Over the River and thru the Woods....

To Granmother's house we go!!! We are leaving in a few hours to head to my parents house for Thanksgiving! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I really love Durham a lot but every day this situation gets harder and harder. All of the temporary living does not allow me to work (which shockingly I really enjoy), and having a little one at home makes it hard to do much without the help of of my husband or family. I am learning a lot about what it means to have my identity rest in the Lord rather in my work or my relationships.....but that is an entirely different blog post (one that I'm not sure I'm ready to write).

Anyway, to say that I am thrilled to head to Greenville for a few days is an absolute understatement. I am a little bummed b/c Garrett will only be able to be there for about 24 hours....when you work in retail, being off on Black Friday is not an option. This is our third holiday season in retail..there are times when I feel like I am totally used to Garrett having to work and there are times when I feel like I can't take it anymore...the roller coaster ride of being a human with emotions I guess. Anyway, I think I just decided I will choose to focus on the time Em and I do get with him and celebrate that rather than mourning over all of the time we don't get together. I mean it is THANKSgiving!

So, heres to 24 hours together as a family and being thankful for every second we get together. I think about all of the families who have lost loved ones or have family members serving over seas and I realize how selfish my heart is at times. But I also am reminded of how important family is and I think it is ok to long for them....just not ok to feel bad for myself.

Also, for those of you who don't know, Garrett's brother, Cullen and his wife, Amber, have been living in South Korea, teaching english, for a little over 2 years now. We have only seen them once since they moved and that was before Em was born! And Garrett's sister Courtney is living in Colorado and was in California before that, and I think we have only seen her twice, maybe 3 times, in the past 2 years. All that to say, WE MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!! We love you guys so much and can't wait until we can spend the holidays all together...maybe next year????

Lastly, Emerson turned 6 months old last week. Some quick updates on her: She now weighs 16 pounds and is 26 inches long (40th to 50th percentile on all her measurements). She has 1 tooth, but based on all the drooling and fussiness I would say there is another on the way. She can sit up by herself (although she still falls backwards every now and then). And, she is working frantically on learning to crawl but at this point she only goes in circles or backwards....this frustrates her to no end. I am perfectly content with her not crawling for as long as possible. She gets more precious and sweet every day. I think Garrett and I are both constantly amazed at how we could love one person so much. It used to annoy the heck out of me when people used to say things like, "you'll just never know how much you could love someone until you have children." I TOTALLY understand now, but I will still try to refrain from saying that to other people. For some reason someone telling someone else about their abilities to feel or not feel drives me nuts (even though i am sure i am guilty of this too).

And the moment you have been waiting for.....new(er) pictures of our sweet little girl. Some of which are ones that were in the running but did not make the Christmas card.

An Unexpected Friendship

As most of you know, our dog, Stabler, is totally nuts. We have actually been discussing finding him a new home. The only problem we have run into is that little Emerson has fallen in love with him. Every time she sees him she smiles and squeals with excitement...and then tries to pull on his ears. I literally have tons of pictures of them spending quality time together. This past weekend we went to the Duke Gardens (which are amazing!). Anyway, we tried to take a family picture since we don't have a single one. The only problem was that we couldn't get Em to look at the camera b/c she just wanted to pet Stabler. They seem to understand one another, and his being totally psycho doesn't seem to bother Emerson one bit. All that to say, we would hate to give Emerson's new best friend away. Only time will tell I guess....

H1N1 and A Tooth

The past week and half feel like a they have lasted a lifetime! Last Friday, Emerson and I headed to Greenville. I had to go to Atlanta all last week for work, so Em spent the week with both Garrett and I's families. Both of our parents, my sister, my brother-in-law, and Garrett's Grandmom all took time off of work and from their busy schedules to babysit for us. It meant so much to us to have them help take care of little Em so I could be in Atlanta. I am pretty sure that Emerson enjoyed every second of it. Before I left to go to ATL, Kristin and Bryson, stopped by my mom and dad's house. It was so great to see them! We dressed them up on their Halloween costumes and then just laughed....a lot! The lone picture does not do the experience justice.

My week in Atlanta was great but I was so ready to get home to Garrett and precious little Emerson. We spent Halloween at Garrett's parents house watching South Carolina lose to Tennesee....which was horribly depressing. But, what was even more depressing was when I woke up the next morning not feeling so good. Then, the whole ride back to Durham I kept not feeling so good, and by the time we were home I had a temperature of 102, that didn't go away for three days! I finally went to the doctor yesterday and after a flu test (which i will say is a horribly uncomfortable experience...they stick things up your nose!), it is official, I have the flu. From now on, everyone in our family will be getting flu shots. It has truly been one of the most miserable experiences.

I have been praying that Garrett and Emerson do not get it. However, Garrett did just come home from work early claiming to have "the worst headache ever." Which brings us to the Garrett Reed quote of the day. So, he came home and got straight in the bed b/c his head hurt so badly. Being the awesome wife that I am, I got him some Goody's headache powder, a Vitamin Water, and a warm towel for his head. As I was about to leave the room, I said, "Can I get you anything else? Maybe put on some Enya?" To which Garrett replied, "Yeah, is that lingerie?" Wishful thinking G!

Oh, I almost forgot....in the middle of our swine flu incident, it seems that Emerson has gotten her first tooth! I haven't been able to get a good picture of it yet...but don't worry, I will. Instead you can enjoy the following pictures of Emerson playing with and sucking on her toes, oh and one of Garrett making fun of her...b/c making fun of a 51/2 month old is so cool.