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.

Happy Birthday.........

This week has been a big week for our family.... this past Thursday my mom, a.ka. GiGi, had a birthday.  Because announcing her age to the blogosphere might be traumatic for her....I will keep the details to myself.  However, we are so thankful for her life and for the way she loves our family.  We were so blessed to have her, my dad, my sister, and my brother-in-law come visit for the weekend. It was so great to spend time with them. We miss our families so much.  They have all been so gracious to come visit us over the  past year since we can't get away very often.  For your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of GiGi blowing out the candles on her Pumpkin Pie Cake that I made (yes I am that domestic).

In other exciting news, Emerson turned 5 months old today!  I really cannot believe how fast our time with her is going by.  Here are some of her latest stats:

• She is pretty much happy all the time, except for when she gets a little whiny and makes this really cute face.
• She can roll over from her stomach to her back and from her back to her stomach.  However she can only roll to her left....it is funny to watch her roll in a straight  line across the den.
• She actually likes our dog, Stabler, God bless her
• While she is 5 months old, she is still in 3 month clothes
• She likes to wear hats, or atleast she doesn't mind them
  

Of course I am about to show you some pictures of her from today...but just a warning.......she is cuter than ever...seriously.  These pictures show Emerson wearing one of our favorite hats that unfortunately does not fit her anymore. :(  However, she still manages to rock it!

The whiny, yet still cute, face

And finally, our dog, Stabler, turns 4 tomorrow.  When we got Stabler almost 4 years ago, I looked 4 years into the future and envisioned an older, calmer, easier dog.  It is funny how our visions can be so WRONG.  While he is older, he seems to be just as energetic and even more neurotic.  However, we still love him (although there are days when I feel like I am just tolerating him).  Happy Birthday Stabler!

B/C You Can Never Have Too Many Pictures.....of Emerson

This kid is so flippin' cute I really don't know what to do with myself.  I can't stop taking pictures (and neither can our babysitter, she took most of these).  I feel it is my duty to share her awesomeness with the world.  If you are sick of seeing her I'm sorry.....but I can't stop. I actually take a million more pictures than I ever post.  Be on the look out for pictures of her in her Halloween costume...she only gets cuter!  Yes, I have become that mom.

Fall = Happiness

As most of you know, Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year.  There are about a million reasons why this is my favorite time of year...a few of those reasons include but are not limited to: college football, apple everything, pumpkin everything, yummy food, cool weather, beautiful leaves, comfy clothes, fun boots, the excitement of the holidays being right around the corner, which ultimately means wonderful time with family, and drinking coffee sprinkled with cinnamon while cuddled up under a blanket.

 Really I could go on an on...but I won't. Garrett and I have discovered that this time of year is even more fun with Emerson.  The kid gets cuter and more fun everyday.  I told Garrett the other day that it is a good thing I didn't know this baby thing was gonna be so amazing because I would have wanted to do it sooner! We took Emerson to a pumpkin patch this past Sunday and it was so much fun.  It is so cool to watch her take everything in...and dressing her up in fall outfits has also proven to be fun.  I have always HATED Halloween (mostly because it annoys me to have to dress up), but I am actually looking forward to it now. Emerson adds a whole new element of fun to everything.

I cannot believe she will be 5 months old soon!  Some of the more hilarious things Em has done lately are: 

• Escaping from her bouncy seat (ok, so i was a little concerned when i heard a thud and found her laying on the floor but once I knew she was ok...very funny)
  
• Sucking on her toes (ok so this is more gross than funny)
• Using her toes to turn on her mobile....amazing!
• Pulling her leg warmers off and then sucking on them
• And finally she has started making motor boat sounds with her mouth...which is really funny except for when she has sweet potatoes in her mouth

All this to say, Emerson brings more joy to our life than I could ever put into words.  The Lord has blessed us in ways that we do not even come close to deserving.  Although this season of life is difficult for us, it is making us so greatful for every minute we get to spend together as a family. With Garrett working from 7:30am-10pm 6 days a week, Sundays are a treasured day for us.  We have a found a church, The Summit, that WE LOVE!  http://www.summitrdu.com/  Our Sundays are spent worshipping together and exploring Durham.  We have met some great people and are really enjoying the time that we have here.  However, we are also very thankful for all of our support from our friends and family at home....don't know how we would get through this time without all of y'all!

Here are a few pictures from us enjoying Fall and Sunday.  

A day in the life of Emerson Reed....

I try to jump out of my bouncy seat while my mom is making my bottle....and then I cry about it. 

What????

Excited about eating rice cereal for the first time!

Not so excited about eating rice cereal for the first time.

Doesn't everyone sleep with one thumb in their mouth and the other hand on their eye???

The Garrett Reed Theory of Time

I cannot believe that we have been in Durham for 3 weeks already.  I never understood it when I was younger, but life really does go by so much fast when you are older.  Garrett has this theory that it is because when you are 4, one year is 25% of your entire life, and when you are 25, one year is only 4% of your life...thus making it go by faster because it is a smaller portion of your life experience. Which, is why when you are in high school 4 years seems like a life time, and when you are 5 years removed from college, 4 years feels like a brief phase. Anyway, I wish things would slow down but according to Garrett's theory, since i am inevitably getting older, it is only going to go by faster.

Anyway, since my last post we have settled in here in NC. Our little apartment is starting to feel like home and we are enjoying the area.  Our first weekend here, I went to the Durham farmers market with my friend Sarah. Sarah and I went to high school and college together (both sociology majors), so it was fun to see her and for her to get to meet Em.  And I bought some really yummy veggies and cheese.   Two of my other good friends from college live here as well, and I have been spending some great time with them.  So, the transition has been pretty easy.

Last weekend my mom and Nana came up and we took Emerson to meet my great aunt, Lucile, who lives in Willimaston, NC.   As a lot of you know, my Nana will be 93 in November, and her sister, Lucile, is 96!  My aunt still lives in the house that she and her husband built in the 1950's.  The house is unbelievable.....I could write an entire post on it.  EVERYTHING is original from the 50's and is in fairly good condition.  The house is 7300 square feet and I am dying to remodel the whole thing, but that is definitely an itch I will never get to scratch. Anyway, it was so fun for Emerson to get to spend time with several generations of women in our family.  The Ramseur women are an amazing bunch....one day I will write more about them.

In other exciting news, we have found a babysitter that is going to be coming 2-3 days a week so I can go back to work part-time.   I am super excited to get back to work. I actually love working and I am excited to get to see G more often.....he has litearlly been working 85-90 hours a week!!!  I'm not sure how he does it, but he does and he seems to really be enjoying it. We have also found a church that we love, so we are excited about that.  It is funny because we just decided to visit it two weeks ago, and it turns out one of my good friends that lives here and our babysitter goes there.  I am hoping to start volunteering with their children's ministry soon. 

Here are a few pictures from the past 3 weeks....our life in Durham as we know it!

Emerson rocking her new leg warmers....

G and Em enjoying a little time together

(this picture makes my heart turn to mush)

If you look at my hair, it is saturated with barf...the joys of motherhood!

Sarah and Em at the Farmer's Market

Many generations of Ramseur women

Just being cute

Em loves her jumpster...and I love watching her in it.