Emma's First Birthday

I have not posted this entry on purpose.  I have to say, I am a little annoyed.  I feel as if Little Girl is my daughter.  I am the one that holds her when she's sad, comforts her at night and knows how to get a bubbly laugh out of her. I AM her mother. Yet, I can't mention her name or post pictures of her face on my family blog.  So, her first birthday rolled around and I couldn't even post the pictures of her cute, chubby hand squishing her cupcake.  Her birthday was in November and I am finally getting around to the post.  Not because I had forgotten or didn't have the time but because I was mad.
Anyway......
We had a party planned for the little peanut but the night before she ran a high fever.  The party was cancelled and we ended up snuggling on the couch that day.  In the end, we went to our local cupcake shop (can you believe little Black Mountain has a cupcake shop?) and bought 4 beautiful cupcakes.  I picked out a small carrot cake cupcake for baby girl. 
After dinner, we let her dive into the special treat.  She enjoyed squishing the cupcake more than eating it.  Oh, how I wish I could post the photos. 
Little one, you complete our family.  Always remember that we love you no matter what happens.  You will always be my daughter.

**Photos posted March 2016

Thanksgiving 2013

We had a quiet, cozy Thanksgiving.  Well, as quiet as a small house dominated by three kids could be.  Shelley and Peter came to spend the holiday with us.  It was great to see them and catch up.  The boys, as always, were in heaven playing with their grandparents. 

 

 

The Thanksgiving table.  As you can see, we are not fancy.  And yes, Myles is wearing snow bibs without a shirt. 

 

Josh cooks the turkey a different way every year and every year he swears, "it's the best way to cook it".  This year he smoked the turkey outside.  His method consisted of two fires, one under the turkey and the other used to create hot coals.  The coals were constantly used to fuel the fire under the turkey.  Quite an experiment but the turkey was wonderful.

 

Myles, our resident vegetarian, attempted to try a bite of turkey.  He promptly spit it out and never touched it again. 

 

This is what Myles' plate really looked like.  He only ate the cranberry sauce.  Notice the one bean....he didn't touch it. 

 

Baby girl, on the other hand, ate more than both boys combined.

 

 

Quality time was spent lounging around.

 

The day after Turkey Day we picked out our tree.

 

It was a great day for tree pickin

 

Look, we had a reindeer in our yard!!

First Snow

A few days before Thanksgiving we had our first "snow".  It wasn't much more than a dusting but the boys were super excited.  They put on all of their snow gear and headed out.  Unfortunately, it was all gone by lunch time. 

 

 

You can see what I mean by "snow".  It really wasn't much.

 

There was more snow on the van than on the ground.

 

So, they played where the snow was most abundant. This little excursion resulted in a very scratched up hood.  Needless to say, I was not pleased.

Halloween 2013

Halloween day came and we were ready for it.  My legs had healed from the marathon and I was no longer limping.  It was time to hit the streets.  Our first stop was Myles preschool.  The kids dressed up and took the town of Montreat by storm.

That night, we descended upon Black Mountain.  Candy, friends and costumes...what could be better?

 

 

Myles class.  He is the little Zorro in the middle of the class.

 

 

Myles and his lovely princess, Anika.  Myles was channeling Antonio Banderas with his chest showing.  Honestly, we were running late and I couldn't find the string.  Pretty cute, though.

 

Little ladybug didn't last long

 

Nothing like 4 year olds in costume.

 

It was time for the real thing.  My men in black were ready (kind of).

 

Ready for battle....or for candy.  Aren't they devilishly handsome?  Thanks, Gramma, for the costumes!!!

 

Zorros took the town by storm.

 

Capes and swords were flying

 

 Zorros found Batman (Emmett).  What a terrible threesome.

Marine Corps Marathon

Thud, thud, thud.... my feet striking the pavement has been a familiar sound as of lately.  Mile after mile...oh, so many miles of training.  I have wanted to run a marathon for as long as I can remember.  This year, Kirsten and I decided that this was going to be the best time for us to do it.  We began training this summer and weekend after weekend we logged those miles.  I have to admit, although we were running 16, 18, 20 miles a weekend, I loved our uninterrupted conversations.  No kids, just two friends running. 

We chose the Marine Corps Marathon because it was in DC and we had a free place to stay (thanks, mom, dad and Will!). Plus, it is the third largest marathon in the country with 30,000 runners.  If I was going to do a marathon, it was going to be a BIG one. 

After we signed up, we found out that 4 other women from Black Mountain had signed up as well.  We had a gang to represent our small town. 

The big day finally arrived and we were trained and ready to run.  And run we did....all 26.2 miles.  That was my goal.  I wanted to say I "ran" a marathon, not "half walked" a marathon.  We kept a steady pace and only stopped to grab water or Gatorade.  The crowd was spectacular!!  People lined the streets cheering and holding signs.  What a show of support and it really helped us keep our spirits up. Kirsten and I stayed together the entire time.  I couldn't have done it without her!  We were a constant support to one another.  It was funny, we chatted up until mile 18 or so.  Then a silence set in....no more words, just our feet on the pavement.  Both of us were in the zone.  We both thought it was something like childbirth, where you have to go inside yourself to accomplish the goal.  Amazing what the human body can do.

Anyway, we did it!  My awesome brother was there at the finish line.  He took pictures, helped us up and carried our things.  Will, you are the best. 

When we got back home, everyone kept asking if I was going to do another one.  NO WAY!  The time it took to train was ridiculous.  I am a one and done kind of gal.  It was an amazing experiences none the less.  I can say I ran a marathon and check that off the bucket list.  I will stick with half marathons from here on out.

 

 

 

The Black Mountain women.  Six in the morning, before the race. 

 

Kirsten and I, trying to stay warm.

 

In the corral, waiting for the cannon to sound.  The red semi circles in the distance were the starting points.  Look at all of the runners!!  We were surrounded by groups of runners the entire 26 miles.

 

The Marines came in to start the race.

 

At the finish line.  Kirsten has a teal shirt and I am in grey next to her.

 

At the end of the race.  Medals and all.

 

We are still standing...barely

 

The ladies in the finishers area

 

Yes, I ate a plate of french fries and a coke for lunch.  Did I feel guilty....NO.  Not to mention I had a donut at mile 24....didn't feel guilty about that either.  How cool that the were handing out donuts and beer at mile 24?? What an amazing race.

Update on Little One

I haven't been giving many updates on our little one as nothing had really happened.  Social Services are not the fastest moving group.  We have had little E for 10 months now and she is 11 months old.  In someways, the time has flown by.  She is growing like crazy although she is still a tiny little peanut at only 17 pounds.  She has started scooting all over the place and doing cute tricks like waving and giving high fives.  She gets cuter every day with her big blue eyes and silly faces.  To say the least, we are totally in love with her.  So much for guarding my heart.

Her case has begun to move through the court system.....at a snail's pace.  She had a court date a few weeks ago where they changed her "plan" from reunification with her parents to guardianship with a relative.  What this mean is that we have to wait until random relatives come out of the woodwork and take guardianship of her.  If relatives do not show up by the next court date (Jan) we can apply for adoption.  Talk about nerve wracking.  I am torn between attempting to think positively (power of positive though and all) and not getting my hopes up.  She calls me "mama" for goodness sake.  So far, not a single relative has even called to check on her.  That's not to say they won't show up but they havent' been involved so far. 

I have tried to prepare for the fact that she could leave.  I cry every time I think about her little, chubby hand waving goodbye.  She could walk out of our lives and we would never see her again.  Would she think we abandoned her?  Would she been crying for us, confused?  I can't imagine not being there for her when she needed me.  I don't know how I could lose a child.  So if you are reading this please say a prayer, give a positive thought or send us good vibes.  Whatever you do, will work for me.  We need everything we can get. 

Because I can't send photos of her adorable face...

Here she is relaxing with the girls at the after school program.  She sits in her backpack while I teach and joins in social hour when I am finished.  She has quite the following.

Dinner time. *added 1/2019