Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Letters to Emma

Sweet Emma,
So much has happened since my last letter that I don't know where to start! I could promise to do a better job of keeping up with these letters, but I think that would be setting myself up for failure. BUT, I will try. Just don't be too disappointed if its another few months before I can get one pulled together. Between you and your brother every second of every day is covered! :)

One biggie over the past few months has been t-ball. You missed your first week of practice because you were in the hospital. Again. My poor sweetie. Maybe one of these days we can go an entire year without spending a week "vacationing" at St. Joseph's Hospital. So, after having missed a full week of practice you were understandably a little nervous about going to practice. And by a little nervous, I mean crying-as-if-your-heart-was-breaking nervous. You flat out refused to go onto the field without me or your daddy. And if the ball came anywhere near you, you just ran the other direction. I'll admit that I was a little concerned about how the season was going to go.

This little trend of crying and fit throwing continued. You wanted to quit t-ball before every practice. Every practice. Twice a week. I think it was traumatic for all of us. But Mama and Daddy insisted that you keep trying. Mainly because you love playing t-ball when its just our family. The new people and crowds were making you nervous. And although it broke my heart to dispense some tough love and FORCE you to go out onto the field I promise I only had your best interest at heart. I don't want you to spend your life getting so worked up and nervous that you miss out on doing something that you enjoy.

And guess what? You LOVED t-ball by the end of the season. You were actually mad when the season was over! The first few games you would still cry when you went up to bat the first time. But all of the parents started cheering for you and Daddy started to help coach the team. This helped build up your confidence a lot. And kiddo, you may be small (the smallest on the team actually) but you are mighty! You can hit that ball like nobody's business! And after overcoming a few line drives to the shins (ouch) and Mama whipping out the tried and true "surprise bag" you even started chasing after the ball when you were in the field. And you know what else? My little leftie can throw the ball too!

Your team even went on to win the championship! And boy was that a rough day! You sweet little babies played FOUR games in a row. By the end of game four you could barely hold your bat upright to swing. Mama can't blame you though, it was 10:30pm. We were all dog tired! But you won! And you got a super big trophy and made some sweet friends. We can't wait until next year.

You also decided this past month that you didn't want to keep your earrings any longer. Why? Because we needed to change them out and it was the absolute end of the world. I kid you not. An hour and a half later and we FINALLY had both earrings changed out. You are seriously destined to win an Academy Award for your dramatic displays. (Obviously you kept your ears pierced. But it was very touch and go there for a while. Another five minutes of trying to get you to hold still and I would have thrown up my hands.)

We also found out that you are allergic to eggs. Ugh! On the bright side, you're not allergic to dogs anymore! But this does mean that you can't eat cake, ice cream, or anything else with eggs in it. You were not pleased at all to lose Friday Donut Days. Sorry my little sweet pea, but I'm still on the search for a donut recipe that is egg-less. Since I can substitute applesauce in for eggs in cakes, maybe I can do the same for a donut. We'll see. You've been really good about the food restrictions due to the allergy. The only time it seems to bother you is when we're at a birthday party. I'll bring you a little cup of sherbert and you're usually ok with it.

You continue to surprise me at how well you take situations like that. You are such a trooper. Sometimes I feel guilty because it seems like you've had to grow up a little faster than some of your friends, and you've had to go through more tough times. It always reminds me though of how lucky I am to have you and how God must surely have special things in store for you. How can He not? You are without a doubt the funniest, loudest, silliest, and sweetest little girl that I know.

I love you my little Monkey Doo!
Love,
 Mommy