If I Had a Hammer I'd Hammer in the Mornin'...

It has a been a while again since my last post.  I have sat down a few times to blog but I have been just too beat.  We have been working on household projects.  Also, because it has been so nice outside (finally) we have been spending A LOT of time outside and that makes me extra sleepy by the end of the day.  And, Emma has really been struggling for the past couple of weeks with not wanting to eat, reflux, spitting up and vomiting.  : (  It has NOT been fun.  Right now, she is kind of in a pattern...  She can go a few weeks without vomiting and then for whatever reason, she will vomit...and, it's like that one time of vomiting reminds her "oh yeah, I vomit...that's what I do..."  : /  and then she has a whole streak of vomiting.  Ugh.  And, we are currently in a streak of vomiting.  : / I don't know if it's teething or what (teething can really exacerbate reflux)...she is drooling a lot and her diapers have been yucky.  Anyway, this is all why you haven't seen a post from me...we have been pretty wiped.  We could really use prayer right now for Emma.

Between all of the craziness, we have been up to other stuff too.  : )  Warning...  LOTS of photos ahead!  : D

I titled this post "If I Had a Hammer I'd Hammer in the Mornin'" because of this...  Jason has been building a fence for the past two mornings. 

When we were first married, I had to show Jason how to hammer a nail...sad but true (don't shoot me, honey).  And, he has slowly become more and more handy as the years have gone by.  : ) 

Our old fence was pretty dilapidated.  Above you will see him tearing down the old fence...

Here he is putting up the new fence.  : )

Oooooo...the new fence complete with a gate!  Way to go, Jason!!  Now we just have to treat it with some sort of protective coating.

While we are on the subject of Jason, here are photos from Father's Day!  I LOVE this sweet photo!

I LOVE this pic too!!!!!!!!!!

Emma the morning of Father's Day.  I love this cute top (Target).

 

"Hey Izzy, I am diggin' this coupe.  THANKS for letting me have it for keeps!!"

Pool time with Emma's cousins Grace and Isabel.

Emma and Izzy.  Emma loves Izzy.  If we are at a store and Emma sees a young girl with blond hair she points and yells, "IZZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh Gracie, you are SO FUN!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Here are a few other fun pics from the past week...

Emma loves books.  This is a Sesame Street book.  She can say quite a few Sesame character names...  "Cookie", "Elmo", "Bert", "Ernie", "Bird" and "Grover".

Silly smile.  : )  Here is Emma in her Guatemalan soccer jersey.  She could not wait to get in the pool!

Watering Mommy's "pweety fwowahs"

My "fwowahs" are WELL WATERED.  ; P

She is getting more and more brave in the water.

Such a sweet and smiley baby girl!  (Yes, she is still a bebe to me!!)  : )

God bless,

IDHTBPTBB

IDHTBPTBB = It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

I have been reading Nester's blog lately...okay, I've been a little bit obsessed with her blog.  *smile* 

I love Nester's blog because I am inspired when I visit it.  I live in a "fixer upper" home and I have a very busy toddler.  I desperately need some fresh inspiration once in a while to keep me interested in our various home improvement projects.  I love Nester's blog because I am inspired to create imperfectly beautiful spaces...working with what we have and working within a budget.

Nester's saying is:  "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful".  In a recent post, she challenged her readers to post pics that are imperfectly beautiful.  So, this is my IDHTBPTBB post (click the photos to enlarge them...if you dare...  *smile and wink*.  : )

I have to give a bit of background...  When we moved into our house, our cabinets were solid wood with a bad orangey (is "orangey" a word?) stain job.  The stain was b.a.d.  It had dried with huge drips down the door fronts and the stain was worn and greasy in spots.  Blech.  We spent months (we're slow...and we're paint sprayer novices) sanding, patching, priming and painting our cabinets white.  We installed new hinges, hardware, etc.  All of the work paid off...we loved the result...

Okay, back to the basket pic...   : )  When we moved in, the cabinet between the refrigerator and the stove did not match the rest of the cabinetry.  : /  It must have been added long after the original cabinetry was installed.  At first, we really did not know what to do about that situation.  We thought about it for months.  Then, it came to me...  We took the door off of the mismatch cabinet and we puttied the hinge holes.  We installed new shelves inside of the cabinet and we painted the cabinet white to match the rest of the cabinets.  We then added baskets and voila...  An open cabinet with basket storage!  Is it perfect?  Nah.  Is it a super professional job?  Hee hee...no.   But, the cabinet looks a lot better now than it used to!

I'll share one more...  : P

I have been wanting to share pics of our casual family room/game room/tv viewing room/play room in the basement but I have held off because it isn't "perfect" yet.  Well, in the true spirit of of keepin' it real and IDHTBPTBB, here is a waaaaaaaay imperfect pic of 1/2 of the room.  This pic was taken today after we had finished lunch.  Emma was napping and Jason decided to take a nap too (don't hate me, Jason...hee hee).  I'll post a LITTLE bit more perfect pics when I have time to clean the place up.  : )  BUT UNTIL THEN...  IDHTBPTBB.

(I will post Father's Day pics soon!!)

God bless,

New Words and "Old" Words

God bless,

Emma's Homecoming Anniversary: She Said

Woohoo...four posts in four days!!!!!  ; D  (You will miss a lot of Emma sweetness if you don't scroll down to check out my latest posts.)  ; D

Jason and I both decided to post today to celebrate Emma's homecoming anniversary (a he said/she said kind of a thing...we both want to share our thoughts about this special anniversary).  Hopefully he'll get around to posting tonight...if not, he'll post tomorrow.  I think that he has a marathon post planned.  : ) 

Here is my post...  : )

At this very moment in time last year, we were on our way home from Guatemala...the three of us...a forever family.  I can't believe that it has been a year.  The time has flown by waaaaaaay too fast.  My baby does not look very much like a baby any longer.  And, honestly, it brings tears to my eyes and it puts a lump in my throat.  Lately, this has been very hard on me and I have tried to make each day, each moment count.  It is exciting to see her grow and progress but it is so difficult to see the baby in her slip away.  If I could, I would freeze her in time...exactly as she is right now so that she could stay this small just a little while longer.  Every day with Emma is a GIFT and I deeply cherish each and every one.  *sniff* 

 

 

The photo on the left was taken one year ago today, right before our plane took off from the airport in Guatemala City.  We were so excited! 

And, the next morning, it was very surreal to wake up to "a baby in OUR HOUSE!!"

Thank you to everyone who stayed up LATE to meet us at the airport with signs.  : )

 

 

We had a WONDERFUL day today celebrating Emma's first homecoming anniversary!!  The "Homecoming Queen" was able to do all of her favorite things today...she had a long stroller ride right after breakfast, she followed Papa around while he mowed the lawn, she had LOTS of outside time and she enjoyed the slide and the swing.  She watched a few of her favorite shows, she colored and gathered crayons and for dinner, she had pizza and carrots and peaches and Popsicles for dessert!!  Pics from today...

 

 

 

Emma and mommy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma LOVES this slide!!

It brings true joy to her heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Papa's lawn shoes!

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmmm..."optacles"

 

 

 

Doing what she does best in the backyard (besides sliding)...RUNNING, running, RUNNING and...

Acting SILLY (Can you say HIGH ENERGY???  Jet fuel, I tell ya...JET.FUEL.)

If you want a hug, you have to hug her "on the run"!

Emma likes LOVES to swing.  (Excuse the spotty shirt...she had just finished licking a Popsicle before this pic was taken)  : )

When we ask Emma to smile, this is the smile that we get.  : )

All in all, we had a wonderful, simple day with all of the things that Emma likes the best.  : ) 

It is AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL to have sweet Emma Grace in our lives and we thank God for her.

Before I sign off for the night, please visit my sweet friend Tricia's blog.  Please consider donating a few dollars so that a tiny orphanage in Guatemala will be able to have a Christmas party this year...  Please consider donating...  You could win a prize if you do...  Every dollar counts.  And, if you do donate, you will be able to bring smiles to the faces of many, many children.

God bless,

A Heartwarming Photo, Phone Troubles and Internet Troubles

Wow...three posts, complete with photos, in three days!  ; D  : )  : P  Way to go, Tera.  ; P

Jason and I purchased a Mother's Day basket through Mayan Families for the mother of Caterina...our sponsored student in Guatemala.  Over 270 baskets filled with food, along with a BBQ chicken, were purchased by sponsors for the mothers of their sponsored students.  The majority of the baskets were handed out right around Mother's Day but about 26 baskets (including Caterina's mother's basket) were handed out this past week.  While I was visiting the Mayan Families website today, I was so excited to find a photo of Caterina with her mother and her Mother's Day basket!  How wonderful!

I have a video of Emma to post but I am not able to upload it.  We had a storm in the past few days.  Lightening struck our telephone poll and it knocked out our phone service and our wireless internet service.  The connection that I am borrowing from someplace in our neighborhood is too weak for uploading videos.  : /  Our phone got fixed yesterday...hopefully our internet will also be fixed ASAP.

God bless,

Embassy Day: One Year Anniversary

One year ago today, we had our embassy appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City.  It is unreal to think about it. 

This week, Michelle's family also celebrated their embassy day anniversary and she said, "I can’t believe it has been a year and that it has only been a year".  That is exactly how I feel.

Last June, we had an incident filled/event filled/tumultuous/crazy stay in Guatemala...  I arrived in mid May and tried to help Emma the best that I could with her transition.  I was able to go to appointments with her...her passport appointment, her embassy doctor appointment, etc.  I also met some wonderful fostering mamas and their babies...so, there were many positive and not-so-tumultuous things about our stay.  However, there were also many crazy, stressful you-can't-make-this-up incidents...  The stove exploded where Emma and I were staying in Antigua, Emma became very ill with rotavirus and dehydrated and we stayed in a tiny hospital in Antigua together for a few days.  We then left the house where we were staying in Antigua about a week early so that we could be in Guatemala City at the Westin hotel, closer to Emma's pediatrician.  Jason arrived a few days before our embassy appointment and we had planned to spend time in Antigua together as a family but Emma was still pretty sick and Jason got sick...he was so sick that the night before our embassy appointment, he was vomiting and passing out (literally) and we had to call a doctor to the hotel.  Oh golly, what a trip!  We had discussions with our agency the night before our embassy appointment about whether or not we should attempt to postpone our embassy appointment because of Jason's illness but we decided to tough it out. 

Embassy day was amazing.  It marked the end of the journey.  The next day, we received Emma's passport and visa...receiving that visa and the "secret" immigration packet was so amazing...it was incredible to think that we were free to leave Guatemala with Emma!  A couple of pics from embassy day...

Our family on embassy day.

Jason and Emma enjoying a few minutes in the pool on embassy day.

Emma, I love you.  You are a treasure and my dream come true.  We will always remember the events that brought you to us...the fun, wonderful, amazing events and the stressful and tumultuous events as well.  You are precious, you are special, you are loved.

God bless,

Sliding, Swimsuits and My Man with the Fuzzy Pink Purse

I will cover those topics in just a sec but first, before I forget...  Here are a few of Emma's new sayings from the past week:

"Oh maaaaaaaaan!!!"  (Translation:  Oh man.  LOL.)

and

"Mmmmmmm...that's-ah good!!"  (I have no idea why she says "thats'ah"...it kinda sounds Italian...LOL.)

and

"Mmmmmmm...that's a chip!!"

and

"Pizza"

and

"Optacle"  (Translation:  Popsicle.)

and

"Jimmy"  (Emma has been calling my brother Jimmy "Gigi" for a long time.  As of this week, she can now officially pronounce "Jimmy" correctly.  Let's just say that "Gigi" is very happy about this new development.)

and

"Mommy"  (Emma has been able to say "Mama" for some time and "Mommy" for the past couple of weeks.  But, this week, she has REALLY been using "Mommy" all of the time.  I LOVE IT!!!)

Okay, onward.  : )

Still working on basement odds and ends...and, we probably will be for some time...well, 'cause we're slow.  ; P  And, because we bought a "fixer upper" house, we are always working on something.  : D 

I picked out the pics today that I plan to hang above the downstairs sofa.  Emma and I went to Michael's to buy frames.

Here are a few pics from the past week or two.  : )

Emma loves this slide.  After she used it at my sister's house and loved it so much, my sister gave it to Emma and it now resides in our backyard.  : )

 

 

 

 

I LOVE Emma's smile in this photo.

 

It has not been very warm at all this spring.  But the other day, it was warm enough to wear a swimsuit and to fill Emma's swimming pool for the afternoon.  She had LOADS of fun!  Here are a few pool pics...

 

 

 

 

 

This is a fun photo.  : )  It's an overhead view of Emma in the jogging stroller.  : )

When it's nice outside, Emma and I take long stroller rides in the morning. 

She likes to take her shoes off mid ride and put her feet up.  Hee Hee.  : )  I just had to take a photo of my little lounger.

 

 

My little Munchkin.  : )

This shirt...  It was my shirt and I wore it when I was about Emma's age.  : )  My Grandma sews and she likes to use up patches, extra trim and ribbon to decorate play shirts.  It is very special to see Emma wear my baby clothes.

 

 

 

 

Collecting rocks.  : )

Real men carry fuzzy pink purses.

God bless,