First we had each other, then we had you, and then we had everything!

My office schedules two annual weeks worth of vacation time every May and October and this week was my annual May vacation. Since the clock is ticking on time that Tony and I get to spend together just him and I before Emmy makes her grand entrance into our lives, I decided to surprise Tony with a night in Branson in a quaint little cabin with all the comforts of home (and some comforts that we don’t have at home like a jacuzzi and a double-head rain forest shower). Tony and I try and make it to Branson at least a couple of times a year and the trip normally includes a couple of days of roller coaster riding at Silver Dollar City but since that was obviously out of the question this trip, we decided just to take it easy in our cozy little cabin. We got Olive Garden take-out and had a feast in our beautifully appointed kitchen and I was asleep by 10:30. How’s that for romance?






I have been seeing little Emmalines everywhere these days! I recently learned that Emmaline is a family name not only on my side of the family, but on Tony’s, too! I originally picked the name Emmaline from one of my all-time favorite movies when I was about 14 years old. In “Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel”, there is a character that is a pupil in the class that Anne teaches named Emmaline and as soon as I heard that name, I fell in love with it. My Granny told me some time later that had been my Great Grandma Rouse’s first name as well. And Tony just found out a few weeks ago that his Great-Great Grandma’s name was Emmaline, too! And as Tony and I were watching the movie “The Blue Lagoon” the other day (which I hadn’t watched in AGES), guess what Brooke Shields’ name is in the move? You guessed it: Emmaline!