a saturday show

so, this afternoon, jason and i went with his sister lindsey to see "hairspray" at music hall in fair park. we had seen the movie before, but never the show. now, i am one to like a good musical anyway, but OMG!!! this show was SO incredible!

it was fun, colorful, laugh-out-loud funny, interactive, exciting, and had great music. i highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. it was a really fun thing to do on our saturday afternoon.

afterwards, we did a bit of shopping at a linens-n-things closeout sale (woo hoo!) and then had dinner at the ever-so-yummy cafe brazil.

it was a great day... fun for all ages!

fancy shoes are the best kind!

emma LOVES shoes!
she usually walks around the house with either only 1 shoe on, or with 2 different shoes... her "own" creation. but she recently discovered that walking around in mommy's shoes is really fun. yesterday, she went and dug around in my closet until she found the perfect pair...

of course she picked the fanciest ones...
peep-toe zebra print with red accents and a gold buckle... on 4-inch stiletto heels!

what can i say? this girl knows fancy when she sees it! :-)

laundry is exhausting!

today, emma helped me do some laundry...
until she got tired!

she climbed into the laundry basket with her "ya-yi"
to watch little einsteins

she made me laugh...
she sat in the basket for a really long time.

so THIS was hillarious! while i was putting away emma's laundry, she was playing and reading her books. suddenly she was silent... i turned around and this is what i saw... she was totally zoned-out, she didn't even blink when she saw me! haha! it was definitely nap-time.

she was so ready for a nap, she crawled up into her bed herself and said, "bye-bye, mommy!" if only nap-time could be that easy every day! :-)

emma's baby dedication & father's day

yesterday was jason's 2nd father's day... well, technically, it was his 3rd, because i was 5 months pregnant with emma in june of 2006! emma and i had fun showing jason how much we love him all day long. he even got a great present of golf lessons from the greatest wife in the world!!! (oh, me??? aw, so sweet! hehe) now, he can go play with his "guys" and not feel like he's holding them back! :-) i know he'll do great!

yesterday was also emma kate's baby dedication at church. (i made the invitation above... really i just wanted an excuse to make something else for her baby book! traditionally, our church does these services on mother's day and father's day of every year, and yesterday was emma's time to shine! jason and i stood before our church body and our God and promised to everything in our power to raise emma to know Christ. our church family also vowed to support us in raising our daughter in the way of the Lord. it was a really sweet time in our lives with emma kate. we had sweet friends and family join us in prayer and support us during the service. of course, emma had to find a way to be the center of attention! :-) she decided as we were making our way onto the stage that she was not going to wear her cute red shoes that mommy had specifically picked out for the occasion. since it was close to nap-time (and she decided to change our wake-up call to 5:30 am, instead of 7 am), she was extremely tired, and did not want to be held still up there on stage!

she was so funny, though! after we got up and walked on stage, she leaned over me and waved to jason's sister lindsey, and stated (loudly) "bye-bye, lulu!" then half-way through the ceremony, as pastor mark was trying to read about the promise we were about to make, emma spotted jason's mom, her beloved "nonna." we knew it was coming... with sheer joy in her eyes and in her voice, she waved emphatically and squealed, "hiiiiiiii, nonna! nonna! hi!" i was laughing and cringing at the same time. fortunately, her antics seemed to only further endear her in the hearts of our church family members... we got many comments on how "perfect" and "adorable" she was after church. although, i'm not sure the other parents enjoyed emma stealing the spotlight from their kids!

listening to pastor mark read the meaning of emma's name and the verse chosen for her

the beginning of emma's "restlessness"

jason and i are obviously trying to concentrate in the midst of emma's "outbursts" :-)

sweet emma in a dress made for her from... a pillowcase!
can you believe it?

emma with her papa (my daddy)

me and my hubby

...again...

...and again... what can i say? we're super cute!

emma not wanting to take a family picture

"pleeeeease, take the lovie out of your mouth!"
...she wouldn't do it....she was done!

jason with his sister lindsey & step-dad kevin

jason and his sister lindsey

my daddy, mom, me :-), emma & jason

be still, and know...

I've heard this verse too many times to count, yet I don't think I truly believe it... at least... I don't live like I believe it.

"I know the plans I have for you...plans for good and not for disaster...to give you hope and a bright future."
- Jeremiah 29:11

If the almighty God of this universe has good plans for me... if He already knows what's best... why do I continue to think I know better? Why do I stress and worry when things aren't going my way, when I feel out of control? Because isn't it best that I'm out of control?

One would think, given a choice between my own plans for my life, and those handcrafted especially for me from the beginning of time by the Lord Most High, that I would find my plans insignificant every time.

One would think...

Funny, how that's not how I live. Funny, how I seem to think I know better. Funny, how every time God provides for me and shows me how He knows best, I am awestruck. And then, funny, how quickly I forget, and again think I know it all.

Oh Lord, grant me the ability to see your sovereignty and perfection in all Your ways.

Lord, help me to BE STILL... and KNOW You are God.

caught in action...

so, emma was "taking a nap" this afternoon and i peeked my head in her room to check on her... this is what i found:

yes, she climbed onto her kitchen, stepped into her sink, and was making a "phone call," because obviously that's where all phone calls should take place... in the sink!
of course i took a picture before i told her
to get her little bottom down! :-)

1 a.m., emma? really?

so... we've moved emma into her toddler bed, and it's so cute! really, for not even being 2-years-old, she's done a lot better than i expected her to, as far as staying and sleeping in bed goes. as some of you know, emma kate has always been a great sleeper. we were blessed by having a rock-star sleeper as our first child... she started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old! who does that???

over the last couple days, she's learned to get out of bed by herself, and so nap times have been a bit of a "battle." two days in a row, it's taken her about an hour to actually go to sleep. she's in this really clingy stage, where she wants me to either rock her or kneel by her bed so she can wrap (or squeeze, really) her little arms around my neck until she goes to sleep. if i even act like i'm leaving or getting up, she starts crying so hard, you'd think i'd taken away her best friend! then, i'll finally leave and close the door, and she cries and cries and cries... and those of you who know emma, know that she can SCREAM! so, i'll listen for her to calm down, praying fervently for God to allow her to just give it up and rest! :-) i'll hear her crying subside, and i'm thinking, "yay! finally!" and then... i hear it. the un-mistakable sound of a non-sleeping, but very-much-playing baby. when i walk into her room, i'll find her sweetly (and disobediently) "cooking" at her fancy little kitchen. (it's pink, no less!)

usually, she'll greet me with a "hi mommy!" or a "wanna cook?" as if she doesn't know full-well she's not supposed to be out of bed! so i've had to handle this simply by firmly and quietly putting her back in her bed, telling her it's "night-night" time and not to get out of bed, then i'll walk out of the room and shut the door... this is all met by more crying, and usually the cycle begins again. and after about an hour, she finally surrenders to sleep.

i've dealt with this nap-time-battle pretty well. i actually expected it. i don't think many toddlers transition to a "big-kid bed" without any issues. so i've gladly taken on the bed-time trials... joyfully even... i feel like it's all part of emma becoming independent and developing into who God has made her to be. it's just our job to help nurture and shape these qualities. but this was all when these little battles took place during her naps... during the DAY!

last night i woke up to her screaming at 1 am. she was frantic! it was awful! we did our little dance where she begs me "mommy, my rock?" (wanting me to rock her), and cried when i tried to go back to bed. i was really torn because i don't want her to be unable to fall asleep on her own. we've really worked hard to train her to sleep on her own. but it was 1 am. and i was exhausted. and jason's sister lindsey is currently sleeping in the room sharing a wall with emma's room... she had to be at work at 8 am, and i'm sure she wouldn't be happy if she couldn't sleep due to my sweet, screaming toddler.

anyway, there was no tricking emma. i literally would fall asleep leaning over her bed because i sat there for so long. i'd look at her face, see her eyes closed, and guess she was asleep... especially since i hadn't seen or heard any movements from her for several minutes. then i'd begin to creep silently out of her room, and the second i'd reach her door, "waaaaaahhhh!" oh, it was exhausting! it was like she was doing it on purpose. so, 2 hours and 30 minutes later, i was back in bed listening to her scream over the monitor. "mommy! peeeease! mommy!" it was heart-breaking.

so, i'm thinking she won that war last night. i honestly felt like i was in newborn days again. hopefully, i'll be able to keep strong and stay firm, and eventually she'll just learn to stay in bed and go to sleep. i'm hoping she's a fast learner, though!

you know what the best part is, though? guess who was up, super happy and ready to conquer the day at 7 am?? (you know she thought it was super funny, too!)

ok, enough complaining... really though, i wouldn't trade all those days of sleeping through the night and sleeping in that existed before emma kate for anything. if being blessed by the joy of knowing emma as my daughter means 2-hour "parties" at 1 am, i'll take it!

...though it would be nice to have weekends off... :-)

"wanna shwim?"

here are some pictures of emma swimming (or "shwimming" as she would say) at nonna's pool. (nonna is what emma calls jason's mom.)

great smile, huh? in the words of bill brewer,

"doesn't she just melt your butter?"

ooo! the water's cold!

fancy! emma loves wearing her glasses ("ah-ga")

she was riding the noodle like a horse & squealing

"yee-haw!" i guess being a true texan is instinctual...

cutie belly...

a new adventure

i am home now with emma, so i am going to try to keep everyone updated with her daily cuteness through this blog... we'll see how good i am at that! :-)

the name of this blog, ourlittleraindrop.blogspot.com, has a sweet beginning. when we were pregnant with emma kate, a sweet friend of our's (i believe it was mike mccullough) referred to her (before we knew she was a "her") as our "raindrop" ...since our last name is "rains." get it? :-) i loved this so much, i actually think i cried after he said it!

hopefully this will be a good way to stay in touch with everyone. 

blessings & hugs,

sara (jason & emma, too!)