Friday, August 31, 2007

Emma's Princess Party

Our little princess turned two on Sunday! The day before her birthday, we had a special princess party with 45 guests (note to self: next year, Chuck E. Cheese can host all of Emma's friends and family and do the post-party cleanup). It was such a fun time for her to be able to spend with all of her friends and family. And who would've thought--she absolutely loved wearing the crown.



So, these are just a few pictures from her special day. And yes--there is a lot of pink!











Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Big girl days ahead...Baby days behind

Our baby girl is going to be TWO YEARS OLD on Sunday! I can't believe it! I just cannot help thinking about all of the memories we have made with her over the past two years...Memories that she will only know through pictures, but memories that will be forever embedded in our thoughts. We have come to realize that these last two years with our baby girl have been absolutely precious--the things that she says and does, the way that we always say "I think she's going to be just like [fill in the blank with a random family member]," and how she has changed our lives in so many ways just by being a part of our lives. And we wonder how we can love someone we've only known for two years so much, and we realize that this is only a small taste of the incredible love our Father in heaven has for us. So I would be remiss if I didn't recount some of her cute little quirks, sayings, and happenings from these past two years--so bear with me as I relive these things...

The happenings...
She peed on Dan when she was only eight weeks old (he realized from that point on that keeping a diaper on a baby was as good of an idea as I said it was), she was born with so much hair that I had to cut it when she was two weeks old (she had her own mullet), she didn't get her first tooth until she was eleven months old, she crawled when she was nine months and walked when she was fourteen months, she NEVER at baby food meat (who would?), she has been attached to her pacifier since she was tiny, we had to move her crib when she was eight months old because she figured out how to stand up in her crib and turn the lights on in her bedroom, she wasted at least ten diapers trying to put one on her baby (Pooh bear), she was terrified to try her birthday cake on her first birthday until she realized how good icing really was, she was so proud of herself when she learned to use a sippy cup at eleven months old and even prouder when she learned how to use a straw at eighteen months old

The quirks...
She loves baby dolls and pocketbooks, she can watch the same movie three times in a row, she has learned how to successfully put a DVD in the DVD player and then return the one that was in the DVD player back to its original case, she insists that eight stuffed animals stay in her crib every night, she likes to play tea parties but only if she can pour the tea herself, she loves boys and holding their hands and kissing them (her father has already told her she would be locked in her room starting at age twelve), she hated the ocean last summer but isn't happy until the person holding her is up to their necks in water this summer, she cleans up more than any other child I have ever seen (yesterday at school she not only cleaned up her mess but also the toys that two other boys had been playing with--I had to tell her that they were still playing because they were getting pretty upset), she loves dogs, ducks, and trees, she sings and dances all of the time, and she usually puts the food on the spoon with her hands instead of trying to scoop the food, she loves to read, and she attempts to say the blessing and pray every time we do

The words...
Goggy=doggy, guck=duck, wobby=movie, Mikey=Mickey Mouse, Daidy=Minnie Mouse and Daisy, shoe=shoes and juice (that one can be tricky at times), mulk=milk, Be-go=Bingo (our dog), baby=anyone who is not as tall as she is, cackuh=chips, crackers, and cookies that aren't chocolate chip, Oh no, what gon do?=Oh no, what are we going to do?, ke-gu=the clean up song, dank do=thank you, achoo=bless you (and her attempt at pretending to sneeze), tease=please, poon=spoon or fork, umpee or oo oo ah ah=monkey, ehpant=elephant, baa=sheep, and countless more

So, I hope that in some way typing all of this out will help me remember at least some of the special things about our little princess...these are things I don't ever want to forget.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

From Good to Bad...

Well, I guess all good things must come to an end...Or so the saying goes. As great of a week as we had last week, it got that much worse this week.

To start off, I came home Sunday from work and lunch with a headache. I didn't think much of it, as I get headaches all the time. I know the signs that a migraine is coming, but this one didn't feel like a migraine at all. So I just kept on with my day until about 9:00--then the unbearable pain hit me like a ton of bricks! I have never had such a headache before in my life. I am not exaggerating that the only worse pain I have been in was childbirth! After tossing and turning and crying all night, Dan took me to the doctor Monday morning. Once she realized that the shot of Imitrex in my right arm wasn't doing anything (and that in and of itself should have knocked me out), she gave me a shot of Perdol (the mega form of Percuset) in my left arm. And then I was three sheets to the wind...

And for the next two days, I took antibiotics, decongestants, and Vicodin...And after 72 hours my headache was all but gone. Then Dan got sick. That's right--after I had sent him and Emma off for the day in my half-dazed state, I heard the pitter patter of feet coming back in the house, followed by a foul smell and the sight of my poor husband covered in his own vomit. Then his headache started.

He is at the doctor's office right now, hopefully to return soon with some diagnosis and a way to feel better. I am back to the doctor's office tomorrow for some tests, and if nothing is conclusive, she will be setting up a time for me to get my head x-rayed (Ha ha, I've known that I've needed that for years!) to figure out what has caused all of this.

And sweet, little Emma...She's been her usual loving, caring, affectionate self through this whole thing. And that's why we love our baby girl...

Friday, August 3, 2007

What a big week!

What a big week for the Delaney family! Here are some exciting things that have happened:

  1. Emma started big girl school (Didn't she look cute?). It was a different kind of day for all of us. More on that later.
  2. Dan has a really exciting new ministry opportunity--one that he had a vision of nearly five years ago. It is so awesome to see God bring to fruition something that we had prayed about and discussed when we just started dating. I am so excited to see what God is going to do!
  3. I have had a life-changing revelation from God this week. It was as if a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders when I felt God confirming something that I have been struggling with for almost two years.
  4. We had one of the most amazing weeks of small group EVER! The funny thing is, we really did not expect that going into the evening.

So, it's been a red-letter week for the Delaneys. And we are praising God through every bit of it!