Summertime when the living's easy...

Look really closely to see this baby frog in our back yard!!

Bray Enjoying his pool....

He got a little burnt this day...opps, sorry bray baby!!

This was at my dad's company picnic at Tanglewood. Brayden really loved this chocolate icream that his zanny was feeding him!!

Youngest sissy sal, she's so pretty!!

Bray in the car with his blankies, "bluie, and other guy"!

Swimming Lessons

I used to be a competitive swimmer. I really loved swimming and felt "at home" in the pool.

But then I grew up, went to college, got busy, had a baby and didn't really get to swim much anymore.

Earlier this Spring Steven and I were discussing things we were really passionate about, other than each other, family, friends, and jobs. We went on to discuss things that we feel like we were just blessed with and felt alive while we were doing. I mentioned swimming was one for me and then I started re-living swimming memories!

From there we decided to get online and look at the YMCA's website since we wanted a Y membership. Well it was rather expensive and that did not fit into our meager budget. Soooo, we happened to look on the Job Posting link and what do ya know?? There were swim lesson instructor position available!! Wahoo it seemed like it would be a perfect fit for me, combining my passion for swimming, with my teaching abilities and love for kids!!

Well I started out in April teaching two classes on Tues/Thursday nights. It was fun...But a lot of work. I realized that it was actually kind of difficult for me to "teach" something that came so natural to me. I don't even remember learning to swim or know if I ever even took lessons, I just know how to swim.

So besides getting a free Y membership, getting paid (a little), getting out of the house, teaching, and getting some exercise this new little hobby job has given me a lot more. Its given me some lessons in faith! First it was totally out of God's providence that Steven and I had this conversation, looked at the website, and I got this job. It has been such a good outlet for me and I have learned more than I think I am actually teaching. Second lesson in faith is that learning to swim, takes some faith and trust. These kids who have never swam or are scared of the water have to trust the person teaching them literally with their lives. I have had three brothers in my class this month who would barely get their heads wet the first class. They were so scared and had to put their faith in me and my abilities. At first it was so hard for me to get them to do ANYTHING. I was thinking, "O great, how am I going to teach them anything?!?! But as time went on, they starting trusting me and were willing to try new things, such as put their heads in the water, (which is kinda of essential to learning to swim!)

Our daily faith can be related to this lesson in swimming. We have to put our trust in God, that he knows best the plan for our lives. Just like me teaching kids how to swim, since I know how to swim, God is showing us how to "swim through life" we just have to be obedient to what he asks us to do!

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to All the daddies out there, especially my dad and my baby's daddy!

This could be a hard day for lots of people out there. I know not all dads are perfect or even a part of their children's lives and that makes my heart hurt for people like this.

My dad was not and is not perfect...however he did A LOT of things RIGHT.

Reasons I love my dad:

-He hugged me, and still does
-He told me he loves me, and still does
-He tried to fix my hair and put bows in it when mom was gone, doesn't anymore, I don't really wear bows
-He cheered me on in all my endeavors, and of course still does
-He modeled Christ-like love for me, my sisters, and my mom
-He played with me
-He protected me
-He studied with me
-He talked to me
-He disciplined me
-He "interviewed" my boyfriends--which were only about 2 or 3 since I dated Steven for 6+ years and got married




He rides a Harley, yes and he loves his Grandson!

As the article in the newspaper said back in 1983, "He's more than the man that came to dinner" and that was so true! I am so lucky and blessed to have a loving and involved father like the one I had. If everyone could have a daddy like you I think the world would be a lot better place, and kids would be on the right track! I love you daddy. Love your Emidy

Now this brings me to praise my husband, who is also my baby's daddy. (The reason I am referring to him in this manner is because this is how he told our youth group that I was pregnant...."I'm gonna be her baby's daddy!" Funny moment!)

I love Steven for many reasons and he is definetly a lot like my dad in many ways...he is not perfect, but pretty close!

Reasons I love Steven as a Daddy:

-He is more than the man that comes to dinner
-He is involved
-He plays with Brayden
-He feeds, clothes, bathes, changes stinky diapers and all of the above
-He does whatever he can to help out and love on me and Bray
-He provides for us
-He makes time for Brayden
-He stays at home alone with Brayden (some dads don't do that with little ones)
-He strives to put Christ first
-He models Christ-like love to us
-He hugs, kisses, and wrestles Bray
-He tells Brayden that he loves him
-He does a WHOLE heck of a lot of things I think a lot of men don't, which I believe makes Steven more of a man
-He got up in the middle of the night to feed Brayden
-He cup fed and syrigne fed brayden for me in the first fews days of Brayden's life
-He does a lot, he is a lot, and he means the world to me and I know to Bray.

I believe that there are some things baby boys just can't learn from mommies. Don't get me wrong, moms mean a whole lot to babies. But for example I can't teach Brayden how to be a man, I'm NOT a man and I don't know how to be one. So, Steven I am glad this is your job and one you are willing and wholeheartedly doing a great job. You are a great dad, and its so fun to see you doing this natural "job"! I love you and appreciate all you do for our family.

Now for a little picture action of Steven at work being a daddy!

Playing on the couch.....

Working on tech skills...

Snuggling after an early morning feeding....

First moments as a daddy....

Sleeping on the couch....

Not afraid to push that stroller....

Helping Bray eat...

Playing at the park!!

Shoulder Ride....

Sledding in the Kitty littler box...

O summertime how I love thee (sometimes)...

Today was a great summertime day. We went to a picnic at Tanglewood. Played, ate, and ate some more. Took naps in the nice AC and topped off the day by going to the pool. However all this was done on this HOT summertime day without our Steven, husband and father, and that just made it half the fun. I love my husband and I love to spend time with him (Quality Time is my love languages.) If you don't know what that means click here to learn more about Gary Chapman's 5 love languages! (It could change your love life or marriage!)

But since Steven is a youth pastor most of his summer days are spent hanging out with Youth (duh) or going away on trips. And today was the start of one of the 4 weeks that he will be gone this summer. I know this is not bad considering how often some men, husbands, or fathers travel but it just makes it even harder for me since this is my SLOWEST time of year, being a teacher and all. Anyways I guess I am thankful that this year I don't have a four week old baby by myself to get up with in the night and nurse. Now I have a 1 year old to play with all day!!! I'm also sad that Steven wont be here for Father's day, however once again I am also very thankful he is not fighting the war in Iraq or Afganistan...I can do 4 weeks!!!

Love you Steven and we BOTH miss you!!!



This picture is totally unrelated to this post....I just like it! (I do have some from the summertime picnic I just haven't uploaded them yet.)

Centering That Picture!!

I dont really know blogger and all the tricks of the trade yet....

HOW CAN I center that picture in the "header" where my blog title and description are?? It just doesn't look right! Will someone please help!

3 Posts in one day...what what!!

here are two side dishes we are having tonight with our beef tenderloin:

Potato Casserole:

2 baking taters-peeled and sliced
1 can cream of celery
dash or so of milk (or water) to thin out the soup
1 onion-sliced
Cheddar cheese, lots!
salt, pepper, and Tony's to seaon

Cut taters and onions in small slices. Layer in greased baking dish. Layer about 1/2 of the potatoes and onions, then sprikle with soup mixture and cheese. Layer again with taters and onions then add rest of soup mixture and top with cheese.

Bake at 350 or so for about 1 hour or until nice and bubbly.

Picture Before Cooking:





Second Dish:

Spincah Stuffed Onions - A good way to get a little green in your diet!

2-3 onions
1-2 packs of frozen spinach
parm cheese, I used both grated and fresh
Miracle Whip, I used the lite version
salt, pepper, garlic salt, tony's, and nutmeg to taste (I did not measure any of these)

Par boil onions with skins off for about 15 min. Let cool.

Cut tops and bottoms off par boiled onions. Place in baking dish.



Next, chop onion centers and sautee in butter along with the two packs of spinach.

Add spices to taste.




Then add the stuff that makes the nutritional value of the spinach decrease, I didnt measure, just added till it looked good.




Next stuff your original onions, (with centers removed, I think I forgot to mention that earlier.)

And bake for about 20 or so minutes at 350 just to warm them up! Here is the picture before baking!




These are one of Steven's favorites and I don't think he had even eaten spinach before he met me!! Hahah!

Ideas...

Here are just a couple ideas for me to remember things I want to blog about--

-Brayden, mommyhood, parenthood...
-Steven, marriage
-Family
-Gardening, Flowers
-Cooking
-Swimming lessons
-Adventures
-Faith
-Trips/Travel
-Teaching
-Math/Science
-Photography-I'm not a professional or anything but just got a sweet new camera!

Speaking of photography, and gardening, here are some pictures of flowers in our yard, taken with our sweet new Nikon D60. We love it!

I believe the flowers pictured here are petunia's, lantana (sp?), geraniums, and maybe some others!

9 months

Ok, Woah....long time since I have posted anything on here...But I think I am inspired to start back on this bloggin thing.

I just don't know what to blog about sometimes. I see all these cute blogs and people who blog about their children, their hobbies, cooking, cleaning, ANYTHING! And I guess that is key...you can truly blog about most anything. What has really drawn me in these last couple month to the bloggin world is reading about these families out there who are having major difficulties and struggles with their little newborn babies. It is just so sad, yet encouraging to see how they are dealing with these issues that arrise in life.

So here is to a new start back into the blogging world. I need some time to think about where to start and catch up on these last nine months since I last blogged!

Heres to just writing my thoughts out, documenting life (no matter how boring it may be), and just having a new hobby in general-- BLOGGING. I'm Back!


Now How do I make this thing cuter?!?!?!

How fast they grow...

3 days old...first day at home!



A week or so old...compare this one to the other bobby pics!

Rolling over already....Sept 9th

I have to admit I am a pretty proud parent. This week Bray has learned to roll from his tummy to his back. But I also have to admit that its because he sleeps on his tummy which pediatricians do not recommend since the risk of SIDS is higher when babies sleep on their tummies. This has been an inner struggle for me the whole time...doing something I knew was not the "best".

I did not plan on Brayden sleeping on his tummy...actually when my 14 year old student, (who became a mother 2 months before me) told me she put her baby to sleep on her tummy I was shocked! For the first couple weeks Brayden could sleep anywhere anytime. At about his fourth week of life he was getting a little harder to get down for naps during the day. One day I was at my parents house and I left and went to the gym while my mom was watching Bray. She put him down for a nap and when I came home I went to check on him and what did I find...my little baby sleeping soundly on his tummy. I was like "Mom! You know they are not supposed to sleep on their tummies!" She of course said yes but that me and my two sisters all slept on our tummies. (If you were born during the 70's or 80's like me, that was a time period where doctors told mothers to let babies sleep on their tummies.) So anyways after this nap where Brayden slept great we slowly transitioned him to sleeping on his stomach. We learned that Brayden actually wanted to be and liked his tummy better. At night we would lay him in his crib on his back for a while. He would be fine and so we would let him lay there for 30-40 minutes. Eventually he would start "talking"...we would come in flip him over to his tummy and his eyes would literally shut. Now when we lay him down on his back at night he immediately starts fussing or "yelling" at us--and I believe this is his way of saying come turn me over. Anyways, all this to say that I have learned as a parent I decide what is best for my kids. Sometimes you just have to do what works. Brayden sleeps great on his tummy, takes good naps, and sleeps through the night. So ultimately yes I am doing something that is not recommended, however I think if I did what was recommended, I think I would have a baby who never sleeps!!! My life as a mother would be a whole lot more stressful and crazy if he did not sleep well. Ultimately I just have to trust God that my little Bray will be ok, and God already knows the whole course that Bray's life will take.

All this to say...babies who sleep on their tummies roll over sooner then babies who sleep on their backs. Last weekend I was looking through my own baby book where my mother chronicled that one night she had to get up with me two times because I had rolled over and could not go back to sleep. It was so funny because that next week I had to do the same thing with Bray. At 4 am one morning I heard him talking...and I thought hmmm, this is odd. I went in and I saw the cutest little face staring up at me. I was so shocked I ran back into the bedroom and called for Steven to come here. Of course Steven thought something was wrong and I had to calm him down. It was so cute to see little Bray there in his crib looking up at us! We were such proud parents. (Its amazing at how you get so excited about such little things!) Congrats Brayden on your accomplishment. (Now you just need to learn how to get back to your tummy so we don't have to get up in the middle of the night! :-)






Brayden doesn't get tummy time, he gets back time!



He loves splishy splashy time! All wrapped up!