Stuff

First and foremost…  On April 27th two years ago, Emma legally became OUR DAUGHTER!  I will never forget that day.  I thank the Lord everyday that our sweet Emma Grace is in our lives.  She is a GIFT!!  We love you so much, Emma!!

A few pics for you from our outing at Minnehaha Falls…

One of my new favorite photos!

The trees are budding.  : )

Emma and Papa enjoying the falls.

May is going to be an interesting month for us…  We have lived in our little rambler for about five years and we have wanted to do something with the exterior of our home since the day that we moved in.  However, we have spent all of our time, money and energy working on the inside of our house.  Well, we have put off working on the exterior of home long enough…our shingles are crumbling on the edges and we are the only home on the block that still has original siding.  So, there will be a few big changes this month and into June.  Our roof is going to get new shingles, we are going to get a few new windows and we are going to get new siding!  Our house isn’t even going to look like the same house!

A swatch of the approximate color of our soon-to-be new siding:

Our soon-to-be new shingle color:

Shutters:

 

Basic and classic.  My stomach turns a little when I think of the money that we are going to have to put into these projects.  But, in the end, I know that I will be happy with the outcome…not only do we need to do this for maintenance purposes but I know that our house will look a million times better.  : )

God bless,

Tera

Easter 2009 and a Bonus Video

We had a great Easter!  I hope that you did too.  : )  Sorry that it has taken me a while to post pics!

Before Easter it started to warm up a bit.  See how HAPPY Emma is to have her slide back?

The last SPECK of snow/ice in our yard.  Bye bye winter!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Coloring eggs.  : )  We could not let Emma dunk them…she was ready to squish all of the eggs and bathe our entire kitchen in PAAS Easter egg colors!!  : O  That’s my girl!  Hee hee!

She was all smiles…

and then…

about two minutes later…

 

Rut roah!  Please don’t hate me because I posted this.  : )  Please keep visiting my blog…hee hee.  ; D  The tears didn’t last long…I promise…maybe a minute tops.  Smiles one minute and tears the next.  She’s TWO…hee hee.  : )  Isn’t that just how it goes?

The pwetty, pwetty eggs in all of their cracked glory.  : D  I think that the toddler finger hole imprint is PRECIOUS!  : D

The loot!

My sweet girl!!

“STICKERS???!!”

Okay…

A blast from Easter’s past…

Here is a photo of Emma…Easter 2008…just one year ago…

Awwwwwwwwwwww….that BABY FACE!!  I want to smooch those cheeks!  Okay, back to the present…  : D

This photo and the photos below are from the past week.  We are LOVING the fabulous weather (60s and 70s, breezy and no humidity)!

Emma has a new toy…a sand and water table.  : )

She LOVES it!

Okay…a video for you…Emma “reading” to her Papa.  : )

Turn off my blog music player in the left column and then play the video below.  : )

 

God bless,

Tera

The Crib Has Been Converted

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon converting Emma’s crib to a toddler bed and re toddler proofing her room. 

Emma has been able to swing her leg over the crib bar and shimmy out of her crib for months and months…however, we purchased The Cozy Crib Tent when we first discovered that she could swing her leg up and over the crib bar and the crib tent purchase bought her a few additional months in her crib.  BUT, with that said, she eventually shredded her poor crib tent and created a hole that was so large, she was able to fit her entire body through it.  So, we decided that the time had come to convert her crib into a toddler bed.

Evidence as to WHY a crib conversion was necessary!!   : O

A photo of the converted crib.  I absolutely LOVE this crib and Emma does too…it was one of my favorite purchases when we decided on items for Emma’s room.

After we converted the crib to a toddler bed, we re toddler proofed her room since she is now able to get out of bed at will and wander about.  We removed her large, upholstered rocking chair out of the room (she has just started to use it to reach items on the top of her book shelf).  We moved her changing table to our room because she is now able to climb up to the top of it using the drawer pulls (YIKES!)  We also secured her bookshelf to the wall because she is trying to use it as a jungle gym (she’s a climber).  We recovered a few of her outlets that were exposed due to moved furniture and we moved a little fan (aka the noise maker) to the top of her book shelf.  Her room is pretty stripped down.  She has her toddler bed, a book shelf and a soft mini chair along with a few stuffed animals and board books.

Reading a story with Papa before bedtime.  : )

So, are you wondering how Emma did last night…her first night in her toddler bed?  She did really well!!  She woke up one time and was a bit disoriented but after a few hugs from Papa, she went right back to sleep.  : )

I love you, sweet girl!  You are getting SO BIG, SO quickly!!  (Slow down…just a wee bit…Mommy’s heart is hurting just a little…)  ; )

God bless,

Tera

Wedding Weekend

Well, it’s official…my little brother is now a married man!  Congratulations, Jimmy and Lesa!!

Saturday afternoon was the main event.  Then, came the dinner and the dance and today was the gift opening.  Fun, fun, fun!

Jason looked handsome in his tuxedo (he was the best man) and little Emma was a beautiful little flower girl!  She walked down the aisle with my nieces and the ring bearer without any hesitation (we weren’t sure if she would really do that or not) and she sat quietly while playing with the rose petals in her basket during the service.  She was the PERFECT little flower girl!!  We were so proud of her!

TONS and tons of pics!!  Enjoy…

I put Emma in her highchair and I supplied her with Little People and one of her favorite shows and I was able to pop in a few rollers.

I LOVE this photo!  This is a classic Emma smile!  I love mirror reflection photos, don’t you?  : )  When we arrived at the church, we checked out the room that was set aside for the ladies to get dressed and ready for the wedding.  Emma loved checking herself out in the full length mirror.  : )

Emma in her pwetty dwess.  ; )

SO BEAUTIFUL!!

The flower girls:  My nieces Grace and Isabel and little Emma.  : )

My beautiful nieces!

Another reflection photo…isn’t the back of this dress adorable?

One more reflection photo…LOVE IT!

My niece Grace drew this sweet little drawing on the white board in the women’s dressing area.  I thought that it was so sweet!

 

All of the ladies.  : )  It was difficult to get Emma to smile a sweet smile for the camera.  The photographer was able to get a few rascally smiles like this one.  : )

During the photo session, Emma started to get very sleepy!

My sister and her family.

Looks like a wonderful Christmas card pic, don’t you think?

Jimmy and Lesa…the happy couple!

The reception was a lot of fun, the dinner was tasty and the cake (3 flavors) was delish!

Kisses from Mommy.  : )  Shortly after dinner, Emma fell asleep.  She had had a very long day.  I felt bad for her because all day, she kept talking about the “dance party” and by the time we were all ready to kick up our heels, Emma was ready to crash!

The happy couple dancing their very first dance as a married couple.  Don’t they look SO HAPPY???

After Emma took a little snooze, she was able to dance just a little bit.  : )

As I close this post, I will use a few of the words from Jason’s toast…

Jimmy and Lesa…

“As you set out on your new life together may the Lord bless and enrich your lives with the love you have for each other and the love He has for you both.”

and…from me…

May the Lord bless and keep you both and may you experience true joy as you walk in the path that He (Jesus) has set before you.

God  bless,

Tera

Goin’ to the Chapel

…’cause my brother’s gettin’ maaaaarried!!

Pics of my brother Jimmy and his fiance Lesa’s wedding can be found here early next week.  Emma is going to look beautiful in her flower girl dress!

God bless, Tera

Miscellaneous Fun Pics

I have a few pics to post from the past month or so…but first, a shout out…to a fellow Minnesota Mama-preneur (Uh oh…did I just make up a new word?)…

Lynda from Life at the Lunds takes socks and embellishes them oh SO sweetly!

Lynda is the creative lady behind Sox that Rock.

My favorite Sox that Rock socks:

*  Polka dot ruffles (all colors)

* Chocolate covered cherries

*  White eyelets

*  Watermelon buttons (SO CUTE)

 

Lynda sent Emma Grace a really adorable pair of socks just like this. I love that they match so many different outfits.

AND

She sent a matching pink and white hairbow. So cute!  Thanks, Lynda!

 

We love Toddler Tuesdays at the Mall of America.  Every week on Tuesday, there is something fun for toddlers and it’s FREE.  And, there is a discount on the tickets for rides in the park.  AND, kids eat for free in several of the restaurants.  It’s great fun!

Emma loves to ride the carousel!!  She either chooses the pig or the white horse.

LOVES the carousel!!

Another sight from the mall…  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a true child of the 80’s and I am all for giving a nod to blasts from the past…however, I am just not sure that I will be sporting the earrings with the matching colored plastic pearls…ever. again.  My eyes just about popped out when I saw these!  : D  Are they really back?

This photo is currently Jason’s desktop.  I LOVE the JOY on Emma’s face in this photo.  She is such a fun, spirited little lady.  I am so grateful for the gift of Emma.

I am enjoying the fresh air streaming though my windows today.  I am VERY excited for spring.  Are you?  : )

God bless,

Tera

Happy Sunday

We’re feeling a bit better around here!!  So, so, soooooo glad for that!!!!!!!!!

God bless,

Tera