Picking our Battles

We are learning to pick our battles with Miss Emalyn. Something tells me she will be saying "leave me my lone" in the near future. This little girl is full of independence and is as stubborn as they come. She happens to remind me of myself, only some days I'd rather not admit that. She can be sweet as can be or she can be not so sweet.

This morning before church it was time to get dressed and Brett really wanted her to wear her Cowboy Cheerleader dress. Not what I'd normally dress her in for church, but I know it makes Brett very happy to see his little girl supporting his team. He showed her what she was going to wear and she told him no, she's wearing her pjs. I don't think she didn't like the cheerleader outfit, it's just that she was really happy with her pjs she was wearing. She chose her pjs last night and it included two shirts with her pj pants. She was really proud of her pjs and she did not want to change. I fought her tooth and nail and eventually got her pjs off and her church clothes on. Cade found it all very entertaining, by the way (Maddi was still at her sleepover party), Brett and I not so much. I declared victory in that battle and was happy.

The next battle, I chose not to fight and let Emalyn win. I tried putting white ruffled socks on her with cute little tennis shoes. She demanded her own choice in socks and her pink crocs. Here she is putting on her beloved crocs.

And look at that face! She's so proud. When Brett saw her choice in shoes/socks he said she should at least have matching socks, but I told him I'd rather send her like she was because it was obvious she chose it herself. Believe me, it was hard for me to let go and send her to church looking like this. I've always made sure my children matched and looked decent even when we aren't going anywhere for the day. This little one is going to challenge me and make me grow, I'm sure.

How can you not love this sweet face?!? I was telling Brett that I've always been interested in birth order but after adding this little one to our family, I'm even more fascinated. For one, Brett and I are different parents with her. She's just not at all like Maddi and Cade. Perhaps I just don't remember, but Maddi and Cade weren't anything like this little one. Maddi still struggles with making decisions. Oh, what a long fun journey we are in for!

Another battle we didn't even try to fight...Brett got her dressed for bed. She found her yellow shirt and her plaid pants in the dirty clothes hamper and added her floral shorts. Notice the fancy shoes to boot. She doesn't just have opinions about her clothes. She ate 3 gogurts for dinner because that's what she kept asking for.

Oh, Miss Emalyn, you make life so exciting!