5 years. A nod to life, love, and loved ones.

This week was the 5-year anniversary of something that I still cannot believe even happened.  Chad and I had our last pre-marriage counseling session with our mentor couple, Shawn and Vicki. We were just wrapping up our session, discussing how excited we were to finally be getting married after a long engagement, when I asked if we could sit back down to pray for my Grandpa Herrmann, who was dying of cancer. I wanted him to pass away peacefully and rejoin my Grandma, who had passed away a year earlier and was his everything. A few seconds in, I had a brain hemorrhage due to a brain aneurysm that landed me close to death and delayed my wedding over a year.  I don't remember much about my time in the hospital, but I am continually thankful for the family and friends that I have.

Family Pics!

We attended Chad's cousin's wedding and I made sure to get a family picture because it seems like I can never choreograph any! Emily's not smiling in it, but it was the best we could do!

Not bad, eh?

Here's a picture that didn't quite make the cut! ;)

Remembering George

We celebrated my cousin George's birthday a few weekends back. He passed away almost a year ago due to a heart condition. We made sure to celebrate with lots of smiles, a little bit of orange (his favorite color), and lots of stories! He was such a fighter and has inspired so many people. It was such a privilege to know him and there are days when I still cannot believe that he is gone.

Emily and Auntie Nae

Emily, Elizabeth and Ava

This is a picture of George made completely out of Legos- one of George's favorite toys! Amazing.

Emily being silly!

Camping!

My parents came to the Eau Claire area a few weekends ago to camp at Lake Wissota state park, and Emily had her first camping experience with them! Turns out she is quite the little camper! She especially loved the picnic table, as evident in both these pictures!

April thru July update!

I know it has been forever, but there has been a lot going on! First off, I lost my phone a week ago and I am in the process of getting back all the pictures that were on my phone. So I have a limited amount of pictures right now. So, lets get back to Mother's Day. We had a very laid-back day. I was itching to start planting, so we went to the local nursery and bought jalapeno plants, strawberry plants, green bell pepper plants, and then some assorted flowers. We spent the rest of the day planting (Emily is so good at smelling the flowers and not touching them!) and relaxing. It was a wonderful day.
     Next, we took a vacation in early June. Chad had found out about this Beer Bourbon Barbeque Festival out in Washington DC, and was dying to go. So, us three drove down to Chicago where his sister lives, and Emily and I stayed in Chicago with her, and Chad and her husband Eric drove out to DC to attend this festival. The boys had a fantastic time! They also toured the Jim Beam distillery along the way, and toured DC. Eric had such a good time that he passed out on the subway home! All in good fun! Us girls went to the Chicago Childrens Museum on the Navy Pier and went to a water park. Again, when I get the pictures back, I will post them. Also, if you have Instagram, I have pics up there too.
     For father's day, Chad wanted to grill, of course! It was much like mother's day...relaxing. I got Chad one of his favorite movies, Law Abiding Citizen. It was a beautiful day, so we spent most of the day outside- which was fine by Emily! She absolutely LOVES it outside! The neighbors are used to hearing her scream as we basically drag her inside- it is quite the production!
     A couple random tidbits: First, Emily has been in a bad habit when she goes down to nap- she strips down naked before lying down. Diaper and all. Which is a bad thing because she wakes up in a pool of...you know. So we've been taping her diaper before naptime, which so far has solved the problem. Also, both of Emily's daycare providers can't take her anymore, for different reasons. She has started at a daycare called The Learning Tree. She fits right in and seems to enjoy it. Lastly, Emily's language has ERUPTED! A month ago, we were getting worried because she was barely speaking at all. We were in the process of setting up meetings with birth to 3, when she suddenly started talking! For the purpose of archiving, here are her words: "shoes," "socks," "outside," "done," "doggy" (one of her first words) "bye bye," "go," "uh-oh," "mama" (FINALLY!), "what's that?" (she pronounces it funny so it kind of sounds like "oh shit!") "Grandpa," "night night," "hi," "dada," (also one of her first words) and "all done." Her most recent addition to her words is a fun one: NO! The thing is, she says it just to say it. Everything is "NO!"
     Finally, for the fourth of July, Chad and Emily headed up to his family's cabin. I had to stay behind because I couldn't get work off. It has been 2 days and I miss the little bugger already. I'll post pictures once I have them.

Fun at the Children's Museum!!

Emily always enjoys the Children's Museum here in Eau Claire! She always burns off a ton of energy and sleeps great! Plus, it is very inexpensive and they have great membership options! Such a fun place.

Pressing all the buttons!

They had phones throughout the place where you could call each other! I found 2 that were very close to one another and we kept calling each other on them. She had so much fun!

Preparing for a great ride!

Loving the slides, of course!

Burning off some energy!

Mother of the year? ;)

This weekend, Chad was out of town for work so it was just Emy and me. It was beautiful outside so I had the door to the deck wide open! Emy was having the time of her life running outside, then back in, then back out. I was in the kitchen, when Emy came inside and looked at me with a disgusted face and her tongue sticking out. She had found a piece of TORQUE'S POOP and put it in her mouth!!! She started gagging (who can blame her?!) and I put my finger in her mouth and swept it out the best I could. I then brushed her teeth several hundred times and she downed about 16 ounces of liquids. Poor girl. I think she is still traumatized. I have no idea how she found poop on the deck!! This story is definitely one for the history books!