We Need a Buyer!

Our new house is ready for us to move into and starting in March we will officially be paying two mortgages. YIKES!!! Needless to say, I am putting together my resume and getting my Speech License back in working order. I haven't kept up with it so I need to take 20 hours of classes to keep it current. We had two house showings last weekend, but so far no offers. Be very happy if you are not selling your house right now. If we don't get any offers in a few months we will probably have to put our new house on the market as well and that would make me incredibly depressed.

Emerson had her follow-up with her Feed Team and she has officially fallen off her weight chart. She had been holding strong at the 15th percentile for a long time but now with walking she is below the 3rd percentile. I told them I'm not all that concerned because as I'm sure all of you have noticed our kiddos are all pretty tiny (except for Tatum :), Lisa I will need some tips). She now weighs 21lbs, 10oz. They are now having me add heavy cream to her soy milk and told me to use lots of olive oil, flax oil, high quality peanut butters, and cream cheeses. I have been doing this all (except the heavy cream) for awhile now and it is our golden retriever, Newman, who is now about 10lbs overweight. Emerson is big into sharing.

I can't believe that Emerson will be 2 years old in less than 2 weeks. This past year went by so quickly and what a great year it was. Emerson can now walk, put objects into containers, points to 10 body parts, can say lots of animal sounds, knows about 12 signs, and is starting to say many words (this morning she said, "hug" the name of her favorite book and "dan" for dance). Most importantly, she is happy, lovable, and a complete charmer. I no longer take any development for granted and have waited many months for some of these skills and when they occur we are just thrilled. When you have a child with special needs nothing is assumed and everything is cheered and cherished. After many months of practicing, Emerson yesterday dropped a ball into a hoop all by herself. Ella turned to me with huge eyes and said, "Mom, call Daddy, Emerson made a basket all by herself!!" Pretty cute.

I am so excited for this potential Ohio get-together. Amy, let me know if I can do anything to help. It would be wonderful to meet all my cyber friends and give each of you and your kids a big hug. I know that I am not the most consistent blogger, but all of you are my sounding board, my comfort, and my support in this life with WS. Thanks for that.

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We had a great Christmas! The girls were so much fun, but I'm also kinda glad it's over. In fact, I had all my Christmas decorations put away on the 28th and have been working to declutter ever since. Ella is back to being her normal pleasant self. She crashed a bit after the Holidays and just benefits so much from being on a normal schedule. Emerson is turning into quite a little show woman and flirts and charms anyone and everyone she meets.

My favorite Emerson moment from Christmas is her hearing Santa come into a party three rooms away. Slowly, but also very determined, she made her way to him walking with her arms extended. When she finally made it to him, he really had no choice but to pick her up. Well, in true 1 year old fashion, the bottom lip started coming out and she was bawling within 30 seconds.

Ella has turned into such a performer and loves singing, dancing, and performing puppet shows for anyone who is willing. On Christmas Eve, she was performing a puppet show with her Grandpa when she interrupted him and told him that she would finish the performance alone because he needed to practice to learn how to do it right!!! Ahhhh, you can write this stuff any better. :)

So many good memories and also some hard times in 2007. The last 6 months have been tough, as I've lost 3 of my grandparents. My Grandpa passed away in June, my Grandma in November, and my other Grandma a few days after Christmas. It has been heartbreaking and I will miss them and think about them everyday.

There is nothing like the unconditional love and comfort of a grandparent. I have so many great memories and loved them so much it is hard to even think that they are no longer around.





I see the incredible love between my kids and the grandparents in their life and am so happy for them. They are very lucky.












2007 was a great year because Brian and I finally got to know and fall completely in love with Emerson. She was tough to get to know in 2006 with nonstop crying, but in 2007 she just blossomed and was a happy, fun, snuggly, beautiful little girl. She is constantly surprising us with what she CAN do. I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in 2008. We love her so much and would not change a thing about her!!

Ella provided us with so much joy and laughter in 2007. She makes us laugh every day and is such a sweet, patient, and caring little girl. Brian always says his best days are when he is living in a musical. Ella literally can sing an entire day away. She makes up the most joyous original songs for every aspect of the day. She has such an open mind and wants to learn something new everyday. We are so lucky to have her.