Life as Mrs. Emerson

It is with great joy that we share the birth of our daughter Sarah Elizabeth born September 27 at 11:00 am.   Weight: 9 lbs 1 oz Length: 20.5 inches

We love family fun days!  After enjoying a Madcap puppet show we enjoyed dinner at Brandon's favorite IHOP!  We have now been in our new home for three months.  Our hearts are beyond thankful at the Lord's good gift of blessing us with a home that we love so much that is so close to Brandon's new job.  When we began looking for a home I doubted that we would be able to find what we were looking for but the Lord had other ideas!  I'm still amazed that we found this little haven so quickly.  It is our prayer that God would use our home to bless and encourage all who enter it. This month Eva has been obsessed with art.  She spends hours drawing, painting, coloring, using pastels, and even this aquadoodle mat.    This month we enjoyed a wonderful visit from Brandon's parents who came all the way from Arkansas.  It's always great to see Nina & Poppy Steve.  They haven't seen our home since the weekend we moved in so i...

I just wanted to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas!  We just moved (as in we moved less than a month ago) so we are sticking close to home this Christmas.  I'm looking forward to sharing more frugal ideas, organization hints, and tips for intentional living in the following weeks.  For now I'm making memories and savoring the moments.  I hope you are as well.  Merry Christmas!

Earlier in June we embarked on a new adventure.  TENT CAMPING!   Two summers ago we enjoyed a wonderful time camping in a borrowed pop-up camper but this was our first experience sleeping in a tent as a family.  We loaded up our very full van and headed to Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky for a new adventure.  It was wonderful.   One of the neatest aspects of our trip was the fact that Nina & Poppy Steve (Brandon's parents) were able to meet up with us!  (They live a good 10 hours away from us so this was a real treat.)  We had so much spending time with them.  We stayed at  Hillman Ferry Campground  and I would definitely stay there again.   Hillman Ferry Campground has a lovely beach with an area roped off for swimming.  The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and I even took them swimming in the lake.  I have been swimming many times in a lake but I think this was my children's first rea...

Ahh summer!  It's the most wonderful time of the year!  It's also the most expensive time of the year (well aside from December).  In an attempt to save more money this summer I'm going to resume the Frugal Things posts.  Here's what we did this past week to have fun and save money: On Monday we stayed home all day and simply had the best time.  We played outside for hours, read stories together, and just really enjoyed being at home together.  I think it can be easy to think that in order to have a great summer we must be going somewhere each and every day.  Some of the best memories from my childhood involve days spent entirely at home. We enjoyed a fantastic time at the zoo with friends.  I am so thankful for our zoo pass which we make good use out of.  We packed our own food and drinks. The happy hubby and I finally flipped the mattress on our king bed.  When we purchased our mattress we made sure to buy one that could be "f...

Evangeline in recovery after her sedated mri. Few things in my life have impacted me the way Eva's chiari and feeding difficulties have the past year.  It has been exactly 8 months since the day that my daughter was diagnosed with a Chiari One Malformation in her brain.  The past 8 months have challenged and stretched me in ways that I did not think were possible.  Not at this young age anyway when there have been relatively few true difficulties in my life. March 10th, the day of our much anticipated second neurosurgery appointment finally arrived.  This appointment had been on my calendar for five long months.  I don't think I started to feel really anxious until I turned the calendar to March and realized that this was the month.  This was when we would find out for better or worse what was happening with Evangeline's chiari.  Would her neurosurgeons continue with a wait and see approach?  Would they suddenly recommend decompression (bra...

The week I've been dreading most for the past 6 months is finally here.  It's the week that our sweet Evangeline will undergo another (sedated) mri and meet with her pediatric neurosurgeons.  In so many ways it feels like many of the emotions I experienced in August and early September are back in full force.  For those of you who may not know, Evangeline has a chiari one malformation in her brain.  It was discovered last July after she began experiencing feeding difficulties and no longer growing at a consistent rate.  A chiari one malformation is when the brain (cerebellum) goes down below the base of the skull and into the upper spinal canal.   Last fall when Evangeline met with the neurosurgeons I really thought that they were going to recommend surgery.  I was surprised when they said they wanted to wait six months to see how Eva would progress with feeding therapy.  Those six months have passed and now here we are preparing for a week...

This year for Christmas we opted to take a nice relaxed approach.  We cut out a few things in order to simplify Christmas and I am so thankful.  Together we decided to enjoy decorating our home, hosting a Christmas dessert fellowship, building a gingerbread house, enjoying a few outings, reading through Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, and enjoying a thick stack of Christmas books. On Christmas morning we just took it nice and easy.  Brandon and I woke long before the children.  Eventually Brandon couldn't contain his excitement any longer and we woke them up!  What a sweet memory to hold in our hearts. Together we enjoyed such a lovely morning of just being with one another.  We opened a few gifts, played with new toys, and enjoyed a leisurely brunch.  I baked a German Puff Pancake for the first time that was a smashing success (and so very simple).  After plenty of time spent at home to relax we headed to the Farm (my parents ho...

   This week part of Evangeline's occupational therapy involved stamping with apples!  Eva has been working with apples in feeding therapy for the past month so this was the perfect sensory activity.  It was such a fun activity for both kids that I really enjoyed participating in.  Our occupational therapist Mrs. T showed me how to cut the apple so that it was easy to hold.  What a great idea!  It definitely made it a lot easier for both children to stamp with the apples.  You could also try stabbing the apple with a fork if you didn't want to cut the handle.  We simply used washable paint on a paper plate and then stamped on plain white paper.  You could also use acrylic paint but it is a little harder to remove from little hands.  I would also recommend an old sheet or tablecloth to protect your table.  We have an old fitted sheet that fits nicely on the table to protect it whenever we decide to enjoy ...

Last month my family and I traveled to Washington D.C.  One of the main reason that we decided to drive included the opportunity to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia.   The drive through Virginia was absolutely beautiful.  My favorite part was driving through the Shenandoah Valley.  The happy hubby indulged my whims to stop at many of the gorgeous overlooks pictured above.     Although the house is fascinating, the grounds at Monticello deserve just as much time as the house.  Eli was absolutely fascinated with the gardens and even spent time speaking with one of the gardeners.  When he found out that the gardener doesn't have trouble with rabbits eating their radishes he decided he wanted to move to Virginia!  Ha, ha!  (I never knew he was that concerned with rabbits eating our vegetables.) The gardens at Monticello are striking and include a wide variety of crops.  The varieties grown are the s...

 This semester we have embarked on a fun new adventure.  It's called Before Five In A Row!  One of my desires has always been to pass onto my children a love of reading.  Before Five In A Row builds a foundation for children to love learning by reading classic children's literature and enjoying activities that go along with the book.  BFIAR is the first book in the Five in A Row Series and is aimed for children ages 2-4.  I am teaching through BFIAR at co-op each Wednesday and we also enjoy "rowing" a book every week at home.  I'm hoping to share some of the activities that we complete to go along with each book.  Eva is 24 months old and Eli is 5.5 years old.  I have also added some additional older activities for Eli since he is already reading. Blueberries for Sal is the first book that we have "rowed" and I must say it is one of my favorites.  I picked this book to read first in hopes that I could find fresh blueberries to enjo...

 There are many days in a person's life that are so important that the details seem etched in one's mind: graduating from college, a wedding day, having a baby, etc.  For me September 4, 2015 was also a much anticipated potentially life changing day.  It's already been a month but still it feels like yesterday.  It was the day when we would finally learn if our precious Evangeline would undergo decompression surgery on her brain.  Six weeks earlier we had learned that Eva had a chiari one malformation in the back of her brain. When we learned of Eva's diagnosis I was completely blown away.  Of course I knew when she had her first MRI that her Gastroenterologist was looking to rule out chiari.  I thought that it was more of a routine test and honestly it didn't occur to me that they might actually find what they were looking for.  I thought that perhaps Eva had some serious food allergies or possibly celiac disease which might account for the ...

Are you looking for a fun, simple weekend activity to do with your children?  Try this simple minion finger puppet activity.  This idea was not my own (hooray pinterest) but I did want to share it with you all since we had such a fun time making the puppets together.  We actually made these puppets as a special Mommy, Daddy, Eli activity while Eva was taking her nap one day. Supplies Needed: Yellow Kitchen Gloves (I purchased mine at the Dollar Tree for $1) Black Sharpie Marker Black Electric Tape (also purchased at the Dollar Tree) Google Eyes and Adhesive to attach the eyes.  I used Craft Glue Simply cut off each of the fingers and the thumbs from the gloves.  Even the happy hubby got in on the fun! Attach electric tape around each finger puppet.  I cut each piece of electric tape in half in order to make the tape thinner but you don't really have to do that. Minions in Progress Attach googly eyes to the puppet and add a fac...