the crownovers

bluebonnets

2010-05-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

our spring weather has been gorgeous! emory and i found some bluebonnets and were lucky enough to have them all to ourselves for the morning. we had a great time playing...

emory loved running through the bluebonnet field...

and she loved having freedom to explore!

and loved having SO much room to run

she wasn't super-smiley and completely refused to sit down in the flowers, but i think she had a fabulous time anyhow!

she even picked a few! ...aunt jenni promises it's not illegal afterall!
such a happy girl!
and, we found these cute, little yellow ones. not sure what they are, though!
love these sweet little hands! i know they won't be this little forever.

beautiful!

bookworm

2010-05-03T18:30:00.001-07:00

emory, you have turned into quite a little bookworm! for the loooongest time, i tried and tried (and tried) to convince you to enjoy books. ...and now you do! daddy and i love to read, too. right now, mommy {mostly} reads blogs, and daddy reads law school books...but one day we'll read other stuff, right? ;)

even though you're a busy and curious girl, you can also be found sitting with a good book. one of your funny favs right now is a book about vehicles. you're especially fond of the trash truck (what??). funny girl! you also really like the sandra boynton "doggies" book and are quick to point out "coopy". every. single.time. even "two coopies". your most precious fav is your "baby jesus book" which is your bible. you love, love to find the baby jesus story. i love to watch you read your books and love even more to snuggle with you while we read together.

art, music, and the park

2010-05-03T18:29:00.001-07:00

this weekend, nana and pawpaw came to visit! emory was quick to put pawpaw to work doing her favorite things. :) she twisted his arm into pushing her in the swing (this is a daily occurrence at our house!) and chasing riley in the yard. chasing riley while pawpaw carries her is one of their silly little games. i honestly can't tell who loves the game the most!

we also went to the art festival and loved looking at the amazing and sometimes interesting (?) art. afterwards, we went across the street to the grocery with a park. it was a gorgeous spring evening, and we sat outside to enjoy our dinner and played on the playground.

emory braved the dragon with a little help from pawpaw,

got a few kisses from daddy,
took the slide all by herself, "it's not scary"--emory

enjoyed some pizza, playground-side,

and listened to live music with nana.

after an ice cream treat, nana read em some books before bedtime.

love you nana and pawpaw! thanks for coming to see us!

new posts

2009-12-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

gaylord

crownover christmas

matt and molly's wedding

coming soon....christmas day

enjoy :)

happy 4TH birthday riley!

2009-12-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

our pretty awful (pretty, awful?) golden, riley, turned FOUR today, and yes, we celebrated his birthday. actually, we celebrate this day every year. you see, when we met with his breeder to choose him, we were able to choose between two boys--one she described as a "couch potato" and the other was "more spirited". we oh-so-naively chose the "spirited" one. and, thus, we celebrate our stupidity and his good fortune.

riley used to get one cupcake per year in age, but 4 cupcakes is just plain ridiculous. so, i iced his with a "4" instead. because that is not ridiculous.

and his "birthday party" lasted that long. ....oh, you missed it? so did we. one second emory was giving him a birthday hug, and the next the cupcake disappeared. it's a little bit of birthday magic.

he so kindly supervised emory enjoying the birthday treats and even offered to clean up.

and emory got to enjoy some new bath paints in the tub afterwards. thanks aunt nenny and uncle kywa!

emmy's got a brand new view

2009-12-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

last weekend we FINALLY turned emory's carseat around, and she really likes the new view. she also REALLY likes asking mommy and daddy for a-l-l the things she throws on the floor and across the back seat. ;)

after a "few" requests for "elmo", we finally gave in and let her watch it on the computer. she's SUCH a big girl!

gaylord

2009-12-26T19:13:00.000-08:00

the day after christmas, we went to the gaylord texan, and it was beautiful! we all loved watching the trains. it was emory's first time to see a train set, and she quickly learned to point them out as they passed. "train" and "choo-choos" were frequent. ;) jeff and i are amazed at how quickly she learns words now.

we found this cute little sleigh

mimi and pops

the decoration are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. emory ran through most of the atrium, but we did get her to stop for a minute or two for a picture. ;) my best "trick" for keeping her in a frame is to put her on top of something. ha!

but she posed for this little pic all on her own!

daddy and emory looking at the fish. she loves animals so much right now and had a great time pointing to each fish {shish}. we love and treasure these little moments with her.

mid-run. i promise you this girl does.not.walk. even pops is amazed!

dogs are still a big fav, and she found this gingerbread dog and had to take a closer look. she loves climbing as much as she loves running. ;)

hello, bevo, it's me, emory!

watching the water fountain

mesmerized

after the gaylord, we came back to our house for the evening.

we ate dinner,

played with plastic bags {hats} on our heads,

and took a pink bath

crownover christmas

2009-12-22T18:31:00.001-08:00

tonight we had a very crownover christmas with nana and pawpaw, and they spoiled us silly! before they arrived, we put the finishing touches on our christmas decorations (note to self: decorate in october next year since law school consumes november!)

i LOVE sending and receiving christmas cards and have found that this is the BEST way to see them all. they eventually fill all of our kitchen cabinets each season! on the counter below, i love displaying emory's christmas footprint plates. last year was the christmas tree plate, and this year is the angel plate. :)

stockings :)

our nativity...including the bethlehem golden retriever ;) emory has REALLY loved "the baby" {jesus} this season. it's so sweet to see her come to us holding a christmas book or her picture bible and show us "the baby". she also knows his mommy, daddy, "dontey", and "feep". TOO cute!

nana and pawpaw always have the best time with emory! she had such a good laugh showing them her new elmo book from mrs. courtney.

emory and nana "oohed" and "aahed" over the christmas tree that mama gave her last weekend. it goes with her gingerbread house from last christmas. emory loves to watch it spin and sing...and now she says "no touch!"

em loved trying on nana's glasses!

and she was really "into" opening presents, too! santa needs to start wrapping ;)
nana and pawpaw liked their legacy journals. we can't wait to read them! {thanks for the idea, sara!}

emory loves her new elmo books and is already learning to push the musical buttons

AND....emory has a sweet new ride! she absolutely loves her new car and had such fun asking pawpaw to "push" her through the house!

checking out the gas cap

JOY!

joe and jenn, thank you so much for blessing us this christmas! we love you and are so grateful for you.

matt and molly's wedding

2009-12-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

this weekend, we all traveled to little rock for "uncle" matt (jeff's cousin) and molly's wedding. matt asked jeff to be an usher, and molly asked emory to be her flower girl. our trip got off to a rough start with a little yakking in the car (before we'd even left dallas--nice), but we finally made it there.

on friday, em and i "helped" aunt rhonda and nana decorate for the reception and rehearsal dinner while jeff played golf with the guys. the rehearsal was great, but em was a little krazy. i began to doubt that she would make it down the aisle since she was FAR more interested in running the aisles. we lasted just a few minutes at the rehearsal dinner--at a GREAT little place just near the capitol. matt and molly were so sweet to give emory the little people wedding set as a flower girl favor. so sweet!

WEDDING DAY was here soon enough, and we headed to the church--which was beautifully decorated for christmas.

emory and cousin jackson played in the "get ready" room, ate a few snacks, and watched "elmo" on the computer.

once the flower girl and ring bearer were dressed, we waited in the lobby for our turn to take pictures. aunt melissa was SO smart and brought a bag of toys. ...and, emory met "thomas" for the first time!
cousin jackson was promised a "handy manny" tool IF he walked down the aisle, and em was promised a bottle of milk--whatever works!
daddy spent a LOT of the morning wrangling a wild emory. at one point, a sweet grandfather deemed her a "hot mess". yes, indeed. ;)
.....so, we took a stroll outside with her flower ball {aka purse}.
after picture time, jackson so sweetly fed emory some chips or "fips" as em would say!

crownover fam :)

our fam of 3

usher brothers

matt and our new COUSIN molly!

sweet little emory was so exhausted after the wedding. i was SO, SO proud of her! she was such a trooper for making it through the day.... sweet little thing r-a-n down the aisle! daddy let her go at the top of the aisle and told her that mommy (at the bottom of the aisle) had milk...say no more--she was off!

emory's flower ball---so beautiful!

cutest little flower girl

after the wedding, we went to cousin jackson's new house. it's beautiful! after em and jackson took a bath, they put on their christmas pj's, read christmas stories, and played in the playroom. jackson was so sweet to share all of his toys with em.

we had a wonderful weekend. congrats matt and molly!

pumpkin patchin'

2009-10-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

last week we had the BEST time at the pumpkin patch{es}! emory LOVED checking out all the fun things to do, and had a good time playing, too. it was a super way to spend the afternoons!

when we went to visit nana and pawpaw last weekend for homecoming, nana surprised emmy with a little halloween "sussy"...this cutie new outfit! we decided to visit a nursery one afternoon while daddy was at school, and it was great! thanks nana and pawpaw for the cute shirt and skirt!

so much fun crossing the little bridge

picking a 'few' pumpkins

then, on wednesday, we went to another pumpkin patch, and we took daddy with us this time. :)

emmy eyeing the patch!

she LOVED the tractors. she looks so tiny on that huge tractor!
i spy a cowgirl!
and, her absolute fav was the slide. {shocker} she has daddy wrapped around her little finger and had him helping her up and down the slide. such JOY!
she insisted on scooting from the top step to the slide landing by herself.
i found two pumpkins....
and showed them to daddy!

emmy-sized tractor
giving daddy a kiss. mmmuh!
daddy and emmy
silly mommy. i'm not falling for your tricks to catch a posed pic! that was soooo last year. ;)
it's almost halloween!

one HUNDRED years of HOMECOMING

2009-10-25T20:08:00.001-07:00

we had SUCH a wonderful homecoming weekend! of course, it went by all-too-quickly, but it was super fun to see so many friends and family (both of our families went to baylor!). we LOVED our time at baylor..it's just too hard to even put into words...and we hope to pass on that BU love to our little bear. on the way down to waco friday night, we were talking about how we'd been to at least 14 homecomings in a row! this was emory's 2nd homecoming and baylor's 100TH!

friday night we met up with the rolphs (and got to meet emma!), martineaus, rakes', burchetts, and lasiters. it was a krazy time of kid chasing/wrangling, but we managed to squeeze in a little catching up. :) emory was MOST interested in sid rich (where mommy and daddy took packard physics!) and loved going up and down (and up and down) the stairs.

we even found a "truck" :)

and then they lit the bonfire...emory was SO impressed. but, i love it! i so wish i could go to freshman mass meeting again!

crownovers and lasiters...sweet friends and lots of baylor memories.
saturday morning, daddy was sooo lucky to go to the zta breakfast with mommy and emory. i LOVED the newly redecorated room! the greys, pinks, black, and white are perfect! it was sweet to see so many friends from my years in zta, too. it {almost} feels like we never left. and, yes, there is a little "kid-switching" going on, and someone wants his mommy back!
then we walked through campus to the parade where i proceeded to watch not one minute of it. :) i was FAR too busy following a BUSY nineteen month old exploring campus!
we got to see aunt jenni, uncle kyle, mimi, and bop {the grandpa formerly known as pops}.
lincoln, emory, and ella....baylor class of 2030!
matching cuties :)
after we dropped off daddy at the game, we headed to nana and pawpaw's house to take a nap. emory missed the nap memo, so we played dress-up instead! LOVE this pic in her cheerleader uni!
then we took pictures on the floats (the ones we missed during the parade...ha!) i loved that this one ...celebrating 100 years. i have so many pics of me at emory's age sitting on the floats when my parents took me to homecoming.
for daddy....emory on the phi chi float
i'll never forget how beautiful campus was that day!

emory and pat neff
running from mommy ;)
emory meets the judge

emory at draper
and, we found our friends! the girls hugged and kissed...so cute!
after the game, we went to the burchett's beautiful house for a wedding shower to honor geoff and ellen. emory wore MY little dress that mimi saved all these years. mimi's baylor roommate made it for me as a baby present. sweet!

sunday morning, we went to an old waco diner--harold waite's--for breakfast. uncle brian, aunt debbie, becca, uncle randy, nana, pawpaw, and mama came, too!
and....we went back to campus to take pictures in the "sic'em bears" dress!
sweet family picture
our first family picture with judge baylor
emory found the 'wing and was SO happy!
and then she found some adoring fans ;) i LOVED watching her run towards the guys!
campus was perfect this weekend! emory loved the yellow mums.
and nana and pawpaw!
sic'em bears!

happy 100TH homecoming!

sweet summer week

2009-08-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

we've had the best summer! i can't help but think about how little emory was last summer --just a few months old! she wasn't sitting up, eating solid food, or crawling, yet. this summer, she has been "on the go", and we've really enjoyed trying lots of activities for the first time.

last sunday, she got to bring pennies to church to put in Penny's pocket. the church used the pennies to help buy backpacks for students. emory had SO much fun taking the pennies out of the bag and putting them in Penny's pocket! bailey even helped her a little. :)

emory found out we've been holding out on an entire food group--sauces. the girl LOVES to dip! her faithful "dohg" supervised while she ate a breadstick and marinara sauce. ...and she went straight to the tub. :)

on tuesday night, we met a bunch of my elementary/high school friends and their moms for dinner. crazy to think we've known each other for more than 20 years! the group is always LOUD but so, so fun. ....and, they give the BEST showers!

emory expanded her condiment experiences to include daddy's fav, ranch dressing. mommy thought this was SUCH a great snack/activity to occupy emmy while mommy cooked dinner. ....working on those fine motor skills, exploring new textures, learning to eat from a bowl...
....and she quickly ditched the carrots in favor of scooping the ranch directly into her mouth.
....and then decided that licking the bowl was SO much more efficient.
then, while mommy cleaned up the above mess (after the ranch bowl was thrown across the kitchen), emory found the dryer. and invited herself inside. sadly, mommy has almost the exact same picture from her freshman year at collins.
daddy also returned to class this week! emory helped carry his bag. sweet little helper!

and one night, mommy and daddy even got away for a DATE! the judge daddy worked for this summer gave him some tickets, and mimi and pops were only too happy to take care of emmy. mommy and daddy had a great time in some great seats.

mommy thought these little guys in their rally caps were too cute. they "stole" these seats right after the rangers blew a good lead.

on one of daddy's nights off of class, we played in the backyard! emory has come quite a long way with the pool since the beginning of the summer. she had a great time splashing and scooping in the water.

cute little beauty :)

....taking care of her bestie by giving him a "bo" (bone). she's also great at taking them away, too!

on friday night, daddy got to go to the cowboys game with some good friends. lucky guy got great tickets for the 2nd time that week! mommy and emmy headed to mrs. marci's to hang out with the other mommies and kids. emory was kind enough to mow the grass for them.

and saturday night we got to go to addie's 2ND birthday party! it was at a GREAT park with a playground and a duck pond. emory thought the hotdog dinner was SUPER and helped herself to TWO whole hotdogs. yes, she ate more than any other child there. mommy and daddy cut her off at two even though she was begging for more.

emory thought this duck was asking for a hug. daddy decided against it. he's such a fan of birds anyhow.

sweet daddy and emmy moment :)

the birthday girl! she blew out her own candles! thanks so much for having us--we had a great time!

we had a WONDERFUL week and are so thankful for summer. looking forward to another week just like this one!

food for thought

2009-08-16T20:20:00.002-07:00

this morning in sunday school, (i'm sure we have trendy name for ss...but i also refer to "big church") we took a field trip across the street. we even rode a bus and had snacks at the end. it was VERY preschool. ;)

i digress. we took this field trip to a relatively new ministry at our church. this ministry is called 6stones and was named after a miracle that took place at our church about 4 years ago. at that time, we were 6 million dollars in debt and were close to losing everything. humbling, to say the least. after many months of selfless giving and sacrifice that were only directed and blessed by the LORD himself, the church was free from this debt. ....and one huge stone was placed in a central courtyard for each million that had been re-paid. 6 stones.

this morning, we learned/were reminded that 6stones came about as a way to continue the miracle of giving/blessing that was started 4 years ago. we toured the new hope center food pantry and clothing area that cares for 50+ families EVERY WEEK. right here in our backyard. and guess what? this ministry helps families just like OURS. families that might have lost jobs at AA just last week. i was floored.

i think the clothes area spoke to me the most. i noticed a sign on the wall listing the clothing allotment per person. women get something like 4 pants, 4 tops, 1 dress. babies/children get something like 4-5 outfits, 1 pair of pj's, and a small handful of other items. they can "shop" 6 times per year.

at this point, i was embarrassed. i thought of ALL the clothes that emory has. far more than 4-5 outfits and 1 pair of pj's. i thought of our closets that really are stuffed with clothes. i thought of our pantry that could feed us for a couple of weeks, easily. i thought of how much we HAVE.

and then i thought of how much we WANT. and i thought of my ugly, bitter spirit when i think of all the things i THINK i need that, in reality, are WANTS. i thought of the way i so often throw a little pity party for myself complete with balloons and streamers when i can't have what i WANT. it changed my thought life, for today, at least. i certainly was inspired to look through our house for the things that we don't need and to challenge myself to give a little past that.

...oh, and we also learned that the 6stones ministry has begun sharing the gospel with each new family, and 106 have become believers as a result. 106 since june.

jesus, thank you for teaching me this morning a heart-check lesson through my eyes alone. thank you for reminding me that there are others around me who have NEEDS, and thank you for providing what we NEED so that we can give.

going private

2009-08-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

we've found our blog (our life) linked to another's that we don't know. so, the time has come to make our lives a little more private. if you'd like to continue reading about our family, please email me at jack72002@hotmail.com.

our blog will be private in the next week...

boys, birthdays, and burgers

2009-08-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

on friday morning, we went to the children's museum with some of emory's "boys"...jd and lincoln! we hadn't been before, and it was PERFECT for all of them. here's how the morning went....

em shakin' it on the train table. no, i'm SURE she isn't a climber.

chattin' it up with a cowgirl

puttin' on a show, g-rated, of course

shoppin' at the grocery

em talked lincoln into buying her favorite....turkey

choosing the best oranges/balls. whatever.

talkin' on the phone

dialing for lincoln. i was surprised that the two of them knew how to work this antique. ;)

"confined" for an illegal snack. WHO bans snacks and sippys at the CHILDREN'S museum?

**not pictured: shoplifting at the gift shop. all items promptly returned. guilty party will remain anonymous**

by this time, mrs. marci and mommy thought the museum needed a break, so they took everyone to lunch. emory was so excited about this tortilla. so excited that she felt clothes were optional.

we had a GREAT time with the lasiters!

on friday night, mommy had a GIRLS night for auntie fabs' birthday! we ate ourselves silly at this fun place and went to a "funny" movie. auntie fabs hoped it wasn't her last dinner/movie before she jumped out of a plane today!

this morning, we went to gunner's birthday party! emory "jumped"... without her feet leaving the floor...in the bounce house for the 1ST time! mommy was proud of her for being so brave. she's REALLY adventurous and keeps mommy on her toes. :)

tonight, we met aunt jenni, mimi, and uncle jeff at twisted root burgers. mommy heard about it TWICE this weekend, and thought we should check it out. good thing we did because it's great!

daddy, the intern

2009-08-06T19:41:00.001-07:00

this summer, jeff has been an intern for a judge in downtown dallas. i think he's really liked putting everything into practice. when we talk every night about what he did at work, i'm amazed at how much he's learned in such a short time.

we got to meet him a few times for lunch! nana, pawpaw, and brian joined us with aunt jean ann (our lovely photographer) at campisi's. we found out that emory LOVES salad. who knew?

this is the building where he interned. he took the train from home to downtown....and had to walk a few blocks. city life ;)

miss emory enjoying some chips and salsa at chuy's on our anniversary. she's become a "dip" girl (like her mama!). she loves to "dip" anything into ANYTHING dip-able!

we ate lunch with daddy one day during his last week at his internship, and we got to meet the judge! mommy had her camera with her but chickened out of asking to take a picture with him. she's not up on judge etiquette. ;) when we met the judge, daddy was holding emory, and the judge, who is the kindest man i've met in awhile, asked emory if he could hold her. emory, in front of the clerks and interns, said "nah", and she turned to daddy and gave him a kiss! after we chatted for a few minutes, the judge asked emory if he could hold her again, and he got the same reply. haha! ....daddy can't wait to tell that story!

law review

2009-08-02T21:07:00.003-07:00

dear daddy,

mommy and i know that you've been working so hard, and we are so proud of you for making law review! we just knew you could do it. thanks for everything you do for us.

we love you!

em and mommy

the band and the ballgame

2009-08-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

on friday night, we met the lasiters for dinner at central market. ...great for SO many reasons...fun playplace, noisy little ones welcomed, tasty food....winner in my book. ;) AND there's live music! jeff and matt deemed the band "southlake dads". envious comes to mind.

almost as soon as we finished eating, we watched a HUGE storm roll in. it shortened our evening a little, so we'll just look forward to the next time. :)

said "southlake dads"

sweet lincoln showing em a thing or two with his fork

emory eyeing her dinner

when we got home, em gave daddy a few sweet kisses before bedtime. she's started saying "maow" when she gives a kiss, too. you know daddy LOVES it! sweet girl.

em's new favorite...relocating mommy's pots and pans so she can move in!

on saturday night, we got to go to em's 1ST ranger game! for jeff's 1st father's day last year, emory gave him (!) this PINK ranger's hat, and she finally got to wear it that night.

nana and pawpaw were so sweet to take ALL of us to this game. mommy can't remember who the rangers played or who won, but we had fun. emory lasted until the 8th inning, too!

our fam of 3 at the rangers game! oddly enough, i'd never been to a game until i met jeff....and i grew up less than 5 miles from the stadium.

we parked in a great spot where we could take pics in front of both stadiums. we're hoping to see the bears play in november!

emory got this cute little backpack/catcher's thing, and uncle brian tried it on for her.

nana lovin' on her emmy

not such a dollar dog

seen this pic before? just before i took this pic, jeff texted his friend, matt, who called his dad. his dad, mr. b, chooses the shots that we all see on tv, and he chose this shot of me taking this pic to put on tv. ...em's tv debut. :) several friends happened to be watching, and we got calls/texts right away. we had NO idea we were on tv!

our friends, the lasiters, dvr'd the game and watched it later. jd watched it with them and asked if we could see him at home like he could see us at the game. TOO cute!

em found a ball (or 50)

emmy and nolan. :)

evan andrew

2009-07-29T14:00:00.001-07:00

evan andrew, sweet boy, we're missing you today and wishing that we could come to that fabulous birthday party that we just know you're having. we've thought about you a thousand times this year, learned a thousand things from you, and missed you a thousand times more.

happy 1st heavenly birthday! we love you, sweet boy!

cory, april, and allison, we're thinking about you, praying for you, and sending you lots of love today!

seven years 7.20.09

2009-07-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

it's been SEVEN sweet years since we said "i do". i think one of the blessings {and challenges} of getting married practically straight out of college is that you still have some growing up to do. ....some might think that we're still doing that since one of us seems determined to be a "forever student" ;). nonetheless, we have always seen god's hand guiding the way making a way for us. we've always known his provisions for us even when we didn't think there could be a way. we are just blessed...we really are.

jeff, i love you so much more than i did july 20 when we said "i do". thank you for being the leader of our family and for working so hard to provide for us. my love for you has only deepened as i've watched you fall in love with our little girl. i love you!

this past weekend, jeff planned an overnight for us in dallas. it was GREAT! with all of the busyness during the school year, we just don't have as much "us" time as we'd like. our weekend was FULL of ....movies, eating out, shopping, and TALKING....

i found these in the lobby.... gorgeous!

and we missed this sweet little face!

jeff hired these two to take care of our little cutie. :) they had the best time playing with ALL of her toys, eating out at mickey d's, taking wagon rides, watching riley play fetch, swinging on the back porch, and playing at the park. thanks, nana and pawpaw for taking the BEST care of emory and for generously providing for our weekend. love you guys!

honest scrap

2009-07-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

jeff's cousin beth sent this my way. fun! thanks, auntie beth!

***there are some rules to follow, i'm sure you can figure them out***

1. i LOVE photography. BUT i'm not so great at working the fanciness of our camera. i'd love to take a class or two. i wish i knew how to edit. i carry our camera with me nearly every day but never use the camera bag.

2. my parents still live in the same house that they lived in when i came home from the hospital. i've moved TEN times since moving to baylor. sometimes jeff and i run into friends we haven't seen in awhile, and they'll ask if we still live in (____). if it was a couple of moves ago, we just skip the updates to the current location.

3. since being pregnant with em, i'm not much of a fan of meat anymore. i eat chicken, turkey, and fish on occasion. pregnancy does SUCH crazy things.

4. i was the intramural horseshoe champion at baylor WITHOUT playing a single game. ....i won due to forfeits. jeff absolutely LOVED this since he played so many games/sports and (maybe?) won a championship.

5. i love to recycle. our recycle bin always has more stuff in in than the trash does. i wish i had a composter, if that's what it's called. not sure what i'd do with whatever comes out of a composter (?) but it sounds fun. i have a friend who recycles NOTHING. she even throws away change rather than putting it in a coin purse.

6. i love to have plans to get together all the time. i love my "talk time" (eisie, that's for you!). even better with a diet dr. pepper. i love to have people over or to come stay with us.

7. i'm super indecisive. day-to-day decisions are easy. long term...not so much. it took me almost a year to order wedding pix. the only reason i actuallly did it was b/c my mom threatened to do it for me if i didn't order them before moving to arkansas (see #2) along the same lines, i've been avoiding ordering pix from emory's 12 month photo shoot for 4 months now. (sorry, courtney!)

8. i read magazines from back to front. i try and try to read them from front to back, but i just have to know what's on the last page. and, i never read the table of contents---too hard to find.

9. i LOVE heels. i always and only wear heels. even my flip flops have some sort of heel. i REALLY tried to wear flats to the homecoming game this last year, but i didn't even make it from the parking lot to the tailgate. they felt too weird. so, i pulled the back-up shoes out of my purse instead. said flats have never been worn again.

10. i adore em and jeff. i've loved hanging out with "the amandas" and marci this summer (and kids!). i love lowercase print and fine point sharpies in tons of colors. i love a super-great deal. i love coke zero. i love chips and salsa. i love blogging in my head and wish it found it's way to the ACTUAL blog more often.

this was so fun but was way harder than i thought it would be! happy scrapping to anyone else who's up for it. ;)

hiii, dohg!

2009-07-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

dear emory,

dohg (dog) is quite possibly your favorite word right now! you LOVE dogs! you point them out to mommy all the time...and many times, they are "imaginary" dogs....but we just play along with you. you love to pat doggies, and we're learning to be gentle. we're also learning that dogs do NOT like hugs. bless your heart!

we have NO idea where you got this crazy texas twang, either! it's the most noticeable when you say "hiii", "dohg", and "bee-bee". it makes me and daddy laugh!

the other day we were desperate for an activity that escaped the HOT weather, and we tried out cabela's (ie. the "free" zoo). you weren't too excited about the m-a-n-y animals that mommy named or the fish swimming in the tanks, BUT when you spied this cute little guy, i KNEW what you would say..."hiii dohg!" you were quite convinced that we would be taking him home with us and even checked his paperwork to see how much he cost. ;)

but, then i reminded you that this sweet guy would be waiting for us at home. oh, my goodness, how you love him! one of your favorite things to do is snuggle with him while you drink your milk. he kindly obliges, too. :) i think riley is your first thought every day! he's the first word out of your mouth each morning, and he's the one you ask for when we park the car...whether we're home or not! you love to pat him (gently!, when reminded!), and sometimes you sit on him like a horse, too. he really must have angel wings somewhere!

i'm so glad you love doggies! it's so sweet to see your little personality!

emmy bear's best smile

2009-07-21T20:37:00.003-07:00

emmy-bear,

today was such a fun day. not because we did anything particularly unusual... because we didn't... but because your smile made my day. we played a silly game of peek-a-boo around the kitchen counter. i tried and tried to trick you into looking the other way, but alas, you are smarter than a 30 year old. sigh. it's all downhill from here for mom.

you gave mommy a s-c-a-r-e this morning! i am trying and trying to give you a leeetle bit of leeway and leave your bedroom door open so that you can bring toys to and from the living room. today, though, i heard you crying just a minute after you left the living room. i went to find you in your room but found the door closed...with riley inside. what?? i could still hear you crying, so i called your name. silly mommy, you didn't understand that i wanted you to answer! i looked in the bathroom--even behind the shower curtain, in the guest room, and in the laundry. mommy was starting to panic a little (ok, a LOT!) and then i heard you cry again. i quickly opened the linen closet door and found my emmy. and even with your crocky-tears, you were smiling--so happy that your had been found! i hugged you and hugged you and was SO thankful that i hadn't really lost you! ...hide and seek is a LONG way off!

mommy just LOVES lever doorknobs. the ones that sixteen month old little girls and big dogs can open. lucky mommy.

love you more,

mommy

last dr.'s appointment

2009-02-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

on february 28, 2008, i was 38 weeks pregnant, and i had what would be emory's last appointment with dr. n. we knew that my blood pressure and swelling had been concerning for the last few weeks. we went to each of the last 2-3 appointments prepared that we wouldn't leave but would go straight to l&d if my bp were too high.

emory looked great at this last appointment, and we were so happy to see her sweet little face on the sono. however, mom looked a little worse for the wear. the swelling was very noticeable (no pics of this!--couldn't bring myself to do it!) and my numbers weren't getting any better. after some discussion with dr. n, we decided that a birthday over the weekend was the best thing. i remember feeling a little bit shocked (and excited!) when i heard him say "how about a birthday tomorrow?". planner-mommy panicked a little bit. a lot a bit.

dr. n. stepped out of the room to check on hospital availability for the weekend, and daddy and i talked about our options--either friday, february 29 or sunday, march 2. in my mind, i wanted february 28 or march 1 because, clearly, (in my oh-so-rational pregnant brain, those had better "rings" to them than our given options). daddy loved the idea of a leap-year birthday, however, mommy thought that would be very confusing to have a birthday that doesn't really happen each year. i could just see us trying to explain that to a preschooler--"it's your birthday, but it's not REALLY your birthday...". and, once she was older, i thought about how many times she'd want to hear jokes about how she was really 4 or 5 rather than 16 or 20. ...i know, this is SO rational.... after QUITE the discussion, we decided that if emory wanted to be born on february 29, that would be her decision, but we would plan for march 2.

we left there in a shocked daze! we spent the rest of the weekend finishing up files and plans (for mommy's school) and organizing and preparing to grow from a family of 2 to 3 at home. i remember thinking that it was so unusual to know when she would be born, and it was all i could think about that whole weekend. i remember wondering what her little face would look like. and now i could never forget. :)

it's someone's birthday weekend!

2009-02-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

only 3 more days until baby emory turns ONE!

emory's daddy

2009-02-22T19:52:00.001-08:00

emory,

today you and daddy had a fun time playing and enjoying the beautiful weather. you love it when he throws you up in the air (makes mommy's heart stop for a second!) and when he munches your toes. you love your time with daddy and look forward to it so much!

brave girl...no fear! (until it comes to walking, then it's all about being a chicken!)

tiny feet

loving your time with daddy

Happy Tenth Valentine's Day, Sweet Jill!

2009-02-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

You can immediately tell that this is not Jill writing because of the extensive use of capital letters. Some may call it "proper English." But enough English language jokes (are there ever enough?) - I'm here to talk about my sweet wife.

This was our first (of ten) Valentine's Day as parents, so it definitely had a different feel to it. We got to spend Saturday together with Emory (which is rare with the crazy schedule I keep these days). We went to the place where we got engaged, picked up dinner supplies, came home and cooked dinner, put a cranky baby to bed, and watched a movie - I'm sure Jill will provide more details on the day later. It was one of the best days I have had in a long time. I am constantly amazed at how good of a mom Jill is; it's as if this is what she was born to do. I feel luckier everyday that God brought her into my life. Since I am not at home as much these days, she does a great job taking care of our house, our child, and our out-of-control dog. I don't know how she does it, but I know that I appreciate that she does it. I can't wait to come home every night to see Jill sitting on the couch, no doubt stalking someone's blog, smiling at me. We talk about our days, go to check on Tiny, then go to bed- it is certainly not much time, but it means so much to me. I could not be doing what I am doing without her encouragement and support. I love you so much, Sweet Jill, and I can't wait to spend the next ten Valentine's Days with you!

emory's 1st valentine

2009-02-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

happy 1st valentine's day, emory! your sweet daddy is your 1st valentine, and he loves you SO, SO much! really, he does. he think you're the sweetest, most beautiful, smartest, greatest thing he's ever seen. he's not biased at all, i'm sure. ;) i hope that all of your valentines (when you're MUCH older, of course) treasure you as much as your 1st valentine.

you and daddy always have the best times together! you 2 monkeys mostly "fly" around the living room and chase riley. he makes you laugh til you're silly!

this morning, you and daddy had a fun time playing in the hallway mirrors. you thought it was so funny to watch daddy make crazy faces, and you were quite smitten with that cute baby in the mirror, too.

since today is all about LOVE, daddy thought it would be a good idea to take his girls to a special place for our family. we went to the mustangs of las colinas, which is where daddy 1st told mommy that he loved her, and it's where he dropped her (that's actually not a bad thing!). AND it's where daddy and mommy were engaged on july 31, 2001. what a special place!

there they are!

daddy told you all about the mustangs and about how nervous he was when he was about to propose to mommy. silly daddy! of course she was going to say YES!

sweet, tiny, little hands

NOT gonna be a cowgirl

mommy told you all about the first time that daddy brought her there. they had just been to see "annie get your gun" at the dallas summer musicals. it was such a surprise because mommy hadn't been there before!

petting the horsie tails

my sweet little valentine. love you so much!

our first picture at the mustangs as a fam of 3 :)

after the mustangs, we went to central market to buy some things for dinner. you suggested turkey and green beans. you lost out on that one! we bought some potatoes and made one of your current favs--mashed potatoes. these days, when you REALLY like a food, you do a little dance in your chair. it's pretty stinkin' cute! you dance for mashed 'tatoes!

SO happy to hear that you're having 'tatoes for dinner! i just love your sweet smile. it makes me so happy!

reading daddy your funny valentine card

playing with the valentines that we sent to mama, grandpa, gigi, grandma, nana and pawpaw, mimi and pops, uncle jeff, uncle brian, and aunt jenni and uncle kyle. they were tracings of your little hands. :)

worn out from a great valentine's day and ready for bedtime in your HEART jam-jams. mommy and daddy love you so very much, and we're so thankful that god gave you to us.

spaghetti face

2009-02-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

....and hands, and chair, and table, and floor.... tonight at dinner, emory had spaghetti for the first time, and she LOVED it! she ate all of hers and a good portion of mine, too. she made SUCH a mess, though! we had the best time watching her eat dinner. she had the best time slurping the noodles and feeding them to riley too. he was all too happy to slurp up his portion from the floor. a few times, he got too close, and she dropped them on his head. he's sporting some nice red highlights now! after dinner, em headed off to the bath (surprise, surprise!).

she's in the "uhhh!!" stage where she uses this {annoying} sound for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. we're working on our signing because it's driving mommy crazy! right now, we're working on hand-over-hand for "more" and "water". surprisingly, the "uhh!" for water sounds different that the "uhh!" for food, and mommy can usually tell which one she wants. of course, there's always the process of elimination, too. ;) she does insist on THROWING her water cup on the floor after each sip. lovely.

could we love this stinky face any more?? :)

happy birthday uncle kyle!

2009-02-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

the first time that uncle kyle held baby emory! she was just two weeks old, and they were rooting for the bears basketball team to make the playoffs (or something like that). the look on her face says that she's as into sports as her mommy. ;)

we visited uncle kyle and aunt jenni at their apt a couple of times this summer. emory loved her private "suite" (aka, the closet). she's sooo into this picture. BUT she's excited that aunt jenni and uncle kyle bought her a house with a private room AND playroom! can't wait to visit!

june 14--their wedding day, and "uncle" kyle became official! we're so glad that he's part of our family! (isn't aunt jenni's dress FABULOUS? someone has excellent taste.)

happy 23rd birthday, uncle kyle! we're enjoying some chocolate cake just for you. ;)

the MAC is BACK!

2009-02-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

my poor, poor little mac has taken quite the beating by the now-eleven-month old. about two months ago, a certain little girl put the power cord in her mouth for a little chew. (yes, it was still plugged into the wall. no, she wasn't hurt.) apple kindly replaced the cord after i assured them that i had no idea what could have happened to the cord--honestly, could i be SURE that one little moment with emory caused such a problem?? no, i could not, and apple sent a new cord right to my doorstep the next day. the mac was back (take one).

BUT, the rookie mom, who is still scoring points for mom-of-the-year, took her eyes off of that precious power cord for just ONE second, and emory was ALL OVER IT. same song, second verse. plugged in and everything. mac was down and out. i'm not the brightest, but i didn't think the techy people over at apple were going to fall for the i-have-no-idea-what-happened story again.

SO, i asked daddy and em to visit our local apple store last saturday evening. they did, and had a lovely time. and, surprise, surprise...it was the battery this time! mr. apple fixed us up with a new battery, and.....the mac is back. :)

10 years ago today

2009-01-20T20:20:00.002-08:00

TEN *gasp* years ago today my sweet jeff and i started dating. i'm sure that our roommates, friends, acquaintances, and pretty much anyone else at baylor knew that we were dating long before we knew we were dating...but we didn't have "the talk" ;) until the early hours of january 20, 1999. it was such a sweet and innocent talk on the blue couch in my apartment (village 1 1201) about how much we really did like each other and how much we enjoyed spending time together. i remember how blissfully happy i was and how excited i was that we were finally dating. who could have possibly guessed that that one little conversation between two nineteen year olds would be the conversation of a lifetime that would someday lead to a marriage and beautiful family?

jeff, happy sweet TEN years of dating, and happy 6 1/2 year anniversary! i love you!

.....let's not forget the "moment" that necessitated a phone call to lindsay at 6am the next morning. *bonus* points to anyone who can tell that story. hint: she so kindly shared it at our rehearsal dinner.

peas, pweez

2008-10-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

em,

tonight you tried peas for the first time. we know you L.O.V.E. bananas, but we've got to have a little variety, right? mommy made some peas tonight, and you really liked them! daddy gave you a bite of sweet potatoes, and mommy followed with a bite of peas. it was so fun--until you sneezed and orange and green flew all over your clean jammies! you always know how to make mommy and daddy laugh....and you remind us of what "rookies" we are at this whole parenting thing! we love you, tiny bear!

party-party weekend!

2008-10-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

em,

this weekend we went to TWO parties! you're becoming quite the little partier! we went to ella grace's first birthday party. it was tu-tu cute! ;) this was your first girly birthday party, and you loved the pink and red polka dots everywhere. you and ella are looking forward to wearing your "twin" dresses! ....mommy couldn't resist buying you the same dress that she bought for ella!

then we headed to dallas for baby grant's (and mommy-to-be lindsay's) baby shower. we had a great time catching up with baylor friends and seeing grant's gigi and mimi! you wore a sweet little blue smocked bubble in honor of grant. aren't you thoughtful?? you were the most perfectly behaved baby...until the last few minutes...but that doesn't count....right? we were so happy to see lindsay and grant. we can't wait to meet him!

once we came home, our mimi was there! she went to canton this weekend (we MUST go there soon!) and had a lot of treats for em! mimi knows how much you love wearing bows, and she spoiled you with all of these! you'll look soooo cute. she also brought this cutie tutu. we had the best time trying to get it on you--it was like wrestling an octopus....and then we laughed some more when we realized that the skirt stands straight out from the leotard! ....and what did you like the best? eating the bows on the skirt. once you found those, they went straight to your mouth!

wibbly pig LOVES bananas

2008-09-29T20:19:00.002-07:00

....and so does em! she's eaten 2 whole bananas in the last 2 days....and that's more than she's eaten in the last 2 weeks! we're so happy that we finally found something that she likes. :)

"wibbly pig loves bananas" was one of mommy's favorite therapy books. wibbly shares his favorite things and then asks what your favorite thing is...great for conversation. ;) well, mommy decided to share this book with em the other night, and she LOVED it!

it's pajama time!

2008-09-29T20:19:00.001-07:00

every night we take turns picking out your jam-jams. daddy and i have our own favorites! ;) when you were teeny-tiny, my favorite was the pink and white striped gown. it used to be SO huge! my other favorite is the patterned gown from melissa, jeremy, and cousin jackson, and daddy's favorite is the yellow duckie gown! our other favs are the pink and white toile gown from matt and holly and the pink and white striped one from uncle randy aunt debbie and cousins charles, sara, and becca. you look SO cute in your jammies!

laundry vacation

2008-09-20T19:33:00.001-07:00

well, after 6 years on the job, the washing machine decided to take a vacation. grrrrreat timing for a family with a little baby! luckily we were able to make do with just a few "creative" outfits. ;)

jeff and my dad were able to fix the washer on saturday. we were so proud of them for fixing it all by themselves!

alphabet soup

2008-09-20T19:32:00.002-07:00

tea for two....or four :)

2008-09-20T19:32:00.001-07:00

yesterday em and i met lindsay (and grant!) for tea at celebrity. linds and i have been talking about having tea there FOREVER, and we finally set a date. it was so fun to catch up and hear all about baby grant, who is due in just 8 weeks! we just can't wait to see his sweet little face. the tea and treats were wonderful. lindsay, thanks for meeting us, and thanks for entertaining my antics as "mom of the year"! :)

tutu and two teeth

2008-09-15T19:58:00.001-07:00

em's aunt mimi (cousin jackson's mimi) sent em this CUTIE little tutu, and it goes perfectly with her TWO teeth! we just found the second one today!

our holiday cheermeister :)

2008-09-14T17:03:00.002-07:00

sunday lunch

2008-09-14T17:03:00.001-07:00

we've had such a fun weekend with the lieders! they came to visit this weekend, and we always have a good time with them. allison keeps us laughing, especially with her "whah, whah, whah"...SO funny!

after church this morning, we invited the hosnis and the lasiters over for lunch and playing. we tried to take pictures of ALL the kids together....hilarious moment of the day...and this was the best we could do....

a tiny tooth!

2008-09-13T20:32:00.003-07:00

we found em's FIRST tooth this evening! it's on her lower gum right in the middle. she's such a big girl, now!

happy third birthday jd!

2008-09-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

today we went to jd's 3RD birthday party! it was em's first time to go to chuck e. cheese's, and she was amazed at all the action. mommy thinks it's a little strange to have a rat at a pizza parlor, but we now have family working for the biz...so she will trust that chuckie is OK. :)

jd's "bob the builder" party was so fun! em loved wearing her very-girly-construction hat, too. em loved seeing all of her friends, mommy liked talking to all their mommies, and daddy enjoyed playing the games. ;) no, really, daddy did like playing the games. with em's tokens!

after the party, the hosnis and lieders came to our house to play! mommy brought out some of her old therapy toys, and the kids had a great time playing!

new baby cousin for em!

2008-09-07T18:54:00.001-07:00

daddy's cousin, chad, and his sweet wife, sara, are getting a baby in april! we can't wait for em to have another cousin. yay for cousin "jellybean"!

exhausted em

2008-08-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

this afternoon, em was so exhausted from her hard day of playing that she fell asleep in her daddy's arms. so sweet!

evan andrew lieder

2008-07-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

evan andrew lieder

july 29, 2008

precious baby evan,

oh, what a sweet baby you are! you are just perfect. your hair is dark like your mommy's, your nose is like your daddy's, and your mouth looks just like mommy's. i see so much of your big sister, allison, in your little face, too.

you couldn't be a more loved little baby! your mommy and daddy love you to pieces and can't wait for the day that they can hold you again. you are their glory baby!

our hearts are forever changed because of you. we were reminded that life is such a gift and it is so precious. we'll think of you when we eat our cinnamon toast crunch...can you believe we were eating that all week long? :) we'll hug em a little tighter, too, just like mommy asked.

we love you, evan!

with love,
jeff, jill, and emory

em and riley

2008-07-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

happy SIXTH anniversary!

2008-07-20T18:36:00.001-07:00

we celebrated our SIXTH anniversary this weekend! we had such a great time celebrating with our little four month old, which made it quite different from years past. ....but we wouldn't have it any other way! i doubt that we will celebrate each anniversary with her, but she is what has made our journey from the fifth anniversary to the sixth so special. we learned that we would be expecting her just a couple of weeks before our fifth anniversary...and here she is to join us for the SIXTH!

we enjoyed the afternoon at the gaylord texan. we've been to the gaylord in nashville several times, but we hadn't been to this one...so we checked it out. ...not quite as big but just as beautiful and full of texas-native plants and texas-themed carpet. :)

we thought em would love the bright colors and sights. em decided that an afternoon nap was a better idea....

we strolled the pathways (literally!). i LOVE the plants and aspire to design something just as beautiful in our own backyard. jeff reminds me (lovingly) that he, alone, keeps the two potted plants on the front porch alive. maybe plain grass will do, for now. :)

we enjoyed a late lunch together and talked about the past year. there were plenty of changes this year with our jobs, selling our first house, buying our second, entering law school and preparing for and welcoming and learing little em. through all of the changes and challenges, i know that we've been deepened and strengthened. we've gained a new love as we became parents for the first time. these last six years have been so blessed. so much more than we ever could have asked for or dreamed about.

em...still sleeping....

that night, we made dinner togther...something we don't get to do too often anymore...and we even got to eat at the same time! ...something we appreciate more, now, for sure!

table for two...and a half :)

swimmin' with em!

2008-07-20T12:06:00.001-07:00

matt, marci, jd, and lincoln came over this afternoon to swim in the neighborhood pool, and we had such a great time! it was em's FIRST time to swim, and she's already a pro!

prior to the swim party, em donned her cutie orange swim suit and texas-necessary sunscreen with just a teensy bit of protesting. enough protesting to require a nap. she woke up just in time to try out the water. :)

jd has been taking swimming lessons this summer, and he's learned so much! he's such a good swimmer that he's pretty hard to catch on camera!

daddy eased em into the pool for her first swim. she loved the water!

our little fam...

sweet time with mommy and em...

emory's heart

2008-07-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

we returned to the cardiologist today for a heart check-up. we already knew that your vsd hadn't closed because dr. a heard it at your 4-month appointment earlier this week. the nurse checked your height and weight and tried to check your blood pressure...but you were WAY too wiggly for that! then, they hooked up the leads and took a reading of your heart. you were just perfect, and they took the reading very quickly!

then, we went to another room for the sonogram. we got to see your sweet little heart beating right in front of us! mommy held your hands so that you wouldn't grab (and try to eat) the wand, and daddy held your ever-kicking feet. the sonographer turned on baby einstein...your first experience with b.e.! you had already heard a lot of the songs, and you were kinda interested in the pictures. once the test was over, daddy held you up so you could see the video, and you were quite mesmerized!

after the sonogram, we spoke with dr. h, and she said that the vsd is still present, but it is more of a "small" size than a "medium" size--as it was before. she feels like it's trying to close up by itself. she said you were doing great and that we'd take another look in 6 months!

great visit with gigi

2008-07-16T14:10:00.001-07:00

we were so surprised to see gigi on sunday morning at em's dedication! she was so sweet to come all the way to texas for em's special day, and we had a great time visiting with her. she spent the night with us on monday night, and we got to visit and play on tuesday. we are so blessed to have her in our lives. we love you, gigi!

FOUR month stats and shots

2008-07-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

today we took you to see dr. a for your FOUR month old visit. you were such a happy baby and interacted so well with dr. a! she was impressed with your strength and said that you have very good head control. she held up a shiny light, and you easily followed it with your eyes. you really had a great time looking at yourself in the mirror, too. she said that you're a perfectly healthy little girl!

here are your stats for the month:

weight: 12 lbs 10 ounces, 20%

height: 25 inches, 60%

head: 16 inches, 30%

your stats have stayed fairly consistent these past months. looks like you have your daddy's build. :)

then came the shots. :( poor bitty girl, you had no idea what was coming! daddy helped the nurse, and mommy was there to rescue you. ....and daddy had to wipe both of his girls' eyes! yes, mommy still cries when baby em gets her shots! you only cried for a minute and then fell asleep in our arms.

happy birthday pawpaw!

2008-07-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

today is my pawpaw's birthday! we were so glad to spend some time with him this weekend. he is such a sweet pawpaw and takes the very best care of me. just yesterday morning i got a little bit tired of waiting for everyone to get ready for church, and maybe i was just a titch fussy, too. before you knew it, i had pawpaw running laps around the kitchen trying to calm me down, and i fell right asleep! i hope he likes the present that i picked out just for him! we love you, pawpaw!

our promise

2008-07-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

dear em,

today daddy and i dedicated you to the Lord. you are His, after all! we stood in front of the whole church and promised to teach you about Jesus and how much He loves you. He does, you know, even more than mommy and daddy ever possibly could. we also promised to teach you about how Jesus wants you to trust Him with your life. our prayer for you is that your heart will love Jesus and that you'll trust Him when you're just a little girl.

our pastor greeted each family and gave us a sweet, white bible just for you! he spoke for a few minutes about what a blessing you are and how important it is to raise you in a loving, christian home. mommy kinda forgot the rest because she was focused on em behaving herself in front of so many people! silly mommy didn't need to worry because you were perfectly behaved during the whole dedication. ...and of course you had your own little press conference shooting photos on the first couple of rows!

after a prayer of dedication, we watched a video of all the babies' cute photos. you were such an angel! you watched the pictures and listened to the sweet solo.

i love this picture of our little family! your hands are your new bff's! i think your dress was covered in drool, too!

you are such a daddy's girl! ...and you have him wrapped around your tiny finger, too! he loves you to pieces.

evidence of the press conference!

our friends, matt and marci, also dedicated little lincoln. he and em are only 7 weeks apart and are already good buddies. they have regular "play" dates. :)

after the service, we enjoyed lunch at our house. it was so, so fun to have our sweet families there to celebrate such a special day with us! we are so blessed!

nana, pawpaw, uncle brian, mimi, papa j, aunt jenni, the-new-uncle kyle, uncle jeff, grandma joan, gigi (a HUGE surprise all the way from wisconsin!!), great aunt sissy, great aunt maureen, great uncle jim, grandpa jack, great aunt jean ann, great uncle bart, cousin beth, cousin chad, and cousin sara all joined us for the special day. you are SUCH a loved little girl!

during lunch, mimi gave you a bottle and rocked you to sleep. no worries, you only missed a little bit of the party...and EVERYONE was waiting for you to wake up!

em and uncle brian! he's pretty crazy about you, too!

em with mimi and nana. they're WAY crazy about you! you are the little light of their lives.

center of attention?? mimi, gigi, and grandma joan had such a great time playing with you "after" the party! ...and your nap!

em, it was a precious day, and we love you so very much. thank you for being our blessing. i read this verse several years ago, and it has come to my mind many times when i think about you.

"the Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." zephaniah 3:17

love,

mommy and daddy

a nothin but special sort of day

2008-07-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

dear em,

just wanted you to know that i love you! we had a nothin-special-sort-of-day...but mommy and daddy got to be with you the WHOLE day! isn't summer great?

here's what we did today...

you woke up a little early, and we snuggled in bed. then we played in the living room. you are loving your saucer SO much, and you're pretty stinkin' cute looking so tiny in the big saucer! daddy and i waited and waited for you to wake up from your nap, and we kept peeking at you hoping that you would wake up soon! daddy dressed you in a pink and white bubble outfit that really is too small for you. i can't believe that you're finally outgrowing some clothes! you sat up like a big girl in your stroller while we ran some errands. you look SO tiny and so big all at the same time! i just loved snuggling with you tonight at bed time. you've just started to hug my neck and snuggle when you're sleepy. we danced and sang a little before bed, and then you were off to sleepyville with the fishies!

night-night, sweet em! can't wait 'til tomorrow!

love,

mommy

happy 1st 4th!

2008-07-04T16:14:00.001-07:00

happy first 4th of july, em! we had such a great day with you! we had just returned from baylor the night before, and daddy had just finished his last summer school final...so the day was extra sweet. we spent the day as just the three of us and enjoyed some 4th traditions! you slept right through the fire works, poor baby! they were beautiful as ever. we'll look forward to oohing and aahing next year! love you, little firecracker!

it's WEDDING week!

2008-06-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

the countdown has begun until jenni becomes a mrs! it really does seem like yesterday that she and kyle got engaged...and i was 18 weeks pregnant! only SIX more days until she's the beautiful bride, and we can't wait! let the fun (and craziness!) begin!

em says she's so excited to be the flowerbaby. :)

we miss you, daddy!

2008-06-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

dear daddy,

we miss you already! we're glad we get to spend time with pawpaw, nana, and uncle brian, but we wish you could be here, too. mommy is looking forward to her time at baylor and says she always has a good time there. mommy also says that baylor is a very good place and that it's very special because it is the place where you two met. ...and she says there are REAL bears there!

we're happy we got to talk to you tonight. sorry that i was a little distracted. you know how that goes! have a good last day tomorrow! we miss you and will look forward to thursday!

love,
mommy and em

what's a girl to do??

2008-06-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

so, if you have two cute swimsuits just waiting to be worn but can't find any swim diapers in size 0-3...what's a girl to do?

shots and a shower and school

2008-05-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

on friday, daddy took the day off so he could take bitty em to get her shots. boo for shots but yea for spending a whole day with daddy! even though mommy had warned daddy that it would be the most awful, terrible, no-good experience ever complete with screaming and crying and tears (yes, mommy usually cries, too) ...daddy reported that em only cried for about 30 seconds. once she calmed down, she was all smiles and coos for the nurse. maybe daddy will take em to all of her shot appointments?? em was happy that she scored two cutie bandaids out of the deal.

today, mommy and em went to a wedding shower for aunt jenni! she's getting married TWO WEEKS from today! we're so excited and can't wait for the super fun day to get here. em will make her wedding circuit debut as a flower baby. since she's a wedding rookie, she'll be carried down the aisle and promptly be escorted to a baby-crying-friendly zone. :) the shower was beautiful, and it was a sweet time spent with lifelong friends. two of our special friends, maxwell and isabel, came to the shower and loved holding emory. maxwell was the flower girl in mommy and daddy's wedding, and they will both be in aunt jenni and uncle-kyle-to-be's wedding.

no, emory doesn't have her own cell phone, yet, but she (and we) are just waiting for calls about new jobs for mommy and daddy. please pray that this will work out swiftly so that mommy can stay home with em a little bit next year. ...we still think in school years! speaking of school, daddy made TWO A's last semester, and we're still waiting on the last grade. yea daddy! we're so proud of you!

thank you, aunt jenni, for my cute monogrammed onesies! she had the striped one in the first pic and the brown one above specially made for baby em. we love them!

em turns THREE months on monday!

Who loves pictures?

2008-05-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Dad stayed home with Emory today because, apparently, it is against the law to leave your almost-three-month-old child at home by herself. I know, surprising, right? I learned that in my Children and the Law class, so I wouldn't expect all you laypeople to understand. Anyway, since we haven't posted in a while (and thanks to the many, many of you who have pointed that out. Repeatedly.), I figured we would give you a lot of pictures up to try and catch up. We have several more entries saved up that will cover some of these topics in more detail - we will post those soon. But for now, enjoy these!

Gigi stayed home with Emory the first week Jill went back to work. As you can tell, Em had a great time. Also, thanks to Mimi and Aunt Jenni for keeping Em this past week. I hope you know how much we appreciate you guys!

Aunt Jenni graduating from Baylor. Congratulations!

Cousin Beth graduating from Baylor. Congratulations! Everyone is proud of both of you!

Except Emory, who was clearly unimpressed. By the way, thanks to Baylor for keeping graduation to a tidy THREE HOURS. Really enjoyed that.

Em in her Bumbo. Let me tell you something: that girl can kick.

At Kyle and Jenni's shower in Georgetown. My generation has done a lot of great things, but including men at wedding showers is not one of them. Seriously, when did we decide that was OK?

Emory narrowly escaping the Rubber Ducky Attack of 2008.

Mother's Day family picture. For some reason, I always put my hand around Em's neck when we take pictures. Kind of creepy, I know.

Sweet Jill's first Mother's Day! In a Mother of the Year contest, I'll put her up against anyone (no offense, Nana). She does an AWESOME job taking care of our daughter!

Mom's Mother's Day gift - a digital picture frame. Sadly, we do not have any pictures to put in the frame as of yet.

Mom and Em taking a nap. Or maybe that's Mom sleeping next to a giant burrito - it's hard to tell.

Emory has been putting her hands in her mouth a lot lately. But I mostly included this picture because of the shot of the water coming out of the faucet behind her. I thought it looked cool.

Here is Emory doing her, as Uncle Brian likes to call it, "lizzard tongue."

In a strange accident, Emory Crownover and Lincoln Lasiter were switched one evening. Jeff did not notice the switch until he later took off the what he thought was his daughter's diaper and got drilled in the face.

spring semester...see ya later!

2008-05-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

daddy finished his finals tonight, and we are so very proud of him! thank you so much for praying for him. we felt those sweet prayers! now that he's finished, we're looking forward to some fun family nights this weekend and over the coming weeks.

...em turns TWO months old tomorrow! we can hardly believe it!

daddy's BIG week

2008-04-27T19:04:00.001-07:00

please pray for my daddy this week! he has two BIG finals to finish out the semester. he has worked so hard this spring to keep up with his studies, even though there have been quite a few distractions. :) thank you for praying for us!

where, oh where, has emory gone??

2008-04-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

we're still here! jeff is very busy finishing his semester at school, and we're looking forward to this being his last week of class. emory keeps mommy quite busy at home. she's declared that all items like swings, bouncy seats, and mobiles are "baby torture" and prefers to be held all day. :) lucky mommy! she recently visited the pedi and is up to 7 lbs 14 ounces! woo-hoo, emory! she also has reflux which requires a bit of screaming each day.

we'll return once jeff finishes class and finals or mommy perfects her one-handed typing skills. until then, enjoy this cutie smile!

Our Little Fatty

2008-03-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

We went back to the doctor today for our weekly weigh-in, and lo-and-behold, tiny Emory gained a whole seven-and-a-half ounces - she's up to seven pounds, four-and-a-half ounces! The nurse practitioner is very happy with her progress, as are her mom and dad. Nice work, Em! This might be the only time in your life that everyone will be so happy about you gaining weight.

Emory's First Easter

2008-03-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

After taking Emory to church for the first time, we came home and took fourteen million pictures, a few of which are below.

Our first family Easter picture. Emory thought the ceiling was interesting.

Yes, our daughter fits in a regular-sized Easter basket. Still looking at the ceiling...

The Easter basket now has colorful eggs in it. And the floor is apparently now more interesting than the ceiling.

Emory's First Easter bib. Thanks April! And thank you, Emory, for looking at the camera!

Snuggling with a bunny in her chair. Here, Emory has what we like to call "milk belly." It's kind of like she's drunk on milk. She's all groggy and disoriented. Pretty hilarious.

Speaking of hilarious, here's the Easter Riley. If you couldn't tell, he is absolutely beaten down by being forced to wear those ears. Can you blame him?

Emory also wanted us to pass along this message: "Thank you to all my family and friends who sent me an Easter present. I love everything! I'm looking forward to reading my books, wearing my clothes, playing with my toys, and sharing candy with my daddy, but not my mommy." Sorry mom - you heard the girl: all candy to daddy.

Biggity-Bath Time

2008-03-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

So the umbilical cord fell off Wednesday of this past week, which meant we were finally allowed to do the full-on bath (as opposed to the almost worthless sponge bath).

No, this picture was not taken at Guantanamo. It's just us giving our three-week-old daughter a bath. Notice the strategically placed washcloth. Even babies deserve a little modesty.

It was touch-and-go there for a minute, but she survived the bath. (In my opinion, maybe the best picture we have of her so far. How cute is that?)

to the doctor we will go!

2008-03-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

on friday, march 7, emory visited her pediatrician for the first time. mommy and mimi braved the icy roads and arrived just a tiny bit late (oops!)...and maybe emory was just a little bit hungry, too. mommy hadn't quite figured out the feeding/sleeping/getting ready schedule just yet! dr. a was pleased with her development but noted that emory had lost a little bit of weight. so, we'll continue to feed little em every three hours and check her weight once a week until she returns to her birth weight.

nana took emory and mommy to the next appointment on thursday, march 13th (emory's due date!). instead of seeing dr. a, our appointment was scheduled with dolores, the nurse practitioner. by the time dolores examined emory, mommy had changed her diaper three times-- using up all the wipees in the diaper bag, and emory was sporting a lovely diaper rash. nurse dolores was not impressed. emory had gained a whole 2 ounces since last week. again, nurse dolores was not impressed and said that em should gain an ounce a day. mommy promised to have a talk with emory about her poor weight gain.

mommy and daddy got to take em to her next weight check on monday the 17th, and thankfully the appointment was with dr. a! emory had gained a whole ounce over the weekend bringing her up to 6 pounds, 13 ounces. we reminded dr. a that we worked darn hard for that ounce and lost a lot of sleep over it! --we're still feeding every three hours around the clock! dr. a said that some babies are slow to "take off" and that emory is just fine. she did hear a heart murmur today, so we'll see a pediatric cardiologist.

mommy, daddy, and em met with the cardiologist on tuesday, march 18th. soon after our arrival, the whole office knew that emory was there. :) ...and the procedures didn't even hurt! after a lengthy sonogram of her heart, we met with the cardiologist who told us that emory has a small heart defect called a ventricular septal defect (vsd). it could be affecting her weight gain, so we'll continue to monitor her weekly with dr. a and return to the cardiologist in three months to make sure the hole has closed.

please pray that our little em continues to gain weight and that the vsd resolves itself so that further intervention isn't necessary.

emory's first bath

2008-03-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

as you can see, emory just LOVED her first bath. being totally nekid, cold, and wet...what's not to love?? hopefully her cord will fall off soon so that we can take a real bath! until then, super fun sponge baths will have to do!

thank you mimi and nana!

2008-03-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

thank you, mimi and nana, for coming to stay with me and mommy! we were so glad to have each of you stay with us for a few days. i loved my time with each of you and am thankful that you love me so much. thank you for driving us to my doctor's appointments, washing my clothes, letting mommy rest, and for changing just a few diapers...you know what a stinker i am! and, thank you for calming us down when one of us screamed her head off for a little while. :) i love you both and can't wait to see you again!

with love, em

happy 1st birthday cousin jackson!

2008-03-09T15:53:00.001-07:00

today is cousin jackson's first birthday! we wish we could have celebrated with him at his party yesterday, but traveling to little rock with baby emory isn't in the plans just yet! his mom, melissa, who is jeff's cousin, was so sweet to send us some pictures of his party. it's hard to believe we'll be doing the same thing in just a year!

Welcome Home, Emory!

2008-03-08T15:56:00.001-08:00

This is Jeff, Jill, and Emory about to go through the front door for the first time!

Mom, Dad, and Baby in Emory's room.

Sweet Emory hanging out in her crib. We tried to bribe her to open her eyes, but she refused. It's like she didn't even understand what we were saying to her.

Leaving the Hospital on Wednesday

2008-03-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Jeff, Jill, and Emory on the bed Jill lived in for three days.

"Oh, hey, I didn't see you standing there. Yeah, I'm just taking my baby home from the hospital."

Emory in the car for the first time, leaving the hospital.

Knocked out in the car seat.

Dad the chauffeur, smiling creepily.

Emory's Last Hospital Guests

2008-03-05T11:56:00.001-08:00

Ione and Isabel with Emory
Aunt Maureen (who stopped by with Uncle Jim) and Emory
Brit and Emory
Cindy and Meagan with Emory
Emory with the doctor that brought her into this world!

Glow Little Glowworm

2008-03-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

We're still at the hospital waiting to go home. This morning, Emory's doctor decided she was a little too jaundiced, so the lights keep her from being so yellow (a la Maggie Simpson). We are waiting on our own set of cool lights so we can use them at home, because we are ready to be there!

More Visitors!

2008-03-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Besides the immediate families, Emory has also had numerous other visitors. In addition to those pictured, we also want to thank the Hosni family and Faux Aunt Abby for stopping by!
Aunt Jean Ann and Emory. She and Uncle Bart were sweet enough to drive over from Mesquite to see Emory. I think there might be a little pressure on Chad and Sarabeth now...
Matt, Marci, and J.D. Lasiter with Emory. I think Marci has now been the second most pictures on this blog (behind Emory). Yes, even more than Emory's father.
Lindsay came by to visit on Tuesday afternoon. Apparently, she has been banned from this hospital, so she dressed like a nurse and snuck in.
Aunt Carol with Emory. She stopped by Tuesday and helped Jill while Jeff had to go take care of Jeff and Jill's first child:

I got a little sidetracked...

2008-03-04T07:46:00.001-08:00

I had to take a break from posting pictures of visitors to add this picture. Are you kidding me? How can someone be THAT beautiful?

Visitors - Walkinshaw Edition

2008-03-04T07:31:00.001-08:00

As promised, below are more pictures of Emory with her visitors - this time, the pictures are of Emory and the Walkinshaw family.Mimi and Emory - looks like she's done this before.
"Maternal Grandpa" and Emory - for the record, "Maternal Grandpa" has not officially decided on his name, so we'll stick with "Maternal Grandpa" for now. Now that I write that, I kind of like "Maternal Grandpa" - or maybe "MG"?
Aunt Jenni and Emory - if that's not a smile that has been perfected through the Baylor sorority system, then I don't know what is.

Visitors - Crownover Edition

2008-03-04T07:03:00.001-08:00

We have had a ton of visitors over the last 24 hours, and we can't get them all into one post. Thus, this post will only have pictures of Jeff's immediate family (and, of course, that newborn infant). We will post the rest very soon.
Nana and Emory - notice her little fingers grabbing Nana's comparatively huge finger!
Papaw and Emory
Uncle Brian and Emory - Emory is covering up the word "Football" on Brian's shirt, which is probably best considering the last 13 football seasons.

The whole Crownover family - now even more extended!

Happy Birthday, Emory!

2008-03-02T19:34:00.001-08:00

Emory Elise Crownover was born at 3:50 PM on March 2, 2008. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is an absolute blessing from the Lord! And did you see that face? How is she already that beautiful?

She has already gotten to meet Nana & Papaw, Mimi & Grandpa, Uncle Brian, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jenni, Cousin Sara, Aunt Jean Ann & Uncle Bart, and Nurse/Aunt Marci. So far, the above are the only two pictures that have been taken of her. Wait, never mind, I forgot about the 7:00 PM press conference held in our room.

Both Jill and Emory are doing fine. We are now in charge of taking care of a human being! It is still hard to believe that she is ours!

Still Hanging in There...

2008-03-02T13:03:00.001-08:00

This is the hat Marci made for Emory for her to wear when she is born .
Aunt Jenny and Cousin Sara stopped by for a visit. More details to come...

It's Emory Day!

2008-03-02T05:50:00.001-08:00

Here's the hospital monitor - the top yellow line is Emory's movement, the bottom one measures Jill's contractions. Apparently, Emory's squirming. We can hear her little heartbeat, too. Jill says she "sounds like a little horse." Is it good parenting when a mom compares her unborn daughter to a horse?

We've started Pitocin, and we'll see the doctor shortly. But he'll be the one doing most of the seeing, if you catch my drift.

In conclusion, I might die of hypothermia in this room. Pregnant Jill, however, claims to be hot.

We're Here!

2008-03-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

We're here at the hospital, and are looking forward to Emory's birthday tomorrow!
Nurse Marci was our first visitor. She brought us our first hat, with Emory's first bow.