Christmas 2010

It was quite a memorable Christmas with it being Emersyn's first and yet at the same time one we'd like to forget with my dad in the hospital.  Thank God for the Moskals, we did get to have a very nice Christmas Eve with them and there was even a visit from Santa!  When he was leaving, I said, "Maddie say goodbye to Santa" and she replied, "Bye Santa!" then turned to me and said, "Mommy, that's just Grandpa."  Oh well, so much for fooling the four year-old!  One of my favorite things this year was dressing the girls in their matching PJ's and dresses.  Chris summed it up by giving me a cool wooden plaque to hang in the family room that says, 'Thank heaven for little girls!"  I love it!

We went up to PA with Geordie and Mary on the 26th to see my Nana and family.  Here is Maddie with her 2nd cousin Aiden. 

 

Lights, Camera, Smiles!

I took the girls to get Christmas pictures and some portraits now that Emersyn is sitting up.  Life has been so busy that I actually scheduled pictures the same day as Emersyn's 6 month check-up which includes shots.  And yes, pictures after the shots.  Well I decided to go with it and hope for the best and here's what happened.  We left the house in a mad rush (as we often do) for Emmie's doctor appointment and I got pulled over for speeding in a construction zone near our house.  The road has always been 35 mph, but they purposely dropped it to 25 mph to get people to slow down.  Well on autopilot, I went my normal speed (ok, maybe a little faster, see part above about being in a rush) and got caught.  The cop turned out to be a pretty nice guy and dropped the charge to "failure to obey a highway sign."  Well needless to say, we missed the doctor's appointment in the morning.  I was able to reschedule to later in the day and we moved the picture appointment earlier.  So Emersyn was her happy self since she hadn't had her shots yet and she just smiled the entire time.  Maddie did great too; she's a pro by now.  So other than the cost of the ticket, I guess it worked out!  Here are some of my favorites.

Just for Fun

I put Emersyn back in her Christening dress to take some pictures in her room.  Aunt Kim sent Emmie and Maddie these adorable personalized quilts as baptism gifts, so we got them in the shots.  Maddie is always  my little assistant when we take pictures.  For some reason though, she's always in her PJ's and then wants to get in too!

Emersyn's Baptism

We had Emersyn baptized this past Sunday and it was a wonderful celebration.  The week leading up to her baptism was a very tough week as I mourned the sudden loss of my coworker and close friend Kelley, my boss Suzan's daughter.  As I hugged Suzan at the service, I'll never forget her words, "Go home and hug those little girls and never stop hugging them."  I will try every day from here on out to take her advice and honor Kelley's memory by not taking life for granted and appreciating the blessings that we have in Madeline and Emersyn.  It was very nice to have a celebration of life at the baptism and we do feel so blessed!

 

Emersyn is 4 Months....Wait, Make That 5 Months!!!

It is so hard to believe that the last time I posted pictures, Emersyn was 3 months!  It was funny to read what I wrote just 2 short months ago.  Little Emmie has become quite the chill, easy, happy baby.  So much so that I wish we could freeze time at this age.  I feel like with Madeline, we were always looking ahead to the next phase like starting solids, crawling, first tooth, walking, etc.  This time around, I know all those things will come way too quickly and before we know it, Emersyn will be 4 years old!  Emmie continues to be easily entertained by anyone and everyone, but especially by Maddie.  Her smile just melts our hearts.  It has been a pretty crazy few months with lots of ups and downs and Emersyn has been the bright spot through it all.  She is sleeping through the night, sometimes more than 12 hours.  Maddie loves her baby sister and says often and spontaneously, "Mommy, I'm so glad I have a baby sister."  Here are some random pictures from the last 2 months.