuddle and often says "Mommy, cuddle me". It also melts my heart when he comes up to me, with no reason at all, and says " I love you really, really much". He tells us all often how much he loves us and I love it! Lincoln also calls Riley and Emmersyn "sweetheart" probably more than he calls them by their first names! He and Riley have always gotten along so well, but for some reason lately they'vereally become best buds. They will be up in Riley's room for an hour or more sometimes playing Barbie's (which, of course, is his favorite thing to play) or building forts, etc. They play so nicely and I love watching their relationship grow, I pray they will be each other's best friend forever!

Emmersyn is a joy. I couldn't imagine life without her toothy smile. Even though she's a horrible sleeper and is why I'm so tired more days I love her to pieces. She is so much fun and just a sweet little thing. She's really getting around and is a very social baby. However, if you look her right in the eyes and talk to her while she's on my hip she'll smile but put her head on my shoulder like she's being shy. She has now figured out how to pull everything out of the kitchen drawers, thanks to her big cousin, Micah, who came to visit us last week. She loves doing it, but often gets her fingers pinched in the drawer. Emmersyn loves Riley and Lincoln and will let Riley hold her more than anyone else (other than me and Ty). She loves to sit on Riley's lap and Riley loves to read her books.

Ty really enjoys his job. He doesn't travel much and when he does it's mostly just day trips. He enjoys getting out of the office and meeting with clients. I am so proud of him and so thankful for him. I couldn't have married a better man who can put up with me better than he can. He always knows when I need a break and has no problem taking all of the kids out just so I can get an hour to myself. I love him and the kids are so lucky to have him as a dad!!

As far as myself, I am loving living in Illinois so far. I already feel very plugged into the community and feel like I've made some really good friends. The kids and I usually go out almost every day during the week whether it's a playdate, the park, kids museum, etc. It's not easy taking all three but it's worth getting out of the house for all of us. I'm doing MOPS, a playgroup, and I start BSF bible study in the fall. We haven't quite picked a church yet, but are deciding between two right now. I look forward to getting more involved in a church once we settle on one. On a completely different note, I am depressed that I still have 8 pounds to lose after having Emmersyn. I know it's not a lot, but geez will it ever come off??

That's what's going on in our lives as of right now. I'm going to try and keep this blog up better from now on...

Debbie Downer

Just call me Debbie Downer for the duration of this post. I have been in such a funk the past few days and I can't quite put my finger on exactly why, but I think it may be a few reasons:

1. Church-hunting. I am so sick of looking for a church to call home. I was hoping we'd go to one and that would be it...it just hasn't happened. We've been to at least 8 different churches in the area. Maybe it's Satan getting to me, but I'm so sick of going to a new church only to figure out we don't like it, that it makes me not even want to go on Sundays. But we do and we will--until we find "the one". We have another one we'll try out next week that I friend goes to and it's literally around the corner...

2. Ty traveling. Oh, where do I begin?? When Ty took this job he was told he'd be traveling maybe 2-3 times a year. Okay, that's not bad at all, we can handle that. Well, once he took the job things changed somehow. Since Feburary he's been "out of town" (whether it be for 2 nights or a whole week) 8 times. That's an average of every-other week. This past week he was gone Wed-Friday and the next two weeks he's gone Wed morning-Saturday night. I know it won't last forever because he's covering some trips for his boss, who is out on maternity leave, and the other account manager, who it 36 weeks preggo and cannot travel, but seriously they said 2-3 times a year NOT a month!! I hope they pick up his traveling when we have a newborn--doubtful, but we'll see. I don't want complain about his job because it's a very good job and he enjoys it, we just miss him when he's gone!

3. Homesick. As much as I enjoyed spending time in Michigan when I went back for my Gma's funeral it really made me homesick. I don't mind it down here, it just don't get the feeling down here that I do when i'm "home". I know that wherever Ty and the kids are is home, but it just isn't quite the same. I'm out of my comfort zone and even though I have made some good friends there is still something missing. I've never wanted to live really close to my family, but it would be nice to even have the option of driving home for a weekend sometimes. It's not even an option when you're 8 hours away!

4. Hormones. Enough said.

I've probably been a bit too honest about how I'm feeling right now, but it feels good to get it off my chest! I'll get out of this funk and on with my life soon and I will keep praying that things get better over time and that I can learn to be content.

Things on my mind...

This will most likely be a long, very random post about a bunch of different things so bare with me.

First of all, I'm SO excited to announce that Kasey and Corey had their baby boy, Micah Corey Kugle, on Feb. 19th at 4:24 am. He weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz and is 21 inches long! Sounds like it was a rough labor, but totally worth it. She's sent me some pictures (but if you want to see them you'll have to check out her blog in the next few days!) and I can't wait to get my hands on my new little nephew! I am thankful that both Kasey and baby are home and doing well!

Ty is gone almost all week, which I'm not thrilled about. He's in Houston, TX for work. He left this morning at 3am to catch his 5:25 am flight. His flight doesn't get in until 1am Friday morning, then has to be to work at 8am! YIKES! I swear Lincoln senses when he's gone because whenever he is, Lincoln doesn't sleep well at all. He was up this morning at 5:20am and hasn't been up before 7:15 in over a month! What the heck!?

We have our ultrasound on Friday morning which I'm thrilled about. The baby is moving a ton and I love it. Riley likes to put her head on my belly and "listen to the baby's heart beat". The other day the baby kicked and it hit her right in the cheek. She looked up at me and said "Mommy, the baby kicked me...give her a time out"! Priceless. I am also excited to (hopefully) find out what we're having. I'm still guessing girl. I am fairly confident I even spent a good deal of money at BabyGap last week buying up baby girl clothes and nothing for a baby boy. I got rid of ALL of Riley's baby clothes thinking we wouldn't have another baby until those clothes were out of style...oh how I love God's timing! Here I am at 19 weeks (and Lincoln at 20 months saying "up, up":)):

Lincoln talks like crazy and can say almost anything you tell him to say. He loves his sister more than anything and instead of calling her "Riley" he calls her "Buddy". All day I hear "Paaay Buddy" (Play Buddy). "Help Budddddy". "love u Buddy". He's so sweet.

Making Valentines! I told them they had to change into something that didn't matter if they got paint on it, so Riley wanted her heart jammies on since it was V-day and Lincoln picked out his skeleton Halloween ones :)!

Fishing

Just woke up and are happy as can be--don't worry not every morning is so peaceful!

When I was sick with morning sickness I slept on the couch most nights. It was closer to the toilet (for throwing up), I didn't wake Ty or the kids up when I'd get up in the middle of the night and it was just plain more comfortable. Now that I'm feeling better I'm back in our own bed. However, during those few weeks Ty decided it would be a wonderful idea to let Riley sleep in our bed if she came into our room. Well, fast forward a few weeks and now she's no longer sleeping through the night because she's coming into our room thinking she's going to sleep with us...oh HECK NO. I refuse to let her sleep with us because I won't sleep. I sleep horribly as it is and I really wouldn't sleep if she were in our room. So, now I'm dealing with a 3 year old getting up 2-3 times a night crying because she wants to sleep with Daddy. Good one Ty! I've told him I'm not getting up to put her back in bed because he started this mess. However, now that he's gone all week I have to. I am not a happy camper. I need my sleep and am crabby when I don't get it. But, we'll get her back on track. I'm just annoyed and was hoping that at least before the baby comes I could get a good night of sleep.

This is very random but have any of you ever frozen those Pillsbury Grands Rolls in their package (like before they've been cooked)? I have like 30 packages in my fridge that I won't use before they expire! If not I'll just donate or give them away since I got them for free. I was just curious if you've done it before?!

We're still in the process of finding a new church around here. It is always a frustrating process for me because I always really like the one we come from and finding one that measures up is difficult. We've found a few that we like, but there is always something missing. I love the children's program at one church, at another I love the worship style and at another I really like the pastor. I just wish we could find one church that has all three together. We didn't go this past week because Ty and Lincoln have both been sick, but we'll keep searching until we find the one.

Yesterday it was 60 degrees here and it made me wish it were spring. Oh how I can't wait till it is warmer. It will be much easier getting the kids out because I won't have to get coats, hats and gloves on and off 10 times just to go one place.

We desperately need to take Lincoln's nipper (pacifier) away, but I'm dreading it. He sleeps so well with it. Should I take it away before or after baby #3 comes? I'm thinking before.

We're Here

Well, we've been here for just over a week now and are completely unpacked (thanks to Ty) and are starting to get settled in. We made the 8 hour, turned 9.5 hour, drive on Saturday morning. We left around 5:30am. The kids did wonderful, especially since we didn't have a DVD player for them. We decided at the last minute that the only way for us to fit the stuff the movers didn't take into our cars would be for me to take the kids in the Cadillac and Ty to take the Explorer. The Cadillac's cigarette lighter doesn't work, hence no DVD player (it's the dual player which doesn't have an external battery). Anyways we made 4 stops for the kids to play/eat and got down here around 3:30, the movers unloaded us and we began unpacking. Oh how I despise moving. But loved that we had a moving company, what a difference it makes!

Ty starts work today and I know it will start to settle in once he's gone more. I already feel a little cabin fever and like I can't get out much since I don't know the area, but in due time I'm sure I'll get it. I really hope he likes his job, I know he'll be great at it! They are lucky to have him.

We really like our new place. The garage is awesome because we have a TON of storage space and the kids LOVE the stairs leading to their bedrooms. Speaking of bedrooms they both have their own room now and both kids (esp. Lincoln) has been sleeping SO well. Going down at 7pm and waking up at 8am or later. I can handle that. None of us slept very well when he was in our bedroom, but I didn't think it would make this much difference.

I really miss all my family and friends back home, but I hope we can get home to visit often. My sister is coming home for Christmas (from AZ) so the kids and I will drive back up Dec. 27th and stay for the week because there's no way I'd miss seeing her. I, however, am NOT looking forward to the drive again...lets hope there isn't a snowstorm on my drive back.

Posts with pictures to come soon...I didn't take one single picture all last month, what was I thinking?!!

Slacker

I have been a complete blogging slacker! I'm usually pretty good at keeping updated, but we've been so busy and so much is going on it's been hard to find the time. I haven't even been taking pictures lately, what the heck is wrong with me!?!

Anyways, we are moving in 9 days! YIKES! I cannot believe the time has come already. Ty and I went down to WV last weekend to look for a place to live and the kids stayed with my family (Riley with my Dad and Lincoln with my Mom) so we could get more done. Our goal was to find a place to live and that was it. We were looking for a 3 bedroom townhouse to rent or even a house to rent. We found one that we looked at and the guy said "these are the nicest around you won't find anything better" so I had high expectations I guess. He took us to the place and it's not that they weren't nice, but to me they were just decent and if we're moving all the way down there I don't want to settle for something I'm not completely happy with. So once he showed us around we got back in our car and I started balling. I didn't like the place at all and I told Ty if this was the best we'd find then I didn't want to move (I know that sounds bratty, I was just emotional I suppose)

After my meltdown we looked at the next place and I took a deep sigh of relief. It was just what I was hoping we'd find. It reminds me a lot of what we're in now except that it's bigger. We've now got two stories, a two car garage, lots of storage, and three bedrooms. Other than that it's pretty much the same. They are only 4 years old and very modern. I feel better about our move now, but am still very nervous! We've got movers who are packing, loading and unloading us coming the 24th and we'll be down there the 29th.

Once we get settled and get to know the area better we'll start looking for a house to rent. We don't want to buy because we don't know how long we'll be there! Anyways, keep us in your prayers!!

West Virginia here we come...

Looks like this...

... is going to be our new home state for a while. Ty got the job in WV last Monday, but since the papers hadn't been signed until today I hadn't announced it yet. We're excited, scared, nervous and anxious about the move, but have been really praying about it and feel like it's the right decision. Sure, we're not thrilled about moving away from all of our family and friends, but we're hoping the experience can open even more doors and eventually bring us back "home"! Plus, the offer was just too good to pass up.

Ty will be their account manager. Essentially he'll be managing their local and national accounts. He starts December 7th, so we'll be moving down at the end of November. Ty and I will make the trip down soon to find a place to live and hopefully get more acquainted with the area. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

What's Goin' On?

A lot of things are changing around here and I'm not just talking about the leaves!

This past weekend I got the opportunity to leave the kids with Daddy and take off for the WHOLE weekend. Mandy, her sister, Jessie, and I went up to Traverse City for a "scrapbooking weekend" and met about 6 other women at Mandy's friends house to scrapbook. In other words we literally scrapbooked the whole weekend. Friday we did it from 5pm until 2 am (9 hours). Saturday from 8 am until 3am (19 hours) and Sunday from 8am until 1pm (5 hours). It may not sound fun to some of you, but we had a blast. I think my eyes were bleeding by the end of the weekend and my brain hurt from trying to be creative. But, other than that I had so much fun! Good thing for chocolate and Dr. Pepper! What a weekend of time with girlfriends can do to make you appreciate time with your husband and kids. I feel rejuvenated again! It was just what I needed. AND I got about 60 pages done in Lincoln's scrapbook. I'm almost caught up!

Other changes: A few months back Ty had interviewed for a job in West Virginia, he hadn't heard anything for a while so he assumed he hadn't gotten it. Then about a month later he heard from them and they wanted to do an over-the-phone interview. They said they'd be in touch. Anyways, 3 phone interviews later they decided to do a face-to-face interview. So they told Ty they would fly (or drive if we preferred) all of us down to West Virginia. This past Monday that's exactly what we did. We took the 7.5 hour journey down to the sticks...errrr, I mean beautiful hills, of West Virginia. We wanted to take both of the kids with us but knew it would be a VERY long trip if we did so we left Lincoln in the loving arms of his Grandma (my mom), Grandpa and Aunts. We knew he'd be very well taken care of and knew dealing with only one child on the long trip would be much easier!

Anyways, more about our trip in my next post...but if you think of it please pray for us that we make the right decision to take this job if Ty gets it and if it's where the Lord wants us to be that everything will work out. It's a great job, but it would be a BIG change for all of us; Ty would be working A LOT more than he is now, we'd be 8 hours from all of our family and friends, not to mention everything else that comes with moving hours away. Anyways, thanks for your prayers. We're suppose to find out Monday, so I'll keep you posted :).