Happy Halloween!

Decade Number Three

Today is my 30th birthday.  To be honest, things are feeling a bit surreal right now.  I've been really excited about it because this past year has been so wonderful and so many things have been accomplished that I had hoped for by my 30th birthday.  Then again, how did this happen?  30?  I remember my 10th birthday party like it was yesterday.  And college couldn't have been more than just a few days ago.  No matter how I'm feeling about it, it's happening and I am so incredibly thankful for everything God has done over the past 30 years and all the things He will continue to do in my life.  Here is a short recap of the past ten years.  By no means is this everything that has happened, or even every important thing that has happened.  There are quite a few disappointments and regrets during this decade, as well.  These pictures are, however, some really great highlights of the last ten years.  This has certainly been the biggest decade of my life and while I don't think my 30's can top it, I can't wait to see what will be added to my story over the next ten years.

I started my 20's as a sophomore at ACU.  September 11th had occurred only one short month earlier and pledging had just ended.  I was living in Sikes Dormitory room 203 at ACU.  The most exciting things really began to happen the next year as a junior, living in a cute little house at 1509 Squire's with Melody Forest and Jennifer Ellison.

February 2003- I directed GATA Sing Song, "There's No Business Like Snow Business," which was the last time GATA placed until Sing Song 2011.

February 2004- Sing Song Hostess.  This was a serious dream come true, and especially sweet after dropping music as a major because I felt like the music department didn't think I was good enough for their program.  Just because I wasn't good at opera didn't mean I wasn't good, and this was sweet confirmation of that

December 2004- ACU Graduation.  Such bittersweet memories.  I wanted to stay  in Abilene so badly.  I wonder how my life would be different if I had.

December 2004- I adopted my sweet girl, Bailey Belle.  She is the best dog ever and a wonderful big sister!

January 2005- Began my first big girl job, teaching first grade at the elementary school I attended.

May 2006- I purchased my first home, a perfect little one bedroom townhouse in north Irving.

June 2006- Lucas and I met.

August 2006- Lucas and I were engaged two months after we met.  Yes, we were insane.

March 2007- Lucas and I were married at Las Colinas Country Club

February 2008- I began my small business, Pink Armchair Designs.

May 2008- We purchased our first home together after selling the townhouse and living with my parents for about a month.

February 2009- Lucas surprised me with this sweet little bundle of energy, Maggie Mae.

Summer 2009- Began co-leading worship at church on a regular basis.

August 2009- Began working as a school librarian.

June 2009- I began working on my Masters degree in Library Science and graduated in August 2011.

August 2011- Our sweet little angel, Emily Elizabeth was born. 

I ended my 20's as a married mother of one precious baby girl with a home-based business, a job as a librarian, and a Master's degree.  Here's to the next ten years!

Grapevine Main Street and the Pumpkin Patch

Today mom and I bundled up our little baby and set out to shop Grapevine Main Street.  It's one of my favorite places to go and the day was just perfect for it.  We found tons of cute baby and little girl things, but I controlled myself.  Believe me, it was tough!  Mom got Emily a really cute flower clip and I bought her one of her Christmas presents.  Mom and I also got a few treats for ourselves at Blessed Boutique, one of my favorite shops on Main Street.  It was so much fun for the three of us to go shopping together and as usual, tons of people were fawning over our precious little one. Shopping trips are just one of the many reasons I was hoping for a little girl.  :)

Tonight we had an early birthday dinner for me and then took Emily for her first visit to the pumpkin patch.  We visited Hall's Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine and had a wonderful time!  I highly recommend this pumpkin patch and absolutely cannot wait to go back next year when Emily will be able to take it all in.  This patch has a corn maze, hay rides, kettle corn, bbq, picnic tables, twinkle lights, and tons of cute picture setups.  I'm so glad we waited until this weekend because the weather was just perfect!  There was a crisp chill to the air and it certainly felt like Autumn.  Emily enjoyed it as much as any 10 week old could, but probably not nearly as much as the rest of us! 

Emily's first time in the stroller without her carrier.  What a big girl!

Our little family.  Look at that double chin!  (On the baby.) :)

Fun decorations and great setups for pictures all over the pumpkin patch

Mimi and Papa with Emily.  They only like her a little bit.

Mimi, Mommy, and Emmy

Sweet baby girl

Pondering in the pumpkins

If you're looking for a pumpkin patch in the DFW area, Hall's is open for two more days.  You'll love it!

Our New Normal

Life around the Takala house has been rolling right along this past week.  Emily is still doing great.  She is just such a happy baby.  She still pretty much only fusses in the evenings and even that is becoming less and less.  She's still sleeping for about seven hours each night, which is so do-able.  We are just so blessed.

Here are a few pictures we took of Emily tonight during her bath.  She is just so precious.  It's wonderful being the mommy of the most beautiful girl in the world!

Happy Two Months!

Today our little girl is two months old!  I can't believe that two months have already gone by.  These have definitely been the fastest and best months of my life.  Emily's second month has been just as wonderful as the first.  She is still such an easy baby.  Add that to the fact that she's the most beautiful baby in the world and it makes it pretty easy to love her!  She isn't on any type of schedule, per se, but our days look pretty much the same.  She eats about every three hours and we typically leave the house on some sort of outing at least once a day.  So far, she has done really well every time we go out to eat, shopping, church, or wherever else we go.  She did have her first in-store meltdown this month, but it was totally my fault because I had pushed her too long between feedings.  Several special things happened in her second month.  Here's a quick run-down.

• First bottle: Emily had her first bottle the day after she turned one month old and she did great!  She took it immediately the first time it was offered.  This has made it much easier and more fun to take her places.
• Baby Dedication: Emily was dedicated at church.
• State Fair: We had our first trip to the State Fair as a family of three!
• Smiling:  The smiles began to come often right around the six week mark.  She especially loves to smile for her Daddy!
• Sleeping: Emily began sleeping through the night the day after she turned seven weeks!  We usually go to bed around 11:00 and she wakes up between 6:00 and 7:00!
• Talking:  This past week, she has begun to do some cooing.  She does it mostly in the mornings, which is her favorite time of day.
• Blowouts:  We had our first couple of blowouts this month.  Actually, the first blowout was when she was only three weeks old at Sam's Club, but that was because her diaper wasn't closed well enough against her leg.  These two times, it was sheer force behind the poop that blew the diapers out!  Once was at church  on Saturday afternoon and ended up all over me and the floor right before I was helping to lead worship.  The second time was the next day while we were Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa.  The amazing thing is that she didn't get it on her clothes either time. :)
• First birthday party:  Emily attended her first birthday party for her friend Eden.  We have our second party this coming weekend for her friend Carrigan!
• First "sick" doctor visit:  For a couple of days this month, Emily turned into a screamer so we took her to the doctor to make sure she was okay.  The doctor said she's perfect and the screaming stopped that same day.  She is back to her precious self!  We think it was a little tummy issue.  It's pretty terrible when your baby is sad and you can't do anything to help.  Fortunately, this hasn't happened much so far.

We visited the doctor this morning and she told us once again that Emily is perfect!  Her weight is 10 lbs, 13 oz (50%,) length is 24 1/4 in (97%,) and head is 15.4 in (60%.)  Tall and thin!  We'll just keep speaking that over her life. :)  She also got her two month vaccines this morning, which weren't fun.  She did pretty well, though, and only cried for a minute.  What a trooper!

I love sitting down to write her monthly blog posts.  It is so much fun to put the picture montages together.  My favorite is the carseat timeline.  Seeing her everyday I don't realize how much she is growing, but when you look at it like this, it is so easy to see.  And look at all these funny faces!  This is the result of a two minute photo shoot.  I love that she makes so many different faces in such a short period of time!

Precious Perfect Darling Angel Baby,
You are the love of our lives.  I always thought it was funny when parents said that every day they love their children more than the day before, but it's so true.  There's nothing I love more than waking up in the morning, getting your pretty little self out of bed and seeing you smile at me.  You are such a wonderful blessing to us and more than we ever could have imagined.  Right now, you are just my daughter, but I look forward to the day you will be my daughter and my best friend, just like me and your Mimi.  I love you more than life!


A few more pictures from Emily's second month:

Emily's first bottle feeding

Grandpa's Girl

Look at that face!

Laughing

Sweet baby!

Plum tuckered out

Love

Our little family

State Fair

Last week, we took Emily for her first visit to the great State Fair of Texas.  She had a great time meeting Big Tex, watching the dog show, eating corn dogs, looking at the creative arts winning projects, and strolling the midway.  She was her usual charming self and tons of people commented on how precious she was.  Of course we already know that, but it's always nice to hear it! :)  We can't wait to take her back next year!

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

October 12 is one of the most important days that rolls around for me each year.  It's my Mama's birthday!  I truly believe that one of the greatest blessings in life is the blessing of mothers and I have been blessed more than most!  My mom is not only a wonderful mother, but she is also my best friend.  Growing up, we had any normal mother/daughter relationship.  I took for granted the fact that I had such a wonderful mom.  I always knew she was a great mom, but I didn't recognize just how great until I was out of the house.  Once I was an adult, I began to realize just how blessed I really am.  My mom is faithful, kind, loving, wise, slow to speak, a wonderful listener, a respectful wife, a wonderful housekeeper, a great teacher, and has recently become the most amazing grandmother.  We love you, Mimi!

 

 

 

Her children arise and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her:
 “Many women do noble things,
   but you surpass them all.”
 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:28-30

Baby Dedication

Sunday, October 2nd was a very special day for our little family.  As long as I've been attending The Branch, the church has taken two Sundays each year to dedicate to the Lord the new babies born in the past six months.  For years I've watched the babies being dedicated and dreamed of the day when we would get to dedicate our little one.  On Sunday, that dream finally came true!  We got to take Emily up on the stage in front of the congregation and then the church read a blessing over the babies and parents.  My parents and grandparents, as well as Lucas's sister and brother-in-law came to be a part of the big day with us.  What made it even more special is that our best friends the Crandalls also dedicated baby David at the same time! We have been so incredibly blessed by our sweet baby and we are so thankful that the Lord has given her to us.  It is also a wonderful blessing to be a part of a church that believes children are an integral part of the church and that encourages everyone to be a part of teaching children about Jesus and encouraging them in their faith journeys.  

Us with Tim Ketchersid, our minister who did the blessing ceremony

Action shot of baby David being blessed

During the blessing

The whole group being prayed over by elders and their wives

The Crandall family, minus Ella and Eden

Practicing for the babies future wedding picture with both sets of parents

Our whole family that came to support us and Emily