Her Sixth Year

It has been a year since I told you the story of how we welcomed our daughter, Emerson, into our family. I remember the tears I cried as I wrote that story, and I cried some fresh ones today, reading it again. You can check it out here. Emerson spent the majority of her sixth year living in Tennessee. I'd have to say this country living has agreed with her. Her very favorite place to be is downtown Nashville. She loves to hear REAL country singers in the honky-tonks and she walks the streets in hopes of catching a glimpse of her favorite singer, Taylor Swift. Of course, when we're in Nashville, we always have to grab an ice cream cone-it's the only place we can find hand-dipped Superman! Emerson makes friends wherever she goes. She might be a little shy at first, but it doesn't take her long to come out of her shell, whether it's at her brother's basketball games: Or playing outside with the neighbors: Or running around at the park: I had promised the kids that if Michigan got enough snow, we'd make a trip north to the cabin, and in early March, it happened! We drove the long drive to visit Nene and Papa and family at our cabin on Otsego Lake, and it was worth it-the kids had a blast! And then, just two weeks later, we headed south to Florida, to spend a week with Nana and Grandpa. The weather was fabulous, and again, the kids had a fabulous time! We've had a ton of visitors in the last month, and Emerson has had MULTIPLE birthday parties. I'm pretty sure she's okay with that, though. I've told you before about how smart Emerson is, but I'm going to say it again. She's SMART. Like, really smart. She's the best reader in her class and is a straight A student. In fact, even in her spare time she loves doing extra homework, and helping Owen finish HIS homework, much to his dismay. The school year is coming to a close, and soon a new chapter of our life will begin. Emerson is sad to say goodbye to her first grade friends, but is very excited about her future. I'm pretty excited for her, too. She's got BIG plans, you know. She can't quite decide if she wants to be an obstetrician or a country singer, but I'm sure whatever she chooses, she'll be the best there is. I love you, Emer-schlemer!

A Very Belated Christmas

We did Christmas a little bit differently this year. This year, WE were the out-of-towners. And in our typical style, we FILLED our days to the brim...

There were just a few things on our agenda before we left town:

We had to get our friends together here for one last hurrah before we all went our separate ways for the holidays.


Greyson had a pre-school Christmas performance, and I am SO happy to report that he sang-IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!


And of course, there was the messy but fun task of building the gingerbread house.


Then it was time to pack the bags and load all of the gifts and head north to see our family.

Day One of our visit to Michigan? A FIRST for our family:




I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed themselves. You can't go wrong with bowling and some of your favorite cousins in the mix.








Day Two was Christmas Eve, which we spent at The Pietras's house for some MAJOR food, gifts and family.



Day Three was Christmas Day, celebrated first with Christmas morning at Nana and Grandpa's house, then at my parents' house, followed by my Nanu's house, with even MORE food, gifts and family.













Day Four, the day after Christmas, you'd think we'd just relax, right? No way. MORE of our relatives came to town from Chicago and Dayton, and of COURSE there was MORE food, and MORE gifts and MORE family.







It was a whirlwind trip, and we were exhausted when it was over, but there's nothing like being home for the holidays.

Merry Christmas from Tennessee, y'all!

Eight

There was a perfect pregnancy, a slightly dramatic delivery, and more love than I knew existed.

On this day, eight years ago, I became a mama.




We didn't know what his name would be until we saw him, but it took all of about thirty seconds to know that he was Owen.

Owen is wise beyond his years; he has a hunger for knowledge. He impresses me daily with the questions he asks and the things he thinks about. He's not content just knowing what something IS, he wants to know WHY something is what it is.

He loves nature-everything from bugs to animals to the changing seasons to his very favorite thing: tornadoes. That boy can talk ENDLESSLY about tornadoes. He lays in bed at night, with a flashlight, reading book after book about tornadoes.

Also? He's got a thing for Star Wars. And it's not just the movies-it's everything about Star Wars. He has MANY books, describing the characters, the weapons, the good versus evil. He has action figures, and light sabers and costumes. Pro tip: If you're going to have a conversation with Owen about Star Wars, YOU'D BETTER BE PREPARED.

And then there's the funniness. Owen's not a stand-up-and-tell-jokes kinda kid. He's funny. He has these one-liners that KILL me. Someone told me once that you have to be smart to be funny, and that is SO true. The things he says are funny because they are REAL.

One more thing: Could he be ANY sweeter?! Owen is the best big brother EVER. He would do anything to help out his brother and sisters. He routinely sacrifices the things that he has to make them happy. He's gentle, and kind-hearted and giving.

Today my little boy turned eight. For eight years he's been in my life. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm so excited to see what the future holds for Owen, but I can wait. I'm enjoying this time with him while he's still my little boy.




I'm not quite sure how I got so lucky, but Owen makes me feel so proud to be his mama.

A Time For Family

Last week wasn't just Thanksgiving, it was a week-long celebration. We planned to leave Wedsnesday for Michigan, but got a little antsy, packed things up a day early and headed out Tuesday afternoon. I just had a few things to do before we could leave town...

First up: A feast with Greyson at his school. He was so excited to have Alayna and me there. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.







Next on the agenda: A celebration with Emerson's class. It was nice to put faces with the names she talks about every day, and I was especially amused to see Em and her BFF, Zoe, in action.





We drove half of the night, in the rain, but it was worth it to have an extra day in Michigan. There was a new arrival we were DYING to snuggle with.





And the kids had a lot of cousin time to catch up on, while the adults did some catching up of their own.















Of course, on Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with as much family as we could get. You can read about that day here.





On Friday, we headed over to see some old family friends for brunch. It was a fabulous afternoon, filled with laughter and memories and good food and sunshine.





















We couldn't let the day end so soon, so we all headed over to Nana and Grandpa's house for MORE fun and MORE food and a hayride that held FOUR GENERATIONS.























And then, just when you thought we couldn't possibly cram anything more into our trip, on Saturday we celebrated Owen's 8th birthday along with my birthday. It was just a small gathering of 30-ish people. The night was jam-packed with babies and jeeps and presents and pie and more food, and even sleep...

























It was a whirlwind trip, but it was so good to be with our family and friends. We'll be heading back in a month to celebrate Christmas. CHRISTMAS! Already!



Thank you to everyone who took the time out of your busy lives to spend time with us. We love you all.