Made by My Mom!

I can't even explain to you all how excited I am. Last night, my mom gave me her nativity set. You see, she hand-painted this set back in 1993. She used to put it up every year for Christmas. She hasn't been able to put it up at her house for a number of years because she just doesn't have the room for it. It takes up a lot of room. My mom loves this set and is very proud of it. She said I never would have gotten it if she would have had somewhere to put it, but she wants it to be displayed and said that I could put it up at my house. We have the perfect place for it. Above our fireplace, we have a nook that I've only sat picture frames at. So for now, I took those down and put this up. It looks awesome. My mom did such a great job and you can definitely tell that it took her a long time. I am so grateful to have something so special to my mom and something that she made. Thanks mom. I love you.

the whole set

camels

the 3 wise men

Our Christmas Tree

Last night we put up our christmas tree. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when Emma wasn't the least bit interested in the tree. I know she is only 15 months old, but it would have made me feel a little bit better if she would have even noticed that it was there or she could have even pulled off ornaments like most toddlers her age. She mostly just played while Josh and I put it up and decorated it. Even this morning, she hasn't even been over to look at it or mess with it. I guess that's a good thing though. Now I won't have to pop her butt everyday for messing with the tree. I think my favorite thing about christmas time is putting up the tree. I always looked forward to it every year when I was living at home. We would always turn most of the lights off and put on christmas music and decorate. It was so much fun. Now that we have a little toddler running around, things are a lot different though. I can't even imagine next year when we have Emma running around and Ryleigh crawling around everywhere. It should be interesting though.

Josh putting the tree together

one of the few times that she even came around the tree

Ryleigh

Katie finally scanned the pics from the antomy ultrasound that we had a month or so ago for me. Enjoy!I love this picture because she had her feet crossed just like Emma does all the time. It was so cute

Big Girl Bed

Yesterday, Josh and I finally got Emma and Ryleigh's room put back together. We moved the crib to the other side of the room so we could put the toddler bed where her crib was. Autumn and William gave us this toddler bed because Cheyenne didn't use it. We are so grateful to them. Once I got the sheet put on the bed, we sat Emma on it to see how she liked it. She immediately started smiling and bouncing up and down. She would walk from one end to the other. I think she is really going to like a place where she can get in and out of by herself. I didn't get a bed set for it yet. For now I just put a mattress pad on it and a new sheet. I found this sheet at Babies R Us and I love it. The colors really pop out with the pink room. We aren't too concerned about moving her out of her crib right now. I think I will start with her naps and see how she does first. We got a little bit before we will need the crib anyway. I am so glad to finally have their room done. I still want to do a few things in there and we would like to get a new dresser/changer, but for the most part, we are done. Thanks Autumn and William for the new bed. We love it!!

The print of the sheet

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. I had to work the night before and the night of Thanksgiving so I spent half of the day sleeping but we were still able to go to my mom and dads house for dinner. It was so good too. We had so much food. I think my favorite was the turkey that Josh deep fried. You can't beat a fried turkey. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and celebrating. It definitely went by way too fast for me though. I hate having to work holidays but I guess when you work in a hospital, there's not much you can do about it. I always hate making lists of what I am thankful for. I think it is pretty obvious that I have so much in my life to be thankful for. I could go on and on forever. So for this year, I think I am probably most thankful for my husband, my two little girls, and all my family. We have been so blessed this year by family who helps us out all the time and we couldn't be more grateful to them. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am really looking forward to putting up our christmas tree today!!

The Girls' Room

BEFORE

AFTER

This past weekend Josh painted Emma and Ryleigh's bedroom. Before Emma was born we painted it a dark pink color. It was cute but I was looking for something a little lighter and not as bold.....but I still wanted pink. So we decided on "Pink Ribbon". Josh had to paint Kilz on the room first because the room was so dark. It is so cute and it gives the room just enough color.

Gettin' Ready for Bed

Here are a few cute pics of Emma getting ready for bed. We had just given her a bath and I put her in these cute pj's that I've been waiting to fit her. She was picking out the books that she wanted to read before going to bed.

Myrtle Beach

This past Sunday, Josh, Emma, and I headed to Myrtle Beach for the CGCSA Show. Josh worked the whole time we were there but Emma and I enjoyed spending some time together. We got to our hotel room about 4:00 on Sunday. The hotel we stayed at was connected to the conference center which was really nice because then Josh could just walk to the show everyday. This was Emma's first time in a hotel and she did wonderful. We stayed pretty busy too so I'm sure that helped with her not getting so bored. Sunday night, we went to do a little shopping and get some dinner . It was really the only time we got to spend with Josh. Monday morning Emma and I went shopping at Tanger Outlets. She did awesome in her stroller, even though I walked around for 2 hours. Before heading back to the hotel for a nap we stopped and ate lunch at Margaritaville. Emma loved this place. I guess because it's loud and fun. I guess Emma got so tired from doing so much while we were there because on Monday, she took a 3 hr and 10 min. nap. Then on Tuesday, she took a 2 1/2 hour nap. She was exhausted. Wednesday morning, Emma and I headed back to Greensboro. We drove separately, so Josh didn't get home until about 8:30 Wednesday night. Emma did wonderful the whole way there and the whole way back. I didn't hear a peep from her the whole time. She mostly just slept and watched Backyardigans the whole way. Josh and I hope and pray that Ryleigh travels as well as Emma does. We had fun but we were definitely ready to come home. I am looking forward to doing this again next year, but will hopefully take Aunt Katie with us to help with both kids.

3 hr and 10 min nap!!

Emma at Margaritaville

She loved playing in this window

Our view from the room-we could see the ocean

Emma snacking on some cheerios

Emma Update

Emma is doing so much better. She doesn't have a fever anymore and she is drinking and eating great. She is still supposed to take Tamiflu for the next few days. She has been coughing alot at night and she can't seem to get over that right now. During the day she is fine but she isn't able to sleep good at night because she is waking up every 20 minutes or so coughing. Hopefully this will get better soon. But right now, she is playing and back to her old self. :]

1st Hospital Trip

Last night I had to take Emma to the Pediatric ED for the first time. Yesterday morning before I took her to my moms house for the day, I noticed Emma had coughed a few times. I didn't think anything of it because she was fine. I thought she just had something in her throat. I was still asleep when Josh got home last night with Emma and she was already in the bed when I woke up so I never got to see her. While I was getting ready for work, she kept waking up coughing and whining. She couldn't ever really fall asleep. After about 30 minutes of her waking up, I told Josh to go get her and bring her to our room. She was burning up. I knew right then that she was sick. We took her temperature and it was 102.1. I called the pedatricians office and they said it sounded like the flu and told me to take her to get checked out. So at about 10:00 we headed to the hospital. We got in and out in about 2 hours and everyone was so nice to us. Emma does have the flu. When we got there her temperature was almost 103. They gave us a prescription for Tamiflu and she is rotating motrin and tylenol every 3 hours. We made it home and finally got in the bed around 2:00 this morning and Emma still woke up every 15-20 minutes coughing. Today, she seems a lot better. She doesn't have a fever anymore but she has a really nasty cough. She won't really eat much, but she's drinking. So as long as she is staying hydrated, then she's ok. My mom and dad met us at the hospital and they were such a big help. They even went to fill her prescription and pick up a few things at CVS for me. I'm hoping that in the next few days Emma will be good as new. We are supposed to leave for the beach Sunday, but I'm sure me and her won't be going if she's still sick.

What's going on?

So I thought that I would take a few minutes to let you all know what's been going on lately. Things have been really busy the past couple of months and I don't see them slowing down anytime soon. We have pretty much been busy every weekend.

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We are having dinner at my mom and dads house, which we don't usually do, but this year, we are. I have to work the night before and the night of Thanksgiving so I'm sure I'll be exhausted but thats ok...I'll get through it.

Can you all believe that there are only 45 days till Christmas? It always sneaks up on me somehow. This year is going to be so much fun. Emma is actually old enough now to open her presents[sorta] and play with her new toys. Last year, I think we got through opening gifts in about 10 minutes and then Emma just sat there looking at them. It's going to be so different this year. I can't believe that in the last two years, we have added 3 grandbabies to the Joyner household. Well....3 1/2...but who's counting? Katie calls us "baby-making" machines. Cheyenne and Emma are really starting to "acknowledge" eachother. I wouldn't neccessarily say they are playing together. Emma is kind of a toddler who keeps to herself a lot and plays quietly and then Cheyenne wants to follow her around and give her hugs. They will soon start playing together hopefully.

I am now about 21 weeks pregnant with baby Ryleigh and things have been going good lately. I still feel like I don't have much of an appetite though. Hopefully, that means that I won't really gain any weight this pregnancy. I have been so overwhelmed lately with trying to get everything done. I hate waiting till the last minute. I'm hoping to have everything done by the middle of February just in case. I think both Josh and I are getting really excited about having two little girls. Emma is going to be such a great big sister.

Speaking of Emma. She changes more and more everyday. Ever since she was born, I never put her on a schedule of any sort. She always slept wherever, whenever. That worked out so great for us and she never had any problems with it. She still always slept great through the night so I never worried too much about having her on a consistent schedule. Well, a couple months ago, she fooled me and put herself on her own schedule. She usually gets up around 7ish and then eats breakfast and plays while watching some backyardigans. Then about 8:30 she grabs her blankie and walks to the bed. So she takes about an hour to 1 1/2 hour nap. After lunch, she will take another nap around 1:00. She will usually sleep for a couple of hours.....except today, when she decided to sleep for 2 hours and 45 min!! Yeah, I'm not quite sure what happened there. She hasn't taken a nap that long in FOREVER. Then around 8:30 she is down for the night and sleeps until 7. So this schedule has been working great for her. She showed me what she needed, and that's what we've been sticking too. We finally got her bedwetting under control too. For the past month or so, she has been wetting the bed, EVERY night. She doesn't get anything to drink after dinner, but she always waits until she falls asleep to fill up her diaper. And since she sleeps on her tummy, it always comes out of the top and gets everywhere. Changing her sheets everyday was getting very old. She had been using the Huggies Overnite diapers, but she still wet the bed, so this past weekend Josh and I were at Babies R Us and found these things called Booster Pads that go into the diaper. My mom had told me about them but I hadn't ever seen them. She has used them for about 3 nights now, and hasn't wet the bed once. So hopefully that will continue to work. A week or two ago, when Emma spent the day at my mom's house, she came home, and was high-fiving. I think they must have worked on that all day. So now, all she ever wants to do is stop and hold her hand up so that you can high-five. She has also learned to kiss. Well...it's more like an open mouthed wet tounge kiss...but still cute. :] She just brings so much happiness to Josh and I. I don't know what we'd do without her.

I hope this week flies by fast. When I get off work Friday morning, I will be off for 11 days!!! On Sunday we will be making our way to Myrtle Beach for the CGCSA show. It's a conference show that Josh goes to almost every year for work. It lasts a few days, and this year Emma and I are going. Josh will be busy almost all day, everyday we are there so it will just be me and Emma mostly. Our hotel is only 3 blocks from the beach and also Broadway at the Beach and it's about 10 minutes from Tanger Outlets. We also have an indoor pool. So I'm sure Emma and I will have plenty to do. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days though. I only wish Josh was going to have more time to spend with us. :[

So, as you can see....we have so much going on....but hopefully after Christmas, it will slow down a little bit...atleast until March. :]

Power Wheels

Chicken N' Dumplings

For a while now, I've been wanting to make some homemade chicken n' dumplings. Well for some reason, I had the bright idea of making them this morning when I got off work. Keep in mind I had already been up 24 hours before I started cooking. My nanny taught me to make these a few months ago and I was attempting to know what I was doing today. It took me a good 2 hours to make them. When they got done, I put them in the fridge and saved them for lunch. I was looking forward to letting Emma try them because she has never had them before. They were not nearly as good as my nanny's but it still hit the spot. :]

I think she liked them

Looking for some moreWashing it down with some juice

Yummy Yummy

How did you get in there??

Emma loves to play in our closet and especially drag out all my shoes. This past weekend while Josh and I were getting ready to leave, I happen to look in the closet and saw Emma sitting in the laundry basket playing with some shoes. I have no idea how she got in there without falling. It was too cute though. By the time Josh got the camera she was trying to get out.

Ryleigh's Registry

Many people have asked me what to get baby Ryleigh, so I created a little registry of things that we will need and a few things that I would like to have. I was shocked at how few things we need for baby #2. There are still a few things I need to add but I did this all online, so I need to go to the store and pick out the rest. I should have it completed in a few weeks though. Most of the big stuff, we already have. The big thing is really bottles. Since we are getting all new bottles for this baby, I registered for a bunch. Our babies are mostly formula babies, so when they are born, they are using a bottle every 2-3 hours. That is as many as 8-12 bottles per day. So we definitely needs lots of bottles. I'm sure there will be a few other things that I haven't remembered but this is a good start for now. :]

If you look to the side of the blog, you will find the link to click on to get to the registry.

Introducing.....

Ryleigh Laine Newnam

Josh and I have finally decided on a name for our little girl. We love this name and think it will be perfect for her. :]

Please Do Not Touch

You all are going to think I'm crazy but because of recent things that have happened in the past few months, Josh and I will be getting one of these signs....actually two. One for Emma and one for Ryleigh. These signs say "Please wash your hands before touching mine." Lately, almost every time we are in a restaurant, someone[usually waitresses] stop and talk to Emma and put there hands ALL OVER her. We even had a girl that let Emma put her hands in her mouth..Okay, Emma doesn't know any better but seriously. With this season supposedly being the worst for flu and H1N1, we will be getting this sign. I do not wish to offend anyone....however, I want to keep Emma and Ryleigh away from any unnecessary germs.

The company that makes these signs is called "My Tiny Hands". They are $7.95 each and come in a few different colors. We will be getting PINK of course. :]

"Eighty percent of infectious illnesses are spread by touch—by coming into contact with contaminated people or objects."
—Philip Tierno Jr., Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at New York University Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center

Cutest Little Sparkle Fairy

We definitely had the cutest little sparkle fairy ever this year. We started out going to see Josh's mom and dad. Then we went to see Aunt Katie because she was working at Bi-Rite. We ended up at my mom and dads and we ate hotdogs and smores over the fire. It was nearly impossible to get Emma to stand still long enough to get a good picture. We tried to get a picture of Cheyenne and Emma together but that was even more impossible. I wish it wouldn't have rained all night but we had fun and can't wait to do it again next year.