Branson Trip

I had my first night away from my sweet little girl this past weekend. Mom and I went to Branson for three nights and it was wonderful!! We have been doing a girls trip every year since graduation from college...the first one! ;-) We have taken a cruise, a trip to a beach to plan my wedding, and Vegas and smaller trips to Little Rock and Memphis too.

Mom came up on Thursday and kept Emma while Michael and I went to dinner for our 6 year anniversary! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by!! It seems like just yesterday we were saying I do and now I am still spending my time with my best friend who made me a wife and most recently a mother!

Anyway back to present day. Right before we left for our dinner at Mesa Luna I got my anniversary present in the mail. I had seen a few friends with something similar and with all the expenses we've had lately I didn't even expect to get this but when I told Michael I wanted this he said DONE! Here are the pictures of each side.

Her birthstone is aqua marine and this way (as if I could ever forget) I will always have a reminder of all her stats in a beautiful piece of jewelry. byHannahDesign on Etsy was where I found this design and I am sooo very happy with it!  We had a wonderful dinner and Mom did great with Emma for those two hours. Maybe soon we will get to spend a whole night with NaNa keeping our beautiful little girl!

Mom and I left that night and had a great time laughing ALL the time and doing some prime shopping for Emma and even a little for us! ;-) Here are some pictures of me and Mom! I am such a lucky lucky gal!

Well looks like two of the pictures are upside down. :( and I still don't know how to rotate those guys but the point is we had some great time just mother and daughter and I can't wait to do it again next year. Mom has already started planning a Mediterranean Cruise but that will likely be many years down the road!

Now we are on our own for then next 55 days while Michael is in GA for some National Guard training. So far we are not sleeping too well thanks to a snotty nose

but we know that even that will pass! We made a trip to Rogers this morning to get Gabby's staples out from her surgery 2 Friday's ago. (she took the stitches out herself) And all is now right in our world. Next on my list of chores is go shopping!! If I don't I am going to be eating protein bars and Hormel meals for ever meal!! But even that will run out soon.

That is all for now! Have a blessed week!!

Child of God

Emma Jean Wheeler received the gift of baptism this past Sunday July 17th. My mom, dad and little brother Hunter were there and good friends Bethany and Josh made it as well! Emma did so well and only cried a little bit when the water touched her head. For those of you who really want to see the ceremony here it is!

 Emma's Baptism

Here are some pictures from the church too!

After the church we had a small gathering at the house in Emma's honor! :-) And Emma loved seeing her boyfriend Denton!

Also Emma is now rolling over from her belly to her back in one direction with I hear is perfectly on track for a baby that is 4 MONTHS OLD! Wow this year is already flying by!

In preparation for an 8 week long stint as a single mommy, I am going on a girls weekend trip with my mom! We are going to Branson to shop and sun. I know that Emma is in good hands but I think this will be a little tough for me since I have yet to spend a night away from her!!

And lastly but certainly not least today I celebrate 6 wonderful years with my best friend!! God has blessed me with the perfect match for me and an amazing father for Emma! I am soooo thankful! 

Be blessed!!
Jill

Happy 4th of July to everyone!!

Emma and our family got to spend a fun filled weekend in Hot Springs at MeMe and PapPaws new condo! We had the bottom floor to ourselves while Mom (NaNa), Dad (Poppi) and my grandparents had the upstairs. It was so nice there that Michael considered moving in down there!! :-)

Emma got to go "swimming" for the first time and while she didn't hate the water she didn't love it the whole time either! We were able to catch a few smiles here and there and really that is all that I could ask for. PS little swimmers may hold in a solid poop but on a breast fed baby they would do nothing!! Luckily we only experienced the pee "leak" on NaNa which resulted in a change back to regular diapers for Emma's first swim.

Hope you enjoy the photos!!

 I still can't figure out how to rotate a picture on here so for now you will just have to turn your heads! ;-)

Have a blessed week!
Jill

Bad blogging mommy...

So time has again gotten away from me! Emma is now 3 months old and I have successfully made it through two whole weeks without Michael. He has been gone for the past two weeks to the annual training (AT) that his National Guard unit is required to complete. To say I was worried was a drastic understatement of what I was but everything went well with Emma. I on the other hand was sick for 4 days with two days off from work each week. :-( Turns out that little ones bring home the darnedest things from daycare. Thankfully she was fine and I of course got better with rest and time!

Michael made it home for his first Father's Day and got to spend lots of time feeding and playing with his little girl. She really missed her daddy!

I busier now that ever with 2 weeks of orientation down and two more to go. I will TRY to keep up on my blogging but for now here are some of EJ's latest photos.

And here is Emma's first present to her daddy! You will need to tilt your head to see it! ;-)

Off to orientation!

Have a blessed day!

Jill

Back to work...and off to daycare!

I have been neglecting my blogging lately but I think I have a good excuse...babies take a lot of time!! ;-D

So since the last post Emma has passed the two month mark!  (see our photo shoot picture below!)

I have returned to work...

Emma had her first day of daycare...

It has been a whirl wind of the past few weeks!!! On Emma's 2 month we were spending a week with NaNa and Poppi in Brinkley. We got down there an hour before they closed I-40 East bound and Michael was right behind us with the National Guard. We were both in Eastern Arkansas but didn't see each other. Michael could not believe how much bigger Emma looked after being away from her for a week. The next week when I went back to work Michael's mom came up for a week from Birmingham to get more face time with baby Emma. We loved having Grandmother up!! Michael and I had a date night and two nights of uninterrupted sleep! And if that wasn't enough she and Michael did a ton of landscaping while Emma was sleeping! Now instead of a "bush" garden we actually have a "flower" garden!

This weekend we will have another first with Emma's first night in a hotel. Our friends Josh and Jamie are getting married in Texarkana this Saturday. Still trying to decide on the perfect outfit for her. Thankfully not many choices for me. :-)

Well I guess that catches us up a bit.

Have a blessed day!

He is risen!! Emma's first Easter

This weekend was Emma's first trip Brinkley to meet her Great Grandparents! It looks like we can now expect to add 1 hour to every 4 hours when we travel. I guess that is something that every new mommy figures out sooner or later. :-)

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the weekend!

Pap Paw

Nanny

With 7 kids, 16 grandkids and 10 great-grandkids Nanny knows just how to handle babies!

Easter morning

Lunch at MeMe and Pap Paws

Uncle Hunter with his first bottle

4 Generations!!

NaNa holding her sweet grandchild!

One more photo op with Nanny before we left town

Can't believe it took me a week to get this posted but...life happens. :-)

Have a blessed week everyone!

Jill