We might never get through these letters

I just wanted to do a quick update.  We have 4 more weeks until baby #2, so things have been pretty hectic around here.  There's still a long list of things to do for our house projects, but the nursery is mostly finished.  I'm still working with Emma on her letters, and we're also throwing in some colors and shapes to our learning activities too.  We're on the letter M (I know, we should have probably been done by now, but I've not been as consistent as I should have), and our color for the week is red.  I'm hoping to also get a little work on circle in there somewhere.  It has worked out really well because for the past 2 weeks, the theme of storytime at the main library has gone right along with our theme at home.  Last week it was the letter L, and this week the color red.  We're also starting to work on one to one correspondence.  Emma loves to count, but she'll see 2 items and count to 20.  So I'm trying to be more intentional by counting anything and everything.  Here are a few pictures from the past week or two.

Finger painting her ladybug

L activities

Playing with the alphabet soup sensory bowl I made at MOPS!

She loves this!

Daddy brought home some headphones for the football games...she is terrified of fireworks right now

Anxiety

Sorry, no fun pictures today.  This week I have been having some anxiety over the next few weeks, months (years?).  How am I ever going to get everything ready for another baby?  How will the house ever be ready to put on the market for real (there's lots of painting to be done, and that's just for starters)?  If we do list it, will we even get enough out of it for it to make sense to sell?  And if we did happen to sell, where will we go?  How can I manage that with a toddler and a newborn?  How in the world is Emma going to react to a baby?  Will she hate her?  Will she hate me?  We discovered that the car Nick drives has transmission trouble, but don't know the extent of it yet.  A new transmission will cost more than the car is worth.  Why is it that new babies and cars and life in general is so expensive?  Ugh, these thoughts keep me up at night.  That and the baby who never sleeps (the one in my tummy, not Emma...though we've been having some sleep issues with her too lately).

I know that God will provide for us and take care of all these things in his time, but you see, I have a need to control everything.  To try to get God to cooperate with me and my plan, which is of course, awesome.  But as it turns out, I can't control everything and my plan has some holes in it.  I know in my heart that I need to trust God and completely submit all of my worries and plans and desires to Him.  But in my head, I need to know what is going to happen.  If God could just toss me down a little Excel sheet, I'd be much more relaxed.

PHILLIPPIANS 4:6-7 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend.  On Saturday, Nick and I took Emma to the Louisville Zoo.  She's at a really fun age where she loves animals, and she was really excited and talking a lot about all the animals she'd get to see.  She did really well, especially considering that she skipped her nap.  We really liked this zoo better than the others we've been to; the animals seem closer to you.  Emma's favorite part was the splash park.  She played there for over an hour and would have stayed all day.  I can't believe how much she loves water.  At the beginning of the summer, she was scared to run through our tiny sprinkler, and now she loves anything water.  It was a pretty hot day and we were all tired by the time we got home, but it was a fun day.

Sunday afternoon we decided to take Emma swimming at Nick's parents' house.  It's a little harder because their pool is all the same depth (that depth being above Emma's head), and little Miss Independent hates being held or being in her float now.  We took lots of toys and tried to keep her entertained.  She did enjoy trying to jump in.  She had fun but was wound up.  She got to bed just 15 minutes late or so, but ended up not falling asleep until 9:00pm.  Lucky me!  Ha, she's been ok today but will definitely be going to bed early tonight.

Our week is shaping up to be busy, as always.  I do think we're going to get our nursery painted this week.  We (I) finally decided on a color.  Our crib is in and ready to be picked up, and I just need to wash the bedding.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures by next week.  Our church is having a parenting seminar this weekend, and I'm excited if for no other reason than that it will be some "alone" time for me and Nick.  It will be as close to a date as we have had in a few months.

Here are some pictures from our fun weekend:

Soaking it up

Emma and I have been trying to soak up these last couple of months of just us.  Emma obviously still doesn't really know what's coming, so mostly I am trying to plan lots of fun activities for us.  And sometimes, we just plan to stay home and be silly together.  I cannot believe how fast Emma is developing right now.  It makes me super grateful to be at home with her, where I can see it daily.  She speaks in full sentences, and we can hold actual conversations now.  They're usually very random conversations, and I'm probably the only person who can understand all of it, but it makes the day so much more entertaining to have someone to talk and listen to.  She also loves to talk to the dogs, which is hilarious.  She tells them when she'll be right back, says bye before we leave, and I can hear her saying things to them just like I do (mostly no, which is making me just how aware of how often I say that).  Here are some pictures of some of the fun times we've had lately.

Chasing Daddy at the playground

Her new favorite activity: feeding the ducks

Moving all of her diapers to the baby's room!

Playing dress up

Checking out the water at a Concert in the Park

Wearing her tutu on her head...she thought this was hilarious

Our "J" activities

Turning into such a good helper

"I" week...the colored ice was a big hit

Water Fun

Emma has loved water this summer.  We bought her a water table, and she would stay out and play with that thing for hours.  Or until she splashed all of the water out of it, which is apparently the most fun part.  It has been the best $25 I could have spent.  She has also been loving her inflatable pool.  Her favorite place to go is the water park.  She didn't like it last year, but now that she's old enough to stand up in many places and walk around, she can't get enough of it.  We've taken advantage of their twilight deal a couple times, where we pay 1/2 price if we get there at 4pm or later.  I am hoping to take her back a few more times before the summer is over.  I didn't get her signed up for any swim lessons this year, but next year she will for sure be ready.

Back from Chattanooga

We got home Sunday from a week in Atlanta and Chattanooga.  Nick and I had been contemplating going on a mission trip for a couple of years, but we were both a little apprehensive.  Our church has started doing a Family on Mission trip to places that aren't too far away.  This year they went to Chattanooga, so we thought it would be a great first trip.  We worked for 3 days at a children's home doing all sorts of various activities and projects. Neither one of us had any idea what to expect so we were a little anxious, but now that we're home, I can definitely say that it was a good experience for us.  It certainly solidified my desire to be a foster parent someday.  There was one little boy that I fell in love with.  It has been a little hard to readjust to "normal" life, but I hope that in some way we had an impact on him and the other kids.

We didn't feel comfortable leaving Emma for a week, so my parents and sister went down too and watched her during the day.  I'm sure she had fun, and that this week will be full of getting all of us back into our routine.  We didn't have to be in Chattanooga until Tuesday evening, but decided to drive down to Atlanta on Sunday.  This will be our only vacation this year, so you know I have to cram as much into it as possible!  We were able to do some shopping at Ikea and American Girl Place (Emma LOVES her itty bitty baby), and visit the children's museum and CNN Center.  Monday night we met my parents and sister at Turner Field for a Braves game.  Emma had been to a game when she was 3 months old and again last summer, but she had never been too interested in baseball.  This year she loved it!  She stayed up way past her bedtime, but was so great.  She has been asking to sing Take Me Out the the Ballgame every day since then.  We were able to get Braves games on tv the whole week, and she would always ask us to find "baseball game" and sit on the couch with us to watch.  I, of course, am thrilled that she loves baseball, but sad we can't see their games here.  We had been talking about Chipper for several days, but unfortunately he was hurt and didn't play.  She will probably never get the chance to see him again.

We did have some free time in Chattanooga, though not a lot.  We were able to take her swimming, to the children's museum, and to play in the water outside their aquarium.  We planned on walking around the riverfront, but it was really hot!  Or so we thought...then we got home, and it's seriously 100 degrees here!  We had a fun week and got to spend some good time with each other.  I'm always sad when vacation is over and Nick has to go back to work.  But, he'll be off again for a few days in October when we meet our baby girl.  That obviously will not feel quite the same as a vacation, but I'm glad he'll be here!

Here are some pics from our week!

Emma thought she should read my book as well...Parenting the Strong Willed Child.  So far, I don't think she's learned anything.

Emma's Birthday Weekend

We got home late Sunday from Cincinnati.  Unfortunately, we hit some traffic from a wreck on the way home, and had one over-tired toddler in the backseat.  She amused herself by throwing goldfish crackers everywhere.  We were all pretty cranky by then.  But other than that we had a great time.  Our weekend was pretty busy, and Emma definitely did not get enough sleep, which I will be paying for this week!  We headed to the zoo first on Saturday morning, along with everyone else it seemed.  It was hot but we left without sunburns, which I am always thankful for.  It's still a little hard to take Emma to the zoo, because we have to use the stroller and so we're constantly taking her out and putting her back in it.  She can't really see the animals in the stroller, but she can't yet walk through the whole zoo, and she's definitely too big to carry.  Hopefully, next time I will have a better carrier that works for older kids too.  Anyway, we had fun seeing the animals, and Emma even got to pet a few goats and play in the kids' area for a while.

Daddy is so fun!

Mommy got a real hug...hardly ever happens

This was her favorite goat...she wouldn't pet any of the others

We finished Saturday off by doing a little shopping for Mommy...which ended up being for Emma, since she got new shoes and Mommy got nothing!  We also picked up the last of Emma's birthday gifts at Toys 'R Us, since our store didn't carry them and I didn't want to pay for shipping.  We woke up Sunday and drove to Ikea, where we spent way too much time, and got some great stuff, mostly for the kitchen.  After that, we drove around for way too long looking for a Chick-Fil-A, only to remember much too late that they're not open on Sundays!  After lunch, we stopped by at the Children's Museum.  Emma loved it!  It wasn't too big, but had a lot of small areas just her size and toys for her to play with.  Her favorites were the water and sand tables, the building/hammering station and the kitchen.  She was at such a great age for it, and it made me really excited about taking her to the one in Chattanooga in a couple of months.  When we were at the one in Chicago last year, she couldn't even walk yet, so this was a lot more fun for her.  I wish there was something like it closer to BG.

Emma is obsessed with water suddenly...she loved this fountain

Mowing

Getting Mommy wet!

Helping Daddy build

They had several different kinds of drums...too bad we don't have these at home!

We had a great time and I wish she could take more trips like this.  Even though we were busy and all a little tired, we have so much fun spending time together, and we never seem to have enough of it.  And just for fun, here are a few pics of Emma and some of her birthday toys.

Sometimes I really wonder what she's thinking

Happy Birthday Emma!  I hope you had a fun weekend.  In just a few short years, you'll want to spend your weekends with anybody but your Mom & Dad.  But for now, we are loving spending time with you and watching you grow.  We love you!