Sweet Tears

Dear Emma,
I had such a mommy moment with you today! I got some wonderful alone time with you this afternoon, while Eli was napping and daddy was at work. I was holding you in my arms, and whispering in your ear. I was saying whatever came into my mind about how I feel about you. I whispered to you that I love you so much, You are the most beautiful baby girl, you are so sweet, and so smart, and you fill my life with so much joy. I was saying so many things, to which you slowly fell asleep hearing. Then all of a sudden tears started falling form my eyes! I sat there just peacefully crying tears of joy while holding you. I guess I wouldn't label it as "crying," so much as letting tears fall. I find myself tearing up at the strangest times, and I wonder sometimes if I'm the only one who cries when my baby first smiles, or looks at me? Or when Eli was having so much fun watching the pig race yesterday at the fair, I TOTALLY teared up! Hahahahahahaha... I just take so much delight in seeing you guys grow and enjoy new things. Just like I hurt and feel sad when you guys are sick or feeling sad. Today I had such a random thought of when my mom used to put on Anne of Green Gables, and serve us ice cream, and we would watch it together and have the best time! Looking back now I can see how it gave her joy to do something fun with us girls. Or when she would wrestle with my brother, and well, all of us, and we would be laughing hysterically! I can see now, that she did those things for us, and to enjoy family time. It's so fun coming up with my own ideas for Eli and you. You are still a bit young for activities other then being help and talked to ;) But I take great pleasure in holding you, and talking to you :) I love all the stages you are going through and I savor each one. You have already seemed to grow and change so much!

So after doing some reading, asking around, and praying, I decided to take on a whole other responsibility in choosing foods for our family. I am now involved in reading food labels, buying more organic, and making my own food here at home with better ingredients. This is not something I am going to make myself crazy over, but it is something I am taking the time to do for my family. I don't think that what we bought and made before was all that bad or anything, I just felt certain convictions on going a step further. I am very happy with our decision as a family to eat healthier than we were before, (which was pretty healthy, just different). I had no idea how much information was out there on the food that you choose and the benefits of making the one huge change that we decided to make. Your daddy is very well educated in this field thankfully, and so he has been my shoulder to lean on, and my super helper in grocery shopping. He is so encouraging when I go to the store now, and he eats all my experiments! He loved the cookies I made today that have different ingredients! I think you will like them too someday! :) Oh, and your daddy has been cooking a lot lately! That has been so nice! I hope you get your cooking skills from him, and your baking skills from me ;) He really is a better cook than I, but I can totally out bake him ;) heehee...

I'm so happy we get those treasured moments together. I love you so much Emma. You are a jewel. Well, your bro just woke up and needs some good snuggle time before we all go play outside! 

You, your brother and I at the LA County Fair yesterday!

You were such a trooper there! Made it easy on me ;)

The Beautiful Facts

Emmasita!

Dear Emma,
So we call you many things. One name will warp into another, into another and then into all sorts of names that are not your own, but that we call you all the time! Hahahaha! It all started with Emmasita! Don't know why that came so naturally to both of us, but it did! That was shortened to Sita... So we found ourselves calling you Sita, then Seets, then Emma-bella-sita, then just bella-sita... Hahahaha, so around here, you are known as Bella-sita! :) Oh but we're not finished! We also call you little Em, Em"n"Em, Sita-Leeta, and really, so much more! The rest of the names we call you are more terms of endearment that didn't originate from your own name :)

Last night was a tough one. You just didn't want to sleep. your daddy and I were up for most of the night, and when we were all finally getting some sleep this morning, your daddy's phone range and woke everyone up! Yeeps!!! Oh well, we survived, haha.

Yesterday we went to your uncle C.J. and auntie Jessica's place to have pizza and hang out. We had so much fun just being with family. Nic wanted to hold you a lot, and so we let him :) He held you one last time before we left, and you projectile spit up and it just missed him! Hahahaha, it was funny because your cousin Nic is super grossed out by that kind of stuff. He won't even kiss Eli because of "slobber." He will hug babies, but no kissing because he doesn't like to get drool on himself. Hahahaha! Thankfully you missed him with your spit up. Your auntie Meliss and Megan were there, and they held you a lot too, and then played chase with Eli. They are so good with kids, and babies :) They usually have Nic and Eli following them around by the end of the night, and you will probably jump right in when you are able to play :) But for now, everyone just passes you around and loves to hold you. Mommy and daddy barely see you when we are around family, but we love it! We are blessed to have such a loving, supportive family.

Man, with two babies now, we are in such a routine, and it's hard to stray from that for now. We have nap times, and bed times worked out like clockwork, and have a system of doing things that works great for us right now. It will change soon, but it's funny how planning to hang out with friends, or go out somewhere has to be more in advance now. We are usually pretty flexible, but now we actually like to have a plan in place earlier than later if we are going to be doing something. Maybe half of that is so that we can mentally prepare ;) Evenings are not good for us either because that's actually our family calm down time :) Eli eats dinner, then we have to get him all ready for bed, and then have him in bed by 8pm. He usually falls right asleep and never puts up a fight. In fact, he starts to collect his animals, and then points to his room around that time. Hahaha... But when we have people over, he won't go to sleep. He has trouble staying in his routine if people are here. You like to sleep as well around his bed time, and that's when mommy and daddy kind of take a rest and chill out on the couch together not having much energy to do anything else. Haha!

Emma Feet :)

Almost 1 month old... Where does the time go?

Our first real family portrait since you were born! Exciting!

Your brother and you :)

You are such a great eater! You nurse on demand, and have been able to do so since minutes after you were born! Thank Jesus for two babies who gave me no troubles in nursing! I was told by soooooooooooooooooo many people that it's very hard, and there are all these terrible stories, but you guys had mercy on me and latched right on! Nothing I did, you are the pro here ;) I love nursing you, It's our time :) I told your daddy it's like our time to just sit together, and have such a strong connection. I think it's pretty cool. Plus, you helped mommy's tummy go back down faster. Nursing helps in making the uterus go back to normal :) in the hospital, every time I nursed you, I would feel really uncomfortable cramping in my lower stomach and I didn't quite know what the connection was. Then the doctor told me that when I nurse, it stimulates the contractions that help my uterus to go back. Crazy! The body is a pretty awesome thing Emma. God sure did think of everything! I like how my tummy feels now. It's all soft and fun! I have a tummy that reminds me I got to carry you and your brother, and what a blessing that was. :) Ok, ok, ok, I'll get going now, I was kind of rambling on and on. Hahahaha... T.M.I.??? heehee... I love you Emma-bella-sita! You make me smile, you fill my heart with joy, and you bless me every day.

I Would so Much Rather...

Dear Emma,
Hi! I just got through kissing your soft little cheeks, and now I am here writing you a letter. But I keep wanting to walk back over to you (although you are sleeping) and hold you :) You are so darn cute!

Although I am one of those people, (please don't judge me) who likes to clean, and keep up with the house work, I would much rather spend time with my babies! It's so nice when you guys are these ages because you also want to spend time with mommy! I don't want to miss out on any of it ;) So, when the choice comes to either load the dishwasher or hold you, I would rather hold you. When I'm enjoying wrestling with your brother on the floor, the toys can wait to be put away. Although I enjoy cleaning, laundry, and baking, I have been able to see how much more important it is to enjoy my babies! I always say to myself, that God, your daddy, you and your brother take priority in my life. Your daddy and I always make sure to spend a good amount of time together, and we also enjoy spending time all together as a family. We pray together in the evening, and that's one of my favorite times.

Your daddy was just talking with me the other day about how he knows it's his responsibility to lead this family and sometimes that's a lot of weight! He said it's a good weight, but heavy at times nonetheless. He thinks about things I never thought of as being on his mind a lot. I have to say, it's nice to know he is not only thinking on these things, but acting them out in order to help his family grow spiritually and emotionally. I want you to have an idea of this Emma, because I know your daddy will always be loving you, protecting you, and desiring good things for you. He loves his family, and so do I. We want good things for our babies. We pray for you kids every day, multiple times a day. Even when it seems to you that we are being not understanding or unfair, just have the peace inside that we are always making decisions through prayer and the wisdom we pray for as well. We may not always be right, or make all the right decisions, but take comfort in the FACT that we love you, we care about your well being, and we will always do our best to understand you, and nurture the things in you that God wants to grow. :)

Today has been a funny sort of day! I usually clean when you guys take naps, since I enjoy it so much, and today it feels like it took me no time at all to do all sorts of house work during your naps! I mean, I got so much done in such a short amount of time! Hahaha, it's crazy! It feels like the day is in slow motion, but I'm moving a mile a minute! Feels kind of nice to do what I like doing, and also have a clean kitchen floor. It's usually filled with blueberries, cheese, and juice! Sticky floors are one of my pet peeves, but I have managed to get over it for now since it's a daily occurrence, raining food that it... BUT, I still attack it when I can ;)

I was sitting between you and Eli yesterday in the car while your daddy was running into the store. I looked at both of you, and just said out loud, "I am such a blessed mommy! I love you guys so much! Look how freakin cute you are!!!" Hahahahaha... It just came out! I was all of a sudden overwhelmed with pride and joy in my sweet babies, and felt truly blessed to know you both! Then Eli pinched me, and you projectile threw up on me, and the moment was over! Hahahahaahaa, just kidding, the moments continues! :) Your brother has started a new thing... Pinching... Not very nice huh? We have no idea where in the world he learned it or how he picked it up??? It's puzzling... Then again, we have no clue how he learns lots of thing, for example, his sour faces. No clue. Now when he pinches we have to tell him how it hurts us, and not to do that. The only thing is, he thinks it's really funny, and it's hard not to laugh. We don't laugh in front of him, but it is so hard! I for one, have never pinched your brother, and neither has your daddy! hahahahahaha! So, why the heck do we have a pincher on our hands? Good question... We will never know...

You little missy have a very cute sad face... Sometimes you wake up crying because you want to be held or fed, and you make your little frown, and your lips pop out and you look so stinkin' cute! You and your brother both have the best sad faces in the world! You guys could melt an ice sculpture with those frowns! Why an ice sculpture you may ask, and I would answer, It was the first cold thing that came to mind... hahaha!

Ok, well I better go. I have to go rest for a bit before you two wake up and need me to play! :) Love you Emma Lee Holland!

You made it to your grandma's 60th birthday party!