Tomorrow we say goodbye to some of our best friends here in Falls Church...our wonderful, irreplaceable, incomparable, unforgettable neighbors...Chris, Denise, Abby, Emma, and Elizabeth!

Tomorrow they depart for Colorado. Tonight we're grilling steaks together to celebrate three years of shared memories.

When Andrew and I first moved into our home we didn't know any of our neighbors well. Emma told us a few weeks ago that she could barely control the eye-rolling when she would see "that newlywed couple kissing in the front yard all the time." Hahaha!

I'd like to think it was a combination of three pretty signifanct things that deepened our friendship with this wonderful family:

1. We all shared in the joy of George entering the world!

I think I've mentioned before that our neighbor, Denise, was at George's birth. In fact, she cut his umbilical cord! She was such an incredible support during my labor and especially in those early postpartum days. Abby, Emma, and Elizabeth all visited us in those first 24 hours after George was born. It's one thing when someone loves you... but when they love your child...oh my. OH MY. Cue all the heart-melting in the world! These neighbors have loved and cherished George. They have played with him, swung with him, walked with him, rocked him, laughed with him. And even introduced him to the estimable classic, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. ;) They have also been the most flexible babysitters...sometimes showing up a mere 15 minutes prior to us needing a sitter! They have loved us by loving our son. I just want to weep every time I think of the gals heading off to school and George banging on the front door to wave to them. What a precious memory!

2. We survived Winter Storm Jonas! 

I think this has to be one of our most memorable weekends together here in Falls Church. Preparing for the blizzard. Hunkering down. Monitoring the storm. Wondering about school cancellations. And then digging and shoveling and snow-blowing out. Snowball fights and hot chocolate. And three crazy dogs. What a weekend!

3.We shared more than a highlight reel together.

How many times did we pray together? I've lost track. How many times did they pray for us? Too many to count. How many times was there comfort that went beyond a pat on the back or a hug? How many times were encouraging words shared at just the right time? Too many times to recall. How many Sunday mornings and afternoons did we congregate in driveways before and after church? How many times did we share real openness...the raw, messy parts of life with one another? How many times did we cry with one another? Okay, maybe that was just Denise and I. ;) It was a gift to live real lives together. 

Of course there are so many other memories...Anne of Green Gables discussions, Mason soccer, Duck Donuts, monograms, the Army, and the Navy, the Wrens HOA, When Calls the Heart, all things Star Wars, Mike's Deli, Artemis, pizza lunches, that low country boil feast, the Colonel's promotion ceremony, Taco Bell runs, prom, American Girl dolls, Williamsburg, a certain utensils-in-the-ground event which shall remain clothed in secrecy, Halloween, Thanksgiving afternoon, George's christening, Abby's graduation party, George's first birthday party, visiting grandparents (on both sides of the street!), adventures in dog ownership, and so many more. 

Here's a look back at just a few memories from these three years:

It seemed only fitting to end with a picture of Prince George of the Wrens in front of the Governor's Palace...a favorite place for both our families!

Denise, Chris, Abby, Emma, and Elizabeth (and even George and Gus!) we will MISS you all so very much! It has been the greatest joy to be your neighbors for the last three years. God bless you as you head to the beautiful state of Colorado. We can't wait to visit!!!

Letters to George Fossen // Volume 9

Dearest George,

In twenty minutes time you will be exactly 12 months old. I'm writing you tonight while reminiscing about today and yesterday and all of the weeks and months that have made up this one wild, glorious, life-changing year.

It feels like just yesterday I was mailing out your birth announcements and now here we are back at the beginning again...June 2...one whole year later! WHERE has the time gone?!

I've been reminiscing this week about last year...feeling SO pregnant...waiting to go into labor...finally going into labor...giving birth to you!!!!...taking you home...and those first few days of newness, joy, wonder, and emotion.

I didn't want you out of my sight for even one minute. I remember that first night/morning we brought you home and I just couldn't sleep. I had to watch you. Look at you. Wonder at you. Check your breathing. Stare at all your precious, perfect features. I was in awe.

I remember watching my parents hold you and seeing them become grandparents in an instant. I was so overcome with emotion at their joy and love for you.

I remember taking you to church on the very first Sunday of your life. Your Dad and I sat in the back of the auditorium at Bishop O'Connell High School and neither one of us could hold it together for most of the service. We were so incredibly grateful for the gift of YOU!

I look back at this last year and simply feel thankful. I feel thankful for God's provision to us. He provided amazing coworkers that helped send me off into this new job with such confidence. He provided a next door neighbor who was a midwife. He provided a church community that brought us meals, prayed for us, and encouraged us. He provided friends like the Skolnitskys who were embarking on all of the same things we were on this parenting journey. He provided my Mom! He provided neighbors to watch Admiral Byrd when we traveled, the Smith gals to babysit at a moment's notice, and girlfriends who made things so easy for me. During those sleepless nights that we thought would never end, God provided miraculous pockets of rest. We had a pretty serious health scare with you at six weeks and God provided just the right doctors to care for you. He provided my sister and your grandpa who came to sit with us in the hospital. He provided healing. He provided safety for us in all of the many travels we made this last year to see family.

There has not been one day of your life, dear George, when I have not needed the grace of God. It carries. It upholds. It strengthens. It heals.

You have been the greatest joy of our lives this year, darling boy! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone.

We went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and an elderly man stopped to wave at you. You waved back so enthusiastically and he smiled as he told me, "Enjoy this time. It goes so fast. My son is 54 and I still can't believe he's grown." I had such a lump in my throat that I couldn't even reply, but I nodded, yes! yes! I am trying to enjoy these days! Every day. Even the hard ones. These are precious days.

George, your Dad and I love you more than we could ever say. We thank God for you. Happy, happy birthday to you, our beloved son!

A Letter To My Mom For Mother's Day

Dearest Mom,

I really didn't get it...this mothering thing. 

I didn't understand how heart-wrenching and heart-widening and heart-breaking it could be.

Tomorrow I'll celebrate my first Mother's Day...and you will celebrate your 31st Mother's Day! What a lifetime of memories must fill those 31 years of mothering. And I only have this one year to look back on...one life-changing, life-giving sum of 12 months. 

I can barely think straight these days with the sleep deprivation and the pull of family and friends and church commitments and relationships with our neighbors and the house maintenance and the dog and future plans. There have been times I've thought I'd crumble under the weight of it all.

All I know is that in this last year you've helped me fly. You've helped my find my footing. You've buoyed me and stabilized me. You've been an anchor in a swirling sea of baby madness.

Aside from Andrew you have been my biggest help, supporter, and cheerleader in this first year of motherhood.

A few months ago I started recording all the things you helped me with. No one else, with the exception of Andrew, was doing the things you did for me! Everyone wanted to come hold George, but no one wanted to take my trash out. Everyone offered to babysit, but no one said they'd mop my kitchen floor. Folks said they'd play with George, but no one wanted to unload the dishwasher. You offered and insisted on doing those things. So thank you, Mom, for:

Scrubbing rust out of my kitchen sink
Walking Admiral Byrd
Mopping our floors
Taking out the trash
Folding our laundry
Bringing us dinner
Picking up Starbucks
Delivering takeout lunch
Reading to George
Polishing our silver candlesticks
Lending me your WD-40 for our squeaky doors
Picking up Sunday lunch at Panera
Loving my husband
Watering my front porch pansies
Pulling our dead mums out of our planters
Vacuuming our dining room

Loving my in-laws
Wiping down George's car seat
Dusting my furniture
Helping me rearrange the living room
Sweeping up a mound of pine needles from our Christmas tree
Feeding George baby food
Bathing George
Walking Byrd multiple times in one day
Mopping our kitchen floor
Loading and unloading the dishwasher
Emptying our trash cans
Taking our trash to the road
Offering to watch George on the monitor so Andrew and I could get out to get a bite to eat
Beating a rug outside with me
Bringing over toys for a 2.5 year-old visitor
Helping me and a neighbor when Andrew's cousin's daughter stayed with us for a day
Getting under the crib to mop up dust bunnies
Remaking our guest room bed
Fixing me scrambled eggs and toast when Andrew and I had the stomach flu

Thank you for the practical help you gave me. Thank you for giving me the sacrificial gifts of your time and energy. Thank you for helping me live out all the other areas of my life--wife, daughter, sister, friend, cousin, niece, neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law--while learning how to become someones mom.

You helped me thrive this last year. And no words--and no amount of thank yous--could ever repay you for the hands-on help you've given me. 

You have six kids and 31 years of experience as a mother. It would have been so easy for you to offer advice, but you didn't. You offered support instead. A suggestion now and then...but you always told me, "Whatever you decide, I'll support you!" You gave--and still give--me grace to discover the kind of mother God had called me to be...not the one you thought I should be. 

Moms don't live for compliments, but when someone says, "You're doing an amazing job!" it lifts the spirits! You remember that person and those words. You said those words to me on so many occasions--and each time, every time, it was just what I needed to hear.

Thank you for all that you have given me in these 31 years, but especially--most of all--in this last year. I am so grateful you are my Mom. I thank God for you. It is a joy to be your daughter!

I love you!

Emily

P.S. Thank you for the belly laughs, too. Those were oh-so-good for my soul!

10 Things That Have Surprised Me Since Becoming A Mom

I've been so sentimental this week with Mother's Day this weekend and George's first birthday right around the corner!

What a year it's been! And what an amazing experience it has been to grow into this role of being someone's mom. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my own Mom! But that deserves it's own post. :)

When I was pregnant with George I felt really prepared for this whole parenthood thing...after all I'd nannied before...and babysat before...and how many younger siblings had I helped to take care of? Hahahaha! Nothing prepares you for parenthood--of that I'm sure! Among all the new surprises these have been the best/funniest/sweetest:

1. How grateful I would feel for my own parents. Oh my. When you become a parent you can't help but reflect on your own parents! All those sacrifices they made! All the patience they had! All the energy! I am so grateful for mine.
2. And simultaneously--how awful I would feel that I ever did anything to cause my parents grief! Like, Emily, what were you thinking?! How could you have done that! Becoming a parent makes you want to go back to your own parents and say, "I'm sorry for every stupid thing I ever did that I put you guys through!"
3. How easily I would cry during any movie with a storyline about kids. Andrew and I watched Inside Out a few months ago...and when the little girl changes her mind and returns home...I could.not.stop crying. Andrew, too!
4. It's surprised me how thankful I'd be for other mom friends and how comfortable I would feel texting any question...did breastfeeding feel this way for you? what would you do when your baby woke up at 1:30am? should I send Andrew in? what solids are working for you? And so many more!
5. Becoming a mom made me experience God's love in a whole different way. God as our Heavenly Father...God sending His one and only Son...God's great love for us...His sacrificial love. Oh my, thank you Lord!
6. It shocked me how quickly I replaced pre-baby things...so long cute iPhone cover, hello OtterBox! So long regular sessions of painting my nails, hello short trimmed nails! So long blowouts, hello messy buns!
7. Though it was sometimes brutally hard, it surprised me how decisively I was able to say no to things...weddings, funerals, vacation plans, family dinners, etc. It just killed me to miss some of those things, but I also feel like becoming a mom has given me a healthy sense of my own bandwidth...and, let's be honest, baby's bandwidth!
8. How many times I'd check the driveway at the end of a long day to see if Andrew's car was pulling in yet. Cue all the praise hands when it did!
9. All of the body changes surprised me. The human body is an amazing wonder! I thought I would go bald from all of my postpartum hair loss, yet miraculously it all grew back! I thought my stomach would never look the same after that massive pregnancy belly, and yet weeks later there it was. In those early postpartum days I thought I would never feel normal again...and yet months later George and I were rolling around on the carpet together!
10. And the biggest surprise of all? The LOVE. Oh the love! Nothing and no one could have prepared me for that. It covers everything...the sleepless nights, and vomit, and fevers, and teething, and dirty diapers, and crying. It's like love amnesia--all you can recall is the joy and the wonder. At least, that's what it's been like for me. :) It has been an incredible, life-changing, soul-expanding, wonder-filled first year of being George's mom! What a gift!

P.S. My Sis has taken so many of these wonderful photos of George and I! I have always loved her eye for photography, and these photos from her are truly lifelong treasures! Thank you, Rab! xoxo

Letters to George Fossen // Volume 8

Dearest George,

Well, how do I put this? You're perfect. :) Your Dad and I just adore you. Every stage with you is my favorite...when you smiled at four months I thought, this is my favorite stage! Then you sat up at six months and I thought, okay this is it! And now here we are at 10 months and a day and I could just eat you up your cuteness is so delicious! This really is my favorite stage! ;)

Also, you are almost one and a toddler. Someone hold me.

You've been sick off and on for what has felt like months! But really it's just been a cough and cold that wouldn't go away. And then a high fever that stuck around for a few days. And then a sinus infection. Lord, have mercy. I am on a first name basis with the nurses at our pediatricians office. The last few weeks have been a blur! But, thankfully you're on the mend now. Praise the Lord!

You are into everything these days. E V E R Y T H I N G. Baby Proofing The House 2016 was in full effect a few weekends ago and we're still not done.  You're opening bathroom cabinets, pulling out every last item of my makeup from under the sink, unrolling the toilet paper, chewing on shoelaces, opening and closing and opening doors, picking up pieces of lint and dust off the basement carpet...you keep your momma busy. I am in no rush whatsoever for you to walk! The crawling is about all I can keep up with these days!

You love bath time (still), and eating broccoli. You'd probably survive solely on a diet of Cheerios if I let you. We're still nursing and you're definitely a fan of that! You want to try every piece of food you see me eating (or drinking). You're especially fascinated with my HyrdroFlask and you love drinking sips of water from it. You love your books (which makes me so happy!). And you love music...especially when your Dad plays Buck Owens.

You are obsessed with Admiral Byrd. And his tail. And his bones. And his chew toys. And his water bowl. And his bed. And his crate.

You take two good naps a day (most of the time). But nighttime sleep is another story! I feel like I've read everything there is to read about nighttime sleep...and asked every friend for help...and we still haven't figured it out. We'll get there, bud, we'll get there!

You adore your Dad. And seeing the two of you together makes my heart all soft and mushy. I love both of you so much. And I feel so fiercely protective of both of you.

Things people say about you:

-He's a live wire! (YES.)
-He's so serious. (This usually from strangers.)
-He looks like a George.
-He's such a happy baby. (This usually from family members.)
-He looks just like Andrew. (Until they see a photo of your Uncle Josh...)
-He's really tall!

You survived (and we survived) your first stomach flu in February. Your Dad got to watch about 14 seconds of the 50th Super Bowl before it was all hands on deck with the flu. We missed the entire game, but those Broncos still won!

Last week we went to the park with some friends and you went in the swing for the first time. You visited the Pentagon for the first time on March 1st when we attended our neighbor's promotion ceremony to Colonel! And you celebrated your first Easter last week--what a joy that was! I could barely keep it together in church...my heart was so full and so very thankful.

You've been outside in the world longer than I carried you inside me! We passed that 40 week mark and I thought to myself, "Time, slow down!!!"

I read something on one of those blogs making the social media rounds the other day, and it just made me teary:

Being a little boy's mama means seeing the little boy in all men, and feeling more empathetic than you were before. 

Being a little boy's mama will change you--harden you in some places, soften you in others--but will ultimately give the sweetest memories of when, for a brief period you were everything to a sticky-faced little man.

I love being your mom, George. As exhausting as it is...as life-changing...as heart-wrenching...I wouldn't trade it for the world. You bring so much joy to your Dad and I. It's so cliche--all the things they say about being a parent...how you would do anything for your child, and how you experience God's love in a whole new way once becoming a parent, and how your love for this little person just becomes all-encompassing and so incredibly sacrificial...it sounds cliche--but it's true. Every bit of it. The love your Dad and I have for you, George--you may never fully understand it until you're a parent yourself. But, still, we hope you know it and experience and feel it from your earliest days...we pray you experience God's love in the same way.

We adore you, our sweet, sweet boy!

Your Momma and Dada

Life Lately.

March has sped by! I took a little break from social media for Lent. It's been so refreshing. I've missed Insta, but not so much Facebook. I aways feel so back and forth with social media. I love it for keeping up with friends/family members, but hate how mindlessly I can start to scroll through feeds.

This little corner of our kitchen makes me so happy. Especially that morning light. Give me all the morning light!!

Andrew picked up Duck Donuts the other Saturday morning and I am embarrassed to admit he and I single-handedly polished off most of the box. #SHEERHEAVEN

George is into pulling every book off his bookshelf these days. Anything to help him become a reader! I love that he's curious about books. I love him period! He is such a joy...even with sick days and sleepless nights and teething fussiness... it is all so worth it. I love being his mom.

Is it just me or are Trader Joe's flowers the best mood lifter?

My friend, Emily, texted me this quote and I'm still laughing about it. Starbucks for the win!

My friend, Lindsay Ann, recommend The Nightingale to me, promising it would be a fantastic read, and IT.WAS. I read it in three days and still can't stop thinking about it!

My Mom and Sis and I traveled to Annapolis a few weekends ago for a girl's weekend. George got to tag along, too. :) It was so special to be back in Annapolis. We have so many memories as a family from time spent together there. I never get tired of visiting. My brother and his fiancée are getting married in Annapolis later this summer, and I cannot wait to celebrate there with them! 

Highlights from our Annapolis weekend:

T-Court selfies. The USNA Chapel. Crepes at Sofi's. Snuggling in front of the fireplace. Baby on the move! Conversation and the Kardashians. Sink baths. Lullabies with Aunt Courtney and Nani at midnight. McGarvey's and reminiscing about John Vorndick. Brunch from the Iron Rooster. Walks on the Yard. Shopping at the Mid store. Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks. Kilwins fudge. The Devil Wears Prada. Coffee break down Ego Alley. Sailboats. St. Patrick's Day parade two weeks early? The sun setting over the Yard. The Severn at dusk.

This week before Easter is always one of my favorite weeks of the whole year. I love every moment between Palm Sunday and the joy-filled celebrations of Easter morning. The older I get the more certain I become that Spring is my favorite season and Easter is my favorite holiday. I hope you're enjoying a beautiful week, too!

A Letter to my Mother-in-Law on my Husband's Birthday

Dearest Carolyn,

I spent many years praying for my future husband. I knew the kind of man I wanted him to be. When I was 15 I wrote out nine qualities I hoped he would have. 

I prayed, "Lord, let me marry this kind of man!"

1. A man who loves God
2. A man who is a leader in his workplace and church
3. A servant
4. A man who loves his mom more than any other woman
5. A gentleman
6. A man who respects my parents
7. A man who loves kids
8. A man who loves each of my siblings
9. A man who loves Jesus more than me

I found that list the other night and read it to Andrew. I told him, "Babe, you are everything on this list! And more!!" God abundantly answered those prayers that I prayed so long ago. And he answered so many of them through you.

Now that I am a mom myself I understand the work and the monotony and the joy and the exhaustion that comes with caring for a little person. For years and years you worked tirelessly to raise a son. And that son became my husband. Thank you for raising such an incredible person. Thank you for all of the years you sacrificed your needs on his behalf. Thank you for shaping and guiding and molding the man I prayed for.

I love both of you so much.

Your daughter-in-love,

Emily