Jimi and I spent the next two days in L.A. It was a much needed mini vacation. Of course we missed the kids like crazy. They called twice each day. We got them each a few gifts while we were shopping on Thursday. Jimi and I have a direct flight to Nashville at 1:20 this afternoon.
It is 8:30 in the morning and I just woke up. I was laying on my stomach and Jimi had his arm around my back. He was still asleep. I rolled on my back and adjusted myself in the bed. Jimi felt me shift and opened his eyes. He rolled on his back and I rolled on my side and rested my head on Jimi's chest. He kissed my forehead.
"Good morning beautiful" he said after he yawned.
"Good morning" I said with a smile and looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed me. I could just lay here all day like this. We laid in a comfortable silence for another ten minutes or so.
"Should we get up and go get some breakfast?" Jimi asked.
"I suppose so" I said. Then we both rolled out of bed. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top and went into the bathroom. I hopped in the shower then got ready. When I was done Jimi came in and took a quick shower. Once we were both dressed and ready, we walked down the street to a diner where they had all you can eat pancakes.
When we were done eating, we walked back to the hotel and packed up our stuff. It was around 10:30 once we got our room cleaned up. We went down to the lobby and checked out. I called a cab while Jimi was checking us out. The cab arrived and took us to the airport. We got our boarding passes and found our terminal. When it was time to board our plane, we found our seats and sat down. We buckled our seatbelts. I lifted the armrest between us and rested my head on Jimi's shoulder. As soon as the plane took off, I was asleep. I woke up when the pilot said we were going to be landing in twenty minutes. I lifted my head off of Jimi's shoulder. He had his arm around me and was also asleep. I nudged him and he woke up.
"We're going to be landing soon" I said when he was fully awake.
"Ok" he said and stretched a little.
"Are you ready to go home?" he asked.
"Yeah, I really miss the kids" I said with a giggle.
"Although this was a much needed vacation" I said and kissed him.
"I'm glad you had fun" he said with a smile. I leaned into him a little more. We sat there in a comfortable silence until the plane landed. Once it landed and pulled up to the terminal, we grabbed our carry on stuff and got off the plane. We went to baggage claim and waited for our bags. We grabbed them when they came around and headed to the car. We loaded our stuff in the back and headed home. I'm excited to go home, I've missed the kids like crazy. We pulled into the garage and unloaded the car. We brought our bags inside and were greeted at the door by Elijah. I picked him up and gave him a hug.
"Hi baby" I said and kissed the top of his head.
"I missed you guys" he said.
"We missed you too" I said. Emma walked over to us. I moved Elijah to my hip and pulled Emma in for a hug with my free arm.
"I missed you guys too" she said.
"We missed you too baby girl" I said and kissed her forehead. Elijah reached for Jimi so I handed him over. Then Emma gave Jimi a hug as well.
"Thank you so much Maggie for staying here" I said.
"Not a problem" she said. Maggie grabbed all of her stuff and I followed her to the door. I got out my check book and wrote her a check for the week and handed it to her.
"Thank you. I'll see you guys on Monday" she said.
"See you on Monday" I said and closed the door behind her. I walked back into the living room where Jimi and the kids were.
"We watched you on Ellen on Wednesday" Emma said as I sat down on the couch.
"What did you think?" I asked her.
"It was really good" she said with a smile.
"We got you guys a few things" I said and they both got excited. I pulled out their gifts from my suitcase. Jimi and I picked out a leather jacket and a sundress for Emma and got Elijah a t-shirt and a new toy. We spent the rest of the day relaxing with the kids. We ordered pizza for dinner and had a movie night.
Emma's talent show is about two weeks away and she has been practicing just about every day. Elijah's fourth birthday was last week. We had a small party for him at home to celebrate.
Jimi and I have been helping Emma out quite a bit. The one thing she needs to work on is her confidence on stage. Jimi and I came up with a really good idea to help Emma with her talent show. We're doing a set of shows with Luke this weekend. We're doing one at Bridgestone tonight and one in Knoxville tomorrow. We're sleeping on the bus tonight and in the morning, we're heading to Knoxville. We're leaving early because we have a few things we want to do while we're in town.
We talked to everyone and they all thought it would be a great idea to have her do a song at sound check and if she's up to it, bring her out on stage for 'I'm With The Band.' Before we go down to Bridgestone, we're going to talk to her about it. We figured that would be a good song to have her do with us because we have the four part harmony the entire song, so she wouldn't have any solos or anything.
Emma and Maggie are going to be done with school in about a half an hour. I went upstairs and got ready to go. Maggie is going to stay here with Elijah, and then bring him for the show after he eats dinner.
When Emma was done, she came upstairs by me. I was in the bathroom doing my makeup.
"Hey sweetie" I said when I saw her in the doorway.
"Hey" she said quietly. Then Jimi walked in.
"We want to talk to you about something" I started.
"Ok" she nodded.
"How would you feel about helping us out with sound check today?" I asked.
"What would I be doing?"
"Singing" Jimi said.
"Really?" She asked with a smile.
"Really" I said. I finished up my makeup and walked into the bedroom. The three of us sat on the bed.
"We also wanted to know if you would want to sing with us on stage tonight" I asked, hoping she would say yes.
"Like, during your show?" she asked surprised and Jimi and I nodded.
"What song?" she asked quietly.
"I'm With The Band" Jimi said.
"So, what do you think?" I asked. Emma sat there for a minute.
"Sure. I'll do it" she said with a smile.
"You'll be amazing. And I think it will help with your confidence on stage" I said and gave her a hug.
"Why don't you go get ready, we have to leave at 2:00" I said and she nodded. She walked out of our room and down the hall to her room.
Jimi and I went downstairs by Elijah and Maggie to wait for Emma to be done getting ready. About a half an hour later, I heard her yelling from the top of the stairs.
"Mama! Can you help me find something to wear?!" she yelled.
"I'll be right up!" I called and stood up off the couch. I headed up to Emma's room and walked in. There were clothes all over the floor and on the bed.
"What's going on in here?" I asked with a laugh.
"I have nothing to wear for tonight. This is my first time in front of an audience like this and my outfit has to look good. I have nothing that is meant to be worn on a stage." She said defeated and sat on her bed. Even though I disagree about her having nothing to wear, I go through the same thing all the time when I can't find the right outfit to wear.
"I think I might have something you could wear" I said. She looked up at me with a smile. Emma and I are about the same size and she is always raiding my closet anyways. We walked down to mine and Jimi's room. I opened my closet door and we walked in. I grabbed a pair of black jeans with a gold pattern on them. Then I found a shear black tank top with gold and silver studs on the neck line. She went into the bathroom and got dressed. I sat on the bed and waited for her to come out. She opened the bathroom door and came out.
"You look amazing" I said.
"You're just saying that because you're my mom" she said with a smile and rolled her eyes.
"Let's find you some shoes" I said. We walked back to the closet. I found her a pair of black boots that came up to the mid-calf. She slid them on and it pulled the outfit together.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"Beautiful" I said and she smiled. Then we went downstairs by Jimi, Elijah and Maggie. They were sitting at the kitchen table playing Candy Land.
"Are you two ready to go?" Jimi asked when we walked into the kitchen.
"Yep" Emma said.
"What time do you want me to bring Elijah by?" Maggie asked.
"You can bring him by after you guys have dinner." I said.
"Alright, sounds good" Maggie said.
"We'll see you in a little bit. I love you" I said to Elijah and kissed the top of his head.
"I love you too" he said. Then we got in the car and headed to the arena.
We got there and parked the car in the back of the arena. We found our tour bus and loaded our bags for tonight and tomorrow. Then we walked inside with everything we would need for tonight. We got Emma some ear monitors and a mic. Everyone else grabbed their monitors and mics and we went out to the stage. We sang through two songs and got everything adjusted. Then we did 'I'm With The Band' and brought Emma out. She looked like she was having a blast. When we were done we went back to the dressing room to get ready for the show. It was almost 5:30 and the show starts at 7:30. Maggie texted me and said that her and Elijah were on their way. We had our hair stylists here and we were getting our hair done. Emma was loving every bit of this. While our hair was getting done, so was our makeup. About forty-five minutes later, Maggie and Elijah walked in.
We hung out backstage until the show started. The kids watched from the side of the stage like they usually do. About halfway through the show, it was time to do 'I'm With The Band' So I started to introduce Emma.
"For this next song, we're going to bring a very special little girl out here to help us out. Emma, sweetie come on out here" I said and looked over at her. Someone handed her, her mic. She took a deep breath and walked out by us. Phillip gave her a high five, Kimberly gave her a hug. Jimi and I were standing next to each and she walked over to us. We both wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Then the music started playing and we started singing. I could tell Emma was nervous, but she warmed up to the crowd right away. As soon as she warmed up, she looked like she was right where she was supposed to be. She was loving every minute of it.
When the song was over, Jimi and I gave her a hug. Then she walked off the stage and we finished up our set. When we were done, we met Emma at the side of the stage.
"You did so good baby" I said and wrapped my arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.
"Thanks" She said with a smile.
"Good job kiddo" Phillip said. Then Jimi came over and picked her up from behind and spun her in a circle.
"We are so proud of you" he said and she smiled. Then we watched Luke's set. When it was done, we all walked to the dressing room and grabbed our stuff and headed out to the bus to get ready for bed.
Emma's talent show is tomorrow. I sent in a copy of her song last week and they sent an email and said it was all good to go. I can tell Emma is getting nervous, but she doesn't say anything. Today, since we have the day off from the studio, I'm going to take her shopping for a new outfit to wear. We were in her room yesterday trying to pick out what she is going to wear for the talent show and she was all upset that she had nothing to wear for a performance. Hopefully a little shopping will put her in a better mood.
It is a little after 8:30 this morning and I saw Emma's door open slightly. I knocked on it lightly and waited for her to respond.
"Can I come in sweetie?" I asked softly.
"Yeah" she said. I walked in and saw laying on her bed watching TV. I went over to her bed and she scooted over for me to sit down. I sat down with my back against her headboard and my feet on her bed. She scooted closer to me and rested her head on the front of my shoulder and wrapped her arm around my stomach. I wrapped my arm around her back and put my hand on her forearm. I kissed her forehead and gently ran my hand up and down her arm. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching the TV before I talked to her about going shopping.
"So I was thinking that we could do a little shopping today and find you a new outfit to wear for tomorrow. How does that sound?" I asked her. She picked up her head and smiled at me.
"Good" she said and laid her head back down on my shoulder. We sat there for a while. I was enjoying this time with my little girl. About a half an hour later, I could hear Jimi and Elijah wandering around upstairs, no doubt looking for me. Elijah peeked his head into Emma's room.
"Mama" he said excitedly and ran into the room.
"Whatcha guys doing?" he asked as he climbed up on the bed.
"We're watching TV" Emma said.
"Can I watch too?" he asked and made himself comfortable in my lap.
"Sure" Emma said. Emma had a 'Pretty Little Liars' marathon on and I knew Elijah wouldn't be in here for very long because he would get bored. Jimi stood in the doorway.
"Do you guys want anything for breakfast?" he asked.
"Can we have chocolate chip pancakes?" Emma asked.
"Sure" Jimi said.
"Can I help?" Elijah asked.
"You sure can, bud" he said. Elijah climbed down off my lap and followed Jimi down to the kitchen. Emma and I stayed up here until breakfast was ready.
After we ate breakfast, Emma and I got ready for our shopping day. Once we were ready we headed to the mall. We walked around in a Emma's favorite stores, but were unsuccessful. We walked around in Macy's for a while and we finally found a few things for her to try on. We found a fitting room and Emma walked in. I waited outside for her. She came out in the first outfit to show me.
"I don't think I like this one" she said.
"I don't think I do either" I said and she walked back into the fitting room. A few minutes later she came back out in a different outfit. The pants were cute, but I wasn't a fan of the shirt and she agreed. The pants were burgundy skinny jeans with zipper pockets. They weren't jean material and they had a slight shine to them as well. She had one more outfit to try on. I thought the shirt was cute. It was a ivory lace tank top and went better with the burgundy pants that we both liked.
"Sweetie, why don't you go put on the other pair of pants and keep this shirt on" I said and she nodded. She came back out wearing the other pair of pants.
"I like this one a lot" I said.
"I do too" she said with a smile.
"Your black leather jacket would go with this too if you wanted to wear it" I suggested.
"Yeah, and I could wear those black heals with the fringes on the top that I got for Christmas" she added and I nodded.
"So did we find the one?" I asked.
"I think so" she said.
"Go get changed and we'll check out" I said and she nodded. She walked back into her fitting room. She came back out a few minutes later and put the other clothes we weren't getting on the rack outside of the fitting rooms. We looked around a little more before checking out and I ended up finding myself a new pair of jeans. We decided to check and go to lunch.
After lunch we headed home because Emma wanted to run through her song a few times. We got home and put our leftovers from lunch in the fridge. Then we went downstairs and ran through her song a few times. I think she's ready, but she keeps on freaking out about it. She's been practicing for the past three months. She's definitely ready.
The next morning Elijah woke me up at 6:45. I decided to let Jimi sleep in a little bit. I made a pot of coffee and got Elijah a bowl of cereal. At 7:15 Jimi came downstairs and got himself a cup of coffee.
"What time do we have to have Emma at the theater?" he asked.
"Noon" I said and he nodded. Around 8:00, Emma came downstairs.
"What would you like for breakfast sweetie?" I asked.
"Can I have a bagel?" she asked.
"Sure" I said and popped her bagel in the toaster. Elijah was done eating and Jimi offered to get him ready for the day. When Emma was done eating, she went upstairs and showered and put on some sweats. When she was done I helped her do her hair and makeup. When I was done we walked over to her room. She grabbed her new outfit, leather jacket and shoes and walked into her bathroom. I sat on her bed and waited for her to come out. She walked out and she looked so grown up.
"How do I look?" she asked and turned in a circle.
"You look amazing sweetie" I said with a smile and the smile on her face grew even bigger. We went downstairs by Jimi and Elijah.
Jimi was sitting on the couch and Elijah was playing with his cars on the coffee table. Jimi turned around when he heard us coming down the stairs. He looked at Emma as she walked down. He look surprised.
"What do you think, babe?" I asked.
"Wow... Em, you look great" he said.
"Thanks" she said. Emma walked into the kitchen and got herself some water before we left.
"She's not a little girl anymore" I said as I sat next to him.
"No, she's not" he said.
"Emma, we should probably get going" I said when I looked at my phone and she nodded. I got Elijah in the car. Once everyone was in, we headed to the theater. We got there and checked Emma in backstage. Emma found Gracie and her band right away and was talking with them. We saw Faith and Tim back there as well. We talked to them for a few minutes. Elijah was getting antsy, so Jimi took him to find some seats and Tim went with. Faith and I stayed back here with the girls until the show started. They had to find enough seats for the Sweets and Schlapmans as well. I did some warmups with Emma before I went to find my seat.
"Good luck, baby. You're going to do amazing" I said and gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head.
"Thanks Mama" she said. Then Faith and I went to go find our seats.
The show started at 1:00. The Bands competition went first. We saw Gracie and her band go and they did an amazing job. The bands competition last about two and a half hours. Then there was an intermission. The solo competition started at 4:30. Emma was scheduled to go at 5:45, so we still had some time before she performed. The show was scheduled to end at 6:30 and awards were going to start at 7:00.
Finally, Emma was up next. She walked out on stage. If she was nervous, she didn't show it.
"It's Emma" Elijah said excitedly.
"It is" Jimi said.
The music for 'Inside Your Heaven' started playing. She started the first verse and was nailing every bit of it. She looked comfortable on stage. She walked around the stage and had the crowed engaged in her performance. She looked like she was meant to be up there. When the bridge of the song came, it gave everyone goosebumps. The one thing Emma was nervous about, was that she wasn't going to be able to hold the long note. When she hit that note, she nailed it. She finished the song and walked off the stage.
When the show was over, Jimi and I went to find Emma. Elijah was pretty occupied with Daisy and Penelopi so we left him with everyone else.
We finally found Emma. She was talking to another woman. Emma briefly looked over at us. She looked like she didn't want to talk with the woman. She reminded me of someone, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She was average height with brown hair that was just a little darker than Emma's. It went just passed her shoulders. We approached Emma, but were stopped in our tracks when the woman said something to Emma that alarmed us.
"I can't believe I finally get to meet you. I'm your mother."