Emerson Sloan:: 12 Months

12 Months

How?

This has been the fastest year of my life.

I don't even know where to begin with this little darlin.

She's a spirited little thing.  Whiskey in a TeaCup would describe her.  

Or Bull in a China Shop.

But I wouldn't trade her personality for all the sweet tea at Chick Fil A.  

Let's see.

Eating.  Sister loves to eat.  Praise the Lord.

I can mix her Procal in just about anything and she'll down it.

I am thankful for this every time I feed her.

So many struggle with picky eaters, but so far, she loves most anything I give.

Nursing.  We made it to a year!

We are down to 3 times a day.  When she wakes up in the morning, around 2pm and at bedtime.

I don't know how long we'll go, but I'm in no hurry to stop.

Sleeping.  Geez.  This is a doozy.

Thankfully, her night time sleep is consistent.  She goes to bed about 8 and gets up about 7.  

Naps stink.  I've worked on them about 2 weeks now.

She cries for 20-30 min when I lay her down, then sleeps for 45 min max.

I'm just working on morning nap for now.  I don't have it in me to do this twice a day.

Typically we are in the car for the afternoon snooze.  

Sister is full of personality!  

She knows what she likes and she'll let you know.  Very strong opinion.

Head Strong.  But this will take her FAR one day.

I have no doubt she will do big things and make a big impact.

She's a lover.  She loves to snuggle and can melt you in a moment with her smile.

My prayer for her is that she will grow to love Jesus and love others.

I pray this every day for her and for Easton.

I pray that she will grow to be a strong independent woman and a light to those around her.

She surely is a light to us.

She's 'talking' more and more.

She'll say 'Bubba', dada, momma, ba (ball), bye, up.

She waves.  It might be one of my favorite things.  Ever.

Her little right hand just swirls around.  I love it.

She also will throw her arms up when you say "are you SO BIG?"

She loves to peek out the window when anyone comes or goes. 

She bends over and peers around.  Little nosey thing.  

She can find her toes.

She knows a few sign language signs.  All done being her favorite.

She loves her brother.  He can get her to do anything.  And he's pretty crazy about her too.  

Emerson Sloan, we LOVE you SO MUCH!!!!

We are so thankful for you and for the joy and ACTION you bring to this family!

I am thankful for a healthy first year!

We love you a Bushel & a Peck Emmy Boo!

Thieves Tea:: Young Living Essential Oils

It's no secret I love my oils. 

I try to use them first, when sickness strikes or even I feel something coming on.  

Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat.  

This morning, I felt like I was trying to swallow a golf ball!  So, to my oils I went.

Last night, I put thieves on my spine and I also used Purification, Frankincense & Oregano on the outside of my throat.  

This morning, I made some essential oil tea.

I LOVE hot Orange Tea when I have a sore throat.  But today I gave it a little boost.  I added 1 drop of thieves and 2 drops of lemon and some raw local honey into my beloved orange tea! YUMMY!

I'm hoping to kick whatever this is or could become to the curb!

If you are interested in learning more, email me at a {dot} farrar {at} hotmail {dot} com

Emerson Sloan:: 11 Months

11 Months

Full of life & personality.

Really opening up to other people!

Waves, laughs, says bye, blows kisses.

If someone leaves the house, she walks them to the door and watches them out the side porch window.

She steals our hearts a little more each day.

Eating everything I'll let her eat.

It's a struggle to make sure our meals are fat free & finger foods friendly

We eat a lot of rice and veggies.

She loves grilled chicken too!  

We cut out one nursing time during the day, so she now eats at 8a-2p-7:30p & sometime between 3am-5am.

We've gotten tooth #2 and #3 is not far behind.  If it doesn't come through today, it'll be tomorrow.

It's so close!  #2 came in with no trouble, but #3 came with fever & a little fussiness.

Still in size 4 diapers and is now in 18 month pants and either 12mo or 18mo shirts.

Got our first pair of shoes this month. 

Some sweet little Mint Green Toms, Size 4.  They're too big.

She loves to be outside.  If you go outside, you better be taking her with you.

She loves riding the Gator with Easton.

They are big buds!

She's opinionated.  She's fiesty.  She's funny.

Whiskey in a Teacup really does sum her up!

Emmy Boo, we love you!!!!

I Like Today

Not every day is a mothering win.  Can I get an amen?  In fact, more nights than not, I go to bed wondering if I'm equipped to do this mothering, day in and day out.  Some days my cubicle seems so inviting.  Yet, others, like today, I know without a doubt that I'm cut out for this.

I'm uptight by nature.  I like a schedule.  I like routine.  I like a plan.  Type A, shall we.  And I've found that with staying home, I don't really have any of these things.  Sure, I can say, Monday we are going to do 'this' and Tuesday & Thursday are school, Wednesday is such-n-such, but I'm talking a real plan and purpose.  Hello???  Motherhood is my purpose.  But, having worked outside the home since I was 14, cleaning new homes under construction every Saturday, not having a 'work' purpose is hard for me.  Laundry & dishes & toilets only go so far.

But today, today was a good day.  We went Bowling & had lunch at Chick Fil A.  Nothing spectacular, per say, but it was a really good day.  Easton & I bowled together, while Emerson sat in her stroller and watched.

 We got Ten Dollars worth of quarters and headed to the arcade to play us some games.  A fun game of Air Hockey was first on the agenda.   I won.  7-6.  But his smile, every time either of us got the little yellow puck into the 'goal' at the opposing end...man, that was winning more so than anything.

After air hockey we played a few rounds of ski ball.  We played football, which he insisted he was tall enough for, but he wasn't.  But we played anyways.  We played some deer hunt game that kept his attention for about 2.4 seconds.  I finished it off by shooting an elk or something.  We lost a few quarters to the games where you try to win 587 quarters in return.  Then we went back to use a few more quarters on ski ball.  We'd passed the Prize Counter several times and he had his eye on a Bow & Arrow set.  "Momma!  I wanna win the bow & arrow!"  It was 200 tickets.  I knew our 10$ wasn't going to get us more than a few air heads and maybe some army men.  But as we played ski ball, I rolled a ball into what must have been the lucky number for the day and the sirens started blaring!  Tickets were pouring out like crazy!  396 was the Jackpot winner!  He started hooping & hollering like we'd won $1,000!

483 tickets, and we still have 10 quarters left.  All the excitement sent us right to the prize counter!

One Bow & Arrow set, one duck hunting gun set, 3 airheads & a whistle later, we were ending our fun at the arcade.

"Momma!  You hit the jackpot!  We hit the jackpot!  I can't believe I got the Bow & Arrow!"

His day was made & most certainly, so was mine.

He sang a little ditty on the way home...that I wish I'd recorded, but I got it word for word in my phone...
"I've got a bow & arrow.  It is so cool.  I love it the best.  Mommy hit the jackpot!  And it was so fun!! I got a bow & arrow, I got a bow & arrow..."

It really doesn't get much better than that.  To make him happy & spend time doing something 'fun for him' is really what it's all about.  The more I let go of expectations (of myself & of him) the better life is.

I like today.  Like really, like today.

Jeffrey's Farm

Oh!  What fun we had!

Sunday, my sister & I loaded up the little's and headed to Alabama to visit our Uncle Victor & Aunt Sharon.

I've been wanting to go visit all Summer long and it just never happened.

We changed that this weekend.

It was a whirlwind trip, but we had so much fun!

We were greeted with a cozy little bedroom with layers and layers of quilts on our beds.

Easton had a brand new Ninja Turtle shirt waiting on him.

Yummy meals were prepared with love.

S'mores were had by the fire pit.

Easton got to do everything every little boy would want to do.

Fish (caught a catfish!!).  Feed goats.  Bottle feed a calf.  Hang a bird house.  Ride the gator.  DRIVE the gator.  Play in the dirt.  Learned how to open & close the gates and make sure they are locked tight.  Make his own s'mores. Play with dogs & cats.  Help feed the goats. 

He had the best time!

He didn't want to leave. 

About 30 minutes into our trip back home, he said "turn around!  I wanna go back!"

He LOVES Aunt Sharon & Uncle Victor. 

Emerson LOVED the animals.

She would just giggle every time we'd get close to them.

She'd smile and wave at them.

She's going to be like her Aunt Sharon and love the animals.

It was such a wonderful time together!

I'm so glad we made the journey to Alabama! 

A trip to the country to visit those you love sure is good for the soul.

Easton said his own prayers tonight.

He specifically thanked Jesus for 'time with Sharon & Victor, keeping us safe while we drove and a fun day!'  That about sums it up right there.  

Emerson's Eczema Combo

I have struggled with 2 kids having eczema.  Both internally, by changing diet, which did help for Easton and externally, through dermatological treatment, which has helped Emerson.

With Emerson being just breastfed and having fruits and veggies, I started watching what I ate.  I thought I had linked her eczema to gluten, then to peanuts and peanut products and even to strawberries.  I'm still not convinced that her eczema isn't linked to those things, as I now eat all of them in moderation.

However, what I was doing was not working.  I'd eliminate things then see improvement, add them back in and no change.  Then all of a sudden it would come back again.  It was so mean and angry looking.  Red dry patches all over her little body.  Her trunk, the inside of her right arm and the inside of the right leg and the back of her neck.  You could tell she was uncomfortable.  She'd claw at her skin all the time.

I finally decided to take her to the dermatologist.  He gave us a very generic combination of things to do for her, that is his 'go-to' for sensitive skin.  I talked with him about it being a food allergy and he said that food allergies typically show up in the folds of the eye lids.  Her face was totally clear.

He instructed us to bathe her in Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and to NOT dry her off.  On her wet skin, apply baby oil all over.  After the baby oil, on her wet oily skin, apply the rx ointment to the eczema spots.  Once the eczema was gone, he said to eliminate the rx ointment and on her oily wet skin, apply the Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream.  Within 2 days, her eczema was gone.  I kid you not.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This little patch has just returned on her leg, so we've started the prescripton again.  It'll be gone in a day or so I'm certain.  And just like Eastons, where the eczema was, it's now white fresh skin.  His skin doesn't tan in those spots but I was told that the skin pigmentation would return eventually.  His was bad in the bends of 

I did purchase Melrose Oil from Young Living and I plan on treating any flare ups with that first.  We also have Rose Ointment and the combo of the Coconut Oil, Melrose and Rose Ointment are very helpful with eczema.  

If you need a good Dermatologist in the Nashville area, email me {a (dot) farrar (at) hotmail (dot) com}and I can get you the name of ours!  Or, even if you'd like more information on Young Living Essential Oils, I can send you some information on that too!  

Emerson Sloan:: 10 Months

Mercy Sakes.  10 Months.

These months are sure flying by.

This month, 

We walk.

We dance.

We shake our head "no".

We clap.

We 'talk' and laugh and scream!

WE HAVE FUN!

Emerson Sloan, you win our hearts over a little more each day.

Such a joy.  Such a little love.

We had our 9 month VLCAD Check Up last week.

Her CPK (Muscle Enzymes) were 219.  Normal is 29-169.

Her Liver Enzymes were:

ALT: 30- normal is 5-33

AST- 67- normal is 20-67

All good news from Genetics and Nutrition.

We continue to feed MCT ProCal in pureed foods.  Typically I do this at breakfast and dinner.

She gets 1 packet a day.  Roughly 6 teaspoons.

She loves to eat.  She prefers finger feeding to pureed but she'll eat puree if she's hungry enough.

And if you're quick enough.

We are still nursing.  Praise the Lord.

8am-12pm-4pm-8pm and once in the middle of the night anywhere between 3-5am.

Dare I say it, sleep has finally become routine.  

She's an early riser just like her brother, but I can take that with only on 'get up' a night.

Naps? well...  They happen everywhere but her bed.

But it allows for flexibility so we just roll with it.

She adores her brother.

She lights up when Daddy comes home. 

I can't believe in 2 months, she will be 1.

I guess the birthday party planning shall begin.

I'm thinking something soft and sweet.  Simple.  Peach & gold to match her nursery.

We'll see how it all plays out.

Happy 10 Months Emerson Sloan!

WE LOVE YOU!