The best medicine....

While home, Emelyn's cousin Emma was very sweet to share her new toys with Emelyn. For some reason, Emelyn found this talking doll HILARIOUS. Enjoy!

On another, non-Christmas note, Jake went for his monthly blood check up the day before we left for Kansas. His copper levels are now in the normal ranges (YEAH!)... his Hemoglobin rose a little although still below the normal range, and his iron levels remained very low despite months of supplements. He will be checked in one more month, and if there is no major improvement, he will start iron via an IV. Please pray for wisdom for us... Jake appears to not be absorbing the iron supplements, and he wasn't absorbing copper from his diet... and after tests, we found he's not getting enough Vitamin D, Calcium, nor B-12 and is taking shots/supplements for each of these now too. This makes us wonder what other things he's not getting enough of that we just haven't tested for yet... which also brings us to the question of whether or not we should do anything to get more nutrients. In the meantime, however, he's feeling good for the most part so we are very thankful!

And another fun video - Emelyn with her puppy.

Kansas Christmas Pictures

Phew! We left for Kansas bright and early Wednesday (12/23) morning despite the blizzards and icy weather predicted for most of the state that day, and after 4 days with family, drove back today. We had such a wonderful time and have lots of great memories to cherish! Below are a few of the many, many pictures taken:

Before we left we were calling family that lived along the trip home to get an idea of how bad the roads were and where. Emelyn thought she needed to call someone too, so took out her fake phone and held it to her ear saying "hello? hello?"

Almost home! With only 30 miles to go, this is what the roads were like... not exactly fun with 3 people anxious to get out of the car after 9 hours of driving (especially a little girl named Emelyn.) Yes, this is a regular highway, you just can't see the lines, lanes or ditches.
At the Broeckelman's we spent all of our time indoors (it was snowing and/or windy) 3 of the 4 days we were home)... lots of time to play cards. Here's Emelyn helping dad play dingbat.

Playing a card for mom... so serious!

Two cuties!!! (Our nephews, Kayden and Joe)

Everyone made it! Church was cancelled so we all just had fun talking, playing games, catching up, eating and watching movies.

Grandpa and Grandma with their grand kids

This was hilarious.... we gave Emelyn and Janessa apple slices and crackers for supper... then Melissa and David sat next to them with plates full of all kinds of yummy foods... the looks on these girls' faces as they saw what they weren't offered was priceless!

Emelyn and Great-Grandpa became instant buds when Grandpa gave Emmy a piece of lemon cake

Emelyn riding her new horse

On Christmas day we decided to chance the blowing snow to try to make it to Colby for a Christmas lunch with Joe and Dana and then to see Jake's parents for a few days. After a long, slow (and at times a little scary!) drive, we made it. Here's Grandpa Cersovsky with his granddaughters...

Emelyn with her new John Deere tractor

Jake had two helpers showing him his new gift

Emma showing Grandpa and Grandma the 2010 family calendar full of pics of Emma and Emelyn

Grandma bought Grandpa a license plate in honor of his granddaughters. It's already on his truck :) Grandma bought Emma and Emelyn matching M&M shirts (they call their granddaughters, their "M&Ms") for them to have pictures taken with in January when they all come down to visit.

Emelyn wasn't sure what all that white stuff was. Here she is with Grandma watching it snow on Saturday

On Sunday we went to both of Jake's grandparents. Emelyn and Great-Grandpa Saddler spent almost two hours together rocking & reading in lieu of Emelyn's afternoon nap... so sweet!

Emelyn and Great-Grandma reading a book

Emelyn with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Cersovsky. The oldest (95 and 94 respectively) and youngest Cersovsky's. I think they enjoyed watching Emelyn as she ran around the house soaking in all of the attention :)

Emelyn showing Great-Grandpa how ornery she is

I'll try to write more and post some videos soon... for now, I'm ready to get a good night's rest in our own bed... there's no place like home!

A few odds and ends

Emelyn received a little nativity from her Sunday School teachers, and she has fun bringing it to us to explain what it is

I think she was pleasantly surprised with her walk n' ride toy!
Reading a book with dad before bedtime

Eating supper with some friends before going to the Children's Home

I'll have to share the video of Emelyn's face when she received this puppy. SO CUTE. "Puppy" as she calls him, is her new pal... they do just about everything together.... now I'm wishing we hadn't bought the one that's as big as she is!

Another Week..

I just realized a week has passed without any new pictures! It's been a fun, some-what busy week, and I realized I haven't taken pictures in a few days. Emelyn is still fighting one last molar that won't break through. Poor girl. She still wakes up 1-2 times at night in pain.

On a side note - someone recently commented that at 14 months, kids are past their cute, sweet stage and are starting their temper tantrum - "giving parents' headache" stage. While this is true at times, I have to say that this is still my favorite stage (each stage seems to turn into my favorite!) Yes, Emelyn expresses when she's upset, but she also expresses when she's happy, full of joy, in awe, thankful, in love etc.. just as much too. And I wouldn't trade those priceless expressions and moments for anything!

And about Christmas - it's our favorite celebration each year and this year is no different. We are counting down the days (5) until we are with family. Caroling, singing, yummy food, Candlelight service, Jesus' birthday cake, seeing family, watching Emelyn play with cousins, cathcing up with siblings and parents... can't wait!!! Even more so, we are excited about what Christmas means, and are excited to be able to share that with Emelyn. This year we will be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but next year, we're thinking we want to stay here and start our own Christmas celebration as a family, and then go home between Christmas and New Years. I just finished reading "Treasuring God in Our Traditions" and it made me so so excited about Christmas next year, when Emelyn will hopefully be old enough to comprehend a little bit about what Christmas means. I'm going to an open house tomorrow for a new quilt shop and hope to find some cute fabric to make Shepherd Pouches for each of us next year. I've also been on the lookout for a good Advent Calendar/something to help us prepare for Christmas as a family next year... no luck yet, but we still have time!

And now some pics from the last week!

No caption needed here!

Baking cookies for Emelyn's teachers.

Before Jake's company's Christmas party, Emelyn and I had some fun - Jake tried to capture it on the camera, but our little squirt was determined NOT to act normal in any pictures!
"I'm not going to hold still!"
Emelyn's 2009 ornament - seemed fitting since she says "woof" everytime she sees a dog. She loves this ornament and first thing in the morning points at the tree and says "Pretty!" (what she calls it) and then finds her ornament, smiles, and says "Doggie, Woof!"

Since we won't be here on Christmas Day, we've been opening presents here and there. This is the only one Emelyn has opened yet (Alphabet Pal) and she has a lot of fun playing with it.

Emelyn and I after church on Sunday - one of the fun ways she expresses love at this age - lots of hugs!

Last Sunday was in the 50's, so Eric and Jake went on a bike ride down the Pig Trail.

I hope to take some pictures this weekend and do at least one more post before Christmas. If not, though, I hope you all have a wondeful Christmas celebration!

A little glimpse...

... of our precious (ornery, goofy, hilarious) little girl...

Have I mentioned before how much we love Ms Emelyn?!?! It seems almost daily more and more of her personality emerges. She's quite ornery and loves to make people laugh. And at this stage (aka teething) is quite moody - happy one moment, needing held the next - and also likes to sit on our laps to read books every chance she gets. Grandpa and Grandma sent her a Christmas card yesterday with a puppy dog on the cover, and she kept bringing it to us to "read", but as soon as we'd start "reading" it, she flipped it back to the front and started barking at the dog. So much fun!

I hear Emelyn in the room next door so I better go... I think she knows we have a video monitor- she's just waking up and is knocking on the wall, and then looking up at the camera with a smile. :) Such a sweetie!!!

Cutie

Emelyn now has 10 teeth. Poor girl - they're just coming in everywhere! Today I gave her a cheese stick with lunch and she shoved it to the back of her mouth on one side and bit down, then switched sides and did it to the other... not to eat (which she eventually did) but just to feel the coolness on her gums.

Other than teething (which really isn't that bad) we're doing good here. Just loving and cherishing each day! It seems in the last year, we have had friends of friends or else actual friends go through a heart-wrenching illness with their child, and some have even lost a young child. It makes Jake and I both so very thankful for Ms Emelyn and her health (although most of the kiddos were perfectly healthy, then after a routine test, were diagnosed with something and then within months and sometimes even weeks were with Jesus.) I simply can't imagine, and frankly don't want to even think about it. So we're reminded to love and cherish each moment... and we love doing exactly that!

Coloring... ever since Ms Karen has started coloring with Emelyn on Tuesday mornings, she's been wanting to color at home. She even knows which desk drawer the crayons and paper are in, and goes to get them for me. :)

Emelyn goes to the "pretty" each morning to take out a present and try to unwrap it... oddly the two presents she goes for each morning are for Janessa... she must know there're gifts inside that she wants.
How cute is she in her "winter" accessories?!

Checking on the presents after church.

I'm a little biased, but I think this is one of the cutest father/daughter pairs out there. This is the first time I've put Emelyn in tights. They didn't seem to bother her...

And finally - we've started (a little late, I realize) letting Emelyn brush her teeth each night. She loves her toothbrush! Part of it may just be that it feels good on her gums, but either way, we let her use it... here's a video of her "brushing" last night.

No 'Mom of the Year' for me!

For the last couple of weeks, Emelyn has been waking up 1-2 times at night. She stands up screaming, and sometimes will want Jake, but usually in the end I have to feed her and then snuggle with her for a while to make her fall back asleep. At first I thought she was sick; then I thought maybe she was cold. In the end I decided she was just getting spoiled and told Jake that I didn't want this to become a habit and so I would NOT be getting up and snuggling with her until she falls asleep again. Thankfully, the last two nights she has slept 12-13 hours straight through so we didn't have to do that. :)

In the mean time, I've noticed a white "blob" in her mouth when she eats the last few days, but was sure it was just food. Well today I noticed it while I was changing her diaper. Not wanting her to choke on this food, I reached in, to find out that it's a great big molar. Not only that, but the other bottom one is super swolen, and the tooth on top of that one has also broken through. Poor thing. She's likely been wanting to snuggle during the night because she hurts, and I had decided she was just spoiled. What a great way to write down the emerging of tooth #8 and #9 in her baby book! "Mom ignored me for two days thinking I was spoiled, and so in trying to teach me a lesson, neglected the fact that I had two painful teeth break through."

On to some pictures... :)

Here's Emelyn trying some raspberry cheesecake. Any guesses if she liked it?

To celebrate her new teeth today, we made rice krispies!
Yummy!

Smiling for the camera... love this girl!

Our little mouse... I'm pretty sure she'd only eat cheese if we'd let her. That eczema patch keeps us from giving her too much... just in case I'm ever back in the running for that mom of the year award I know I'd lose it when others see the red patch!

And finally, a short video of her walking. We went to Tim's Pizza to see the Christmas lights and she enjoyed walking all over the place while waiting... thankfully they weren't very busy that night!

Back Home

Emelyn was ready to eat on Thanksgiving day!

"Is the food ready yet?"

Emelyn loved this little high chair - it's an inflatable travel one and she misses getting to sit up to the table now that she's home.
Haning out in the airport. Emelyn knows no stranger and got lots and lots of walking practice in too!

Tonight we went and bought a tall, narrow Christmas tree since our old one (a very beautiful, tall, rotating tree) is simply too big for our little living room - especially since we have different furniture now than in years past.

Emelyn likes to look at the tree and say "oooh" and "aaah" over and over. She's so darn cute!

Emelyn is now walking/running with confidence. She also has developed some new fun expressions. The suprised "ooooo" look, as well as clicking her tounge. She also likes to flash a cheesey grin and thanks to Uncle David, has yet another new fun, hilarious laugh that she does while rubbing her hands together. So cute!!! She also has really gotten into books. Her toy of choice these days is to grab a book and bring it to us to read. She is such a joy and we love her so much!

Pasadena Day 3

Today we packed a picnic and ate lunch on the beach. The weather was in the 80's and simply beautiful ... the perfect setting to be filled with gratitude ... looking into the ocean and being reminded of who God is ... surrounded by family ... we are truely blessed! After the beach trip we came home, took naps, and then woke up to eat a yummy Thanksgiving meal.

Emelyn wasn't sure what to think of the sand

Looking back at the ocean thinking that is one BIG bathtub

Testing the sand with her feet

Then she tested out the sand with her hands

Then realized it was a lot of fun - I'm pretty sure every inch of her body had sand on it at one time or another!

David & Melissa on the beach

Love this picture!

Family pictures were hard to capture... but a lot of fun!

Walking on the beach - she loved it!

Daddy found a shell for Emelyn

When we convinced her she wasn't suppose to eat it, she decided it needed to go in her hair

A little story - Emelyn seems confused about what is and isn't a dog. At first, she knew what her book said a dog was, and then over time, we have told her that new animals were dogs as we see them outside - animals that are much bigger, smaller or a completely different color than the dog she knew from her book. Well today at the beach, there were pigeons and seagulls everywhere. The pigeons would walk right up to you asking for food. Emelyn was overwhelmed, pointing at each one, exclaiming "Doggie!" "Doggie!" "Doggie" over and over and over. (Last night we saw a dog at the pizza parlor that was smaller than a pigeon.) Then Uncle David kindly told her that, no, those are rats with wings. :) Poor girl is confused now... she doesn't remember seeing rats with wings in her books.