Snow Cream

It is a winter wonderland here in Northwest NC! The snow started around 5:15pm last night, and it is still coming down although now we are getting sleet mixed with fine snow. The totals are down a little from what was predicted but only because the snow mainly turned to sleet in the early morning hours. We have about eight inches of snow now with one inch of ice on top - one more inch expected before this is over. Did I mention that it was 60 degrees here Wednesday? Anyway, with the frigid temperature (23 degrees currently) and the chilling wind, our boys have not ventured out to play but once. They only lasted about 30 minutes before they returned FROZEN!

The one good thing that has come of the snow, however, is SNOW CREAM! I set a large bowl out on the patio table last night to collect our snow, and then I used the allrecipes.com recipe to make our first batch. You can find the recipe via the link here.

Jackson decided to decorate his bowl with sprinkles and an iced cookie on top! YUMMY!!!

Fashionista Friday

Emma had her two year check up today so of course I had to dress her up a little!!! ;) She is right on target developmentally and is 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height...she's going to be a big girl!

Anyway, I thought her outfit was so cute. The shirt was given to her by her Patsy, and I bought the courduroy dress and tights from Target - on major clearance (the dress was $6.48). Emma's Mimi gave her those awesome pink cowgirl boots!

Hope y'all have a great weekend! The snow storm started here about 30 minutes ago...we are right in the path here in North Carolina. We could possibly get 10 inches of snow! Just when I was getting spring fever too!

Black and White Wednesday

Today for Black and White Wednesday, I am posting three photos of Emma that I took on Sunday (her actual birthday). She has gotten to the point where she really does not want me to take her photo. She would much rather look at the image on the back of the camera after I have taken a photo. I am hoping this phase passes!

If you get a second, check out Lisa's blog (link above). She is such a talented lady, and there are many other bloggers who have linked up with her as well.

Emma's Sweet Shoppe

Happy 2nd Birthday Emma!!!

We celebrated Emma's birthday yesterday with a Sweet Shoppe Party.

Four of Emma's friends and our families came to help celebrate Emma's second birthday with us. All morning we had been telling Emma "Happy Birthday", and by the end of the day, she could also say it. Very Sweet.

Here are LOTS of photos of Emma's big day. Although I know she won't remember this particular birthday, I think she felt very special!

I made lollipop topiaries for either side of the front door. They turned out really cute.

Since the theme was a sweet shoppe, I bought lots and lots of candy for everyone to take home with them. Too bad the majority of it was still here after everyone had left. I think I'll send it to JC's dental office in the morning. Ha Ha!

Here is the sign hanging above the candy bar. I cannot take credit for this. Many of my ideas came from this very talented blogger.

And this is the centerpiece that I literally threw together just 2 hours before the party.

Instead of a traditional cake, MiMi made wonderful cupcakes for the party. They were eye candy.

Emma waits for her guests to arrive...

Sarah (our Goddaughter) was the first to arrive. She was so cute. She wanted to have her picture made with Emma by the giant lollipops.

After everyone arrived, the girls got to choose a bear from a Bu*ild A Bear kit that I bought. Thankfully MiMi and Katie had taken these and sewn them up for the most part before the party. Mom had even divided each bear up with all of her "stuff" and put them in large baggies for me. I made initial monogram gift bags for the girls to take their bear home in...

And here are the Moms and girls stuffing their bears after gently kissing the hearts that they placed inside.

Here is Abby with her completed bear...

And Emma hugging her new bear after Patsy had sewn her up.

The last thing we did was sing "Happy Birthday" to Emma. She sure did love the spotlight. It was very cute.

And her face says it all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL. WE ARE SO GLAD YOU ARE OURS.

One Year Ago - Tomorrow

On January 23, 2009, just one day before Emma's first birthday, she was taken to a hospital in St. Petersburg to have corrective heart surgery.

Emma had a very common problem that many infants face...patent ductus arteriosis (PDA). Basically, the "hole" in her heart which allowed blood to bypass the lungs in utero stayed open. In most cases, the first breath of life causes this "hole" to close. In the States, this condition is fixed early on - maybe even before leaving the hospital. Emma's was not. She lived with this for her first 364 days. The only information we were given on referral was that she had finally had corrective surgery the day before her first birthday! We did not get any information about possible organ damage or to the extent this "hole" affected her little body. God works in such mysterious ways. You see, I spent my first two years out of pharmacy school doing a fellowship in neonatal medicine. We saw many, many cases of PDAs. Our hospital and pharmacy department was so advanced that we tried (and succeeded in many cases) to treat PDAs with IV Indomethacin dosed based on blood levels. This is not a normal lab test that regular labs do so my director set up his own HPLC lab in the hospital for us to go in and "run" the test ourselves. I spent hours doing this...sometimes driving to the hospital in the middle of the night to run these levels. We would take this information to determine the correct dosage to give babies. It was very complex and cutting edge, but because of this, I became very educated with PDAs. I know I have digressed, but I wanted you all to know just how "comfortable" I was with Emma's referral "diagnosis". This is why I feel certain that she was meant to be ours. Our agency coordinator was doubtful that we would accept Emma since we had requested a healthy child. Immediately, I said YES to Emma's referral. I had no doubt that she would be anything less than perfect.

I can tell you that I am 200% positive that her cardiac diagnosis is the only reason another Russian couple did not adopt Emma.

So this weekend, we will remember Emma's struggles and her surgery. We will mourn the fact that she did not get to celebrate her first birthday as she was lying in a hospital bed in Russia. We will, however, give thanks to the Lord for allowing these circumstances to place Emma with our family, and we will celebrate her "first" birthday with her forever family in grand style!

Black and White Wednesday

Hopefully this weekend I'll get my camera back out for Emma's 2nd birthday! For now, I had to go back to the archives to find a photo to convert to black and white. This one of Jackson screams WINTER, but it has been in the 60s and sunny here the past two days. I am loving this warmer weather, but I am sure it will return to this sooner rather than later...

She's Having A Baby

My little sister, Katie, is expecting her first baby - a little girl due on March 1st! Our entire family is so excited for her and my brother-in-law.

Last Sunday, my mom and I gave Katie a baby shower, and it was a huge success.

Everything turned out wonderfully, and I'd like to share some photos of Katie's special day.

The two Moms

I think Katie had a great time, and she got many many wonderful gifts for her little one.

Black and White Wednesday

Lisa at The Long Road to China is hosting a Black and White Photo Wednesday. Today is the first day to participate! Check out her wonderful blog for the details!

For my first black and white, I chose a photo that I have already posted, but it is one of Emma that I love. Her face is so expressive!

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Jackson Turns SEVEN

Saturday, January 9th was Jackson's 7th birthday! He woke up as excited as can be!

Jackson wanted to open his presents from us right away - even before eating breakfast. It was his day so we let him. His big gift from us was a new bike. We had him cover his eyes before Dad wheeled it in...

Just before lunch, MiMi came over and brought Jackson more presents.

Then it was PARTY TIME! Jackson chose a rollerskating party again this year. When your birthday is in January, options are limited around here unfortunately!

I bought his birthday invitations on Etsy. They turned out so cute!

Even Dad decided to rollerskate. Me...not so much!

Emma had lots of fun at the party too even though she could not skate. Everyone was so nice to help entertain her.

Emma especially LOVED the birthday cake.

Later Saturday night, Jackson made my day. He said, "this is the best birthday ever"!!!