The Full of Pictures Post

Three days past Christmas and we are a house full of sick people.
It's been crazy around here.
Having cranky kids (and cranky mom) doesn't help the process much.

I'm sure our house is similar to yours, hustle and bustle and stress that leads you to the big day.

Days after are full of cleaning and sorting.

And questioning...did my daughter really need that expensive new kitchen? Did she really need anything? It is worth having another thing to pick up and dust after?

You know. You think it too.

I love it all though. Really. The alternative is being alone without my hubby or great kiddos.

I'll take busy and stressed over the alternative any day.

Hope you like pictures.

Because baby, if there was ever going to be a "chalked full of pictures post", this is it.

Enjoy.

The children's Christmas program at church. Emma has the same attention span as her mother. Bless her.

Waiting in line to see the jolly ole man. Emma made sure to bring a cut out of the toy she wanted for Christmas. Hmmmm I bet Santa was wishing Emma would have let him know sooner. Just sayin.

Making cookies for Meme and Nana.

Enjoying Christmas Eve merriment with the in-laws.

                            

Emma doing her version of the "Disney Princesses on Ice" care of a pair of stockings and one slippery kitchen floor.

The Joys of Christmas Day.

 

Santa's half eaten cookie and the empty glass of egg nog. He also feed his reindeer with the bag of oats we left out. What a nice guy.

What was Eslea doing amidst this excitement?

I must confess, there were a few things she did on Christmas day that were a joy unto their own.

She chose that day to start talking. Well, her version of talking. Mainly consisting of cooing and babbling but definitely sharing opinions.

She also managed to grab a toy that was hanging from her play area...all by herself. She hung on to that thing for like 5 minutes. Swear.



My favorite part of the day was listening to Emma sing "Happy Birthday Jesus".
I'm leaving the song on my blog for just a few days longer.

I love it.

The "Time sure does fly by" Post

Wow.
It's amazing to me how life flies by.
Like a strong wind that grabs you by the ankles and pulls you along.
Sometimes a larger gust will hit and you get pulled higher and higher thinking that you'll never come down. Life just seems to move faster and faster as you move higher and higher away.
Other times, it slows down and you take a glimpse at your surroundings. You can see all the things at work that need to be done, the friends that you should call for that lunch date, and family time you wish you could wrap up forever like a beautifully decorated Christmas present.
Than there are those times, when the wind actually stops. You hit the ground with a thud, brush yourself off and look around. Only to realize that it has been almost a month since your last post.
Time has dropped you somewhere in the middle of another birthday and Christmas. And most importantly you realize that it's been 3mths since your newest precious joined you on this earth.

Happy Three Months Es!
Thank you for picking me to be your Mommy!
You are my favorite birthday and Christmas gift all rolled into one adorable bundle.

Complete randomness from these past few weeks....
We were not able to visit my family in N. Georgia for our annual Christmas celebration. Thus we missed the snow fall this year.
Yet in order to allow Emma to experience just a tiny taste of the family Christmas spirit, we let her open the gifts my parents brought back from the family celebration.

I love to watch those baby blues of hers light up in excitement.

By the way, that purple unicorn pillow pet she is holding makes her FOURTH pillow pet that she owns.

Every Christmas season I try to find an ornament that symbolizes to me the year that is about to close.
This has been a great year for our family.
I married the man of my dreams and we brought the newest precious addition into our family.
That's a lot of pressure on an ornament.

My favorite........

Now. Going to work on growing my nails a little bit longer so the next time that wind tries to take me for a ride, I'll have a better grip on life. If there is anything I have learned from being the mom of Eslea, is that life is too tender to let any moment go unnoticed.

Not Gonna Rain on My Parade

Sometimes things happen in my life that make time stand still. Really. Or maybe it's just in my own little world, but I swear it stops. Life whirls around like on TV where the characters are moving super slow while everyone is a blur going by. It's kinda like that, only in real life.
It's happened four times in my life now that I can count. The first time was the day my firstborn came into the world. To be exact, it was while I waited to hear those first cries. You know, you've been there, after the final painful push and you know she has arrived finally into the world. You just wait...wait for it. And until you hear those cries, your world stops.
The second time was when I married my soul mate. I adore my husband and right there in front of the tiny circle of wedding guests, time stopped. It happened as I waited for him to say "I do". For a moment I was scared that he might not and time halted ever so briefly.
The other two times only occurred after the birth of Eslea.

One, feeling now like a lifetime ago, occurring as the nurse is telling me that my new beautiful and perfect little baby daughter may have down syndrome. Time almost didn't start again that day...but it did.
And now, I bring you to the fourth and most recent suspension of time in my life. A few days ago we went back to the cardiologist for our continuing every 4 week checkup. This time they did a more recent ultrasound. The last being done on the day she was born. And that's where it happened. Right there in the ultrasound room while the tech was cuddling my precious close to her own chest while doing the scan. I watched the screen and saw her heart...right there. My baby's heart beating and trying so hard to keep on doing so. I saw the mixing of the blood through that very large hole of hers. At the same time, I looked at her so tiny in someone elses' arms knowing that broken heart was just underneath the surface...and it happened again..time stopped. This time I couldn't focus and I couldn't wait for it to start back on it's own. I had to leave the room, forcing time back into my reality.
That day we found out some rather disheartening news. Baby Eslea does not have two holes in her heart like the doctors originally thought, she has three. Worst of all, one of those holes (the VSD) takes up almost 70% of her wall. Her tiny little lungs are failing and she has to have surgery before she is 6 months. Now, we are praying for weight gain because she is still under ten pounds. The bigger the baby , the better the chances of a successful surgery.
On that note and to lighten the mood just a little bit...
I have some hopeful signs of baby leg pudge! Yep! The baby fat is right there, I can see it, just waiting to join us for some serious baby fat squeezin'.

Some fun things from this week:
A little girl who dreams of being a fairy princess...

...with the ability to use magic on her unsuspecting little baby sister.

A little buggie dressed in cute Christmas gear because you gotta look good when going to see your first ever Holiday Parade.

Finally, the sweetest of four year olds making herself even sweeter while examining the candy overload and other goodies she acquired just by flashing her pearly whites at every passing float in the parade.


(Yep, the beads and dollar were part of the haul too.)

Gonna be even a better day tomorrow, so I need me some zzzz's.
Sweet dreams.