Thanksgiving Day at Great-Uncle Ron's

Emily and her cousin Chazlyn were glued at the hip all day... or was it Emily glued at Chazlyn's hip? :) Emily had so much fun with her cousins Tiff and Chaz, who she calls "Chip and Taz"! :)

Uncle Justin and Emily

Uncle Justin and Emily hard at work on their laptops this past Tuesday morning before Uncle Justin left for his college classes. How cute!!!

The Siblings!

My brothers (Jon and Nick) and Josh, Emily and I went to the Manatee Viewing Area today. Emily was not very patient and informed us after about 30 seconds that she was ready to go! Oh, well, at least it was a good photo op with my brothers... too bad Emily wouldn't cooperate! She's the short green one who refused to turn around!

Grammy's October Visit

We love it when Grammy comes to see us!

Emily had so much fun with her Grammy when she came to visit at the end of October. They went to The Dentzel Carousel, girly shopping, Chick-Fil-A, the nail salon for manicures, the playground, a church's Fall Festival... it was a special few days!

Emily wishes Grammy lived nearby!

Mother and Daughter

Mama and Emily on Emily's 4th Birthday, at approximately 10:53am (the time she was born). How blessed I am!

Our Family

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Josh, Emily and I. They were taken on October 31, 2008. Notice the sweet one of me and my hubby! :)

Emily as a Forest Fairy

Here is our little Emily Catherine dressed for a local church's Fall Festival. She was a beautiful Forest Fairy! The festival was on October 31st; her mama is just slow with getting pictures on here!

We're in Florida!

We made it home to Florida for the week of Thanksgiving a little after midnight last night (technically today)!

We have really enjoyed our first day. We will be at Josh's parents' house for the first half of our visit, and we spent some good time with Great-Gramma today at the park. I think she was in heaven having some special time with us, and most of all, Emily! I forgot my camera at Josh's parents', so unfortunately have no pictures of it to share!

She has been playing like crazy with Grandpa tonight--- getting all that energy out!!

She and Uncle Justin "worked" on their laptops together this morning--- that was SO cute!! I will be posting a picture of that!

Happy 4th Birthday, Emily!!!

Today is "The Baby's" (as Josh and I still call her) 4th Birthday!!! I am filled with emotion. This precious Gift from God, my daughter, is so beautiful. I am flooded with tenderness toward her and can't believe she is mine.

She opened her presents from Daddy and I this morning, along with presents from my Uncle Don and Aunt Barb. Their presents were the obvious "winners" so far this year :)... namely the Barbie and the Diamond Castle Laptop and Barbie Best Friends make-up!! Emily is always trying to play with my computer and her daddy's, so getting her own "umpooter" is like a dream come true! And what little girl doesn't love make-up? She has been applying it to her, me, and even a lady from our church when she came over this morning! :)

We had PBandJ (Goober) for lunch, popcorn at the movies, and "Cheesy Pasta" (Tortellini) for dinner, some of Emily's favorites. For dessert, we had a mini birthday cake and fresh fruit. Emily ate the fruit and the icing... lots and lots of icing!

In between lunch and dinner, we took her to the movies (a favorite outing of hers), to see Bolt (thank you to Great-Gramma for Emily's "Mad Money"!). Then we took her to the treehouse play area there in the mall, which is also a favorite.

This morning, the lady from church and her husband brought Emily a BIG real tent that their grandkids have always loved. It takes up a good portion of our living room, and will provide many hours of imaginative play for our adventurous girl! They also brought her a birthday present of more "Big Girl" panties. She is doing SO WELL using the "Big Girl" potty--- only using pull-ups basically at naptime and bedtime.

She seems to be having a wonderful birthday and, of course, is still looking forward to her party in Florida on the 30th!

I promise to post pictures soon!

Emily Catherine's Current Favorites...

Emily's Favorite...

Food--- Macaroni and Cheese, Goober Grape (Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly Mixed)

Drink--- Lemonade ("Lemmamade")

Time to Snuggle--- At naptime and bedtime, and she will drag it out as long as possible (Mama is a BIG pushover on this one!!)

Book--- Too many to list, but she is very into Barbie and Disney Princess books, as well as Clifford books

Stuffed Animal--- Her new French Poodle from The Bear Factory, whom she named "Lucky" after her battery-operated dog from Grammy and Grampy. A sweet lady in our church, Ms. Norma, took her on a special girls' outing this past Tuesday evening; details and pictures of that cute event to follow soon. :)

Things to play--- OUTSIDE!!! I think she would live outside if we let her! Also, Barbies, Baby Dolls, Stuffed Animals, any and all board games (She "played" CSI: Encore Edition with Mama and Daddy last night, and "won"!) She is also obsessed with organizing and grouping her things together... looks like Mama IS rubbing off on her!... she also loves any art project!

Friends--- Her Best Friends, Carlie Claire and Ani

Place to Eat--- Chick-Fil-A (I think all of us parents know why...) She never eats, by the way; we usually just get a fruit bowl to-go for her!

Emily is Getting a New Aunt!

Emily is getting a new aunt! My (Bryanne's) older brother Jon is getting married to a sweet girl named Kim, whom he met at his church in Nashville.

We are very excited for them, and cannot wait to meet Kim!

We are hosting Christmas at our house in Mississippi this year, and look forward to Kim being here!

Emily Catherine and Her Best Friend, Carlie Claire

Emily loves her best friend, Carlie Claire. Here they are in June at Grammy and Grampy's house in Florida when we were all gathered for Grampy's funeral. Emily also loves her Uncle Nick, who can be seen here with Carlie, her sister Lilly, and Emily.

What Emily is Learning in Church

Okay, Grandparents, this is especially for you, since you don't get to go to church with your granddaughter :) ...

Emily loves her Wednesday night Rainbows class. She earned her vest a few months ago, and a couple of weeks ago she earned her first badges, the Bears and Cats. She is now working on her Turkeys badge, which is about "Thanking". Tonight's lesson was "How can I show thanks to God?"

In Children's Church, which she also loves, she is learning about The Fruits of the Spirit.

Forgot to find out what she learned in Sunday School this week...

Books We've Read Today

Emily and I love reading books together (me reading, her listening and giggling and letting me know if I tried to skip a page in the LONG Disney Princess books)! Mama reads to her during the day and at naptime, Daddy reads to her when he puts her to bed at night. This morning we read Santa's Jolly Belly by Nancy Parent and Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. She has also been listening to her Scripture Memory Songs CD, which I love.

She discovered her wrapped birthday presents from Mama and Daddy in the guest room this morning. Her excitement was precious--- answering the question of when she can open them, for the next three days--- will be exhausting! :)

Looking Back at Emily's 3rd Birthday

With Emily's 4th birthday less than a week away (November 22nd), I have been reminiscing about last year's birthday and how fast the year has gone by. This will be her first birthday without her Grampy, and that will be so hard, but I am looking forward to celebrating her life and what a beautiful little girl she is, inside and out. We thank God for her, and often!

I thought you might enjoy a few pictures from last year's party, so here they are. With her in the pictures are Grammy and her friends Ethan and Ryan. Grampy was very proud of the scooter he and Grammy got for Emily, as this was the first time she had begged for a certain present for a holiday! :) By the way, this year she has begged for A LOT of things!!

What is "Our Life in the Fishbowl"?

When you are a pastor's family, they say you live "in a fishbowl"--- with your life in all its (good and bad) glory out there for everyone to see... it just comes with the territory! :)

Josh and I have found this to be true, so I thought it was a pretty clever name for our new blog! Some good friends of ours have inspired us, through reading their blogs, to make one of our own. We think it will be an awesome way to keep our family and friends filled in on our life, and more importantly, Emily's!

Here's to making the distance between us seem shorter... :)