A Happy Marriage

I started this blog for my children. I do like to use it as a scrapbook, but I also intended this blog as a way for my children to really know their mom. I know so many people who have lost their parents and would treasure having their mothers' words and ideas on paper. So, in honor of my third wedding anniversary, here is my advice to my children on how to have a happy marriage.

If you were a fly on the wall in our home, you would see that Joey and I are truly happy. Of course, we occasionally disagree or get irriated with one another, but I am so thankful to be his wife. Yes, I know that we are only three years into this marriage thing. We have a long way to go, but I also know that I have never had one day of doubt about my choice to become Emily Glasgow. So, to my children, here is my advice on how to have a happy marriage. These are not in any order, except for number 1 is the most important.

1. Marry a Christian. Without that, you will never have the marriage that you want. Make sure that your family is growing in Christ, involved in a church, and giving your money, time, and talents to the Lord.

2. Have a joint bank account. It makes you feel like a team and there are not any secrets. I know so many couples who fight over finances. Your dad and I do not because we are both involved with the money in our house. I don't like when one person is in charge of the money. I like working together.

3. Make sure that your dating and engagement times are long enough--at least a year, but I would prefer 2:) Why rush such a big decision? Sure, it may work out if you meet someone, get engaged, and marry within 6 months. I know some very happy couples who have gone that route, but the chances are not as great. You want to see your potential spouse through every season of life. Does she hate football season but you love it? Does he have totally different ideas on what a family Christmas celebration should look like? These are things that may seem like no big deal, but could ultimately create tension. Once you have seen them, you can make the decision if they are deal breakers or not.

4. Discuss the BIG things before you even get serious in a dating relationship. This seems weird, but it is so important. I'm not talking about the first date, but you should know the answers to deep questions by at least the 5th date. That way, you are not too emotionally invested if you see red flags. I remember your dad and I talking about how we wanted to educate our children (big topic) on the second date. We also discussed faith, any debt, past relationships, expectations out of marriage, etc. very early on.

5. Compliment your spouse frequently. I think your dad is handsome, brilliant, and a wonderful father. I tell him so daily. I also thank him for what he does for our family daily. I think that we often say uplifting things to our friends but overlook and take for granted the people who mean the most to us. It may just be in a text, but I always want your dad to know what he means to our family and to me. Do this for your spouse--even on the days he/she is on your nerves.

6. Think of things that you can do to make his/her day better. It doesn't have to be big, but always be mindful of your spouse and realize that small things make someone feel special. Do things "just because." Your dad just booked me a day at the spa for no reason. A week later, it still makes me smile just thinking about how sweet that was. This week, your dad mentioned that he always drank Barq's root beer as a little boy when we were on a trip. So, I made sure to pick some up for him the next time that I went to the store. Little things--but things that show your spouse that you listen and care are so important.

7. Sons, send your wives flowers even if they tell you not to waste the money on them. Trust me, they still want them!

8. Never walk down the aisle to someone who is "good enough." Walk down the aisle thinking, "Wow, I can't believe that this person is marrying me!"

Our Weekend

Our friends, Jon and Christy, came from Wisconsin to visit this weekend. If you came to our wedding, then you may remember them. Jon was one of the ministers who married us, and Christy was the singer. We do not get to see them very often, so we were very excited!

Christy and Andrew reading:
Several friends came over to see Jon and Christy on Saturday night.

On Sunday, we all went to church together. Andrew read while he waited on everyone to finish getting dressed.

After church, we went to Cypress Inn. Andrew sat in the worst high chair. He was able to kick it and raise the tray over his head.

After lunch, Andrew took a 3 hour nap! Then, our family spent a long time playing outside.

Blowing bubbles with Da-da:

He does NOT like touching the grass. He goes out of his way to avoid it. Look how he is lifting his leg so that nothing will touch the grass. He touched it once and made a terrible face.

Classic Andrew face-I love his eyebrows!

Our sweet buddy:

My Cute Teether

Emily Glasgow
Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

Jacob/Caroline's Ultrasounds

Here are the ultrasounds from our appointment this week. In these pictures. J/C is 20 weeks and 2 days. Unless something unexpected happens, we will not have anymore ultrasounds with this baby. With Andrew. I had some issues with the placenta being too low. Because of that, we had a lot of ultrasounds to check Andrew. I am glad that we do not have any complications with this pregnancy so far, but it is sad that Andrew has 6 or 7 ultrasounds in his baby book, and this baby will only have 2.

This baby acted exactly like Andrew during the ultrasound. J/C had his/her legs up to his/her head and did not want to move very much. Maybe we will have another laid back, easy baby! Look out our precious little one. I will see you again in November!

Enhanced

A lot of people ask me where I buy Andrew's clothes. If he is wearing something really cute, it came from one of two places--his grandmommy or Carolyn Weldon. Carolyn is the owner of Enhanced. She can make ANYTHING, and you will not find better prices in town. I wanted to share some of the things that she has made for Andrew recently because I know many of my readers are young moms and would probably love to use her. She works out of her home and you meet with her one on one, pick your fabrics, and talk about what you want. You won't get better service than that! Also, she will give you ideas if you are like me and not very creative. A lot of times, I will just look around her house at what she is making for other people and copy those ideas:)

If you are my facebook friend, Enhanced is one of the things that I "like."
Her website is http://www.enhancedsewing.com/
You will find Carolyn's email and phone number on that site.
Here are some things for Andrew. I realize now that I probably should have ironed them before the pictures! Double click to make them larger.

The next three things are for our upcoming beach trip.

She has a ton of ideas for football season!

If you know Andrew, then you know that he loves dinosaurs!

She can do cute big brother/sister outfits or coordinating outfits for all of your children.

Happy Da-da Day

In our house, we didn't celebrate Fathers' Day. We celebrated Da-da Day! Here are Joey's presents. Notice my little helper's hands! Because his Da-da loves it so much, Andrew wore camo for the celebration.

Ralph had to thank his dad for all that he does.

Da-da with both of his boys:

One of Joey's favorite presents was a professional picture of Andrew.

We are blessed to have such a wonderful Da-da. I'm thankful that my children get to have Joey as a father!

Baby #2 Update and NAMES

We went to the doctor today and had an ultrasound. The ultrasound actually took quite a long time because everything on the baby was checked. We saw the four chambers of his/her heart, all organs, the blood flow from the cord to the baby, and watched him/her move. His/her heartrate was 162 beats per minute. He/she weighed 14 ounces. Everything looked perfect. I need to scan the pictures and post them. The ultrasound technician also wrote down the sex of the baby and sealed the paper in an envelope. I will take the envelope to my friend tomorrow who is going to monogram the "going home" outfit. It is killing me not to know what we are having! So, here are the names:

Jacob Keith Glasgow (will be called Jacob)

Initials are the same as his dad-Joey Keith Glasgow

Caroline Marie Glasgow (will be called Caroline)

Named after our mothers

Joey's mom-Judy CAROL

My mom-Karen MARIE

Biloxi

We went to Biloxi this past weekend to spend some time with family.

Debbie and David:
Andrew swimming with Jan:

Andrew gave his Fathers' Day card to Paw Paw.

Andrew, Joey, and Cole:

David, Andrew and Holly:

We had a "Da-Da Day" celebration for Joey, but I am having trouble finding those pictures for some reason. I will post them if I find them.

Shopping at Target

This is what happens when you eat too many of your mom's pancakes at IHOP!

First Time in a Hotel

Emily Glasgow
Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

3 years of marriage~~10 months of Andrew

Joey and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on June 14th. Honestly, it feels like we have been married a lot longer than 3 years. We decided that we would just get each other cards. He did bring me some pretty flowers that day, though. I took this close up picture of the flowers because the table that they were sitting on was messy. If you know me, this is not a surprise to you! Instead of cleaning up the table, I just hit the zoom button:) Then, I looked at the mess and kind of liked it. It shows exactly where we are in life on our third anniversary. So, this is what my table really looked like! I was working on Andrew's 10 month sign, and Joey had just finished feeding him supper so his trays were still out. On our next anniversary, we will have 2 so I will probably have to use my zoom again!

On June 15th, Andrew turned 10 months old.

I remember the first time that he discovered Donald sitting next to him in his monthly pictures, I thought--uh oh, this is going to be bad.

Well, he has discovered something else...

After his pictures, Joey put him to bed. Look how long he is getting. He loves to prop his feet up like that on the side of all of our chairs.

Andrew at 10 months:

He is still a joy and what we consider to be an "easy baby." Again, both of us did not have much experience with babies and therefore not much to compare, but Andrew seems to be easy to us. He sleeps about 12 hours a night, and normally takes 1 long (2 hour nap) and 1 short (less than 1 hour) nap during the day. He LOVES to eat. I have only found one thing that he doesn't like--asparagus. He also has 3 teeth now!

One of his very favorite things in the whole world to do is listen to a story. We read to him constantly. He is able to turn the page when asked. It is so cute to watch. I say, "Turn the page, please" and he does it correctly almost every time. He also has learned to clap this week. I began clapping for him during meal times when he would pick up his own food and eat it. Now, he expects to be clapped for after each bite. This may not have been my wisest move. He will also (usually) clap on command. Saying "clap, clap, clap" or "Yay, Andrew!" generally makes him squeal and clap. His favorite game of the moment is "Where's Andrew?" This will sound ridiculous, but Andrew thinks that it is hilarious when we act like we have lost him, search for him, and then act absolutely shocked that he is sitting right in front of us. Joey kissing his neck is also almost always a guaranteed laugh.

Andrew does not crawl or pull up yet. He is a master roller, though. Joey and I both feel that he will do these things when he is ready. We give him plenty of time on the floor to strengthen his muscles and enjoy the fact that we do not have to completely babyproof our house yet!

Other Andrew-isms at 10 months:

-He wants to hold the spoon when we feed him. We just give him his own spoon to hold because it is easier and neater.

-As we dress him, he tries to undress himself. Once we snap the outfits, we have won. Sometimes, he is able to remove a onesie before we can snap it. He then laughs at us.

-He laughs at us when we tell him "no, no." This could be a problem!

-He is very social and enjoys being around other babies.

-When he gets very excited, he raises both arms (like he is about to "flap his wings") and does a little sqeal. Certain things normally cause this--when he sees me open his yogurt, when I pull out a book to read, when we get to his daycare.

-I would still consider him a "Daddy's boy." I have no doubt that Andrew loves me, but my boys have a crazy connection. He probably says "Mama" 4-5 times a day. He says "Da-Da" about 75 times. I told my mom today that Andrew's first sentences will be: "Dada loves you." or "Dada is at work." Those are always the two things that I tell Andrew when he asks for Joey. If Joey and I are both in the room, Andrew wants to be with Joey. It would hurt my feelings if it wasn't so sweet to watch them together.

-He still loves playing with his concrete truck.

-He likes to pull noses, ears and hair. These actions normally warrant a "no, no." to which he laughs.

-I have started planning his first birthday party---very strange feeling!

Happy 10 months! We love you, buddy!