March 30, 2009

I took pictures yesterday, so I thought I better share them. One is the birthday cake that the kids helped make Daddy. Emma held the box so we could see the directions, Ella helped crack the eggs, Derek picked the spiderman for the top. Of course everyone licked the spoons and icing knife.

Emma wore her new dress, a thrift store find, that just screamed her name when I saw it, thanks to the butterflies on it. Best $3 I ever spent.

Have a blessed week, our dear friends.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.
Numbers 6:24-25

March 28, 2009

Like the new layout? Just felt like I needed to make a change. You know how I am about leaving something for too long

We found out some amazing news yesterday! Emma's Aunt Kayla is having twin girls in July! Kayla is Daddy's step sister and she is a such a wonderful person, we are so excited for her. She has picked the names Myiah Luz-Elva who is named after her daddy's mom who passed away in Jan and Kiana Marie who has her Mommy's middle name. I am so thrilled for her, more twins. And the neatest thing is now Grandma Sherry can say she has two sets of twin grand daughters. How neat.

Today was a busy day. The kids helped bake a cake for Daddy's birthday tomorrow. We will decorate it tomorrow but I wanted to get the baking out of the way now. Its strawberry and made the house smell so good.

We got a very very light dusting of snow last night, much to everyone's disappointment. We wanted to make a snow man. This is the first year in Derek's life he hasn't been able to make one. How sad. But oh well that means flowers are blooming and shorts can be taken out of the closet sooner.

I am planning a memorial garden out front for Emma's little friend Daniel that passed away last year. The anniversary of his death is coming up April 28 and I thought it might be a very special way to remember him if Emma and I planted some flowers that day and put a little pretty something out there that reminds us of him. I will make sure to take pictures of the finished project.

That is it for the update. Not much to say tonight.

March 19, 2009

Our beautiful friend JayeBear has pointed out it has been a while since an update. So I thought I better put one up. I know she can't be the only one wondering what is going on in the life of Emma and our family.

It has been a few days. Last week Mommy ended up in the ER. Yes, I was terribly sick with the stomach flu which I got from Ella, who got it from Derek, who got it from his new school. Had to call Nanny and Poppy to take me when I threw up non stop for 3 hours. Actually non stop! Got an iv and some Zofran and felt icky for a few days but am much better now.

Ella is at Mimi's spending the night so yesterday Derek, Mommy and Emma took advantage of the 80 plus degree weather and went to fly a kite, and play basketball and soccer. We tried to tie the kite to Emma's wheelchair and run really fast, but it didn't work. We got a bum kite I think, it kept pulling to the right and crashing.

Then last night, Derek threw up! Wondering if the cycle of all being sick is starting again, I sure hope not. He seems fine this morning and even wants to go shopping so I am wondering if he just ate something that didn't do his stomach good or if the heat just got to him yesterday. We have found he is pretty good at soccer and basketball. We played HORSE on the basketball court, and he got all the way to R before I got lucky and won.

Prayers please for our friend Emma Mae, I won't get into too much detail but her family is going through a rough patch right now. We call her little Emma, she is younger than our Big Emma. She has Spina Bifida. She is beautiful and funny and has the cutest little cheeks you ever did see. Anyway her family could use some prayers that a situation they have found themselves in works out.

That's our update, we hope everyone reading is well and has a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday to our dog Violet

Yes we are super silly. We made a birthday cake for our dog yesterday. She turned 3. Emma did not join in the singing, but decided to nap through it in her chair. The cake was liver dog food topped with straberry fluffy yogurt, then we used her kibbles and bits dog food to decorate. It wasn't as pretty as last years cake I actually BAKED for her, but it worked and Violet loved it. I threw it together last min. Her birthday snuck up on us.

We were going to make brownies for the kids to but found that some how I have lost my two brownie pans in the move.

Update on our friends the Lockwoods that I asked you to pray for. Mrs Lockwood had her baby boy early this morning, he was about 32 and half weeks along, don't know many details as of yet, he is small and doing ok, he cried at birth! She was in recovery during their lost post on the blog, a friend was posting, and apparently she is doing ok too, will post more when I have details.

March 12, 2009

We woke up to freezing rain, and a super cold morning. Emma decided she wanted to go back to sleep. Its ok, its only 8:30 its not like she is sleeping the whole day away. I really wish spring would get here to stay.

I just wanted to post a few new pics of Emmie. She got new shoes the other day that I am for some reason totally in love with. They are a cheap version of crocs and are pink hippos! Her feet remind me of the hungry hungry hippos board game. I sure hope they don't try to eat her toes! They are perect to put on her in her wheelchair, they are kind of wide so they help keep her feet in place on the foot rests.

Also had to post the last pic and give a shout out to my brother Jay. He is in the Army National Guard, and sent that hat at Christmas time. Derek normally wears it but I popped it on Emma for a pic. He works at MEPS or Military Entrance Processing Station in the Seattle Area, helping get people all processed to join the military. I am so proud of him! He used to be Active Army but is not full time Guard and has been in close to 20 years now. He serves our country proud and makes me one proud sis! Emma is one proud niece too, hence the hat pic. :-)

Not much else going on around here, have to throw together a little birthday party for our dog later, she is 3 today and the kids insisit we do something! :-) Maybe if you are lucky I will take some pics so you all can have a good laugh.

Here are some recent videos of Emma and Ella I have taken. They are so cute together.

One is a video of Emma taking a bath, no nudity thanks to our trusty Winnie the Pooh blanket. I thought of not posting it for privacy issues, I don't want her mad at me HA HA but I know lots of people have asked how she does every day normal things like take a bath so I thought this would be useful at helping explain it. Another is of Ella helping her in the tub. I also have one of the girls just playing. I also included one of Ella helping me do laundry just because I think she is cute.\

I had to upload them from facebook, as blogger is being sooooo slow posting their videos this morning and I have no patience what so ever for that. :-) You dont have to have a facebook account to view them.



This is how Emma takes a bath


This is Ella helping Emma in the bath


This is Ella singing to Emma but Emma only wants to watch tv
I love how Ella strokes Emma's cheek!


Ella being a "little mommma" and helping fold clothes.

March 8, 2009

Not much to update on, but figure some of our readers would appreciate a short update. We are just hanging out enjoying our new home, and unpacking. Yes, still unpacking, I don't think I will ever be done.

Emma is doing great, I think her favorite past time lately has been watching tv. It keeps her content while I unpack boxes, but I think I have created a monster! She sure was yelling at the nascar race today, every time they mentioned Carl Edwards, who I think is her favorite driver. She probably gets the yelling at nascar from me, I was cheering pretty loud toward the end for Jeff Gordon to win, (Yes I cheered for him today!) but he got second place. As soon as allergy season passes, I look forward to getting her outside some during the day.

Last week while Derek was in school, Mommy and Daddy took both girls out to lunch and shopping at the dollar tree store. It was fun. Emma talked to the waitress and a few people made a fuss over how cute she was. They fussed over Ella too, but she turned on her "shy switch" and wouldn't talk to anyone. We went to the hardware store and saw a huge dog that belonged to one of the workers. It was a German Shepard, the biggest I have ever seen, his feet were huge. He was so very gentle and calm. He let Ella and me pet on him and he sniffed at Emma's feet but didn't try to bother her much. Emma liked the doggie I think. I know Ella did, she talked about "Kota" for hours.

I finally got around to hanging up Emma's cross collection in her room, so I have attached some pictures to this post. They are all special. I actually think my favorite one is the little one made of sticks and white string. It is from sticks I got at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, from the Survivor tree. Don't worry, I didn't break the tree, they were twigs from under it on the ground! The tree survived the Oklahoma City bombing, while everything around it was blown to pieces. I think its a good one for Emma, because she is a survivor too!

I got the book "The Love Dare" from the movie "Fireproof" I am on day 2. Its a very good book, beautiful words and wonderful advice. I would suggest it to anyone who is married, even if your marriage is in good shape, its an emotional read, and I really feel it could help all of us be better at being a wife/husband and better Christians.

Oh, I also wanted to update on our friend Peter, who I asked you to pray for a few posts back. His surgery went well, some bleeding, but he is recovering well and is home and getting stronger every day. Thank you all for the prayers.

Well that's the update, please continue to pray for our blog friends the Lockwoods. Their little boy is still, by the Grace of God, safely inside his Momma's tummy. She will remain in the hospital on bed rest until his birth, which probably won't be long from now, so she really needs your prayers too!

Tolerance, Acceptance, and Love

As you may have noticed a while back I changed the theme of Emma's page. I put a header
at the top that says "Emma's Story, one girls journey to teach the world: tolerance, acceptance,
and love. I even had business cards made up for her with that on it and her blog and email info
I like to pass them out to people we meet so they can learn more about my sweetie girl.

If anyone wants some cards to share with your friends, I have tons, just drop me an email with
your mailing address to the email address on the left of my page and I can send you a few!

So you might wonder what I mean about teaching the world tolerance, acceptance and love.
When Emma was first born, I wondered why she had to be so different. I never cried about it
or worried, I just wondered why. Then I realized God put her on this earth for a reason. To
be loved and to love. To teach others that being different is OK.

I think if Emma could talk, she would want to teach these things. Maybe I am just hoping
she would, maybe they are more my hopes, but we have talked about it, and I do think she
agrees, as much as a little 4 year old could possibly understand about it all.


She wants to teach tolerance. Tolerance to those who are diffrent than you are. Be it the
color of their skin, their ability to walk or talk, the country they are from. She wants
people to learn that you have to be tolerant of those who are a bit slower than you, or that
talk differently. To understand you need some patience when you are in a hurry at the store
but manage to get behind a wheelchair bound person that is going slow in the aisle you need
to be down.

She wants to teach acceptance. For people to accept her for who she is, faults and all.
Because its those "faults" that make her perfect. Accept that she is just another girl
looking to be loved, and that even if she is in a chair with tubes poking out her she is still
the same as you. Accept that.

Love. Well of course she wants to teach Love. Love is what makes the world a happy place to
be. Weather it be the love of a friend, a mother, a grandma, or just someone who reads her blog.
She just wants to be loved. She wants to love too. The greatest Love ever felt, is the love
between someone and God. Emma knows that love, and she will teach it to everyone, maybe not
in words or with her actions. But I truly believe anyone that knows Emma will feel a little
part of God, because he sent her here to do good on this earth. She is evidence there is a God
and that miracles happen every day. She is a blessing, not only to me as her Mother but
anyone she touches in her lifetime.

So anyway, sorry to get all long winded and sentimental, but I really thought I would
explain what all that header meant. Hope everyone gets something beautiful out of it, but
if you take anything at all from this post, just take that everyone deserves love and
acceptance for who they are, and deep inside we are all t

A friend needs your prayers, another your help!

We are in desperate need of some prayers for our blog friends the Lockwood's. http://lockwoodfamily.blogspot.com/ You will have to copy and paste the address, for some reason blogger is not allowing me to post clickable links today. Mrs Lockwood is having a very difficult pregnancy and ended up in the hospital yesterday. She is 31 weeks along, and they are hoping to help her last a bit longer. The girls being born at 31 weeks just gets me thinking about how tiny their baby might be at this point. Plus, her health is in danger too, and she is a very kind and very spiritual woman who I have grown to really care for online. I ask everyone to pray for her safety, her babyi boy's safety and for her husband and children at home. Her faith is so strong, she is such an inspiration, even in rough times she is clinging to God with all her might, and I know he will see her through this.

Also if its not to much to ask can anyone is able to please go check out and donate to our friend, who is trying to raise money for a wheelchair. Again you will have to copy and past the link, sorry!

http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-02-19.9820156255