Emma's first prayer (on her own)

YAY!  I wondered when this would happen!  Emma is pretty good about repeating what we say during prayers.  Lately, she's been asking to pray several times while eating; sometimes at the time of getting more of something, or just because;0

Tonight, she asked "mama, pray again?  to Jesus" followed by a cutie of a little smile ;)  So I prayed with her again.  Specified some things about today that we are grateful for: Tia Cherrie and Caden for letting her come play this am/watch her;0, Tere, for watching her this afternoon, Tia Ann for giving Papa a ride home, Tia Diana for teaching Mama to make salsa, for Papa for making dinner (incase you were wondering what our day consisted of!)

A few minutes later, she asked "mama, pray again?" and I said, "Sure, what would you like to pray for?" When I've asked before she just repeats Jesus but this time she said the following (while I repeated after her;0)

"Jesus, thank you for toys, papa, mama (repeated papa/mama a few times;0), poo poo...A-MEN!"

Just melted my heart!  Had to document it, it literally JUST happened.  Have a fab weekend!

Super Cute

Where is everyone?! ;0  Did y'all tune out since I'm not checking in as often?  Just checkin'...
anyhow...just had to send this beautiful reminder I found here: Lay Baby Lay.  neat little blog i will have to check out more when i'm not so zombie;0

Little Interruptions

September 18 Little Interruptions by Barbara Rainey Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Philippians 2:2 As moms, we get to deal with such exciting things as spit up, poopy pull-ups, and frogs and lizards escaping in the house. So how do you balance all of that with the desire to be an attractive, romantic, interesting wife? One key is to remember that your children are third on your list of priorities. They cannot be more important to you than their father and certainly not more important than your heavenly Father. A wise woman said to me years ago, “Honey, one child will take all your time, two children will take all your time and so will three. It doesn’t matter how many children you have; they will take all your time.” And she’s right . . . if you let them. It’s up to you whether or not you save at least some of your energy, time and attention for your husband. When you pay attention to your husband, children begin to see that their needs and desires don’t have to be met immediately. They learn patience when they have to wait for you to finish your tasks, your conversation . . . or your kiss! A healthy marriage creates security in their hearts and minds. Plus they can learn responsibility and greater independence when you and your husband leave them (well supervised, of course) to go on a date or a weekend away. They need an occasional break from you, just like you do from them! Yes, children are often little interruptions, but keeping your husband a higher priority is the first step in balancing the roles of wife and mother. Discuss Perhaps this sounds very freeing for you. Or perhaps it sounds selfish and unkind. Talk about how you feel about putting limits on the time you spend with your children so that you can spend time with each other. Discuss a regular time each week when you can have a date night together. Pray Ask God for the wisdom to set aside time for one another to invest in your marriage relationship. **THIS WAS AN EMAIL FROM 'MOMENTS WITH YOU' CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE FOR THESE MARRIAGE DEVOS**

Emma Turns 2 Two

We are finally here!  FINALLY?!  Yes, I know you've been waiting on pins and needles for these photos, right?! hehehehehe.....

There are a TON of photos, and some captions to go along as well as some random rambling...ENJOY!

THE PREPARATION
I have to confess...it was back in March (I believe) that I was leisurely spending time online when I came across a 'Tutus and Ties' birthday party theme.  You know, back when TWO NAPS a day and FOUR HOURS of free time allowed for such things ;0  Emma loves tutus and is SURROUNDED by little boys in our families, so I thought it would be great fun to make this the theme of her second birthday! (um and I may have a little mom-guilt from not making a big fuss over her first bday?!  who knows...)  I did LOTS of research, and started EARLY with attempts to see if this was indeed the path we wanted to take....

and all signs pointed to YES - LET'S DO THIS!  this is the tutu that my sister Diana and I made for Emma (followed by 7 tutu skirts for invited guests)

the next step was attempting a tie pattern I found online.  AND the help of Grandma Boyd (and her lovely assitant, the sewing machine ;0)

...SUCCESS...here are all 18 of the ties that we made ;0 (yes - i did HELP - I ironed, folded/pinned and turned them outside in ;0)

Once we figured the tutus and ties out, it was time to attempt some recipes to see if this mama could pull it off..

..my lovely assistant helping frost the cookies ;0

and taking a break...because it was so tiring?!  or because more sampling was needed?! ;0

It all worked out SO...we were officially underway with all party planning for the official party!!

THE DAY

Em's birthday morning, she was anxious to help me make her pancakes ;0

she even took her own plate to her highchair ;0

When Papa left for work that day, we found a gift waiting on the doorstep!  Emma tore in to it!

It was perfect!  It was from Tia Ann (Un, as Em pronounces ;0), Jessica, Paige & Jayce

That week, Jamba Juice was having $1 drinks, so we ended our week there...and apparently Emma needed to sample everyone's :)

We were bummed that our fave photog was not avail, and we headed to Picture People.  SURPRISINGLY...we had a very successful visit!  Although I was tempted to take my disgruntled child out of the studio on several occasions (because she was refusing to sit still, wear the dress or smile ;0...and was throwing fit after fit), with the persistence from Papa and the photographer, we got some GREAT shots!!

THE PARTY

Since Nani and Popi were underway with their OFFICIAL MOVE TO CALI, we opted to save the party day until later in the month when they could be here to celebrate with us!!

We had some prepping to do leading up to the party

couldn't have done it without my helpers!!

Em's newest cousin-cousin, Elise!!

the display/pick up area for tutus and ties

my dear friend dawn who happened to be in town from LA!  such a treat to have her stop by

the beautiful Paige;0

my little(?) niece Jenaya - who started Jr High this year...oye time flies!

Popi on the 'que (with his designer glasses ;0)

I think it was such a treat for Tyler to have his parents here for this!  I know he's longed to have them be a part of stuff for years, especially since Emma was born...and now they live 20 minutes away!

my girl Kimmie ;0

Charrie and Caden ;0

Papa sporting his grandma made tie 

my brother Jeff and his grandson, Julius - what a cutie!

my precious ;0

doesn't he look like a little model?!

an attempt for a family photo (thank you, Thomas!)

Em having a ball!

dessert table (cutting and passing out cake last year was very stressful for me for some reason, so I opted for stress-free sweets this time around-THANK YOU, NANI AND CHARRIE FOR YOUR HELP ;0)

precious Lita ;0

...and a wardrobe change ;0 - made her do it, we did spend an hour+ making this puppy!

CUTIE PIE!

Thank you, Tia for your tutu making abilities ;0

Tera and Lyla ;0

we TRIED to  get a pic of all the kiddos in their tutus and ties...but all the parent's wanted their own photo so we couldn't capture them all...here's Thomas' attempt

Emma loving on Elise!

CAKE TIME!

let the sugar highs begin!

seriously, such a photogenic little lady, if I do say so myself!

she loved having her own cake to dig in to ;0

DOESN'T HE LOOK LIKE A MODEL HERE?!

such a treat to have some sweet girlfriends make it!

...and then there were 3 ;0

we just had all the gorgeous boys at our party ;0  ANOTHER little model shot!!- great job capturing all of these, Thomas!

father-son shot ;0  Love that Matt joined Tyler in wearing a tie!

my sibs and their kids ;0

Emma in her chair ready for gifts!

I think Josh was feeling left out, so he grabbed an extra tie and joined the fun!

 

LOVE that, at the park, if you're not in to what the bday girl is doing (or are a child and need to keep busy;0) you can still be 'there' without being RIGHT there!

adorable shot of little Miss Millie! And Steph!

what a cute pair!  such a blessing to get to have Thomas, Steph & Justin here again for Em's bday party!

the only three ladies wearing tutus ;0

Ahhh...what a fun month, really, it was celebrating little Miss Em!  We cannot believe she is TWO already.  Such a blessing this little girl is.

If you'd like to see ALL 588 pics taken at the party ;0  click here