Christmas Started Early

Christmas always starts early in the Rogers Family. We typically have a "friends" Christmas party, however, it has developed into a "babies & friends" Christmas party, which makes it that much more exciting.

Who knew kids toys could be so difficult?


You said I could open it.


Busted!



Then we went to my Grandma & Papa Gailey's for a family Christmas gathering. Everyone was there except for Aunt Sarah and her crew. We missed you guys like crazy! My sister Brooke was there spoiling her nieces and nephews since she only sees them a few times a year. Grandma gave everyone pajamas for Christmas, which by the look on all of the kids' faces, you would have thought she had given them a 100 dollar bill! I was astonished and humbled by their reactions to a pair of pj's, which made me realize what Christmas is all about.

Blake thanking Grandma for his PJ's


Caitlyn thanking Grandma for her PJ's


Emma digging in to find her PJ's


Emma and her Aunt Brooke

She's One!

I could never had dreamed that the day would come when my 5 pound little angel would turn one. I think this was the fastest year of my life, full of so many wonderful changes. Here are a few pictures from Emma Grace's first birthday party!

Emma's personal birthday cake dec'd out with her fave...Puffs and Wagon Wheels of course!


Everyone else's birthday cake.

Party Decorations


The Big 1

Party Hat (she actually kept it on!)

Emma blowing out her candle!

Everyone else blowing out their candles!!!


Emma's first cake (ever)! The deprived child LOVED it, can't you tell!


She destroyed it!

Emma's unwrapping her gifts (with help of course!)


She loved all of her gifts!

And still hugs them every day!

Weekend Recap

It has been a busy weekend, but a great one. Daddy was finally home for the first weekend in a while. Golf trip after golf trip after golf trip had taken him away for the past 3 weeks and Emma Grace and I were sure to take up all of his time and attention this weekend. Friday he took us out to eat at my FAVE-Red Lobster. Emma ate her first cheese bisquit and LOVED it. A girl after my own heart! After dinner, daddy took his girls shopping and to Starbucks to finish off the night. Saturday we worked most of the day and Emma spent the night with Mimi and Papa while I took a much needed girls night and daddy went to watch the game with uncle Rog-GO DAWGS!!! Then after sleeping her way thru church on Sunday, we at lunch with the Grand-folks and had our Christmas card photo shoot to end our busy weekend.

A few more things that happened this weekend in the midst of all of the craziness...

Emma Grace learned hilarious new tricks from her Aunt Bee...





Daddy captured this great shot of Emma showing off her new teeth!



She entertained the crowd at lunch on Sunday. We are so proud of our little musician.





And she captured the camera as we prepared for our photo shoot on Sunday evening.

Happy 10 Months Emma Grace

Emma's First Day


Emma Going home from the Hospital


Emma at 3 Months


4 Months


6 Months


Emma at 9 Months


Emma Today begging to get out of bed after her nap.

Today is Emma Grace's 10 Month Birthday and as I recap on this ever so fastly flowing year, I am astonished at what amazing creatures God has formed in us. I can remember how fragile she was the first weeks of her life and how terrified we all were to touch her and move her. I remember watching her breathe at night, just to be sure those lungs were working right. Then came the day she recognized us and I realized that she really did love us back. Then she laughed, and crawled, and clapped for the first time. She said daddy, then baby, then papa and bye bye and pbbbllll, then she made clicking noises and started blowing kisses (the kind of kisses where she sucks in her cheeks and smacks her lips like a fish- I taught her that!!!) Now the house is baby proofed and her feet are starting to carry her around her little life. She hugs me and holds on tight as if I might leave her at any moment. She kisses me when I beg her and she tries to tickle me back. Her words are forming and her jibber jabber sentences get longer. Her body has grown into a 21 pound, 30 inches long big girl and she still keeps on eating. Her food is less pureed now and chunky pieces of meat and veggies now fill her high chair. What happened to my baby? I wonder? She is growing into a big girl who I admire and love so much. Here is a quick recap of the last 10 months! Happy Birthday Emma Grace and Happy Birthday Kay Kay who is the big 6-0 today!!

Can you say....

ppppbbbbllll?

After a long Hiatus, we are back to the blogger world! Hope you enjoy this oh so cute picture of the little rotten girl!

Speechless Sunday

Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you all for praying for my Nana. She has moved from the hospital to a transitional care facility for Physical Therapy. The funniest thing happened when we moved her there. She arrived by ambulance from the hospital and my mother was off in an office somewhere in the building getting her checked in. Once she got there, they wheeled her into her room, just passed a bunch of old folks wandering around the halls. When she got there, she realized she was by herself and my mom had her cell phone and all of her belongings from the hospital. She rang the bell for the nurse and asked her where they had put her. SHE THOUGHT WE HAD PUT HER IN A NURSING HOME! It was so funny. She thought we had put her there and just took all of her things and left her. If you knew my Nana and my family you would know that is just the funniest thing ever because we would never put her in a nursing home. Afterall, she is the next thing to Jesus and God. Needless to say, she didn't think it was too funny. Anyway, she will be going home on Monday! She's in a good deal of pain and won't be able to stand on her leg for at least a month. Her shoulder is in a sling and is the cause of most of her pain. Continue to pray for complete healing in her arm and leg. I guess it is just God telling her to get out of that garden this summer! If you like to pick beans let me know! Thanks again.

Nana

As I sit in this very cramped, small, dark room, I watch her breathe. The air is dry and quite cold in here. The faces all familiar. They come and go just as you get into that wonderful REM sleep to poke and prod you in all the wrong ways. The attitude while somber, still joyful in some folks. The phone just keeps ringing. The sound of rolling casters going up? Oh, no, down the hallways only to annoy the still quietness as I sit in this uncomfortable chair. I look over just to see one of the most precious faces God has ever created...My Nana! As she lay in her hospital bed~she sleeps, sometimes sighing~I am sure from the constant pain in her shoulder and leg from the fall that she took last week. As she wakes, we just talk about nothing sometimes, but about everything, if you know what I mean. She broke her hip and her shoulder on the left side causing her to have surgery this weekend. As I grow older, God lets me see a little more of how very special this woman really is. He created this woman who has given such love for all people, has taken care of many including me, while never thinking of herself in return. She is a mother/grandmother to the motherless, a sister, a friend. A woman I know that God is very proud of. A true VIRTUOUS woman. I thank God He let me be here this very night with her, to give her one night in return for many that she has given me. Afterall, she took care of me during chickenpox, flu viruses, food poisoning (boiled peanuts-Amanda YUCK!). As I soak it all in I am reminded of how precious life is and how I hope to give God, my family, my friends, my world at least half of what this woman has given in her eighty something years. I am convinced that when God made her, He made perfection and for any of you who know her, you'll agree.

God, thank you for choosing me to have this woman as my Nana! Thank you for the life that she has lead and for the many years you still have for her. She is truly an angel in human skin. Feel better Nana! There's still beans to pick and string next year!

HOOORAY!!!

HOOORAY!!! She said "Mama"! Okay Okay, It sounds more like "BABA", but I know it! I just know it is "Mama"!!! How do I know, You say? Because when she says it, she looks directly in my eyes and with the sweetest of voices and love in her eyes, she says "BaBa"! (No Aunt Bee and Mimi! It is not "bottle" or "bye bye", it is definitely "MAMA"! =) How sweet! I should YouTube it. It is just that great!

~You'll never guess what she is saying just as I post this while lying in her bed awaiting my retrieval! See ya! Got to go get the precious baby!

I appologize for the goofy posting, but I just had to let you all in on this very special moment! I know I'll probably post again once she REALLY says Mama!

Happy 4th of JULY

I have to admit that I never really stopped to think about WHY I was celebrating the 4th of July until I read a friend's blog today (one whole day later). Yesterday, the REAL 4th of July, was a fuzzy day filled with housework, dinner in the mountains, and ended with watching illegal fireworks that my brother and his father-in-law thought would be COOL until 10pm. Way passed Emma Grace's bed time. Today, was filled with even more housework, dinner with friends, and ended with another display of an illegal fireworks show given, once again, by my crazy brother until 10pm. YES, again I kept Emma Grace out that late. (BAD MOTHER)! But, as I lay in bed, yes in bed, laptop in hand, reading my favorite blogs, I came across one of my favorites, whose husband is going for a year in Iraq, and like a slap on the face I remembered that while yesterday may have been the 4th of July, it was really Independence Day! The day that many men and women fought for just so I would be able to live freely in a country that I love, in the way that I want to live, what a gift! Yes, it's a day late, but to those of you who fight for our country, no matter how you fight, THANK YOU! Thank you for the sacrifice you make from your own FREE lives, from your family, from your homes, from all of the things you love. THANK YOU and may God bless you for your sacrifice.

SPEECHLESS SATURDAY

Well, I've never been too good at posting "Wordlessly" on Wednesday, so here's my first edition of Speechless Saturday. Who knows? Maybe I've started something...

Sisterly Love

Today was a beautiful day and just perfect for Emma Grace and I to go swimming. We packed up our bags after lunch and headed down to Beth's pool to get some great splash time in. As we pulled in, our friends (or cousins!) MaryBeth along with the triplets~ Maggie, Kate, and Sarah were pulling out to go home for naptime, which made us very sad. But much to our surprise, Ella and Scott were still there to play with us! Aunt Bee got there early and must have told Ella that Emma Grace was coming to swim because she was thrilled to see us arrive. Her little "nek-butt" (Ella's version of Naked Butt) threw on her bathing suit and jumped right in!

It makes me happy and gives some relief to know that Emma "Gace" as Ella would call her, will have so many wonderful girls to look up to and grow with in her life. As a parent, there is some fear of the unknown when your children grow up and make their own friends and lives, but to know that God has hand-picked my daughter for this time in a place that He created and with the sweet Godly girls that He created for her to do whatever it may be that He created them to do takes much of that fear away. <---Hope you got that-I even had to read that twice!!!

Anyway, These pictures were taken today of Ella and Emma Grace loving on each other after swimming all day! Can you see how much love they have for each other. Poor Ella, I think you might have another little sister to look after! (And MaryBeth, Ella says she's never too old for the pack-n-play) She even called it a pack-n-play! That girl never fails to astound me.

Ode to Fathers

Emma wearing her "Happy Dada Day" onesie




Dusty on his first Father's Day!



Papa Mike on his first Papa's Day!



Papa Gailey loving on his little Emma Grace!



Today was Dusty's first Father's Day and I think I can speak for him in saying, "It was a good one!" Emma Grace and I woke him up singing Happy Father's Day to You....then we made Emma Grace a onesie that said "Happy Dada's Day", which she wore just about the entire day, later we made him breakfast and made sure he got plenty of daddy/daughter time all day! I am thankful that God has blessed me with a husband who is madly in love with his daughter. I watch him with her even when he doesn't see me and I know that God has made them just for each other (and me). Her eyes light up when he is around and I can see how hard it is going to be for him to ever tell her "no". Thank you to my daddy for being such a wonderful father and for showing me what to look for in a husband, and thank you to my father in law for instilling in Dusty~patience, love, and understanding of what it takes to be a great father. But especially, thank you God for creating such a wonderful gift for Dusty~his daughter and ultimately, thank you for being our Father~Happy Father's Day!