Hike It Baby 30 September '18

Another Hike It Baby Challenge on record!! Last challenge I was so focused on the mileage that I more than doubled the challenge goal. This time, being that I have Ellie involved in three other groups alongside Hike It Baby to get her toes wet in all sorts of adventures, it was harder for me to make the big hikes I love and enjoy because of the days of the week they fell on. However, I am thankful that stroller walks outside with our friends still count towards our mileage. This time, knowing our schedules would be different than back in January when the last challenge commenced, I wanted to focus on just being as present as possible for the sake of keeping community with this special family of mama friends and babies. The big hikes are so good for my physical state, but the strolls are so good for my mental state. Every hike, no matter the shape and form, the time and the distance, the location or the weather, makes a beautiful impact on both myself as an individual, as Emily, as a wife, and as a mother, and to Ellie as a growing, strong, fierce, and mighty little girl. These mamas all come from different places in many ways. Each of their perspectives, and more importantly their smiles and hugs for both me and my baby girl, are what make the "hard to get out the door" mornings into amazing days.

So my personal challenge was to make the 30 miles, and to offer grace to myself in the time I had available to get out there currently, and to just focus on soaking up my good friends' good vibes.

Stats for September:

47.95 miles
2450 minutes outside
Infinite amount of laughs and smiles
:)
Love you my little Hiking family! So so much!

Beechwood Farms, A Pumpkin Tradition

For the past two fall seasons, The Three E's have made Beechwood Farms their Pick of the Pumpkin Patches. (As well as for all farm needs and fun).

I love it there because of the beauty, the Christ centered customer service, care, and farming. Each and every person on the farm, no matter the role they play, has treated my family like cherished treasure, no matter if it is the busiest day yet, or a day when everybody else is at school and work and Ellie and I want to enjoy the crops and the the market they have.

It was wild to think this was already our second trip taking Ellie to pick out her pumpkin. Last year, she was barely big enough for her baby carrier, and she couldn't do much. This year, Ellie had an opinion about which pumpkins she chose. She loved the hay ride, train ride, horse rides, and the picnic we had on the grounds. She spent 15 minutes saying hello to goats and begging me to put her in the cage with them. "No Ellie, you are not a goat." Inserts foot to high rung on chain linked fence...."Ok Ellie, stop being a smartie and stop climbing. Rude." Lol!! She is so stinking determined with all that she does! Flicker was going to find a way to run away with the goats. Her goal of the day.

Ellie picked pumpkins and walked with them cradled in her arms against her chest and tummy, proud as could be, and accomplished. What a joy to watch the baby grow up in the same special place year after year.

Now the pumpkins adorn our new front porch and Ellie and Eric both helped me decorate with them.

Ellie will visit Beechwood Farms again this month with her Hike it Baby crew for a pumpkin picking fun day!

Ellie will be involved in a bajillion fall and Halloween activities, but this is one of my very most favorite things we do!

OUR Home

Well. If you have known me, or Eric and I as a unit over the last five years, then you know well by now that even when Eric and I first started dating, knowing we wanted to be married almost immediately, that we wanted to eventually sell Eric's home, and create something of our own. We looked for homes then, we dreamed, and we had ideas. Then we put those dreams into motion, sold our home, God provided land, God gave us OUR home. It took 4.5 years of earnest prayers, heartbreak, pining for something we couldn't even see, much patience, and loving teamwork. But we did it by the grace of God.

Neither of us had an emotional connection to the house we first lived in together. It was never "ours"....Ellie only lived there for three months, herself. Heck, as much as we hated the living conditions of the rental home we spent 10 months in, it was more like home than the beautiful and nice home we left. Ellie hit all her big milestones in the rental. It was our first big endeavor together as a couple. It was a waiting place for our home.

And now I can finally sit here in the living room I dreamed of always, and type to you dear ones, that God is ever present. It is not in the least bit "turmoil" to live in a gorgeous home that just happens to not be a house you love. It is not "turmoil" to endure negative living situations and surroundings while you build a home God allowed and provided. It is not "turmoil" to walk one day in the shoes I wear that again, God Himself provided. I have seen true and raw turmoil. In this country and outside of this country. People who are thankful to find even a covering over their head, clothes for their backs, and water safe to drink. I have seen turmoil. My story is NOT one of turmoil. I was blessed with too much grace from God the moment I was born and allowed to live a full meaningful life.

But, living in a situation that is not what you desire (figuratively or realistically) can be a bit like being in the doldrums and being in that period of waiting. Waiting on something you know all the details of is hard enough. Waiting on something you can only dream of is near agony. Especially when it is your surrounding daily environment and you want your family to be in a place that belongs to ....well....your family. God made me wait. God has always made me wait. I believe it is His favorite personal lesson for me. I always always always am made to wait just beyond the point of heartbreaking aggravation faithfully on God's perfect will. He swoops in to set me free just as my strength is failing...I fall on Him. But, even when I am to a point I feel crumbled, I still thank God. No matter what it is about...not just waiting on a home for my family....anything, children, a job, an important answer, truth, or understanding beyond human understanding.

In this case, I saw God take plots of land away from me. Homes away from me. Give others land I thought I wanted. I saw God provide me with His words. I felt God write them on my heart. I felt God acting out His promises. I saw God's promises come to fruition. Through tears, heartbreaks, and doubt. God always had planned where the Three E's should live. He has much to do here through us. Many to bless in these walls. He gave to us so that we may give to others, so that we may glorify Him. HE GAVE. He took away--- so that He could give the perfect home. God gives His children free will to make their own choices, however; if we are truly His children, seeking His will, we will find His will, even when it doesn't look or feel like we think it should. And this will of God's is always incomparably better than we had planned for ourselves. The light of the truth of His will is always bright. God made us wait, suffer in the waiting, and then He delivered. We will not forget. And what He delivered was what we pined for, only so much better than we imagined for our own selves!

What a blessing to be in my first HOME with my best friend husband, and best friend daughter. To see a clean slate washed clean and given to us by Jesus, just like our hearts are done to by Jesus. This home is filled with the Holy Spirit, Praise God. Never shall I forget His words on our frames, under our foundation. Blessed be His Name. This is a perfect temporary Home until we enter our true Forever Home, with Him.

Ellie Lately

Now that we have passed the one year mark, I don't write out monthly updates, but this does not mean she does not grow and change every single day, in fact, I think more now than ever! So for my Ellie record keeping sake, Here I am to blog about what Baby girl has discovered, learned, done, etc. in the past couple of months.

Ellie has added a lot to her vocabulary lately. "Uh-oh", "No" (and even the shaking of the head), "Don't", "Gimme dat", "Please" (but she prefers gimme dat...working on it y'all.) "Thank you"...(still working on the consistency of this one). "Whoa" "Mimi" "G-dad" "Ellie" "Baby" "Block" "Ball" "Bow" "Bracelet" "Boo" (for peek-a boo) "Eye".

She is learning her animals. She knows what dogs are (easy one around here). She barks and pants like a little dog, too. She has learned what an elephant is and the sound it makes....though she does it terribly, lol, her elephant sound is always consistent and I know to what she is referring.

She has learned where her tummy, eyes, nose, mouth, lady parts (by proper name as I believe in learning proper anatomy), hair, and belly button are located and what they are called. Especially "eye".

We are working on colors. She is very interested in her color/ French cards I made her (not stressing french yet...she needs English first, but we mix it in occasionally. No I am not fluent, but I am preschool level LOL!) She loves to look at the colors and point and call them something of which I am not sure, so we are working on that everyday and she finds it so fun and interesting.

Ellie attends Mommy and Me ballet at Sterling Dance studio in Easley and is loving the class. She loves the music, props, friends, dancing, and interaction with mommy. She alos loves her tutus.

Ellie is loving continuing with Kindermusik with MRs. Rosalind Cross at Kindermusik of Greenville. This class has truly been a blessing in our lives and I only wish I had started Ellie at this at 6 weeks old. Every day, we have fun at home, carrying what we learn there home with us and putting it into use and practice. Ellie remembers the songs, tries to sing them, she remembers the motions to each song, the routines, she anticipates the bouncing, up and down movements, and the rolling and rocking on our backs. She hears me humming the songs as I cook or clean and starts dancing and humming to them, then grabs my hands for me to do the interactions with her. We practice rhythm on her instruments at home, listen to sounds and make sound with the books they give, and we cuddle, massage, and change the tones and levels of our voices for a lot of fun, interactive, imaginitive, and wondrous play time. Her eyes go wild with fascination and she just squeals and shrills with utter overwhelming joy!! It makes my heart so happy and blows my mind with fascination as in only a few short classes, I can see how much her brain and skills have developed. We are in love with this class. Worth every single penny.

Ellie has been a climber since before she walked. Such strong shoulders and arms. Today, as a matter of fact, Ellie grabbed the top of the entertainment piece of furniture, and pulled herself up off the ground, hanging on with her hands. She did a dang pull up!! What the world?!

Our only and biggest struggle with Ellie (praise the dear Lord in Heaven above) has been getting Ellie to want to sit at the table with proper table manners and eat. We started baby led weaning at 6 mos old...and while she has always done well at the mechanics of feeding herself, even using utensils, the problem has been the stubbornness of a child who does not want to sit for more than 2 minutes, yet wants to go and play. We have been battling for months teaching her patiently the table manners of sitting and eating, and when finished sitting and playing with her table toy while we talk and let us finish. We interact with her at every meal, we do not allow any screens ever, we believe in true family meals at the table talking. She loves that, but she also loves to not sit for very long. However, all that to say, it would finally seem, knock on wood and praise Jesus, that Ellie mostly is good at dinner tables now. She sits right down in her chair, feeds herself, and is good mostly up until Eric and I finish eating, too. It actually feels like we can enjoy our own food now without deep breaths, anxiety, and stress. That has truly been the only issue I have really had with parenting that has felt crippling/ will this pass?! She is a very very good baby, but this has been her struggle and therefore, mine. So praise God we finally seem to be turning a new leaf in this area.

Ellie loves teeth brushing time.

Ellie loves to comb her own hair.

Ellie loves to wear mommy's jewelry and purses.

Ellie loves playing with friends at MOPS, Kindermusik, Ballet, and on the Hiking trail, as well as the nurseries at church and the Y. She loves playdates with her friends, and loves to watch them, then join them.

Ellie loves to test boundaries. As in, she knows she is not to touch like anything at all electric, (TV remotes, DVD players, phones, wires, etc...) so she loves to place one little hand on the item and holler to me, "Hey!" and when I say, "Ellie! Get your hand off that!" She runs away laughing. Stinker. Same with dog food. She wants to eat it constantly. Luckily it some fancy schmancy organic, gluten free, hoopity snoopity stuff since Blondie has a special tummy. Because Ellie has definitely had some. Oh well. But her favorite thing to do is pick up a piece, stick it in her mouth, (VERY well knowing she is not supposed to) and look at me and go, "Mmmm!" to which she knows I am just gonna come dig it out of her mouth and pop her behind. She thinks that is hilarious and runs off laughing. Oh boy. I've got a strong willed one on my hands. But I love that for her future. She will be a strong, determined, goal achieving, limitless little woman. I encourage this strength in her....but guide it in the right direction. Test your limits, Ellie, but do NOT disobey your Mommy! Lol!

She loves sorting items an objects into different boxes, buckets, or bags. When she has a project on her mind, she will not be distracted from it. She is set to achieve it. If you try to distract her, she will grunt and push you out of the way. Again, love it, but let's keep it respectful little lady. I don't want to be kept from achieving my goals either.

College Girl Dreams

College Me: aka- good girl, tree climbing, swing dancing, hibachi eating, Jesus lover

Life is a funny little thing. Nobody talks about this better than Thomas Rhett Akins in his song, "Life Changes."

When I was in college, I remember I always pictured, imagined, dreamed, believed, and pined that I would do college with my future husband. That I would meet my husband at school, have study dates together, walk campus together, have pizza dates, cook meals in one of our apartments, and learn about being on our own, together.

I didn't have that. I was a single pringle for a long time--but so glad I was because if I wasn't in the arms of Eric then I would have been miserable anyway!! I intentionally stayed single and waited to give my heart away to the man God created for me. But that is another story.

Now, I have been having the opportunity since 2016 to be dating a college man and doing life with him. This semester particularly, so far, has really put my past dreams into perspective and play.

My husband, Eric got an associates degree in Chemistry at Ferris State University in Michigan. He had always dreamed of becoming a chemical engineer but the logistics were just not yet in place for that to happen for this young, hard working, fully self reliant young man. He got a wonderful job immediately upon graduation as he was dressed for the part and prepared with a resume for recruits at the company he has had the blessing of giving his skills to for 13 years now. He started with the company in Michigan, where he is from. In Kalamazoo. Some time went by and a little life happened and Eric started back to school at Western Michigan in pursuit of a chemical engineering degree. But, life, God's will, said not yet. God moved Eric to South Carolina to continue his work for the same company. Always holding on to his engineer dreams. When we met in 2013, he spoke to me and another friend of ours about how he had been looking into going back to school now. He had prepared mentally and had mapped out a course schedule and a plan. But God still said no. Not yet. Not while you are yet unmarried and childless and have every desirable thing at your fingertips. God made Eric wait until 2016. Just as we started trying to get pregnant. Just as we decide to sell our house. God sent Eric back to school. The opportunity came to him, not he to it, this time. Work had been going well for Eric, successful moments, and this lead to his boss at the time that God put in Eric's life, encouraging Eric to go and obtain his dream of becoming a chemical engineer. And Eric seized that opportunity. 2 years now, in school. From Greenville Tech now at Clemson, he is taking it all super slowly as to maintain a full time career and being a full time husband and daddy.

We laugh so hard lovingly at God and His perfect eternal perspective and plans for us. Sure, God, of course. Have this big journey start now....now that all the big things (happy, but big) things are on our plate! We must be crazy. Eric had been back to school for 3 months when I told him I was pregnant. Then, 2 months after Ellie was born, Eric still in school, we listed our home, sold it, moved to a rental and began building our dream home. All while taking 2 or 3 classes a semester. Big over my head classes.

So back to the college girl dreams idea here.....I had always dreamed of being in school with my man....whew...honey. Now I am. I am blessed blessed blessed to be the cheerleader of Team Eric in this picture. It is hard work on us both. It is way different than I ever pictured. Probably because 18 year olds don't usually have babies, homes, multiple dogs, careers, and the need of naps. Lol! Eric does not see Ellie almost any night during the work week. When I see him, it is to kiss him, feed him, and hear him snore beside me as bed time is only moments after he gets in. Our weekends are for each other. We are each other's best friends and we want to see one another. I am blessed to get to see most of my friends during weekdays. We love seeing them on weekends too, but primarily, weekends are for us to just unwind, vent, play, and nap together. Sometimes on weekends Eric still has to study. I am so proud of him. It is hard on me as I feel like a single parent 5 days a week but I have help from my mama, my Hike It Baby crew, dance crew, and Kindermusik crew, and now my MOPS crew! But as hard as it is on me to help him even when he gets home and allow him his needs to unwind and relax, eat, and be human for a moment too, trying to take the weight of the family on my shoulders as to allow him all the relaxation and peaceful environment he can have, I remember it is all so much harder on him than it is myself. He doesn't get to see his baby girl often at all. He gets up at 3:30 every morning, he skips meals running from work to school to work to home (I deliver food as I can), studies even when he gets home, and never really gets a break until semester end. I am honored to be the helpmate God chose for Eric to encourage him in this time, to help him, to feed him, to serve him in any way I can as he daily serves us with hard work at career, and hard work at giving us a better future while obtaining his dream.

My college girl dream was to be with the man I would marry, doing life together. That is all I wanted. And guess what? God delivered that dream. Later than I thought I wanted. Differently than I thought I wanted it. But God's plans are always better than our own. They are meant to best glorify Him and so I have to praise God for this time in our lives. We are learning a lot and growing together daily in this season. I am so thankful this dream worked out the way God had intended because I couldn't imagine any different. The way God carries out a plan likely does not make sense to our tiny human brains most of the time. But that is why FAITH is so important. I have faith that God has our best interests as His children at hand and heart. It is evident to me He does. He has answered my prayers and desires 50x's more than I could have ever dreamed up. And HE deserves the glory and praise for all aspects of my life and Eric's, our life together.

SkyTop Apple Orchard

It is the *almost* Fall season!! Commence all the things that make me think of flannel, pumpkins, fall colors, cool breezes, and hay rides! First up, apple picking!!

I grew up going to SkyTop Apple Orchard. Growing up there means I started in college with good friends and since then have gone almost every single year with family for donuts, cider, apple goodies, and more than anything else, the views atop that mountain.

Now that I have my own little cutie, I wanted to get her in on ALL the fall activities! I invited our dear friend, the Hardy family and their son, Sam, who is 6 months older than Ellie, to join in on the fun! What a blast! The Hardy's secured a red wagon and we loaded the kids up to be pulled around. Ellie was not too sure about that for a short while, but came around to it. The babies looked at goats and chickens, then helped us pick and eat some apples. We took a tractor ride together, and then played on the playground all before getting BBQ in Hendersonville.

It is so awesome to have other family friends to experience life with. Simple moments and big moments. To experience God's creation with, and to share recipes with. They helped make a wonderful day an incredible day full of laughter and stories! Sharing memories with the ones you love and are so comfortable with makes life as sweet as apple crumble. ;)

Birthday Buddy

Jayden, my first and oldest nephew, and I have only 3 hours and 20 minutes that separate us from sharing the same birthday. I was 18 years and 364 days old when that big baby boy nearly 11 lbs. entered the world, stealing my heart.

He changed my world and he changed me. Jayden is not only my nephew, but he is just like a little brother to me as well as nearly like my own child. My heart had never up until meeting Eric and having Ellie known the immense amount of love that it could behold. I then, as a young college girl, started spending my weekends less and less with friends and more and more with Jayden. I took care of him in the middle of the night when he woke up, I took him on dates, I took him running, I experienced nearly all his firsts with him, I got to see how holidays are way more fun with a little one than with just as your own self. In fact, I remember working as a CNA and having to work weekends and holidays and being so sad as I was single and childless meaning I was the last person allowed to ask off for these days. I understand now as a mommy how important it is for mothers to be with their babies on holidays if possible, but I loved that baby as my own and I couldn't imagine not being with him for Christmas! I was heartbroken. We have always had a special unique bond. We fight like siblings and fuss and annoy each other but we also get each other unlike most others do. We are really super close buddies.

With life having changed so much for both of us since his birth (3 new siblings for him, a husband and a daughter for me, new state and town for him, too), I no longer see him every weekend yet I still see him a couple times a month which is a blessing.

To celebrate us turning 9 and 28 next weekend, Jayden and I went on a special birthday date this past Friday as he was in town for the weekend. I called him up and asked him where he wanted to go. I told him he could go anywhere he desired. Chick-fil-a it was! Jayden got the spicy chicken deluxe. He opened all my doors for me and threw away the trash. He also got a frozen lemonade drink. He and I talked about roller coasters, cars, volcanoes, food, books, and science. I gave him a Harry Potter temperature changing mug of the Marauder's Map for his nightly tea and book time at home.

It overwhelmed me as I sat with him talking and watching him enjoy his meal the amount of special bubbles that over took my heart. I fear he won't think me as fun or as cool now that we are both getting older. He used to call me a big kid....he literally thought I was a kid who was tall...even after I married Eric....and I just wondered, am I still cool Aunt Emmay? Am I still interesting to him? His laughter reassured my fears. He was so interested in my words and he was laughing all the time! He complimented my messy loaded down camry full of Ellie toys, snacks, hiking gear, ballet gear, and extra clothes. He made me feel special and I hope he felt special, too.

There is nothing quite like the first child in your life that makes you see the world through a new pair of glasses.

Happy Birthday, Birthday Buddy!! I love you!!