It's been awhile.

Henry @ 13 months

Aunt Ea and Emrie Ann

It seems as though I have nearly fallin' of the blogging band wagon, huh? No I haven't, I have thought many times that I should sit down for a brief update on this or that, and that is the end of that.

Highlights

HENRY IS WALKING!! He walks like a pro! Thanksgiving day he decided that he was going to take off and now I rarely see him on his knees! Good job buddy! Sis thinks it is pretty awesome to walk holding hands and even play Ring Around the Roses together.

Emrie gave herself her first hair cut. Last Sunday morning I had the scissors upstairs in the bathroom to cut tags off of some new clothes...in a hurry, leaving for church, left them out. (Scissors are always locked away under the kitchen sink) We come home later that evening and I think nothing of Emrie going upstairs to go potty until she is quieter than normal and been missing for a few minutes longer than a typical potty break. I dash up the stairs with a gut feeling that I am about to see something terrible, I open the bathroom door and she smiles. Just a tiny bit of hair on the floor, no big deal. The next morning while combing her hair lots of clumps begin to fall out and that's when I notice the little spike section of her hair that she has chopped.....Oh no! It really isn't the worst at home hair cut I have seen a little one do, but depending on how I style her hair it is sometimes quite noticeable. It is growing fast and now a week later her spike is almost laying down!

Henry is a fan of the blues. Daddy has a new favorite blues artist he likes to listen to and Henry likes it to. The best is when Henry stands and sways his little body back and forth to the bluesy rhythm. He has defiantly got Papa Mikes musical sway!

Thanksgiving was yummy! Mom prepared a feast and I enjoyed every single bite!

Praise God for a time of Thanksgiving with my wonderful family, and ample delicious food!

Attitude of a 3 year old.

Henry gently greets Baby Jesus.

Slam Dunk Emrie!

Why is it, at every turn Emrie attempts to get away with something she knows isn't right? Last night when she was in her bedroom I could hear her say "stupid, stupid, stupid" So I went in and reminded her that we don't say stupid, and as I exited the room she whispers "stupid, stupid, stupid", I sigh and then go in for the punishment.

Today I was sitting at the computer checking my email when Emrie walked up beside me and said "I have nothing in my mouth." I now know that she just snuck a nibble of sugar cream pie. When I go to check she says "I just had a small taste mom." That small taste resulted in lots of little nibble marks. "It is tempting for me as well but together we must leave it alone until dinner time tonight." I tell her.

Henry is a baby who likes to hear a good song with a groovy beat. Emrie was never so much that way, but I love that when a tune comes on Henry's little body moves right to the beat. Sometimes the music moves him so much that his arms go straight out to the sides and he swings them back and forth rapidly. Tootsee Roll by 69 Boyz gets him like nothing else!

Praise God for a boring Tuesday afternoon.

More Birthday Fun Pictures

Emrie Ann enjoying Henry's new drum...hasn't been very quite around the house lately.

Henry's friend Micah, enjoying some of the yummy caterpillar cupcakes.

Henry looks pleasantly surprised with everyone singing Happy Birthday.

Big Sister leading Henry around, as usual.

Praise God for the bond between big sister and little brother, and for my big sister too.

Birthday Party Success

We had a fun evening Saturday with friends and family celebrating Henry's 1st B-day. Henry has had loads of fun riding his new quad from Uncle Jim, Aunt Beth and Jeremiah. He hasn't figured out the steering therefore he runs into whatever is directly ahead, & he seems to enjoy running into things.

Praise God for time to celebrate birthdays with friends and family

Milestones

Betch'a thought from the title of this blog Henry has started walking...Nope, not yet. He is holding out on us, I know he can do it!! No I was making reference to the fact that Emrie now colors mostly in the lines now. She has never been crazy about sitting down and paying attention to detail, but within the past week or so she has taken a liking to controlled coloring. Yay! I was beginning to worry that all her artwork would be abstract. Don't get me wrong, I cherish each and every work of art she creates, now she has a great sense of pride in the work she is accomplishing. While she diligently colored in her room today she summonsed me numerous times to see this or that which she had just colored. Bravo Emrie!

I have also been meaning to write down that Emrie is still a lover of belly skin or any skin that is extra soft. It does not matter to her in the least where we are or what we are doing if she feels the need for skin-she seeks it out. Pushing a grocery cart with her along my side, yeah she lifts the bottom of my shirt just enough to give my belly a rub...poor passerbyers. She can be in the midst of playing or watching a show and SNAP she needs skin. I can see it in her eyes, it is so funny and a little weird too! Almost every child has a "comfy" item of sorts and each child thank goodness grows out of it. If that were not so Aunt Ea would still be carrying around rubber night crawlers rubbing them on her face. That's right I said Rubber Night Crawlers! Yep that is weird too, huh? Aunt Ea turned out great, so I bet Emrie will too!

Also, today Henry showed me how much he loves to kick the soccer ball. I was holding his hands as he walked around the house and when he found the ball he kicked and chased after it just to kick it once again. Hmmm, maybe daddy will be playing him on the field next year, that is if he is walking by then!

Praise God for a night at the salon, and daddy who took care of the kids!

You've got to be kiddin'!

November Already? Last week flew by without a chance to sit down and put the happenings into my blog. The kids got hair cuts on Wednesday evening. Henry got his first professional cut, I didn't get the opportunity to video it or even take a picture since I was holding him in the chair. He didn't seem to be to worried about the strange lady taking scissors to his head. It took a long time to get him all trimmed up because he just wouldn't sit still, there was so much to see at the salon. I was sad to see all his dark tips of baby hair go, the stylist said it was so unusual for the dark tips to stay that usually the dark baby hair falls out. Emrie was next and she did a pretty good job of sitting still while she got her cute little bob style hair cut. She was so very proud of her hair do!

Greg had a disappointing championship loss with his 8th grade soccer team and a jerk referee that made it all worse. You win some and you lose some but this one hurt for sure. I am happy though that soccer season has come to an end and that Greg will have a little bit more free time...for a couple months anyway!

Saturday we spent the afternoon at Mama Jane and Papa Emery's. We dressed the kids up in their Halloween costumes and took them down to see Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Howdyshell. They were happy to see the Jeremiah dressed as and Indian Chief, Emrie Ann as Little Miss Muffet and Henry the Spider. The kids were happy to get a Tootsie Pop! Mama Jane spent the afternoon making huge pots of veggie soup and chili for Henry's 1st birthday party next weekend. Yummy! Thanks Mama!

Henry had a fever off and on all weekend long from his 1st year check-up shots. He also has several one year molars breaking through the surface, ouchy I am sure.

Sunday afternoon we took the kids down to the Logan Halloween parade. Emrie was wide eyed looking at all the kids and all the costumes. She was not a bit afraid of some of the scarier looking ones. Henry didn't seem to care or notice that anything special was going on he just enjoyed the stroller ride. After coming back to the house Henry took his afternoon nap we sat on the porch steps and handed out lots and lots of candy to lots and lots of kids. We didn't take Emrie Ann door to door, she seemed to be enjoying handing out candy as much as anything else. She did get lots of oooh and ahhhs on how cute she looked. Kudos to Mama Jane for making her bloomers and hat!

While tucking Emrie into bed last night our usual "Goodnight!, Sweet Dreams! & Buenas Noches!" was followed by "Happy Halloween!" What a fun time for a 3 year old!

Praise God for fun days!

Saturday Thoughts

Yesterday Henry had his one year check-up he weighed 20lbs 1 ounce. He received four shots a few tears shed but the crying lasted maybe 30 seconds, what a good little trooper! Emrie got her flu vaccination as well and was not thrilled with that at all, she didn't want the lousy "I got a shot!" sticker the nurse offered her afterwards(typical Emrie!) Cousin Jeremiah was along for the trip and was thankful he didn't have to get poked by any of those needles. We lunched at BK where Jeremiah and Emrie enjoyed climbing through the gym. Meanwhile Henry ate like a horse, he had 2 chicken nuggets, a cup of mac & cheese, and lots of french fries he is shaping up to be like daddy-eat, eat, eat, and still maintain a trim body(NOT fair!) We went to the party supply store to get some things for Henrys 1st B-day party and I foolishly allowed Henry to have my car keys and when we were about to exit the store...NO KEYS! So Jeremiah retraced our steps, then I retraced our steps and I dug every last thing out of my purse(which was ridiculously packed to the max) twice. Finally we went to the counter and someone had turned them in, Hallelujah! Sherwin Williams for paint, DQ for shakes, finally home bound, with two sleepy ones in the back and Jeremiah at my side to keep me awake.

Last night I took the children to the Fall Jubilee, Greg stayed home to grade tests. This is where I am going to be transparent with some trepidation, blogging-it-out will serve me better and can be a reminder to me. I could with no mistake feel that the sermon was preached for me. Bob Burney preached from Psalm 73, Asaph. I learned something that I have always known, but with a great ah-hah moment. Some choose the Bitterness Bypass, which was the route that I was choosing prior to yesterday at 8pm. Bitterness? Really? I am not bursting at the seams with bitterness but to be perfectly honest I was harbouring bitterness towards my best friend. You see my best friend holds 2 jobs, which he takes very seriously and those jobs can occupy most of his time. I respect him and I am so thankful for the way he provides and how faithful he is to those two parts of his life. As of late though, I have had a inkling of grumblings that go something like this; he never has time for me, he never has time for the kids, when do I get some of your attention or when do the kids get daddy's full attention, sure would be nice to get some help around here, I spend 24-7 with the children, I am exhausted. Most certainly a great deal of nit-picking and nagging, shame on me. Then I discovered that I actually want to travel the Brokenness Highway. Sounds a little crazy right? When I am broken I fully recognize My flaws and My shortcomings and then...Praise God I know "But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do." Psalm 73:28

That brings it back into focus for me. Mental Note: Stop Whining Heather! Psalm 73:24 "You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."

So to my best friend, my husband, to a daddy who loves his children so much, I am sorry for the grouch you live with and I hope to grow into a ever loving, supportive, always gentle, kind spirited wife, that you deserve. Greg, I love you!

Praise God Psalm 73:24 "You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."