Feeling More Like Home

And just because she's cute...

Logan and I started putting up some more pictures/art yesterday in our entryway. It's amazing how a few pictures can make such a BIG difference! It's obviously not complete, but we think it's a pretty good start. I'm hoping to add a bench underneath the pictures to give this spot a little "umph."

Stay tuned for more updates!

Kidney Crisis Averted

         After Emmie's (and our) battle with her urinary reflux for the past year, her urologist has decided that surgery is in her best interest. As scary as that is for us as parents, we are so thankful that the reflux hasn't affected her more than that UTI last summer and taking antibiotic every night.
         Sooooooooooo.....on August 26th, we head to the hospital for E's surgery. It should only be 2 hours, and we should only have to stay one night. We would love your prayers as we approach this huge step in Em's recovery from reflux. The surgery is 99.5% successful at curing it, so we are confident that she will be able to live out the rest of her life without having to worry about taking an antibiotic every night to protect her kidneys!
         
We'll keep you updated once the surgery happens!

It's a.....

BOY!

     We found out on July 29th that our little family of three will be welcoming a BOY on December 27th of this year! We could hardly believe our ears! Emmie went with us to the ultrasound and was so very excited to find out that she was going to have a "bruh-der." As exciting as it is to add a boy to our family, it's also a very anxious time for us too.

How will a boy change the dynamic of our family?

If I thought Emmie was a mess on a daily basis, what does that mean having a boy will be like?

Etc.

      Logan and I have sent up SO many prayers already asking God to lead us in our parenting of a boy. As a stay-at-home mom, it's more intimidating for me than for Logan. I mean, I know how a girl's mind, body, personality, etc works. However, boys are a whole other animal. God be with me as I embark on this eye-opening journey!

      Like I said before, we have some apprehension about bringing a boy into our family just because we don't know what that will be like. However, we are thrilled that God has granted us with this little man to love, nurture, and help raise in Him. 

     Our sweet boy will be named Andrew Armstrong Powell and be called Andy for short. 

Andrew is after my brother Drew. Drew and I have been incredibly close for a very long time. I hope that Andy and Drew share a similarly special bond. Armstrong is my mother's maiden name. My Papa has one son (who has ALL daughters) and my brother as the boy descendants on that side of the family tree. I have always had a special bond with Papa and did not want the Armstrong name to die out. Thus, Armstrong for the middle name. Papa is BEYOND thrilled that he will have a great-grandson that shares his name....especially because it's been 23 years since there was a boy on our Armstrong side!!!!

Please pray for our family as we transition to a family of four and that we will shepherd this little boy's heart to the best of our ability.

Can't wait to meet you, Andy!

      

Mischief in McKinney

We headed to the McKinney square this past weekend for a fun little photo shoot. Here are a few of my favorites: (the rest are on Facebook)

Hope you enjoyed seeing our sassy girl!

The Big Move

I have a LOT to catch you up on, so let me take a deep breath and dive in! Don't worry. My ramblings will NOT be one big post. You would either die of boredom or stop reading after hour 2 of trudging through my life this past month!

THE NEW HOUSE.

     The weekend before the 4th of July Logan and I loaded up ALL of our stuff (too much stuff, if you ask me) and headed for "the 'burbs." Yes, folks, we are officially in full blown family mode! After 3 years of marriage in THREE different apartments, we now own a home. Gulp.

      Logan was more than a little intimidated by the idea, but not Ms. Optimistic over here. Nuh-uh. I was thrilled to say "good-bye" to apartment living and "hello" to more space and a chance to have a real home! I think the real reason Logan was so nervous about taking on so much responsibility was that he wasn't in an apartment all the time with a toddler to quell all that worry about money. Yep. That MUST have been it.
      Anyway, the move was hot (of course), but we had movers. (Thank you, Logan.) With all of my morning sickness and having a toddler during the move this time around, it was miserable enough packing boxes. I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like to do the move without movers. Thankfully in only 4 hours, our stuff was out of our old  apartment and into our lovely new home. Logan and I decided to head to lunch right after the movers finished. It's exhausting watching someone else do all the grunt work! ;) 


**Also, let me interject that Emmie had had a STOMACH VIRUS the night before our move. Needless to say, none of us got much sleep before our long day of moving. You may pity me now...thank you.**


      After lunch but before making the trek back down to his parents' house to get Emmie, we/I decided to get Emmie's room all unpacked so that it would be as easy of a transition that evening as possible for her. (Thank you, Lonna and Milton, for keeping our sickly sugar pie. It was SO much easier without having to worry about her recuperating with movers, boxes, and the heat!
      Upon returning with our sweet girl, we thought she would be SO excited to see her new room. It's pink, has flowers, and is such a perfect room for our little girly-girl!! 

(Disclaimer: this is not Emmie's stuff. This is a pic from the real estate website advertising the house for sale.)

We took her up and opened the door ready for her to squeal with excitement.......THEEEEEEN.....waaaaah waaaah (picture SNL "Debbie Downer" music). She took one look inside, turned around, and headed for the bookshelves we had set up on the landing with ALL of her books. After pulling 95% of them to the floor, my little bookworm was in heaven! At least she was excited about something! :D 
      Emmie, Logan, and I continue to fall more in love with our house, our neighbors, and the area that we are in more every day. We are so blessed to be able to live in a beautiful home. I promise that I will post pictures of how we have decorated as soon as possible.


Until next post!

My Songbird

(Just had to share this sweet story about my Emmie.)

For the past week or so, I have been having a hard time sleeping at night. One of those lovely pregnancy side effects from having to change sleep positions from stomach to side. Argh. First trimester exhaustion + not being able to sleep at night = one exhausted mommy.

Since Emmalyn didn't get a terribly long nap yesterday, I thought I'd take her to my bed so I could rest and just MAYBE she would fall asleep. (yeah. right.) I didn't expect much, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. After she jabbered on for a little while-telling me a story in her own little language-, she decided she wanted me to hold her. I told her that I was tired and wanted to go night night. So here we are lying in bed with my arms wrapped around her, and she starts to softly sing. My sweet, angel of a baby is trying to sing me to sleep! And ya'll. She sings for FORTY FIVE minutes while I drift in and out of sleep! I'm sorry...but if that is not the most precious child...I don't know who is. God has blessed me with a daughter who is so thoughtful and loving at such a young age. My cup overflows.

To my sweet songbird,

Thank you for loving me so sweetly. God has blessed you with an amazing heart, and I hope you get to share your heart with a daughter like you some day.

And Dear God,

I wouldn't mind having another girl! Cause You know, there'd be no way to have a restful 45 minutes like that with a boy!!!!

MIA Mommy

Hello, lost blogger world!

I literally have not TOUCHED my blog in over 5 months! How is that possible?!  Well, let's see. I've never been a great journal keeper--online or otherwise--and there have been LOTS going on in the last 5 months. Here's my list:
-I've visited my family a few times.
-Logan got a new job.
-Logan graduated with his MBA from SMU.
-We bought a house and are currently packing up to move.
-My brother got married.
-And...ya know...a little thing like a NEW BABY is on the way!!! More on that a little later

I've been so focused on my family, blog stalking, and dealing with incredible amounts of nausea that I haven't been keeping up here. Ridiculous, I know.

Here's a pledge to you....those few people that read my blog. I will not let my blog go that long again without being updated! So here's to a new pregnancy, a new adventure, a new house, and a new lease on blogging!

A few pictures to satisfy those that just like to look at my baby....

And now our new baby....due Dec. 31st...but should make an appearance by C-section on Dec. 27th!

Da, Tia!

***As much as I'm behind blogging, I decided this little snippet couldn't wait. It was hilarious at the time, and I want to remember this for when Emmie's older.***

2010

(A little background for you--my sweet baby girl is in love with my sister, MacKenzie, or "Tia" as Em calls her. Over Christmas break Tia and Emmie danced countless hours together and formed an incredible bond it seems. After we came back from our visit, Emmie asked for her Tia for DAYS.)
        For the first time in a LONG time, Emmie and I skyped with my mom and sister yesterday. We were both thrilled to see them both, but Em seemed to be over the moon about her Tia being right in front of her again! They both giggled and communicated as best a 14 month old and a 14 year old can. :) Tia was trying to get Emmie to dance, so she decided to show her how first. Oh my. I have laughed and laughed over my sister "skype-dancing" with my sweet Emmalyn! It was absolutely hilarious, and Emmie LOVED every minute of it. We had to end our conversation but decided to get back online later and do it again so my dad could see Em.
         During our second call, Emmie was signing and saying (her version) of "please." I hadn't understood what she wanted, so I asked her again. She looked at the screen and said, "Da, Tia!!" --translation: "Dance, Tia!!"She evidently had enjoyed Tia's "skype-dancing" even more than the rest of us! So commences my sister dancing like a goofball over skype. Again.
        Those of you that know me well know how much I adore my family. My sister is no exception. My love for her is so overwhelming. To see her loving on my daughter and cultivating such an amazing relationship early on is music to my soul. Watching her with Emmie constantly reminds me of how it was when she was so little, and I'd dance around and make up choreography to get her happy or to laugh. MacKenzie has gone from the sweetest little girl to the most amazing teenage girl I have ever met in my entire life! I know that my relationship with my daughter will have its peaks and valleys as she grows, matures, changes, and becomes more independent. However, I know for certain that Emmie will always be in awe of my sister. Because I am.

2006