Letters to Emma

Sweet pea,
A funny thing happened this week when I was going through your Spring wardrobe. You've grown!! How did that happen? We like to tease you because you are so tiny compared to other kids your age, that we tend to forget that you are still growing. So of course I get a harsh reminder when you go to put on your last clean pair of pants and they look like high-waters. (Don't worry, I never let you leave the house like that. Daddy is a different story though.)

A huge first this month was that you lost your very first baby tooth! You were sooo happy! And I just stood there in shock while you reached right into your mouth and yanked it out. Like a big girl. Who pulls her teeth every day. As soon as it was out you started talking about wanting more teeth to be pulled. Luckily I convinced you that you needed to wait before pulling any more teeth.

 

 We've also been working on some "big girl school" stuff this month. Just some loose ends, like tying your shoes tight, etc. You are beyond excited to be starting in Kindergarten next year. Actually it's a toss up between who is more excited, you or MeMe. MeMe is all over this stuff and has even requested a teacher for you already. Nice little perk of MeMe working at the elementary, right? Mommy is going to need a little time to get used to you being a Malvern Leopard. It just seems weird. But I guess you need to have grown up in "the Cove" like Mama in order to appeciate the weirdness.

T-ball practice has started and you are pumped! It is like night and day from last year. We met with Preslee and her mom and dad to practice last weekend and you were awesome! Your batting has improved so much (and it was really good last year) and you were fielding balls like a pro. Mommy and Daddy were so proud! You seem to like sports quite a bit, and that makes me happy. I want you to be able to enjoy playing as a team and being active and healthy. And of course, you get Hobo Joe's after practice.

We also changed up your asthma medicine this month. We had a scary hospital stay in January and your asthma doctor has decided that the once-a-year trips to the hospital need to stop. Mommy and Daddy agree 100%! You gave us quite the scare! You started having trouble breathing and the hospital in Hot Springs couldn't get your oxygen flow regulated; you were having to work super hard to breathe even on a a whole bunch of oxygen. Mommy was so scared! You wound up being med-flighted to Children's Hosptial in Little Rock and they put you on this high-flow oxygen mask that finally helped get your oxygen level back up. We spent a long 5 days in the hospital, and I discovered that you aren't exactly a good patient any more. It took 2-3 nurses to hold you down for ANY oral medicine. Bless your heart, you are just sick of being sick! I'm really hopefuly that this new medicine will keep us out of the hosital-cross your fingers!

 

I love you so much my sweet girl! You make me so proud, and happy, and I just love to see your smilig face every day! Don't ever change!

Love,
Mommy

Saying Goodbye

Emma and Seeley,
Mommy's dad, your Papaw, passed away this past month. October 14th to be exact. We were in our car, heading to Little Rock to have family pictures made when I got the call from your Aunt Kerry. It was so hard to tell you both that Papaw was in Heaven and that you wouldn't get to see him again for a very long time (hopefully). You both took the news a lot better than I had expected, for which I'm extremely grateful. Although, Emma, you did have a LOT of questions about why Jesus couldn't bring you to Heaven to visit or let Papaw come back down to Earth for a nice chat every once in a while.  Once I convinced you that you would get to see Papaw again one day, you've been fine.

It has taken Mommy a long time to write this letter because, honestly, I've been really sad about losing Papaw and sitting down and writing this makes it all seem very real.  So long as I'm doing things, staying busy, and not writing this letter then my dad really isn't gone.  But since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I've decided that I need to be thankful for the time that I did have with my dad, and thankful for the time the two of you got to spend with him. And since I know that memories will fade, I think its important to put a few down on paper now so that when you get older you can know more about your Papaw and how very much he loved you.

Your Papaw became my dad when I was 11 years old, when he married Nanny. And although he wasn't my "real" dad, he was a dad to me in every sense of the word.  Even after he and your Nanny divorced 10+ years later, he was still my dad and your Papaw.  He would remind me every time I saw him "you know I'm your daddy right?"  And almost immediately following that statement he would get on to me for something. "Well, as your daddy I think you're . . ." not eating right, not getting enough sleep, working too hard, etc. Your Papaw LOVED to worry!

He also loved sweets. That man could live on junk food and Little Debbie cakes if you would let him! And, his favorite pasttime was to just sit on his front porch and wave as cars drove by.  He HAD to be outdoors.  He would get all twitchy if he sat inside for too long. :) In fact, there was not a single person in the neighborhood who didn't know your Papaw. He never met a stranger.

Back in the day, your Papaw was hot stuff at good ol' Magnet Cove High School.  But what can you expect from an All-State football player and ladies man, right? You know how sometimes you think that your parents are exaggerating their "glory days"?  Not the case for your Papaw. He actually downplayed a lot of his football successes by saying it wasn't that difficult to run fast and hit hard. But after meeting a lot of his classmates and hearing stories, your Papaw was most definitely a star. 

Two things happened at his funeral that I think sum up his character quite nicely. First, an old girlfriend from when he was a Junior in high school brought by one of his letter jackets.  Your Papaw was quite fond of saying that he sure wished he had kept at least one of his letter jackets instead of giving them all away to girls. And to girls that he could no longer remember! But that was just his character, he didn't place the least bit of importance on material things. Second, a young (early twenties) neighbor and his wife came to the visitation. I recalled them vaguely from MCHS, but they were several years younger than me and had moved into the neighborhood just a few years ago. They said that your Papaw was the nicest guy they had ever met and that he had instructed his wife that if she ever had any trouble and he wasn't around to go and find your Papaw; that he would help her out and keep her safe.  Your Papaw would help ANYONE out in need, and he wouldn't hesitate to give someone his very last dollar if they needed it. And, I can promise you that I've watched him do it.

But most importantly, your Papaw loved you both. More than you will ever know. He lived for our visits and loved to just sit and listen to you talk. I'm so sorry that he won't be around to watch you grow up. To hassle Emma about boys and just thoroughly embarass you around them like he did to me. I'm sorry that he won't be able to take Seeley hunting, fishing, or camping. And, I'm just so sorry that neither one of you will be able to remember him very well. Your Papaw was not one for pictures; it seemed like every time I would get out the camera for a picture he would turn all Where's Waldo on me and disappear from sight. But, I did manage to find a few pictures of him that I hope will help you to remember him.

January 4, 2003

 

  

MCHS Homecoming, 1995

Christmas, 1998



 

Senior Year, MCHS

All my love,
Mommy

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

Letters to Emma

Dear Emma,
Mommy has been a big ol' slacker lately; it's been three months since I've written you a letter!  And a LOT has happened in those three months!

Mommy started back to school in January, and you have been such a big girl about it.  You don't complain when I have to go to class, and you only interrupt me about 10 times an hour on the rare occasion that I'm doing homework while you're awake. :)  I think it helps that Daddy always let you eat McDonalds and completely trash the house while I'm at school.  Mean old Mommy always makes you pick up your toys before bedtime!  But it's ok, and I love to hear about the stuff you did with Daddy while I was gone.

You can also write your last name now.  And again, it only took you a few tries to get it down pat my little genius!  You also achieved another milestone- you got your ears pierced!  You did such a good job of wearing Daddy down on that one, I was one proud Mommy to see you work your magic! Good thing those blue eyes and pouty lips don't work on me-I'm on to you sister!  You were so sweet and nervous about getting your ears pierced.  You did really good right up until she pierced the first ear.  And then you were like "Oh no.  That's not happening again!"  Apparently it stung a little more than you were expecting.  You finally let us pierce the other ear after deciding that you didn't want to walk around with just the one earring.  And literally two seconds after your second ear was done you were just fine and dandy.  And now you are so proud of your earrings.  And already asking for new ones to coordinate with each of your outfits.

You are a born shopper, which makes my little heart proud and my checking account sad.  You went shopping with Meme and I one weekend and were a total mercenary.  You were only supposed to end the day with two new outfits.  Instead you had six. SIX!!  Meme and I were total suckers.

Mommy had a birthday this month and you were super sweet about it.  I was very sick and couldn't really celebrate, but you grabbed my iPad, played some songs and danced your little heart out for me.  According to you we were "getting this party started".  You've got some serious moves kiddo.  Daddy is already stressing out about this.  But I've got to tell you- your little dance party absolutely made my day.  You wanted me to have a good birthday so badly, and thanks to you I did!

I've noticed lately that you've picked up a few of Mommy and Daddy's bad habits though.  Such as saying curse words.  Thanks Daddy.  And it should come as no surprise that you've got a temper.  Unfortunately it's a hair trigger temper like Daddy's so we're working on controlling those pesky little impulses like yelling and throwing things.  You don't want to grow up and be a little stinker sweetie pea, so hopefully all these time-outs will start working soon.

You're also extremely persistent.  As in you absolutely refuse to take "no" for an answer.  Persistence is a lovely quality, don't get me wrong, because it will help you achieve your goals in life.  But right now, all it's achieving is headaches.  I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are so sweet and helpful one minute, and then making me want to pull my hair out the next!  So, that's another little character trait we're going to work on.

Luckily, none of these traits seem to show themselves at school.  Ms. Melba and Ms. Michelle brag on you ALL THE TIME.  They absolutely adore you, and are always telling Mommy how good you are in class and how hard you try to follow the rules and please them.  That makes me and Daddy so proud.

You and Seeley have developed a love/hate relationship here lately as well.  One minute you're both playing so great together and the next all hell has broke loose.  You're kicking him out of your room and slamming doors.  He's grabbing a bat and beating the crap out of you.  Not fun.  But, you still love him.  Even when he's getting on your nerves, which all little brothers are honor bound to do, you will always hug him and love on him after the final beat down.

You have another first coming up soon.  You're starting T-Ball next month!  Mommy and Daddy can't wait.  We've already bought you a glove, helmet, and bat (all pink of course) and we've been practicing so you'll know what to do.  We've even practiced some with Holton, Uncle Brian, and Uncle Justin.  You really got a kick out of that.  We also discovered that you've got quite the arm kiddo.  You can aim and throw really well!! 

And Uncle Brian has introduced you to motorcycles, Lord help me.  Now you're bound and determined to have a dirt bike just like Holton.  Slow down little girl!  I'm just not ready for you to be that big yet!  Can we please stick with the Dora Jeep a little bit longer?!

I love you my little wiggle butt!

Love,

Mommy

Letters to Emma

Dear Emma,

You've had several big months little girl! I can't believe that you turned 4 last month; I keep asking myself where the time has gone.  This year you had very specific ideas about your birthday- what kind of party you wanted (Jake and the Neverland Pirates), what friends you wanted to invite, and especially on what presents you wanted.  Rollerskates were requested, but not received, and you have reminded me of that fact DAILY. 

My sweet girl, you need to face the fact that you are clumsy like Mommy. 

Skates + a clumsy 4 year old = disaster. 

I'm just sayin.

You and your sweet friend Ramsey at your birthday party.



Playing with Allie.



Convincing Seeley to come and play with the big kids.

You're 4!!!

Mommy and Daddy got you a trampoline for your birthday so that you could practice your gymnastics more often.  You LOVE gymnastics, but still get a little scared about falling and getting hurt.  Since you got the trampoline you've been practicing really hard on your cartwheels and are doing such a good job!  Mrs. Bethany says you've improved a lot.  You actually received your trampoline a few days early because we couldn't hide the fact that Daddy and Uncle Brian were putting it together in the back yard.  You have a stellar eagle eye.



We've also spent a lot of time talking about things that big girls do by themselves when they turn 4.  Like wipe their own bottom.  You proudly told Uncle Brian that when you turn 4 you'll "wipe my own butt."  He almost fell off the trampoline he was laughing so hard.  You've also started going to bed by yourself for the most part.  Sometimes you still like Mommy or Daddy to lay down with you though.  Daddy is usually the one who caves into this demand the most.  You've also gotten really good at saying your prayers all by yourself.

You've also decided that Christmas lights are the best thing ever.  Not that they weren't awesome before, but now they're apparently really awesome.  You flat wore us out running all over Garvan Woodland Gardens.  And Seeley was right there with you, trying to keep up.

Christmas lights at Garvan Woodland Gardens.

 I love watching you with Seeley.  You are the BEST big sister ever.  You are so patient with him, sharing your snacks and toys.  You're so good to involve him in the games you're playing.  Although Daddy does tend to worry when he sees you and Seeley having tea parties and pushing baby strollers so much.  Some manly nonsense about boys and baby dolls. :)

Seeley just adores you.  At bedtime he rushes to your room and climbs on your bed so that he can hug you and tell you "night night".

Life isn't always perfect though.  I've lost count of the times when I hear you scream "Mama! Seeley just hit me!"  Usually this happens when you both want the same toy and he tries to beat you into submission, or when you're doing your own thing and he wants your attention.

We also discovered that you are well on your way to being a genius. Or at least I think so anyway.  Mommy has been practicing writing your name with you, 5 minutes here and there as time allowed.  Imagine my surprise when you just started writing it all by yourself.  Really well.  I assumed that Mrs. Melba or Mrs. Michelle had been working with you too at school, but no.  They said they just saw you doing it one day and were so excited that they started clapping, jumping up and down, and yelling for you right in the middle of class.  You are the only one in your class who can write your name.  How awesome are you?! 

Mommy is so very proud of you, every day, all day.  Even when you're being a stinky butt.

Love,

Mommy