Emma's First Birthday Wish List

1. Cabbage Patch Doll- a cute one :)
2. Cozy Coupe Car- any color
3. Little People Farm and/or Dollhouse
4. stuffed animals. She doesn't NEED any of these as we already have a zoo, but she LOVES them- maybe Build a Bear GC?
5. Rocking Horse- soft and makes horsey noises ;)
6. $ for her college fund
7. Ice Cream (this comes from Emma herself!)
8. Planet Earth DVD's- this is a family wish


*Emma does NOT need clothes. Her mommy shops too much. ;)

Invisible Moms...

I got this in an email forward today, and it was too sweet not to share. Thanks Angie!! :)

Invisible Mother......
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously, not.
No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ... Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.
It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.Great Job, MOM!
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...I just did.
Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.
We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

And I just want to say how awesome God is: today my friend found out, that against all odds and probabilities, she has TWO beautiful babies growing inside her. First she had one, then last week there was one heartbeat and one sac, and now today, they found TWO beautiful heartbeats. Please pray that this continues to go well for her and her miracle babies. :)

Free Ice Cream!

Tonight was "Free Ice Cream" night at Coldstone. They were giving away free scoops with the encouragement to donate to Make-a-Wish Foundation. We, of course, jumped on the opportunity to both have ice cream and make a donation to one of my favorite charities. I know several people personally that have had a dream come true thanks to this organization and welcomed the chance to do my part. The ice cream flavors that they were giving away had been "created" by two of the Make-a-Wish kids, and were pretty great! Jay and Harry had the marshmallow creation and Ems and I split the Nutter Butter one. We also met up with our friends, the Domrese's, and had a great chat over ice cream.

Learning Playdates are back!!

Anna, Thomas, Jordyn, Joshua, Jameson, and Harry

Tuesday was our first day pack to Learning Playdate at Amber's. Harry was SOO excited the whole week before, and did okay there except refusing to put the apple on his head for the picture. (He did it during the story, though!) Emma was a slight hassle and got into everything possible at Amber's house while I was doing stations with Harry. I'm going to have to figure out a solution for her, since she's not quite so happy hanging out in the walker anymore. :)

We love Fall!

Today was an absolutely beautiful afternoon. The kids and I played outside for a few hours- Emma's finally walking well in the grass, except when she gets going down the hill in the backyard. ;) Harry kept trying to talk her into riding in the wagon with him, but she just wasn't falling for it. She did enjoy pushing around the lawnmower though!

Emma wiped out yesterday at Amber's house- she smashed her little nose right into their train table drawer. We thought it was going to be much worse, even considered a broken nose, but she seems to have recouperated nicely. This one and her facial bruises, I tell ya! Every time one starts to fade, she manages to make another one, and each one is much worse than the last. Not sure what we're going to do with her! I'd planned on getting some 1 year photos done in the next few weeks, but I can't plan on having a bruise-free baby!!!

Harry made an "H"!!! I'm SOOO proud of him!!!

Emma's new tricks!

Emma has a few new "tricks" lately. She's been blowing raspberries for awhile, but lately they're a full facial expression. :)

Jay taught her the trick with her tummy, btw. I think there's more Butterfield in this one than we previously thought.... ;)

"Emma got colored"

Harry says, " Emma got colored."

Park pictures! And the sunglasses....

Harry running through Riverfront Park on Sunday after Susy's birthday party. He Loved his balloon!!
Emma at the park :)
Harry playing at the splash pad
See, Emma, run through the water!
But it's COLD!!!


Harry has discovered birthdays. He loves them and is not so patiently waiting for his. I ordered something for Emma's birthday and it came yesterday. He decided that it should be for HIS birthday and doesn't seem to understand that hers is coming first and he'll get to play with it sooner. ;) And, no, the sunglasses haven't come off since he got them on Sunday. He even naps with them and wears them at night.

And speaking of Ems' party, we're still working on plans, but Shannon and Angie have bought tickets to come out to visit for 5 days!!!! Mommy's SUPER excited, and Emma and Harry will be too when they figure out what's going on. We're also going to do Emma's baptism that weekend and just have one fun party. Not sure what the plans are but I'll figure it out soon. :)

Even more Fair Fun!

Yesterday, Amber and Dan got extra free family packs to the fair, so they kindly invited us to come along. The boys had a fabulous time and we also had a great time- Jay and I both said on the way home how nice it is to hang out with a family that we ALL genuinely like! Thanks again Domrese's!!! All the kids were troopers and we were able to stay past 9 pm. I was especially impressed with Emma- even though she's too little to ride anything, she was still happy and pleasant. :)

Harry and Jay on the airplanes- he wanted to ride the pink one!!

Joshua and Jenn on the yellow plane!

Joshua and Harry on the motorcycle
Ems and Mr. Dan
All the boys driving the classic cars! :) They loved this one!
Harry riding the llama- Joshua has been talking about the "mama's" for a few days now, so we all finally sucked it up and paid the $4 so they could ride. They loved it even though it really didn't look all that exciting. ;)

The Fair!

Yesterday was "military free" day at the Spokane County Fair, so we headed on over. We weren't sure how the kiddos were going to do, but they did great. Ems was a little frustrated that she couldn't do any of the rides, but she loved the lights and the music, so she was happy for the most part. Harry did great- he went on all the rides that he was tall enough for. I really wanted to take him on the ferris wheel, but he was too short for both of them and the flying airplanes, which HE really wanted to ride. Interestingly enough, he WAS tall enough for the Scrambler? I didn't really understand that, but whatever.

This is Emma's "why won't you let me out of this stroller and onto the rides?" face!

They strapped him so tightly to the motorcycles, I didn't think he could breathe!

Ems waiting patiently. :)

Daddy and Harry feeding the llamas

Park Fun

Last night we headed out for a family night. We'd intended to go to the fair, but realized that tonight (Thurs) is military free night, so we changed our plans. We went to Red Robin and had a delicious dinner outside. Harry ate almost an entire cheeseburger, which is his new favorite meal. Besides oatmeal, that is. :) I swear he's going through a major growth spurt- he's averaging 4 bowls of oatmeal plus 3 major meals and a few granola bars every day. I can tell his pants are tighter in the tummy, but I'm still waiting for the height spurt that I'm sure is coming!

Anyways, so we headed to a park in the Valley. The light was great, and I got some fun pictures of Ems playing in the grass. She just loves to play when she has someone's full attention. She does of course, still eat the rocks at the park, so we have to keep a close eye on her. ;) She's walking pretty well now, doing about 10 steps at a time, but only if we cheer for her and tell her she's pretty. Jay and I spent almost 45 minutes the other night trying to get a video of her walking, but between her stubborness and Harry's desire to have HIS video taken, we got nothing. I will keep trying though!

This video is of Ems having her "tantrum." She's a great faker and can really turn it on when she wants to. Jay kept telling her NO when she'd put rocks in her mouth and she'd fuss and yell and pout, and then just turn it off when something else caught her eye. You can see as soon as the kid behind her says "toy," she's completely done and all the red even fades out of her cheeks! It drives Jay insane that she does this!!

This one is of Ems clapping. You can tell she expects everybody around her to start clapping and cheering with her. Forgive the hair, she ripped out her pigtails and it still sticks out even without the ties... :P

Emma's a big girl now....

So, my monkey daughter has finally embraced her Butterfield genes and climbed out of her crib. She made it a month longer than Harry did, so I'm proud of her. :) Anyways, I went to Walmart today and found her a super cute little toddler bed. I'd planned to use the one that Harry used that we got at Goodwill, but I needed new siderails and they ended up more expensive than just buying a new bed! So, Ems got a sweet little white one. She thinks its great and has been bouncing on it all day. I'd like to say that's how she got the monster bruise on her face, but that's from tipping over the back of Harry's green chair. She's done that about 15 times a day for the last 2 weeks, but the minute Jay was in charge tonight (YAY he's home!!), she manages to smash her face in the process and give herself a nasty looking mark. We'll see how it looks in the morning... :(

Emma vs. Blackberries

My sweet little princess baby got into her brother's bowl of blackberries yesterday while I was on diaper duty. I don't think any words can do this justice, but she was so incredibly pleased with herself. I was impressed that she managed to get it in so many places in such a short time. I spent over 2 hours last night cleaning the carpet, the rug, the couches (yes, plural), her

clothes, and then bathing her.