Surprise Visitors!!!

On Thursday morning, I was nursing Emma right before we left for Bible study and my phone rang. It was my dad and he asked if I wanted to eat lunch with him...come to find out, he and my mom were only a little over an hour away!!! I was completely shocked and surprised! So they were waiting for me when I came out of Bible study! I was already having a great day (because I was able to fit into a pair of favorite jeans that I wore on my honeymoon), and then the huge blessing of getting to see my mom and dad, and to top that off...we ate lunch at Las Lomas (my fav)!
For those of you that don't know...I live over 9 hours (over 600 miles) from my parents, and I haven't seen them since we were home for Christmas. And didn't have plans to see them until mid-April.

My parents stayed until Sunday. On Friday, my dad drove over to Galva, IL to check out a truck. My mom and I went to her hair appointment (that she made the week before..she had told me she made a hair appointment, just not where!) Mom and I also rented a couple of movies. Saturday, we all relaxed, and mom and I made a ham, mashed potatoes and gravy. It was weird, at the beginning of the week when I went grocery shopping, I stocked up on lots of things...good thing I did!

Thursday morning...our surprise visitors arrive!

Emma being goofy!

Emma being goofy...again!
Are you starting to see her personality?

Emma getting her much needed Nana-time!

Time to say goodbye for now :(

Me, Emma & Nana

Emma & Nana

Papa, Me, Nana & Emma
Emma definitely gets her eye color from my side of the family

Mommy & Emma

My beautiful family!

Sunday during some daddy and Emma play time!

As you can see, we had a wonderful last couple of days and feel extremely blessed!
Mom and Dad - you can surprise us ANYTIME!!! We love you and miss you so much already...but feel refreshed and very loved!

Meet Sophie...

...actually, when Emma gets older she can rename her doll whatever she wants.

I came across epatterns for the cutest dolls and animals online the other day. I ordered a doll and a monkey. So here is my first attempt at making Emma a doll. I used scraps that I had leftover from her diaper bag, bedding and accessories. The face was a challenge to embroider, so she definitely has 'character flaws'!

Emma playing w/ her new doll

It was a fun little project...and one you can definitely get creative with! And if the economy keeps going down...homemade dolls may only be what Emma ever gets :)

Ya, Ya, I am behind on posts...

I have been a little behind on posting. But here are some pics from this weekend. We had a good Valentines Day. We spent most of the day at home. For breakfast, I made a new breakfast burrito recipe I got and then didn't have to cook the rest of the day (per request as my gift for v-day!) We got chinese for supper!
Here are some pics Shane took of Emma!

Emma has such big, beautiful eyes! She just lights up a room with her eyes and smile!

Daughter like Dog?

Emma's Sunday outfit

The sweater dress actually makes her look much huskier than she really is! Sorry, Em!

I think the hat looks better on Emma, Bella agrees too!

On v-day, I found notes posted all over the house...actually I am still finding them!
I asked Shane permission if I could take pictures of some of the notes and post them on the blog...he said he guessed that it was okay.

On the back of the remote...
"You turn me on! I love you!"

On the stove...
"You're soo hot! I love you!"

In the freezer...
"When you're cold, I'll warm you up! I love you!"

On my laptop...
"Surprise! I love you!"

In a zip up bag I hold Emma's medicines, etc in...
"Thanks for being such a wonderful mother to Emma! I love you!"

On a light switch...
"You light up my life! I love you!"

This is my most recent one I found, which was this morning when I started laundry, it was in the bottom of Emma's laundry basket, and probably one of my favorites, b/c I wasn't expecting it at all...
"Thanks for washing our clothes! I love you!"

I also found one the other night while I was reading a book in bed, I had read several pages, and Shane had already fallen asleep and I turned a page and there it was! I also found one in a clean diaper when I went to change Emma!
He was going for something creative (something that doesn't come naturally for engineers) and he succeeded at making me feel loved and special!
He also let me get a new sewing mat and a sewing table!

Well, Emma is demanding my attention, so thats all for now!

Emma's is on a 'roll'...

On Friday, I laid Emma on the floor in the living room, in her usual spot. I was sitting at the dining room table, and watched as she rolled herself all the way into the kitchen, and eventually ended at the hallway. It was pretty cute to watch! It is quite an adjustment having a mobile child!

What I learned though is, I need to swipe the floor more often!

Sour Patch Kids!

Ok, here is a little story...
I love sour patch kids, and well the bag you have to buy at the grocery store isn't very big. I only eat a few sour patch kids at a time, in order to savor them and make them last longer.
Yesterday, at Bible study, we were discussing the selfish things we do and I have to confess the other night I only had like 15 sour patch kids left, and Shane reached his hand over asking for some too...I gave him 5! And asked if I could please have the rest to save for later (after I had eaten the whole rest of the bag myself over the last several days!) I did feel selfish and childish...I can always buy more sour patch kids, and I should have enough self-control to not need a 'fix', and be able to go a few days without them, if that means letting my husband have as many as he wants.
So after Bible study, I went to Wal-Mart (b/c I needed more sour patch kids, among other things, like diapers, etc.) and I happened upon the bag below!

If you can't read the bag...it says it weighs 1.9 lbs!!!

Bella was in heaven with the small of the bag alone (she also loves sour patch kids...but rarely gets one...selfish me again!)
Anyway, I took this picture so you can see how big the bag is relative to Bella.

And look at all that 'sour patch kid goodness' inside!

Anyway, last night I apologized to my husband (he forgave me) and told him he could have as many out of this bag as he wanted and didn't even have to ask!

I will let you know how long this bag lasts us!

Question: How do you eat your sour patch kids?
Shane eats them one at a time, but me on the other hand, have to eat two at a time, each different colors (they just don't taste as good one at a time). My favorite color combo is red and green!

And what would be a Struckman post without a picture of Emma!

So here is our girl!

Weekend Update...

The Struckpeople had a good weekend! Friday night we hosted Bible study...so we had the Harrisons, Tjebkes (including the twins Kamryn and Kason) and the Eberhards over for fellowship and supper. We finished up our study on Ecclesiastes, and are moving on to James next. It has now been 4 years that Shane and I have been apart of this monthly bible study and we really enjoy it!
Saturday, Shane went to Top Gun in the the morning, then surprised me with McDonalds breakfast! We then spent the rest of the morning hanging out as a family and Shane put together Emma's new activity jumper (pics below). Emma likes all the new stuff to look at and play with, but she doesn't last too long in it yet...she is a little young yet, and gets tired quickly. We also got our taxes done...it sure is nice to have a little deductible :) And we got Emma's baby monitor (one of the movement sensor ones) set up in her crib, but had to wait for everything to charge 15 hours to finish it up.
Sunday, we spent it as we usually do...church and small group in the morning, and then relaxed in the afternoon. Shane isn't feeling well, so hopefully he will feel better tomorrow!
Well, gotta end here, its time to feed Emma and put her to bed!
Enjoy the pics!

Emma trying out her high chair for the first time

Emma in her new activity jumper

Just a few pictures for your enjoyment (mostly the grandparents!)

Emma getting her 1st Valentine's Day gift...the Little Mermaid!
I loved this movie growing up, and had to buy it for her!

This week I actually broke out the sewing machine for the first time since Emma was born! It was fun...below is a picture of my finished project! Its a blue and green minky blanket with 6 matching burp rags...my Thursday morning moms Bible study is throwing a baby shower for a woman having a baby boy that is in need of some of support and love (we won't actually get to meet the soon-to-be mom). Since she is having a boy, I won't get to give her a diaper bag I have made (I only have girl ones on hand), but I wanted to make her something special, so I went thru my fabric and this is what I came up with!

The rest of the pictures are just some cute shots of Emma!