"Cheeeese!"

Caden has learned to say "cheeeese" when posing for a picture. Sometimes you get a very natural smile and then others turn out mostly teeth. This morning, Brett wasn't feeling well and was in bed when Caden crawled up and tucked himself under the covers with his Daddy. So cute! Of course, I had to take a picture and thus began the random photo shoot.

My Very Own Car

I'm sure many of you have been in a grocery store where they have the little cars attached to the grocery cart that keeps your toddler entertained while you get your shopping done. But I bet you would never expect to see them in West Africa...me either! MaxMart in Accra, Ghana knows how to keep their customers coming back...or at least this mommy and daddy.

Our 6th Anniversary

On September 1st, we celebrated our 6th year of being married. We enjoyed a delicious meal at an authentic French restaurant (thanks Dave for keeping Caden) and reminisced over our last 6 years of marriage together. We realized that we have had 6 years packed full of love, laughter, and adventure. We have grown in friendship, trust, and understanding of each other and yet we know God has so much more to teach us. We continue to anticipate what God has planned for us as a family and know that His adventures for us keep getting more exciting.

When we started dating, I never dreamed my life would go the way it has...but I would live it all over again! I love you Brett Emerson and continue to be proud of being your wife and thankful to God for putting you in my life!

Look What I Found...

The other day I went to use the bathroom and lifted up the toilet lid and discovered this....

Can you tell what it is? It's a cloth diaper and diaper cover. Caden has watched me rinse off his cloth diapers in the toilet enough that I guess he thought I'd want this one there (even though it was unused!). I laughed and then told Brett to grab the camera and come here. I have found pieces of paper towel in the toilet too...maybe it's time to try the potty training again.

Use #72 For A Growing Belly

My Boy(s)

Caden is crazy. Tonight as I was looking through some pics from the last several months, I came across the one above: Caden running down the hall at the Miller's house (when we lived there), holding on to one end of a measuring tape and running with a look of pure joy and excitement on his face. The best thing about this pic, for me at least, is that I'm in it. I'm on the other end of that measuring tape, playing with my crazy son whose passion for life inspires me daily.

Another cool thing about this pic: Caden is a boy. Yes, of course, he could have been a girl and I would have loved him (her) as much or more than I do right now. But God blessed me with a boy, the boy I have always so strongly desired to share my life and my experiences with. A boy, a little me, a miniature version of what I see every day in the mirror, with a little bit of the love of my life mixed in...And now, you gotta be kiddin' me, another boy?!?!?! April is gonna have her hands full with these 3 boys runnin' around the house! What an amazing blessing baby Corban will be. Yes, I want to have a little girl one day, a precious little princess to love and protect, but for now God has given me boys. Between my brother and I we have 5 boys, a good start to a baseball team, and more are sure to come. Add to the mix my sister's son and there are 6...3 more and we can turn in a starting lineup card!Psalm 127 says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Seeing my son everyday, I know that I am blessed. Watching him run, jump, climb, fall, get up, scream, laugh, cry, get over it, eat, drink and be merry in a way that few adults will ever know, I thank God that I am the father of a boy. My son(s) will continue to help me, as I help them, draw closer to understanding the heart of God, who gave his one and only Son that I might have life, and have it to the full...

25 weeks, 5 days pregnant...100 days to go!

And as we all know, babies do not always arrive exactly on their due date...but knowing that tomorrow we will be counting down in the double digits is exciting! Also, for those of you wondering what that is in months...I'm almost 6 months and I'll be in my 3rd trimester this next week. I'm still feeling good, in general, but have experienced more Braxton Hicks Contractions, kicking from the baby, and general soreness earlier than I did with Caden. So what does this mean? Who knows, makes me wonder if this little guy is bigger and stronger than Caden, our easy going small baby, was. It just reminds me to be praying for his development in the womb as well as his health and temperament once he arrives. I would love the additional prayers!

22 months

This age is apparently the beginning of the "like to make funny faces" stage of life.

May it never end, my son...

Homemade Playdough

Can you call it playdough if it doesn't come in a Playskool can? We do. My mom had given me several recipes for homemade playdough and I finally made some for Caden. I tried to make it blue...but it came out more of a light aqua color. This was Caden's first time to see playdough, so he doesn't know any different. He LOVED it! We have played with it almost everyday and he always throws a fit when it's time to put it away. His current favorite thing to do is to take a rolled ball of playdough and squish it between his hands/fingers. So fun!

Sick....but oh so cute!

Yesterday Caden ran a little fever off and on. I'm happy to report we have been fever free so far today, praise God! I took this picture yesterday morning after he got up and all he wanted to do was lay on the couch. So of course, I did what any Mommy would do and I set him up a comfy place on the couch and turned on one of his favorite videos...Little Einstein's! I couldn't resist the urge to take a picture and share it with all of you. Brett flies into Accra on Saturday and should be home sometime Sunday afternoon. We are all ready to have him home!

Water Water Everywhere

One afternoon after a big rain shower, Caden discovered the water that had entered our front porch. What is it about splashing water that is always so fun?!

I love that I captured the water in motion in this picture.

He is beyond happy at this point...quite proud of what he has discovered.

Singing With Caden

Warning: Viewing this video could make you smile!

Big_God
Uploaded by emersonstogo

Yes, that is a blanket hanging in Caden's window...but it does a great job of keeping the rising sun out in the morning. Now if we could find a blanket to cover all the roosters to stop them from crowing at 5:00AM.

A Work In Progress

Well what do you think?

(for those of you reading this through google reader, you'll want to open the link)

The header was one I created when I thought we were moving to WordPress. Now I've learned how to add it to blogger...not too difficult! Any suggestions or things that used to be there that I've forgotten to add?

A girl's gotta take advantage of the computer time while her husband's not home, right?!

Yikes, I just realized my videos are not showing up....

Paint With Water

I'm sure we all remember the "paint with water" pages as a child. And all the parents out there remember how we would soak the pages with water and end up with holes in them. Well, I am experiencing all of that for the first time with Caden and privileged to share it with you.



I'm trying out this new site...let me know what you think. It was a little more work, but I think it's just because I don't know their "system" yet.

21 weeks

I know many of you have been looking for a new picture of the pregnant me...so here's 2 for ya! This one is from the front. An intern told me I didn't look pregnant from the front, what do you think? One thing for sure is that I am losing my waistline...no more cute curves here, just straight up and down. (This makes for difficulty with non-elastic waisted pants.)And here's the routine profile shot. I didn't think I had changed that much until I went back and looked at the last two pics.

Bath Time!

Counting My Blessings

1. Right now, it is 77 degrees outside and cloudy...so nice!
2. My hubby comes home tomorrow!
3. Caden has been really good while Daddy has been gone!
4. Baby boy in my tummy is active! (We're talking flips and even hiccups)
5. Our internet is working again (it was out all weekend), so I feel "connected" to all of you again!
6. Our houseworkers have taken good care of Caden and me while Brett has been gone!
7. Caden has been taking great 2 hour naps and sleeping until 6 (much better than 5:30)!

Of course, I can't really "count" them all...but these have been the sweet blessings from God during my 10 days apart from Brett. I know it's because so many of you have been praying for this time and I have truly felt the presence of the Lord because of it! If I could name each one of you that has said a prayer for us, I would definitely count you as blessings in my life!

A Lion Says...

lion
Uploaded by emersonstogo

....or a zebra or giraffe.

Take A Guess

Any guesses on what this is a picture of?

Does this help?

That's right, my child has learned how to put peanuts into the small spaces of "mega blocks".

It does't matter which side you prefer, he can put them in both. And yes, he thought of this all on his own.

FYI: This is post #250. Hope this makes you feel 250 times closer to us. ;)

Fun With Caden

I've had requests to see more of Caden in his rainboots as well as more pictures of our dog...this is what I came up with. I wanted to post this at the highest quality, but our internet isn't that good. Thanks for eveyone's prayers during our time with Brett...things are going well.

I Love My Shoes
Uploaded by emersonstogo