Emmy Love

Photo by Narci D Photography

Hope Louise 6 years 11 months

Hopey Louisey Lemon Squeezey gets a little sweeter everyday. She is growing into such a loving, bright, fun little ray of sunshine girl. She can melt your heart with her many "I love You"s, "You're the best"s, and her many love notes she writes to us.

 First grade is going so well for Hope! She has a wonderful teacher, a great class of new friends, and a good attitude about homework. For the most part! She has lots of homework, between two week homework assignments, spelling tests, and she is now reading chapter books! So fun. When she finished her first chapter book, she squealed she was so excited! It wasn't easy, but she did it! Now, if only her handwriting was legible! ;)

 Hope still has her own sense of fashion! She loves putting outfits together, and usually adds a twist, like leopard shoes, a skirt on top of pants, or a large bow. It has gotten to a point that I have her pick out her clothes on the weekend for the whole week, so there is no question in the mornings what we are dealing with. This works well for Hope, who is super organized, needs a schedule, and has to know the plan!

 Hope is now officially the over scheduled child I said I would never have! Ha! She is now on Pre-Team at her new gymnastics, meaning she is training to compete next year! She has gymnastics two days a week now for 1.5 hours each time. She is also playing soccer for the Pinkerellas, and is a Daisy Scout now too! As far as her gymnastics, I have been amazed! She is coming so far, so fast. She spends about half of her time at home standing on her hands. And also, she has muscles! What in the world! This is all new!

 Hope has always had a little obsession with her teeth. And, she looooves the dentist. Like loves everything about it. She brushes her teeth several times a day and loves mouthwash. On the way to the drop off Noah at school on the morning of her recent dentist visit, she told Noah "I love the dentist! I love when they pick at my teeth!" I mean, who says that? The dentist was very impressed with her chompers, and told her she should be a dentist. She liked that. She still hasn't lost any teeth, which is very upsetting to a nearly 7 year old when all her friends are loosing them! Dr. Brister showed her the xrays that showed where the grown up teeth really are growing in, and she felt a lot better! My little worrier!

Hope still dresses up every.day. She comes home from school and gets into some get up. This is her newest favorite. Classy, right? The black gloves? Her favorite accessories. They have inspired many many different outfits and performances!

I know I just said it, but, she is such a worrier. I hate this for her, because I am a worrier too. When I see her worry, my tummy hurts just like it was me doing the worrying.

She is riding her bike well now! I think we will attempt the first ride to school soon! We need a little more practice staying on the sidewalk!

She loves her church. She loves her friends. She loves her family. She loves American Girl anything. She loves to watch shows about mermaids. She loves PB & J. She loves creating. She loves reading. She loves being silly. She loves dancing, and singing, and helping, and pestering her brother, and cooking, and Barbies.

She does not like when her brother pesters her, riding in a car seat, saying goodbye, loud noises, or beans. Still cannot stand beans!

Hope Louise, you really are my sunshine! I love you to the moon and back. And back again!

Thank you, God, for Hope Louise!

Emmy Love update

Emmy Love had an egd done this morning and had several biopsies taken for different metabolic disorders. She was great! We should know the results in a week.

I realize this is not a huge deal. But, I have just been so worried. They had to put her under anesthesia and I was just a little freaked. But. Things could not have gone smoother. The staff at Children's Hospital (Legacy campus) were amazing. I knew our Emmy was in the best care.

Here she is in the waiting room.





Bless the girl's heart. She knew something was up. She was just so confused! We woke her up early, left brother and sister with Mimi and hit the road. She kept looking at us like, what are we doing?!






Daddy did the entertaining! He blew up a glove for E. She was obsessed with it. John and I started calling it "Wilson" like the volleyball in Castaway.






So really. She loved it. They gave her some meds about 30 min prior to the procedure to calm her down. She was so sweet and laid back. Unless. You tried to take away Wilson! In her drowsy state, she would sit up and look around panicky. I felt so sorry for her, I gave it back. Even if I was pretty sure it wasn't the mom of the year thing to do...













We looooove her GI doctor. Seriously. The nurses had explained to us that they would wheel Emmy in the bed down the hall to the OR. Then Dr. Russo came in and asked if he could carry her to the OR. It was such a sweet gesture and seriously made me feel a ton better. So we walked with them down the hall and kissed her goodbye. (She was still holding tight to Wilson!)

When it was over, we met with Dr Russo to look at pics that he took and discuss the biopsy stuff he was sending off. They sent us back to the waiting room until she woke up. When they did bring us back, Emmy was chugging Apple Juice. (She also
Still had Wilson!) She was pretty angry about the whole situation. The nurse asked where she got her temper from... Which is funny bc, I think she's pretty laid back, despite her eye rolling abilities. But, I guess we all know where a temper would come from if she had one. But, I know she was just feeling yuck.

She has done great the rest of today. Just a bit more fussy than normal. Praise God for a smooth day, and pray for some answers through all of this!

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Noah Red 3 years 5 months

I have been wanting to stop and do a little update on my little friends. I decided to start with Noah. Why? Because he's my favorite. :) Just kidding, they're all my favorites. Right? Right.

• Noah still has a healthy fear of doctors. In fact, we are having to switch pediatricians because of it. Really. Hopefully we can find someone who understands Noah a little better.
• Noah loves to eat! Except not! He has become our bird. He grazes here and there, but rarely sits down and finishes a meal. I'm sure it will pass.
• Noah had his first dentist visit last week. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. But, he was awesome! I was so proud. We went to Target to get the Riddler!
• He gets into full superhero mode. This is so funny to me. He still introduces himself as batman most of the time. He gives everyone superhero names. Batman is still his #1, but he's opening up to some others now too.
• The other day I was teasing about daddy being in big trouble for something silly. Noah said, "No Mommy, he's not a bad guy!"
• He took his first boys only trip to visit John's dad for his birthday this month. I think they had a special time. When John got back in the car from pumping gas, Noah told him, "I so proud of you for getting gas!"

• He says he's proud of us for a lot of things. I hope this is a sign that we say this enough to him that he knows how proud we are of him.
• He's about 95% potty trained. That little 5% is honestly killing me.
• He seems to be doing well at school. I don't think he talks much there. His teacher told me how proud she was of him for using his words the other day. Ummm. We hear a lot of them here! Glad he's getting comfortable enough there to communicate.
• Every morning before school, I have to pretend to be a barber in order to fix his hair. My pretend barber's name is Mr. Gruff. It is seriously the only way he will let me comb his hair. Oh well. Whatever it takes.

• Have I mentioned he likes Batman? Because really, that's pretty much our world.
• When he does eat, he's a pretty healthy little dude. Fruit and yogurt are his favorites. and candy of course. Trying to cut back on the candy.
• He keeps us on our toes guessing his night time routine. He likes to switch it up. It is currently that he needs about 15 minutes watching batman or potty videos on our iphones. And then he rolls over and goes to sleep without a fight. I always love not fighting.
• He is so very jealous. I am his and only his. He does not want Emmy to be anywhere near me. Or even look at me. Much less me hold her. This causes lots of drama in our house.
• I started reading a parenting book about strong willed children. I'm not sharing the name just yet, because I'm pretty sure I don't want opinions. I haven't formed my own opinions yet. But, I will tell you that in the first chapter I called John in the room about 4 times to read him another paragraph that described our son to a T. I hate the strong willed child label. But, it's possible it fits.
• Noah can stay on the same task for a long long time. Unlike Hope, who likes to play everything, everywhere. Noah plays in the batcave for probably an hour a day. Playdough, 30-45 minutes. Cars, 30 minutes or so. If I divided that time up for his sister, it would be totally different. In fact, I don't think I could. Because she would end up doing 87 things at once. I love the focus. I need it myself.
• Noah remains the most loving child ever. He is never too busy for hugs, kisses, or a "nuggle". If I lay down, he just wants to lay beside me.
• Noah Red loves to be outside. Texas has been insanely hot this summer, but he has enjoyed the few cooling days we are having now. He is putting his sand table to good use again.
• He is awesome.
• At night John and I find ourselves telling stories about the funny things he says. He's just at that age where the things that come out of his mouth are hilarious.
• I tell John this (and I think it hurts his feelings) that I don't think anyone in my life will ever love me as much as Noah loves me. It's just such a strong bond, I can't describe it.
• Thank you God for Noah Red!

Family Pics on the beach

I had a vision for our family pics on the beach. But, as you can imagine, they didn't quite turn out like I envisioned. I call the problem, Noah. He just hates having his picture taken right now, especially when it means he has to stop playing in the sand. So, between that and the sun. Yeah, you get it.

 Love

Dolphin Cruise!

One of the things we always say we are going to do at the beach, but never actually do, is take a dolpin cruise! We finally did it. We chartered two boats (is that the right word, chartered?) one evening and had so much fun! This boat had Aa Aa (Andrea), Rosalie, Zeb, Mama Bee, PawPaw and Riley Kaye

Our boat held me, mom, Hope, Jenn, Julia, and Clara.

Apparently dolphins love big cruise ships, so we looked all around this big dude. That little boat behind the giant ship? Yes, that would be Andrea's boat. We were a bit scared for them!

So, no dolphins there. Actually, I think we all got anxious that we weren't going to see any. And the driver and the other guy (no idea what they are called...) were nervous too.

Mom and I saw some dolphins! Mom even got a picture, but the dudes kept moving away from the dolphins. Finally, we asked if they saw them, and they didn't! I took Mom's camera to the helper dude, and I believe his exact words were "D@#*! She got a d@#* picture and everythang!" So, they turned around! We saw soooo many! And they were so close! It was amazing!

Riley was so so excited!

These swam right in front of Andrea's boat!

The coolest thing to me was watching how synchronized they could be! Going in and out of the water together, jumping, etc. So amazing!

Our dolphin crew! We couldn't quit talking about how awesome it was! I'm so glad we finally did this! I can't wait till the babies are bigger so we can take them too!

1st Day. 3 Year Old Preschool!

Noah has missed school! He misses his Mesha, his friends, his not being with me every second...

Really.I am not just saying this. Noah needs school. And he is loving every second of his new school two days a week! On day 1, we of course had to take a picture with our new gear!

 And, he had to show the camera just how his awesome new batman water bottle works!

 He had an awesome first day. Other than the fact that he didn't use the potty for the whole 5 hours he was there! Nope. He held it. We are having some issues with pottying away from home...

On his second day, he sat on the stairs and told me he was ready to take his picture! Noah does not exactly love having his picture made, so I am loving this! On day 2... he did go potty!

 Day 3... you guessed it! Another photo op! His report from day3 says he listened much better :) Oh, my strong willed child. I have to wonder what this means of your behavior the first 2 days! I came to get him and he was quietly playing with what he tells us repeatedly is his favorite toy there... the pirate ship!

 Sister could not be left out!

Baby Emmy and Noah Laughing at Hope

First Day. First Grade

 Hope started First Grade today! She is growing so fast. Remember last year? Last year, I picked out what I thought to be the perfect outfit, perfect back pack, etc. This year, it's all her. Choosing her backpack was torture! She had 3 picked out and just couldn't decide! Then, we found this sparkle backpack, and the girl was sold! Ha! She definitely has a thing for all things sparkle. Her outfit? Not what I would have chosen, but, I let it go. She is so happy. And it's not horrible. And it matches. :) I never in a million years would have guessed she would pick white leather keds, but, they have jewels on the laces, and she thought they were perfect. She definitely has her own style. And the child loves shopping as much as her Mommy. Always has!

And look who she sits across from! Cooper! Cooper and his family moved here from Little Rock the same week we did last year. I am so happy they are in class together!

 
Hope's teacher's name is Mrs. Rocas. But, she will be out the first week or two of school recovering from surgery. We were thrilled to hear Mrs. Neumann would be her sub! Mrs. Neumann is also our neighbor, and she and Hope have a sweet bond. I know it helped Hope having her there for her first day.

And, you know I have to take a look back. This is Hope's first day of Kindergarten. Ahhh. Sweet girl!

Hope Louise, I am so proud of you! I know First Grade is going to be great!

Beach, Take 3

I can't tell you how much I did not want to post these pictures. But, here it goes. But, I at least get to give some background. I had the worst migraine ever. I had just gotten both babies asleep and I was sleeping as well. I was woken up suddenly and told I had to go down the beach to do our group pictures because Wes had to leave to go home. So, I frantically get the babes stuff together for our Razorback pictures. Then I couldn't find my Razorback shirt. So, I ended up in one of Johns. Lovely. Plus, the sun on the beach at 3:00 with a migraine? Not a good look for Jill. Sorry folks.

 And don't forget, I had to wake up Noah. This is never good. He was not happy at all. In case you couldn't tell.

 The girls. Really. I should have sat out people.

 I think this is adorable. Yesterday was their 42nd anniversary! That's a long time!

 The original Hoovers. Notice the brothers are pestering. THE STORY OF MY LIFE, PEOPLE.

 I love her. And her swimsuit. ;)

 Hope spent about a month total this summer with the cousins. During this time, one certain niece, RILEY, taught her some "Toddlers in Tiaras" moves. Help.

Nope. Still not done people. It was a long trip. More to come.