school songs.

in the last few weeks, emma has really started singing a lot. she has her favorite little songs she sings, most of which we have taught her.

but since she's started mother's day out, she is learning some new songs during their little "praise & worship" time. it is the sweetest thing ever! she'll just start singing, and we have to sort of "decipher" what she's saying and try to figure out what she's singing so that we can sing along! :-) because that's what she really wants...

she'll say, "mommy, sing 'hide it, no!'," which turns out to be "hide it under a bushel - no!" from "this little light of mine." but i'll have to think really hard to figure out what she's talking about.

tonight, while i was getting emma ready for bed, she was picking songs for us to sing. we sang "you are my sunshine," "the b-i-b-l-e," "Jesus loves me," and "the alphabet song."

then she said to me, "mommy sing 'ga-da fa-da'."

"ga-da fa-da?" i ask.

"yes."

hmm... for some reason i don't know this song, so i ask her to sing it for me, and this is what i got:

is that not the sweetest thing you've ever seen or heard? i love it! and i love that she's learning to sing these songs to Jesus while she's at "school."

we're so blessed. and this video makes me smile.

just in case you couldn't make it out, she's singing:

"God our Father, God our Father,

we thank You, we thank You,

for all our blessings, for all our blessings,

amen, amen."

i love it!

99 balloons.

i just saw this beautiful story on oprah.

what an amazing picture of how God is glorified in every situation.

here is baby eliot's story:

Sara & Jason in HSM3!

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next time won't you sing with me?

so, this evening i tried to get some much needed capture-time of emma kate singing "the alphabet song." we went through several "takes" on my trusty hot-pink motorola razr, and i laughed... a lot!

here are some of the best videos:

take 1: this is as far as she got the first time.

you have to listen carefully, but she starts the song: "a, b, c, d, e, f, g..." and then starts counting: "1... 2.... ... ... 3!"and then proceeds to dig around in her cute little nose. and yes, she's got great manners. and yes, my 2-year-old is telling me to "get back." (and please, excuse the annoying laughter coming from the mommy behind the camera.)

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take 2: stuck again. "WX! WX!" is what she's yelling.

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take 3: finally! this is classic. i love her ending line. :-)

(hint: she's trying to say, "now i know my abc's!)

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i know they're hard to hear, but they're oh-so-cute!

i will try to get some better video... maybe with something more hi-tech than my cell phone.

favorite things.

from polyvore.com

i am now addicted to this site! try it out... so fun. but beware - it's a huge time-consumer!

here is a little collage i made of some of my favorite things right now. i'm sure i'll be making more for you soon.

-happy wednesday-

in His hands.

jason and i are going through a very trying time right now, in every way. we are being stretched, tested and challenged individually, in our marriage, financially, as parents, with our jobs, decisions, everything. we are stressed and overwhelmed and weary.

today, as i was shopping at sam's with my mother-in-law, i pushed my sweet daughter along in the cart, and we sang to help pass the time (i.e. to keep her entertained).

as i leaned over the cart's handle, my face so close to emma's, we sang a few verses of "He's got the whole world in His hands"...quietly to each other.

it's such a simple song, with simple words, a simple melody. i've sung it a million times since i was a little girl. but in this quiet, almost intimate moment with my daughter, my heart was overwhelmed and my eyes welled with tears.

i was struck by the words to this childhood song:

"He's got Mommy & Daddy in His hands,
He's got Mommy & Daddy in His hands,
He's got Mommy & Daddy in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands."

to say it to emma made it sound like more than a simple song. it was like i was promising her. and in that promise, i was hit by the song's great truth: He's got mommy and daddy in His hands. He's got sara and jason in His hands.

why do i always doubt this?

we'll be fine.

and i pray that emma can grow up seeing faith like this in the lives of her parents: to be able to tell her that it's ok. that we're in God's hands. to be able to tell her that and really, truly believe it. that's my heart's desire.

so, yes, we'll be fine. because, after all, He's got the whole world in His hands.

vintage. love!

check out this amazing site i've stumbled upon, through the help of the blog of a friend-of-a-friend from high school.

you can choose any picture on your computer, and make it vintage... how cool is that??

the site is in japanese, i think, but it's pretty easy to figure out... i did it on the first try.

birthday fun

well, i have to say that emma's 2nd birthday party was more fun than i could have ever imagined! we had so many sweet friends and family to celebrate, with us, our sweet little emma kate. we had a bounce house, bubble machines, a cotton candy machine, and lots of little tykes-type plastic slides and playthings. it was almost like we had a carnival in our backyard!

emma had a BLAST! it was such a blessing to see her so happy and just enjoying her special day.

most of these pictures are of emma... but i only picked a few from the hundreds that we have! :-)

emma's birthday cake was amazing!

(cake & cupcakes by megan with sweet temptations bakery)

butterfly "cup-capes," as emma calls them

...again... amazing!

i can't believe this thing was in our backyard!

(thanks to "uncle cory" - my brother - for getting us this treat for emma's party!)

she would NOT leave the bounce house -

jumping is her FAVORITE thing in the world!

aunt lulu (jason's sister), our sweet friend becca mercer, my sweet friend missy's daughter brynn & emma kate -

all gettin' their jump on!

cute "i'm the birthday girl" shirt

...from the back... "just turned two!"

part of emma's entourage - aaron & ella

dylan - one of emma's favorite people

& apparent "betrothed"

mommy & daddy had friends at the party, too!

jason with becca & drew mercer

of course, my child was putting on someone else's shoes

(i think she may have an obsession...)

what's better than a big, fat ball of cotton candy?

her first bite... right before she spit it out!

i think she wasn't sure about it melting in her mouth.

crazy girl - she doesn't know what she's missing!

singing to our girl

"MY cup-cape, mommy."

(isn't this a priceless picture?)

note the pinky sticking up... so dainty!

favors for emma's friends & guests

the sea of tissue paper & bags was insane!

the best part: she was content with each individual gift.

we had to force her to open more!

(this scooter was by far her fave, though)

how do i make it go?

and... i'm done.

she was SO exhausted!

what a blessing this weekend was. thank you to all our friends & family who helped make emma's day so special for our family. we love you all!

hope you guys had as much fun as we did!

2-year stats

that's right, emma kate is 2-YEARS-OLD!

we had her 2-year check-up this morning with dr. daniel, and she had a very good visit. she measured around 90% for both weight & height at 31.5 pounds and 35.5 inches tall!

she had to be bribed to stand on that scale, though... she was not having it. i don't know what it was about the "big girl scale," but she was freaking out & clinging to jason. finally, the nurse pulled out some bubbles & a sucker, and she cooperated just long enough for us to get her weight.

i can't believe our baby girl is so big! these 2 years have just FLOWN by!

we had her party on saturday, and we had a BLAST!

i will post some pictures later.

emma doggie

emma has always been obsessed with duncan's food.

she's been eating it for as long as i can remember.

but this is new...

apparently, she thinks water tastes better drinking from duncan's bowl.

don't even begin to comment on how gross this is...

i cringe every time i look at it!

thanks to "nonna" for this picture... of course, she had to snap a picture and then call me over to look at it before she told emma to stop drinking out of duncan's bowl! :-)

baby fever

so, this post is really all about me... more of a peek inside my heart. :-)

in our circle of friends/family, there are 6 babies due within the next few months. SIX!

and, even though i am very happy for all of them, and very excited to meet their little ones, i am a bit sad for me... because i really have baby fever right now. emma's at the perfect age... i would love for our kids to be around 2-and-a-half years apart. and we're far enough away from those difficult newborn days, that i can actually imagine having another baby right now.

the thing is - it's not in "the plan" right now. i just quit my job to go to school full-time. i need to finish... i can see the light at the end of the tunnel now... i know it will be over before i know it. but it's just not the way i pictured my life being right now.

i thought at the age of 25 that i'd already be married and have a baby... so that part has come true. but i also thought i'd be done with school, and enjoying my days as a stay-at-home mommy, maybe of 2. and i wouldn't have to be worried about getting pregnant as a 25-year-old, married-for-4-years, mommy/student!

i know that i have an amazing life. i am very blessed. my husband is my best friend. our daughter is perfect. we have a beautiful house, a cute doggie, two great cars, amazing friends and family... i know all that.

i just hate feeling like we're stuck in this part of our life. like we can't move on. it's hard seeing all of our friends progress, and knowing that if we were to announce the very same news, we wouldn't get an excited reaction, but instead worried faces and questions of concern.

i think, mainly, it's just the fact that i'm having to "give up" the plans that I had made. i'm having to let go of the way i thought it would be and surrender to what God has for our family.

and right now... it's not a baby.

and i know that's best... i just want one so bad...

...sigh.

anyway, just thought i'd share. and maybe the next time you hear me whining about it, you can remind me of all the reasons i know that it's ok the way it is. :-)