Trevor and Kristi

Post for the Year

2012-01-26T23:50:00.002-07:00

Time to play some major catch up. Life has been busy and blogging seems to be the last thing on my list. It's difficult to do when the kids are awake and I don't have the energy or the patience after they go to sleep. It seems that uploading pictures onto Blogger takes FOREVER. So here is a major picture overload of the last few months.

Trevor and Trenton's Birthday

Family Portraits (by Randi!)

My Birthday

Emily being cute at Judeapalooza

Trevor's work party at Fiesta Fun

Fun times at Staheli Farm

Halloween

We got a play kitchen from my friend and put it outside before moved it inside. Emily couldn't wait and wanted to play with it immediately.

Annie being sad.

Thanksgiving

Trevor had to work so we spent the day with my brother's family and had a late dinner when Trevor got off. It was lots of fun just hanging out.

My apple pie that was DELICIOUS!

When Emily gets really excited she laughs like this. Everyone always thinks she is crying. This was my sister's birthday while she was blowing out the candles.

Santa Clause

Lighting the Christmas Lights at the Temple

My entire family was in town for Christmas. It was lots of fun to spend time with everyone and difficult to try to spread our time evenly between Trevor's family and my family, but I think we made it work. Besides just spending time together, we attended my niece's (the oldest of the cousins) baptism and passed around the flu bug.

Annie and her cousin Britton. Britton is 1 month younger than Annie.

Our New Years was very relaxing. We went to my older brother's house and just hung out with their family and my little brother.

Ray and Trevor found the old Nintendo system that they used to spend hours playing when we were dating. Trevor would come visit me in Rexburg and they would play while I went to class and Sarah was at work. So silly!

Emily and Annie having a tea party. Super Cute! They play together so well now. It is so much fun!

A few weeks ago my grandpa got remarried so we all headed up north to attend the wedding. Another opportunity to see my parents! It was a quick trip, but really enjoyable. After the wedding we had a family ice cream social.

My dad, Kailey (Kathryn's youngest), and Kathryn (my sister)

Kathryn and Alan (my youngest brother)

Mi Madre

Trevor and Annie

Kassidy (Kathryn's oldest)

Emily enjoying her 4th or 5th bowl of ice cream

Sarah (sister-in-law) and Rylee (Ray and Sarah's youngest)

These other pictures are just cute ones of the girls. They are sisters for sure. Loving each other one minute and fighting the next.

Emily in time out/Annie on her way to bug her

Playing in their room

Annie: Sitting up, First haircut, and Crawling

2011-09-28T14:53:00.000-06:00

Annie learned to sit up (and stay sitting) a few weeks ago. It is wonderful!

Annie got her first hair cut last week. She had so much hair when she was born, but it has thinned out a lot. She had a patch of long hair on the top and a few in the back that just didn't match the rest so I cut them off. You can't really tell in the pictures, but it looks a lot better. Hopefully it will thicken up and grow longer soon!

Before

All the hair

After

Annie has been mobile for over a month now. She rolls and pivots all over the room. Last week she finally learned to crawl (scoot). She can move forward now! She is all over the place now and has gotten much faster since she started. Now she can get to wherever she wants. Luckily, she still hasn't ventured from room to room.

Emily: Big Girls, Bunk Beds, Bubbles, and Big Gulps

2011-09-28T14:18:00.001-06:00

Emily is potty trained! Hooray! We have been "dabbling" in potty training for a few months now. We got a potty and she would use it when she wanted to and I would give her a treat. But we were still in diapers and didn't force the issue. A few weeks ago, she woke up in the middle of her nap to go potty. So after that, I put underwear on her. I told her that she was wearing "big girl pants" and that she couldn't pee or poop in them. Since then, she calls her underwear her "Big Girls." We think it's pretty funny. We had about 4 or 5 days of frustration, sometimes she would go in the potty and sometimes she would tell me she had to go potty and then pee in her pants. I was hating potty training by Day 2. Then one day, she just stopped having accidents. Now we love potty training. We have moved from the small potty to the regular potty and she likes to "Go potty self" (Go potty by myself) and doesn't want any help. It's fabulous!

We recently bought some bunk beds off Craigslist. It's something we are going to need in the future so I have been keeping my eyes open for the perfect find. I finally found it. We got this super cute set (with mattresses) for a great deal. We love the way their room looks now!

Two Stinkbugs

This is as far as she has climbed so far. She started out only going about 2 steps up, then 3, then 4, etc. Every time she gets as far as she is going to go and then says "I'm going to fall" and then climbs down.

She is CRAZY about bubbles. She carries them all over the house all day long.

Sneaking a sip of Dad's "juice." She loves this stuff. We can't give her just one sip. Once she starts, she wants the whole thing. We rarely let her have any just to avoid this problem

Labor Day

2011-09-28T13:47:00.004-06:00

Labor Day was so relaxing. Trevor had to work a short shift in the morning. We had a picnic at the park with the cousins. It was amazing weather and so fun. We went to the "Spinny Park" and Emily had so much fun!

After Trevor got off work we headed up to his grandparent's cabin for a cookout.

I shoved the cupcake in Emily's face. She was not happy about it. Ha ha ha.

We had a great time riding 4-wheelers and swing leaping. I went swing leaping for the first time and enjoyed it. I then tried to swing leap with Emily and nearly fell off!!! Never again (at least not with Emily!). Such a fun Labor Day!

Grandpa holding all the babies.

Fair Parade

2011-08-18T14:57:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, we went to the parade for the county fair. We had gone to the Pioneer Day parade by our house and Trevor said Emily really enjoyed it (I was in the parade with our Primary float). This parade was a little bigger, but not much. It went down Tabernacle and we had a great spot. It was really fun and Emily really enjoyed getting LOTS of candy.

Emily and her cousin Kimberly watching the Shriner cars

Parade Spectators

Back: Kailey, Trevor, and Annie

Front: Kassidy, Kyler, Kathryn, Kimberly, Emily

Emily waving to the princesses

The parade ended at 10 a.m. and it was starting to get hot. We had parked our car in the splash pad parking lot and decided to let the kids cool off before heading home. I keep the girl's swimsuits in the trunk of the car so we are always ready whenever a swimming opportunity arises!

Trevor, Annie, and Kimberly

(Kimmi is pinching Annie's chubby cheeks)

Annie was super tired, but still so smiley!

The sun got in Annie's eyes

We had to wake up early to get to the parade (we are not morning people), but I'm so glad we did. It turned out to be such a fun day!

New Posts

2011-08-12T22:47:00.004-06:00

There are 6 new posts. Scroll down to see!

Solids

2011-08-12T22:44:00.000-06:00

Annie started eating solids yesterday. We started with rice cereal. She did really well and barely spit any out. As with everything, this was really easy with Annie.

Ready to begin!

Ready to help.

The first bite.

Emily loves to help feed Annie. She is pretty good at it as long as she doesn't stick the spoon all the way down Annie's throat.

"Big bite, Annie!"

"Good job, Annie!"

Salt Lake

2011-08-12T22:29:00.001-06:00

Trevor had meetings for work this week so we headed up to Salt Lake. His meetings were on Tuesday and Wednesday so we drove up Monday night. Right before Cedar City, our car started struggling to get up the hill. We didn't want to risk getting stranded in the middle of nowhere so we left our car at my uncle's house and rented a car. We finally made it to Salt Lake late Monday night.

On Tuesday, Trevor had meetings so I went with the girls to the church museums by Temple Square. I love the museums and Visitor's Centers at Temple Square but we spent most of our time at the children's exhibit in the Church Museum. It was a really neat exhibit. Emily is a little young to really enjoy it, but she had a good time playing on Nephi's boat and reading books in the Quilt exhibit. She just didn't want to stay for very long. We then met up with my friend that works downtown and had a delicious lunch at Hagermann's. Then somehow on our way back to the car, we lost one of Emily's shoe. I hate losing things!

Poor little Annie was not having the best time. She had a fever all day and didn't want to eat. She just was not herself and wouldn't smile at anyone and was really fussy. I don't know if she is teething or came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease that seems to be going around. It was so strange. I just wished she could've told me what was wrong. Luckily, she is all better now and is as happy as a camper again!

Eating at Winger's for dinner on Tuesdayn night

Annie wanted to chew on everything so we gave her the binkie.

Trevor was trying to cheer Annie up...or maybe he was just really hungry.

Emily got her own drink so she was happy!

On Wednesday, we went to Ikea and got a few things. Their kid section is my favorite! Then we went and played with my aunt and her kids on the playground at Arctic Circle. Did you know they give away mini ice cream cones for free! It was awesome! So fun.

Wednesday night we headed home. We returned our rental car and picked up Pedro (my car). We didn't have any problems getting home so hopefully it's not anything major and something that Trevor can easily fix himself (he thinks it is the fuel pump). But we still had a nice mini vacation.

Summer Camping

2011-08-12T22:08:00.001-06:00

We finally were able to go camping this summer. We were going to go to Kolob, then Yankee Meadows, then Pine Valley, and finally ended up at our regular spot at Oak Grove.

Nap Time

Eating treats

We went with my brother and his family and had a great time. The weather was perfect. So cool and a nice escape from the heat. It got colder than expected at night, but not too cold. We had yummy dutch oven potatoes and chicken and made smores. A great camping trip! Minus the rattlesnake that Ray's family saw on their hike, luckily it was dead, but still super scary!!! Fun times!

Lagoon

2011-08-12T21:53:00.002-06:00

Last month we went to Lagoon. Trevor's work has their store party there every year. We went once when we were first married. We decided it might be fun to take Emily so we went this year.

Can you tell if she is enjoying herself?

She's not. I think she was telling me she wanted to get off in this picture.

It was really hot.

This was the only ride Emily enjoyed. The train ride was fun, but it was 1 of only 4 rides that we could all go on. We also went on the Merry-go-Round and she hated it. Either we were too tall or she was too short to go on all the other rides. She hated going on the kiddie rides because we couldn't go with her. She only went on 2. I tried to get her to go on others but she just cried so I didn't make her. After lunch, both the girls took a nap in their strollers, so Trevor and I did "baby swap" and rode a few roller coasters. They were ok. It's hard to enjoy Lagoon once you've been to Disneyland.

We left the park around 5:30 and headed home. I was glad we hadn't spent that much money on our tickets; we got a discounted price because it was the store party. It was a good test run for Disneyland. We know Emily would not enjoy herself and would be happier if we left her home. Live and learn.

Emily

2011-08-12T21:39:00.000-06:00

Emily is turning into such a big girl. She is 27 months. Her language has just exploded in the last few months. She now says 4-5 word sentences and loves to read her books. However, she is so shy that she will barely utter a word to other people. She is a great little helper and likes to mimic Mom all the time.

She got this baby doll for her birthday (from Annie) and likes to pretend to feed her. She calls the baby Annie. Here the baby is sitting in Emily's booster seat to eat, but right after this she pretended to feed her just like Mom feeds Annie. It was pretty funny.

While we were on vacation Emily got to play on one of these Little Tikes slides at my friends' house and at my aunt's house. She LOVED it. So I searched Craigslist and KSL until I found one. I got this for $35!!! She plays on it nearly everyday. I love it because Emily is quite clumsy and this keeps me from having a heart attack.

Emily loves to wear her sunglasses...even while eating dinner.

Emily loves to help. She is helping me bring in the groceries.

Emily loves to go swimming. She calls her swimsuit a "swim-swim." She always wants to go swimming. We love to go to the splash pad and to my sister's house (she has an above ground pool). We just bought her some floaties and she is thrilled. She thinks she can swim now. We went swimming at a hotel pool this week and all she wanted to do was jump in and not let us catch her. Trevor would have to wait until after she jumped to go rescue her. She kept saying, "No, no. I'm jumping." Swimming lessons are a must next summer.

Annie

2011-08-12T21:13:00.002-06:00

This post is all about Annie. Annie is 6 months old now and is such a joy to have in our family. The girl is never unhappy. We are always amazed at how easy going she is. She smiles at everyone and loves to laugh. She is SUPER ticklish until she gets the hiccups and then she is done. It's pretty fun to get her going.

June 1

I found her tickle spot. So fun!

June 29

Bath Time

Annie FINALLY started sleeping without being swaddled. It was getting to be really hard to swaddle a 4 month old baby. She was just getting too strong and would escape. I double swaddled her to keep her from escaping and waking up, but I felt bad because it is so hot during the summer. We left our good swaddling blanket at my sister's in Salt Lake when we got back from our trip and had to use another blanket. When she woke up from escaping, I let her cry for a bit and then she fell back asleep. Since then we have been swaddle-free. Hooray!

June 29

As soon as Annie started sleeping unswaddled, she started sleeping on her side because she could finally move! Within a few days, she learned how to roll over onto her belly and that is how she sleeps now.

July 7
Rolling over onto her belly! She just rolled over the other way for the first time today. She is all over the place.

July 29
Potato Head Annie

August 2
Annie is really close to sitting up by herself without falling over.

August 3
You can't tell, but she doesn't really like this. She's only smiling because she is Annie!

August 11

Annie really is such a great baby. She now sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2-3 naps during the day. She is Emily's favorite person and Emily is her favorite person. They love to play together and smile and laugh with each other. We love our Annie!

Busy Summer

2011-08-02T23:33:00.006-06:00

It has been FOREVER since I have blogged. I'm sorry. We've been busy. Hope you're interested to find out what we've been up to!

Right before Memorial Day, I got introduced to Pinterest and got hooked. I found all these cute ideas for Memorial Day and Independence Day Parties, so I told my sister-in-law Randi that we needed to have a party. This was only a fraction of the things I wanted to do, but I'm just a beginner at this party throwing stuff. I was pleased with everything. We had great food and enjoyed lovely weather! After dinner, we played croquet on the front lawn and I won!!! Such a fabulous day!

The custard I tried to make didn't turn out how it was supposed to, but it wasn't too bad. Now I want to try cheesecake!

These fruit kabobs turned out so cute and were very tasty! I also discovered that I actually like blueberries!

Emily LOVES watermelon. This was probably her 4th piece.

Annie was happy and cute, as usual!

My nephew Jude.

Emily wanted to play croquet, too.

Emily playing in her tent and tunnel.

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In June, we went to Oregon for my youngest brother's mission homecoming. All of my siblings came too so everyone was there. It was crazy and busy, but we had a good time.

Cousins Britton and Annie. Britton is a month younger than Annie but he is a little bigger.

My brother Alan got home from his mission a few days after we all arrived. Almost all of us drove to the airport to pick him up. His plane was a little early and we were a little late so we got to the airport just as he was walking out of security. Good thing this airport was small. He was a little overwhelmed by everyone and everything, especially all the kids.

There were 4 babies born while he was gone (he left right after Emily was born). Each sibling had a new baby while he was on his mission.

The Miller kids

Alan and all the nieces and nephews.

He was a little uncomfortable holding the babies because I guess missionaries are not allowed to hold babies. I still made him hold the babies.

There were too many of us (22 people total) to stay in my parents house so my brother's family and my family stayed at the Shilo and the Embarcadero. We had amazing views and they cleaned our rooms for us!

My sister-in-law and I went shopping one day with all our kids. Everyone survived.

We went to the tide pools by the lighthouse. Emily thought it was pretty neat.

Touching a starfish.

We were able to go to the beach a few times while we were there. My mom sent us with a bucket and shovel to keep Emily entertained.

The bucket and shovel kept Trevor entertained.

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After our trip to Oregon, we flew back into Salt Lake. Trevor headed home and I hitched a ride with my sister-in-law, Sarah, to Eastern Idaho. I stayed with my friends while she visited her parents. It was so much fun and I'm so glad I was able to go. It made for a really long trip, but definitely worth it!

We went to Yellowstone one day.

Old Faithful went off minutes after we arrived. We couldn't have timed it better.

There were a lot of baby animals, especially buffalo, that we were able to see. They were so cute.

My favorite place in Yellowstone is Yellowstone Canyon. Always so beautiful!

Holding 2 kids is a little tricky!

We also went to the zoo. I had no idea there was a zoo in Eastern Idaho. I lived there for 4 years and never went. It was a perfect zoo for a 2 year old. Just the right size for her attention span.

The red panda

The camels

This lion looked like he was posing. He sat there on display for everyone looking so pleased with himself. At one point he stood up and walked around all proudly, then sat down again in the same spot and same pose. He's a pro at this zoo thing.

There was a small petting zoo for the kids to go in. We passed it once and there was a line so we skipped it. Then we came by it again and there was no line, but I told my friend Jackie we could still skip it because I was sure Emily would hate it. Jackie convinced me to go check it out and it was Emily's favorite part. What the heck?!? The child is scared to death of dogs and cats, but she will go in a cage with goats that have horns! I was a little nervous, but tried not to show it. She had a great time.

Feeding the goats. You could only feed the goats if you were outside the cage. I guess this was to prevent them from attacking you. They went a little crazy when there was food.

Emily and Devyn in the aviary. This bird was trying to escape with us as we left but Devyn wouldn't let him.

Emily, Devyn, Jackie, and Annie watching the pelicans.

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For the 4th of July we partied again, but not as much planning went into this party. We were originally going to be out of town for the 4th, but plans changed. Luckily, my brother invited us over for dinner and we had a great time. Afterwards we went to our favorite spot to watch fireworks (does 2 years in a row make it a tradition?) and had a great time hanging out with family and friends before the show. It was a great night!

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Trevor's grandparents have a cabin about an hour away so we decided to go stay there one weekend. We were also babysitting my niece, Rylee, that weekend too so we took her along. It was a great time being at the cabin but we're very glad we only have 2 kids right now. (Love ya Rylee :)

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Trevor had his 10 year class reunion that we attended. His class was only about 50 people and about half of them were there. It was a nice, small gathering. We had a fun time. It was really great, since Trevor is a twin, I already knew some of the people! We had lunch and mingled, and then Trevor had to be off to work. Mine is next year and I have no idea what is going on. We'll see what happens.

Trenton, Jude, and Randi acrossed from Trevor

The class of 2001

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Sorry that this is so long, unorganized, and jumbled. I'll try to be better at posting for often so this doesn't happen again, but I always say that and it doesn't always work out that way. I have other things to blog about, but I can't find the cord for my camera so it will have to wait.

Thanks to Randi for all the pictures from Memorial Day, 4th of July, The Cabin, and The Reunion.

Newport Marathon

2011-06-04T23:03:00.002-06:00

Trevor ran the Newport Marathon today. He finished in 4:55:28. This is his second marathon. He did a great job, but is a little sore tonight. My brother's wife, Sarah also ran the marathon. This is her first and she finished in 4:34! I think they are both a little crazy!

This race was really fun for us as spectators because we could drive along the race course. We would get to a spot and wait for Sarah and Trevor to pass by and then pile back in the car (with all the kids) and drive a little further up the road to do it all over again. We would honk at them every time we passed by and cheer them on every time we saw them. It was a lot better than just waiting a long time to only see them once.

Leaving in the morning for the race.

Running past our hotel. This is about 20 minutes into the race.

A little over 16 miles into it. Still doing good.

19 1/2 miles in. Free oyster shots along the way. Yum!

Ray's van all decked out.

Coming down the final hill before the finish line. My sister, Nicole, ran the last hill with both Trevor and Sarah...in flip flops! Go Nicole!

Crossing the Finish Line!

Good job Dad!

Good job Sarah and Trevor!

Silly Monkey

2011-05-30T00:11:00.004-06:00

Emily has been learning songs in Nursery. I've caught her doing a few of them at home and they are so cute. The funny thing is, she won't sing along in nursery, but she loves to do them at home. This one is our favorite. She does the whole song, but the best part is when the alligator "snaps those monkeys right out of that tree!"

5 Little Monkeys

The Extended Version

2 years old

2011-05-25T14:41:00.002-06:00

Last week, Emily turned 2 years old! She is turning into such a big girl. We still call her a baby some times, mostly when we talk about our two baby girls, but she does so many big girl things now. She says so many words. When I took her to the doctor for her 2 year old check-up, the doctor asked me about her vocabulary and I really didn't know what to say. I don't really know how she compares to other 2 year olds. So I started writing down all the words she knows...not just the ones she can repeat...only the ones she uses correctly by herself. The handout I got from the doctor said most 2 year olds have a vocabulary of 50 words or more. So far we are up to 150 words! I was quite surprised. I would have guessed about 40 words or so. It's also very reassuring because Emily is so shy. She hardly says a word around other people so some people have said things that have made me worry a little that she was a little behind. Now I'm not worried at all. As far as her growth is concerned, she finally weighs 22 lbs. 3 1/2 oz. (4th%) and is 33 inches tall (30th%). We have a new doctor and I think she was a little concerned about this, but I was thrilled. At 18 months, Emily only weighed 19 lbs. 14 oz. (below the 3rd%) and was 31 inches tall (25th%) so we are making progress! I think she is definitely ready to start potty training and someone told me about a book that I am going to read (Potty Training in Less Than a Day), but I want to wait until we get back from our vacation to Oregon to really be serious about that.

We had a party for Emily's birthday at the park with lots of family. My house is too small to hold that many people. We are getting so many people in the family that we are considering combining the parties so that we celebrate them all at once for the month. We had three this month! Anyways, at Emily's party I made a cute flower cupcake cake. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be thanks to Randi's help and her mom's supplies. And it turned out perfect!

It was really windy at the party, but Emily still enjoyed eating her cupcakes and playing on the playground. She was really into presents this year. Once she opened the first one, all she wanted to do was play with it. But after we got her to open the second, she figured it out and did really well. She has really enjoyed all her new toys. She got a stroller and a baby doll which she loves because now she can really imitate mom. She got a few other things which she really enjoys as well.

After Emily had gone to bed that night, we thought it would be cute to put Annie in the doll stroller. It was!

Summer Fun Begins!

2011-05-24T17:31:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago the weather was really nice and we headed down to the Main Street water park with some cousins to play in the water. I've taken Emily there before, but this was by far the most enjoyable trip we have had. She had a blast! She ran up and down the lazy river, splashing water around to her heart's content. I loved sitting in the shade with Annie watching her. This park is perfect for little kids because the water isn't too deep. We spent nearly 3 hours there. She was just having so much fun! We are looking forward to going again soon.

Annie at 3 months

Emily at 5 1/2 months

Little Annie is not so little anymore. I finally switched out her 0-3 months clothes for 3-6 months ones. This skeleton outfit is what Emily wore for her first Halloween. She was 5 1/2 months old then and this fit just fine. Annie wore it once and I had to squeeze her into it. She is getting to be quite the little butterball, but we love her rolls and squishyness! I took her to the doctor's office to weigh her when she was 3 months old. She weighed 13 lbs. 15 oz. That puts her in the 85th%!!! Emily didn't weigh that much until she was about 5 months old. Wow!

Annie still has to be swaddled to go to sleep. Well, not to go to sleep, but to stay asleep. If she is not swaddled, she startles herself while she is sleeping and wakes herself up. I don't mind it so much, except she is getting stronger and escapes quite easily. I always double swaddle her at bedtime and have started doing it for most of her naps, too. She is now sleeping 10 hours at night. She eats every 3 1/2 hours during the day and then sleeps from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., unless Emily wakes her up earlier. Annie spent about a week in the office and then I moved her permanently into the bedroom. They have done pretty well with sharing. I leave the door cracked open a bit so that when Emily wakes up in the morning, she can get out of bed and come in our room to wake us up. If she stays in there she starts talking to herself, or to Annie, or to me and wakes Annie up. They even take naps in there at the same time! I love that they share a room!

Annie being happy! She is such a happy baby. Even when she wakes up in the morning, she will fuss until I go in her room but as soon as she sees me, she grins from ear to ear. I could play with her for 30 minutes before feeding her in the morning, she just loves to be around people! Just don't sneeze or make any loud and sudden noises or you will scare her. Besides that, she's always as happy as a clam!

Like Emily, Annie hates tummy time. We've recently started using the Boppy to increase our tummy time. She can last about 10 minutes using the Boppy.

Emily loves Annie so much. She loves to hold her and give her kisses and hugs. Annie is a good sport and puts up with it most of the time.

Here they are in their Easter Dresses. These are actually not the same dress. I bought Emily's last year before I was pregnant with Annie. When Annie was born, I was given her dress as a gift. They were so close to matching that I thought they would make perfect Easter dresses.

Easter

2011-05-02T16:52:00.003-06:00

Easter was so fun for us this year. Last year Emily couldn't quite walk yet and didn't know what was going on. At our Annual Cousins Easter Egg Hunt, she didn't really understand what was going on and only got a few eggs that we practically had to put in her basket ourselves. This year she went on 4 egg hunts (over the course of 10 days); we had one for Toddler Group, one for Play Group, one with Trevor's family, and one with my family (the Annual Cousins Easter Egg Hunt). After I showed her that the eggs had candy inside them, she caught on fast. The only problem we had was that she would find an egg and want to eat the candy immediately and stopped looking for other eggs. But by the time we had the Cousin's Egg Hunt, she was a pro. She got so many eggs we actually ended up giving them to the other kids because we didn't need anymore candy at our house. But she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Annie didn't go on any egg hunts. She was sleeping through most of them. I didn't even get a picture of both of them on Easter in their dresses because every time I had a free moment, Annie was asleep. I'll take one the next time they wear them. As you can imagine, they were adorable!

Egg Hunt with Trevor's Family (#2)

Egg Hunt for Play Group (#3)

Egg Hunt with Cousins (#4)

Success!

2011-04-13T16:15:00.001-06:00

This past week has been full of progress at our house. As parents, we are thrilled about these new little things our girls are doing. They may seem minor, but it is so exciting for us!

-We started trying to get Emily to sleep in the big bed again. We tried a few times before Annie was born, but she was terrified of it and there was no reason to push the issue at the time. On Thursday, I started trying again. We are ready to put Annie in there, but Emily needs to move out of the crib first. I put a night light in her room to make it not as scary and told her that she had to stay in the bed and she couldn’t get out. She cried really loudly for about 2 minutes, then stopped and eventually fell asleep. I checked on her once or twice, which woke her up and I had to repeat the process, but she made it through the night. She has been sleeping in it all night long since then (and she stays asleep when I check on her now). Today I started having her nap in the big bed as well and so far that has been successful too! Soon Annie can move in!

-Annie has been napping better. The first few weeks, Annie slept ALL the time so I didn’t start a nap routine with her. I just let her sleep when she slept (which was ALWAYS). Then I got really sick for a week and I needed her to just sleep so I could sleep too. So we didn’t start trying the nap routine until she was about 5 weeks old. Big mistake! She fought it. She would be falling asleep in her bouncer or in my arms so I would lay her down for her nap and she would wake up and start crying. Emily would give up after a while and eventually fall asleep, but Annie is more stubborn (I wonder where she gets that…) and would cry FOREVER. She was a horrible napper. I decided to move her out of the Newborn Napper that she was in and see if that helped. She is bigger now and she seemed to be mad that she kept kicking the end of it. So I just put her in the Pack N’ Play. She seemed to like that better but would still wake up early from her nap. Finally I tried swaddling her (crazy…swaddling an 8 week old) and she loved it! She has been sleeping so much better since then. Sometimes I can lay her down and she is asleep within 2 minutes! Other times she cries for 15 minutes or so before she falls asleep, but it is way better than before. And as long as she doesn’t escape from her swaddle (or as I call it, her burrito) then she stays asleep the entire time. Success!

She started to escape in this picture and woke up a few minutes later. But my swaddling skills are improving!

-Annie has also started sleeping through the night. I was really starting to get nervous about this one. There was a lot of pressure since Emily was such an awesome Babywise Baby and was sleeping through the night right at 6 weeks. Annie started sleeping 6 hours at 6 weeks, but then she got Bronchiolitis, which started waking her up in the middle of the night. Then she was only going 3 or 4 hours. Last week she was still only making it 5 hours and I was trying to figure out why. On Friday (2 months exactly) Annie slept 8 ½ hours. She has been sleeping about 8 hours every night since then. Babywise says that some babies will drop a feeding, but I really wasn’t expecting it. Emily stretched her night time sleep out, going 3, then 4, then 5, 6, 7, 8, and then 9 hours. I really thought it would take us at least another month to get to this point with Annie. I guess I have learned that every kid is different and Babywise is amazing (which I already knew, but this just reaffirmed it to me). I moved her out of our room and into the office and she sleeps all night. I love it! This is probably the most exciting progress that has been made this week. Every night I go to bed and get so excited that I don’t have to wake up until it is light outside…can you tell I like my sleep?

Annie's Blessing

2011-03-27T21:25:00.000-06:00

Today was Annie's blessing at church. My parents were in town and we were able to have both our families there for the blessing. I love that my husband has the Priesthood and is able to do things like this for our family. Annie looked so cute (so did Emily). Emily loved having all the family there. She went from pew to pew sitting with different people every 5 minutes.

Potty Training

2011-03-21T16:08:00.001-06:00

Today something very exciting happened. Emily peed in the potty! It was only about 1/4 of a teaspoon...barely any at all...but she tinkled! I bought a potty a few months ago, just so she would become familiar with it. In the last two months she has become very interested in it and likes to play with it. She also has started to tell us when she needs her bum changed, especially when she has gone #2. Last week, she said "poop," but hadn't gone yet, so we thought maybe she was about to go. In the last week she has been telling us right before she goes. So Trevor took her and she sat on the potty. She didn't do anything, but she enjoyed sitting on it with no pants on. This weekend we were out of town, so nothing happened. But today she did the same thing so he took her and had her sit on it again. Again, nothing. But it's good for her to get comfortable sitting on it. After Trevor went to work today, Emily woke up from her nap and said, "poop." She does this almost every day and I get to change a messy diaper after her nap, but today she hadn't done anything during her nap, so I had her go sit on the potty. This is the first time I've taken her to sit on the potty and I got bored of sitting there with her after a few minutes so I left and came back to check on her every few minutes. She kept asking for her cup and finally said she was all done sitting on the potty. When she got up, I found the tiniest amount of pee in the potty. It was so exciting. I told her she had done such a good job, quickly put her diaper back on in case there was more to come, and got her a treat. We are in no hurry to rush this potty training thing. I think when kids are ready to be potty trained, they will let you know. You can't force it. But it's so exciting that she is starting the process. We will keep it up. It might take days, weeks, or months. It doesn't matter to me, but it's very exciting!

Annie's Photoshoot

2011-03-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Randi is an amazing artist. Amongst her many talents, she is a great photographer. I was lucky enough to convince her to take some pictures of Annie when she was only 4 days old. So precious!

And one of Emily.

Annie's Birth

2011-03-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

So I figured that since it has been a month since Annie’s birth, I’d better get around to documenting it before I forget everything. At my 38 week appointment, my doctor offered to induce me the following week if I wanted. I was so sick of being pregnant, that I went ahead and scheduled to be induced on February 8^th. I was really hoping that I would go into labor on my own before then, but such was not the case. I had heard that I would not be able to sleep the night before being induced because I would have so much on my mind. That wasn’t the problem. I was able to fall asleep that night, it was staying asleep that was the problem. Annie kept digging her legs into my ribs, making it extremely painful to lie down. After 2 hours of sleep, I was awake and could not get comfortable again. Around the time that I woke up, Trevor finally got home from work. We watched some TV and he finally fell asleep around 4:30 a.m. I was about to try to get some more sleep when the hospital called at 5:30 a.m. So we were not the most well rested pair. We took Emily to my sister’s house and headed to the hospital. We got there around 6:30 and started the process. I got my IV put in which made me really nauseous and was part of the worst part of the whole thing. They started my Pitocin around 7:30 a.m. and the contractions started. They weren’t really painful at all, though. My Braxton-hicks contractions had been much more painful. I continued having contractions throughout the morning and Trevor fell asleep on the couch. Another really painful part was that the Pitocin made my arm hurt at the IV site. It was super painful, but eventually went away. My doctor was on call that day so she came and checked on me a couple of times. They checked me when I checked in and I as dilated 3+ centimeters and 80% effaced. They didn’t want to check me again because they were afraid my water would break. My doctor told me she would come break my water around 11:00 so I should get my epidural around 10:00. That surprised me since with Emily I didn’t get my epidural until after my water was broken, but she was afraid that after my water broke, the baby would come so fast I wouldn’t have time for an epidural. So I told one of the nurses that I needed the anesthesiologist to come around 10. She asked me what my pain level was and I said about a 3 and she looked at me like I was the biggest wimp. But I didn’t care. I told her that Dr. Winward had told me to have it at 10 so that was what I was going to do. Plus, I had nothing to prove. The anesthesiologist came to my room at 10 and gave me my epidural. He is always my favorite person and this one was particularly nice. With Emily, my epidural numbed me completely from the waste down, but this time I could still feel things and move. It was so weird. I could feel pressure, but absolutely no pain. It was actually kind of nice because I was still able to move my body somewhat and was not completely disabled. After my epidural Trevor finally woke up from his long nap, but was still exhausted. Dr. Winward came in and broke my water; at this point I was dilated to a 4. They checked me 2 hours later and I was 6 ½ cm. I took a nap. Then a little less than 2 hours later was completely dilated. I did one practice push, they called Dr. Winward in, I pushed 3 more times and she was out. It was so easy. Within 10 minutes of them saying I was ready to push, she was here. She was born at 2:55 p.m. so my entire labor was about 7 ½ hours. I started feeding her 15 minutes later and she knew exactly what to do. With Emily, I waited too long and she was too tired to eat. After Annie was born I got really shaky. It was quite annoying, I couldn’t control my body from shaking. They had to hold my arm down so they could get an accurate blood pressure reading. After Annie ate a little, she got a bath, I finished feeding her, and we headed upstairs. By then the shaking had finally stopped. We had a few visitors that night, but by 9:00 I was in bed and asleep. Trevor got to go home and sleep in his own bed. Because it was RSV season, Emily was not allowed to come to the hospital. Annie had a great night. I fed her about every 4 hours and she barely made a peep. The next morning Trevor’s parents came to visit. After that I took a shower and napped a little. Almost all of our family members were sick and couldn’t come to the hospital, but it was actually really nice. I was able to just focus on recovering and not entertaining visitors. Trevor finally showed up around noon to come get me (he turned his phone off because the battery was really low and then slept in super late) and we checked out by 1:30. I had really great nurses, but I was eager to get home and be in my own house, sleep in my own bed, and eat my own food. We picked Emily up and headed home. When we pulled into the garage, Trevor got out of the car and got Emily out of her carseat. She immediately started freaking out saying, “Baby, baby, baby.” She thought were going to leave the baby in the car and she was not okay with that. She knew that this baby was ours and she wanted to bring her inside.

In the past month, we have been doing really well. Life is a little bit more busy. Now I have 2 schedules to work around during my day, Emily’s and Annie’s. Annie has to eat every 3 hours and nap in between and Emily only takes 1 nap during the day so that is when I nap. If I don’t get my nap in then, then it doesn’t happen. And I am a napper. Annie is a really good baby. She eats really well, and sleeps at night. She can sleep for about 3 ½ -4 hours between feedings at night. She hardly ever cries. Emily is a great sister. She loves to give her baby kisses and hugs and always wants to be near her. The only problems we have are when she is being too cuddly and squishing Annie. I am recovering really well. I felt really good really quickly after the birth. But then I got the flu for 5 days, followed by a sinus infection for a week so I guess it hasn’t been all easy. We are doing much better now. I am almost completely better and feel amazing compared to how I was feeling a week and a half ago. Annie’s pediatrician told us to avoid public places for the first month so we haven’t been going much of anywhere, but we are starting to venture out back into life. We went to church on Sunday and grocery shopping the other day. It’s a little different taking 2 kids out and about, but we’re getting the hang of it. I was doing so good at taking pictures until I got sick so these pictures are a little old, but she still looks the same.

She has lots of dark hair. Hopefully she keeps some of it.

Emily loves to hold Annie and is always giving her hugs and kisses.

Introducing Annie

2011-02-14T17:30:00.002-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Annie. I have more, but these ones were the easiest to post. We are doing great. We were able to leave the hospital at 1:30 on Wednesday. I hate staying in the hospital, I feel so much better once I get home. I had really awesome nurses this time, but I was still eager to get home. Emily is doing so great with Annie. She loves her so much. When we pulled into the garage and got out of the car, we got Emily out first and she started freaking out because Annie was still in the car. She was very upset until we got Annie's car seat out. She loves to give her kisses and hugs and talking to her. It is pretty adorable. The only issue Emily has with her is when we give Annie one of Emily's blankets, she gets very upset. But we have gotten some new blankets that we have explained belong to Annie, and now she is fine.

Annie is a great baby. She is a great eater and makes nursing so easy. It wasn't really hard with Emily, but Annie caught on much faster. She never cries. She sleeps all the time right now. Yesterday she finally started having some significant awake time. We are loving our two little girls and their sweetness. We haven't really seen anybody because there is so much sickness going around right now, but I hope you enjoy these pictures instead! I will post more later.

Baby Annie

2011-02-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Baby Annie

February 8, 2011

2:55 p.m.

7 lbs. 7 oz.

19 1/2 inches

Pregasaurus

2011-02-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

Pregasaurus is the name that Trevor made up for me when I was pregnant with Emily. I think it is kind of funny. I have done a really lousy job of taking pictures of myself this time around. I think it's because I feel like I look the same as I did with Emily, but maybe that's just me. Anyways, someone said I should take a picture of my pregnant self, so here it is. Better late than never, right? Hopefully I don't get any bigger.

Emily's New Word

2011-02-04T23:27:00.002-07:00

Emily learned how to say a new word last week.

Up until now she would just shake her head when she didn't want something. Now she just says no over and over again for no reason. It's not so cute.

***For some reason I can't get the sound to play when I rotate the video, so that's why it's posted twice.***

Emily and Annie

2011-02-02T20:42:00.002-07:00

No, Annie isn't here yet, but we are sure ready for her to be. I made these letters for their room. I think they turned out really cute. I looked online and copied the idea from lots of people. It was a lot cheaper than buying the finished letters. All it took was some mod podge, scapbooking paper, and some embellishments. And it only took a few hours. Now that little girl just needs to get here.

Emily is enjoying her new big girl bed. Playing on it, that is. She loves to climb on it and take all her toys up there with her.

Just a cute picture of the stinker and a mustache.

Come on February!

2011-01-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

I really wish January was over. I'm ready for Spring and ready for this baby to get here. Yesterday I went in for another appointment with my OB. I am dilated to 3 cm and 80% effaced. Progress! I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions all week which are not fun at all. I never had them with Emily. I never even felt a contraction until I went into labor. But as long as they are doing something, I'll allow them. On Monday I will be considered full term (37 weeks) so that is exciting, but I could still have weeks to go. You never know. My doctor still thinks I will go early and I'm still hoping she's right. There's nothing wrong with being positive! Don't worry, I know that I still might be pregnant come February 17th or 18th. But I would like to hang onto my little glimmer of hope that I only have a few weeks left rather than nearly a month.

Emily got sick last week. We aren't exactly sure how or why. I went in her room on Friday night after she had fallen asleep and found vomit all over. Luckily, she still was in her crib so it was mostly contained. This was our first experience with real vomit, chunks and all. It was pretty sick, but relatively easy to clean up. Trevor was taking a shower so I threw her in with him while I cleaned up the mess. She slept through the entire shower because it was the middle of the night. After the shower was over, then she was awake and ready to play but we put her back to bed. The next morning she was kind of cuddly and mopey. I figured she was tired from the night before so I went to lay her down for a nap. As I stepped into her room, off of the tile and onto the carpet, she threw up again all over me and on the carpet. I wished it would've gotten all on me instead because it would have been easier to clean up. So then we got to take shower #2. After that she was happy as a clam and didn't seem like she needed a nap. We stuck to a restricted diet of crackers, apple sauce, and juice for the rest of the day and didn't have any other problems after that. We were able to borrow my sister's carpet cleaner this week and finally get rid of the smell in Emily's room that was lingering as a reminder the of weekend's events. Yuk!

Emily is doing better at sleeping in the big bed. She still won't go in it at night, but after she falls asleep we move her and she sleeps in it all night. The first time she woke up in it she was pretty upset, but every day is better. It seems she is getting more and more comfortable with the idea. Yesterday when she woke up, I went and opened the door and she was just happy and said "hi." She also loves to climb on it during the day. This slow transitioning seems to be working much better than just doing it cold turkey. And there is no hurry, so I think it is the perfect way for her to make this transition.

New Year...New Adventures

2011-01-12T20:53:00.001-07:00

Lots of things have been going on in our lives right now, but I've been a slacker at sharing them. In the past month, we have been experiencing some changes, and getting ready for even more changes.

We'll start with Trevor. He has worked at a grocery store in town since before we met. That is actually where we met. I was a checker and he had just become one of the managers on the front end (we were also in the same singles ward). Anyways, after the summer, he applied for and got a promotion as an assistant manager at the store. This was while we were dating. So he has been one of the assistant managers for the past 4+ years. He has been doing an excellent job at the store and people have noticed. A few years ago, they started talking about opening another store and many people recommended him to be the grocery manager at that store. Sadly, the economy took a plunge and the company decided not to build that store quite yet. So we have been waiting patiently for an opportunity for Trevor to move up in the company. Well, that opportunity presented itself recently. Trevor is now the grocery manager at the store. It's kind of hectic right now, with the holidays just ending and the case lot sale going on now. He has been working a lot. But it's something he was ready for and we are so grateful for this blessing in our lives. With another baby soon to arrive, it takes away a lot of stress that I was was preparing myself to handle. Trevor is loving his new job. Like I said, he is very busy, but he is getting the hang of it and really enjoying the new responsibilities he now has. We are so proud of him!

Emily is also having some changes take place for her. I finally got a bed rail to try to move her out of the crib and into a normal bed. So far, she doesn't like it. Last night I moved her into it after she had fallen asleep in her crib. She woke up and got out within a minute. Tonight I put her in the big bed when it was bed time and she hated it! She immediately started crying and was out of it as soon as she could get down. I put her in the crib after that. I know I didn't try very hard, but I just don't think she is ready yet. Annie won't be here for another month, and then she'll be in the bassinet for a few weeks after that, so I'll let Emily stay in the crib for now. I also got a potty and put it in the bathroom, just so she could start getting used to it. She likes to sit on it like a stool, but she also likes to stand in it. Crazy girl. I know she isn't ready to potty train yet, but how am I supposed to know when she is ready if I don't have a potty. So now I'm prepared. Emily is also talking more and more every day. She pretty much repeats everything we say. I told her she was stinky the other day and she said, "stinky!" It's pretty cute. Trevor's favorite is when she says "car," it sounds more like "caw." She says it every time we get in the car.

Annie is getting ready to make the biggest change of all. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. I now get to go every week! I love going weekly, it helps it go faster. I'm ready to be done being pregnant. Sleeping is miserable and my whole body is crammed. My doctor checked me and surprisingly I have started to dilate. I am already dilated to 2 cm and 70% effaced. I was shocked. With Emily I didn't dilate to a 2 until I was 40 weeks. My doctor doesn't think I'll make it to my due date, and I'm inclined to believe her. She is usually right. For example, I told her I would have to be induced and she said I would go into labor on my own...she was right. She told me Emily would be an 8 lb. baby and she was 7 lb. 15 oz. after she had already pooped...she was right. I told her I would need Clomid to get pregnant with baby #2 and she told me I wouldn't...right again. It seems I'm always telling her she was right, but it's good because it just reminds me that she is a great doctor. So I'm hoping that I won't have to go all the way to my due date with this one. It would be nice if she would come at least a few days early, but we shall see. I told my doctor I hoped she was right. I told Trevor he better get ready for this baby because she will be here soon. I guess I better get going on my list of things to do.

I will try to be better at keeping everyone posted on the upcoming changes about to take place, but I hope you'll understand if I'm a bit slow. It's going to take some adjustments to become a 4 person family. But I know that Emily is going to have the most difficult time of all.

I've been horrible at taking pictures of myself this pregancy and haven't done a single belly shot...sorry Smelli! Go here and you can take a peak at some family pictures we had taken a few weeks ago. As you can see I really am pregnant.

So Crafty!

2010-12-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

As part of my new calling as primary secretary, I was asked to make the invitations for our upcoming Priesthood Preview. I looked online and started making one with photoshop, but decided it was too cutsie for the boys. So I googled Priesthood Preview Invitations and found this on a woman's blog. She got it from Martha Stewart's website. I thought it was so cute and creative (which I am not). So tonight I printed, copied, folded, and assembled 30 invitations for Priesthood Preview. I think they turned out fabulously!

Busy Christmas Weekend

2010-12-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy time for us for the past week. It's been so much fun! I was so proud of myself and got all my shopping done earlier in the month so I could just relax and enjoy this time of year. It was so nice to not be stressed out at the last minute. My parents came and spent the week with us. They really come to see the grandkids, but we enjoy spending time with them too. Trevor has been super super busy at work (more so than usual), working 6 days a week and tons of hours, but he was actually able to spend some time with us in the evenings, which we enjoyed. Now he is busy getting ready for the case lot sale. We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year and I insisted that we get the grandkids to act out the nativity. It was a tradition we did every year at home and I wanted to continue it. It was great! The kids were so fun to watch. I love watching little kids do the nativity. If we wanted it to turn out perfect, we would have adults be the actors. I wish I could get my video to upload, but it isn't working. I'll keep trying.

For Christmas Day, we started at our house, spent some time with Trevor's family, then went back to my family for dinner and to talk to my little brother who is on a mission in Pennsylvania. It was a great day. We ate lots and relaxed a lot. Trevor's sister, Cori was able to come from Seattle so it was nice to see her for a few days. Emily did much better this year at opening presents. She barely needed our help. By the 3rd present, she had figured it out, but then she didn't have anything else to open. But she loves her new toys and still gets so excited when she sees them everyday. It's so cute. Emily also discovered her love of candy canes. She loves them and doesn't make too much of a mess. It might be her new favorite thing to eat.

On Sunday, we started the day out EARLY. We woke up to have family pictures taken at 7:00 a.m. only to discover it was raining. So we sat in the car for an hour and finally decided to meet back at 10:00. About 20 minutes after we left, it cleared up and stopped raining. We showed up again at 10:00 and took a few pictures before it started raining again at 10:15. What a day! And it was still early. We were able to go to Trevor's little brother's (Dallas) mission farewell and spend time with family the rest of the day before heading over to my niece's birthday party. It was pretty pathetic, we were falling asleep at 7:00 p.m.
Yesterday we were able to attend Dallas' setting apart as a missionary. It was also our last chance to say goodbye. Trevor is so excited for his brother. Trevor LOVED his mission and can't wait for Dallas to be able to experience the same thing.

Trevor, Dallas, and Trenton

Dallas with all his nieces and nephews

Pregnancy is progressing along. I have now hit the uncomfortable stage where I can't bend over, get up, or move easily at all. It's even more difficult than before because I have Emily to chase after. She loves to run away from us which is usually pretty cute unless you are in a parking lot full of cars. I'm just glad I only have 7 weeks left. Annie is getting uncomfortable too, I'm sure. She is running out of room and is trying to kick her way out. I've started getting her stuff out for her. I don't think Trevor realizes how soon she will be here, but he will figure it out soon enough.

Ultrasound Pictures

2010-12-14T21:43:00.003-07:00

I had a second ultrasound a month ago, so these pictures are a little overdue but I think they are better than the first ones. Everything is going great with the pregnancy. I'm feeling really good still. With Emily I had really bad back pain during the entire 3rd trimester and she had her leg wedged in my rib from about 5 months on. Annie is very active and it feels like she might escape some days, but it's not causing me any pain. I took my glucose tolerance screening and failed (just like with Emily). So I had to go in and have the 3 hour fasting test where they draw your blood 4 times. This time around was a lot better. I went to a different lab (not the hospital). They let me leave in between the blood draws and I didn't have any bruises on my arms (or pain) the next day. Not such a bad experience like it was last time. Of course, I passed that one.

I am now 31+ weeks and looking forward to the end (my due date is 2 months from today). Not so much because I am sick of being pregnant (though I'm sure I'll get there soon), but because I'm excited for Annie to get here and to have my 2 little girls. Emily has been so much fun, we can't wait to have another one. We're not crazy, we know it will be challenging. But it will also be so much fun! Emily can say baby and she points to my belly (sometimes she points to herself). Today it sounded like she said Annie and it was so cute! Hopefully she likes her just as much when she comes out.

Nose and Lips

Face

Besides being pregnant, I also have been busy finishing Christmas shopping (I'm all done now!), working on some projects, and learning all about Primary. I recently got released from Young Womens, which I loved. But it will be too much to handle with 2 kids and Trevor's work schedule. So now I have been called to be the Primary secretary. I'm really enjoying it so far. It keeps me busy, but it's stuff I can do at home or at church. I think it will be really fun.

My Latest Project
(I made the board. The stockings are from Target)

Trevor has been super busy at work. The holidays are always a busy time for him. It's a good thing he is such a hard worker. He is hoping to get a chance to go snowboarding sometime soon. He finally has all the equipment so he won't have to rent anything. He just has to find a time when he has a day off and has time to go.

Emily continues to say more and more words. She now says bath, bed, and car, and finally signs please. She loves to repeat and mimic everything we say or do. She is our own little copycat. Her favorite word is Mommy. She says it anytime she wants something to anyone who will get it for her.

Randomness and Santa Clause

2010-12-08T23:30:00.004-07:00

I know I've been a total slacker, but I haven't really had anything to post about. So here is a random one. We've been keeping very busy these last few weeks. Emily has started going to a Toddler Group and an Art Group. We love going. It is a great opportunity for her to interact with other kids and fun for me as well. I'll have to post some of her creations. Here are some random pictures from what we've been up to the last few weeks.

We got to babysit Emily's newest cousin, Jude for a few hours. Emily loved it! She is so sweet with him.

She was eating lunch one day while I was reading in the other room. Then I noticed that her breathing had slowed and gotten louder. This is what I found. I guess she was done.

She loves to put on our shoes (especially mine) and traipse all over the house. I can't always find them when I am trying to get ready to go.

Fell asleep on the floor. We have moved from 2 naps to 1 nap a day. We're still trying to figure out what time that 1 nap starts at. Here's a hint.

Helping mom with laundry. She has started wearing blankets on her head (like a ghost) and walking around the house bumping into things. She is so silly. One of these days she is really going to hurt herself.

We went to visit Santa when he came to Dad's work. As expected, she was not happy to see him.

Playing with play-dough. She didn't like it at first, but warmed up to it after Trevor showed her how it's done. I think he enjoys playing with her toys as much as she does.

We had a nice, relaxing, low-key Thanksgiving. We had dinner with my 2 sisters and their families. I was in charge of the turkey and was pleased with how it turned out. It was super easy! Trevor didn't have to work at all that day so we just enjoyed the day. He put the Christmas lights up and I decorated for Christmas a few days later. We got our tree from Home Depot (a real one). It is the best one we have ever gotten. So pretty and smells so good! Probably my favorite part of Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Oregon Trip

2010-11-04T17:16:00.006-06:00

We just got back from our trip to Oregon. We went to visit my parents. The last time we were there was when my sister got married 2 years ago, so a trip was overdue. We were able to find some awesome plane tickets that were cheaper than it would have cost us to drive, so Emily got to go on her first airplane ride. She did pretty good considering she had been woken up at 5 a.m. and desperately needed a nap. She wanted to play with everything and didn't like the fact that she couldn't get down and run around. Finally she fell asleep on Trevor's lap and got a short nap in before we landed. Unfortunately, we missed the good weather spell that Oregon had been experiencing and got dumped on by rain as soon as we arrived. We spent a lot of time inside, but still had a good time. My parents enjoyed spoiling Emily, and she got lots of teasing from Grandpa. She also perfected glaring at people and does it now wherever we go.

We did have a few moments when the rain let up enough for us to get outside and see some of the sights that there are to see in Oregon. We went to the aquarium, the beach, and the 2 lighthouses when it was not pouring. Emily really enjoyed the beach. We loved walking on the sand and kept wanting to get in the water. This trip was short lived because it was so cold. She had a great time at the aquarium too. Usually she hates animals (she screamed bloody murder yesterday when a fly landed on her), but she really enjoyed seeing all the fish and marine life. I think it helped that there was glass separating them from her. She loved the sharks, the spider crabs, and the touch and feel tank the best. I thought she would hate the touch and feel tank, but she was a bit too excited. I began to fear for the animals safety as she nearly clawed them. She also kept trying to get in water. We had to leave before she hurt something!

On one day we had planned to travel to Portland to go to the temple, but the weather was so great that we changed our plans and went to the beach instead and went to Portland later that night. Emily had an even greater time at the beach this time. It was warm enough that we took her shoes off and she walked around in the sand and kept running towards the water.

On the way to Portland, we stopped at one of the Reservation casinos and ate at their buffet. It was the buffet to top all buffets. There was lobster, sushi, crab, prime rib, and everything else you can imagine at a buffet. I don't like lobster, but Trevor sure enjoyed it. While in Portland, we were able to meet up with Trevor's sister, Cori who lives in Seattle. We stayed the night in Portland and then went to Multnomah Falls with her (and my parents) the next day. It was yucky weather, but we still had a good time.

Our vacation fell during Halloween so we were able to go to the ward Halloween party on Saturday. Emily got her face painted and hated it. The guy was only able to get her nose before she freaked out, but it was perfect for her costume (she was a bumble bee). On Halloween we went to my dad's radio station and handed out candy to the kids that came. I made Trevor wear a Scooby Doo costume that my friend, Kirsten loaned us. I rummaged through my mom's dress ups until I found something that fit. I can't believe she still has all those costumes! I ended up being a hippie which made my pregnant belly somewhat appropriate for the ensemble. Emily had a good time wandering around the radio station and seeing all the kids. Everyone thought she was adorable in her costume, but she didn't receive nearly as much attention as Trevor did. Scooby Doo was a huge hit. Everyone said hi to him as they walked by and a few people took their picture with him. It was hilarious!

The DJ at the radio station was trying to get people to be on the air. Trevor finally gave in and got to be on the radio!

Despite the bad weather, we still had a great time. It was nice to spend time with my parents and for Emily to be with them. Trevor also managed to replace some dry wall and some linoleum in the bathroom at my dad's station. We're glad to be back to nice weather, but still sad our vacation couldn't have lasted just a bit longer.

Marathon

2010-10-05T23:38:00.002-06:00

Earlier this summer Trevor ran a 5K with his twin brother Trenton. Then Trenton convinced him to run the marathon with him. Trenton tries to convince him to run the marathon every year, but this year Trevor decided he wanted to do it. So he did. On Saturday was the annual marathon and Trevor finished it. I wasn't too worried about him finishing, I just wanted him to enjoy the experience. I think he did. He is talking about running it again next year...and actually doing some "serious" training this next time.

On the morning of the race Trevor got up and left the house at 4:20 a.m. I was barely conscious, but luckily Randi was kind enough to take these pictures at her house.

Trevor

Trenton and Trevor

The race began at 6:45 a.m. Around 9:30, Emily and I showed up to watch. Randi's family always watches at mile 25.2 where there is a clock. They volunteer there every year and give the runners lots of support as they complete that final mile. Emily and I were happy to join them!

Emily encouraging the runners.

Of course there were lots of goodies for us to munch on. Watching a marathon makes you hungry!

Emily enjoying a cookie.

We didn't expect to see them together, but Trevor and Trenton actually found each other around mile 22 so they finished the last few miles together.

Here come our guys!

Trevor enjoying a cool glass of water.

After the guys came running past, they went on to the finish line. It is always so crazy down there that we stayed at our spot and waited for Trevor to come back and find us.

Trevor finished the race in 4:51:37. Pretty good for his first time!

Emily waiting for Trevor to return. I think she has lost her energy.

So Tired

Ready for next year.

Ultrasound

2010-09-24T10:31:00.042-06:00

The votes have been tallied and the results are in.

Boy=10

Girl=4

My ultrasound was this morning. I dragged Trevor and Emily along to see the baby. Everything is good. My due date is still February 14. The baby was very active throughout the entire thing, I could feel it moving a lot and the doctor had a hard time getting a good shot of the gender. Here are some pictures.

Hand

Hand and Head

Head

Face

After looking around a lot, and rechecking, the doctor is pretty sure this one is a girl. I have a picture to prove it, but she was moving around so much it's not very clear. But I saw the proof many times throughout the ultrasound, it was just difficult to get a good picture. So Emily is going to have a sister to play with. We went in being fine with either, though I really thought it was a boy. I guess Trevor was right. We're excited that Emily will have a new little playmate and we already have all the stuff! We might even come up with a name before she is born since we had some from before that we kind of liked, but didn't use. We've learned from our experience with Emily that girls can be fun and we're excited to have another one joining the family!

What Do You Think?

2010-09-18T21:21:00.001-06:00

It's that time...I want to know what you think. My ultrasound is in a week and I want to know what you think my munchkin will be...a girl or a boy? With Emily, we really wanted a boy. Now we are kind of okay either way. Emily is such a mild mannered little girl that girls don't scare us anymore. But it would also be fun to try something new and have a boy. Maybe both? Just kidding! We shall soon find out what it is! So leave your guess in the comment section so we can see what the consensus is.

Changes

2010-08-23T21:43:00.004-06:00

Lots of changes are going on at our house. September is almost here and it's feeling more and more like summer is over. School has started again, I have my first subbing job of the year this week, the weather is cooling down, and life is getting back to normal. We've had a crazy summer and it is finally starting to slow down. Emily is growing more everyday and continues to be so much fun. We're always saying, "This age is so fun." She is 15 months (plus a week) and is becoming a toddler, even though she still looks like she is 9 months. She is such a midget like the rest of my family and weighs less than 19 lbs. She is walking everywhere now and rarely crawls, she has learned how to climb onto chairs (not so much fun), she has mastered the stairs and is drawn to them whenever they are around (which still makes me so nervous), and she is starting to talk. A few of her words include: mama, dada, hi, uh-oh, tickle tickle tickle, and thank you. It is so cute! She also babbles all kinds of jibberish. She graduated from her infant car seat to a convertible car seat. In a few months she will be able to go to nursery. We are all very excited about it. She has been once and really enjoyed being around the other kids. She loves playing with her cousins and I know she will love being in the nursery instead of stuck in Sunday School with us. We will love it too, and might actually hear part of the lesson.

About a week ago, she had her first play date with our neighbor friend Jake. Jake is only 2 weeks older than her and is such a cutie. I think she had a good time having someone else to entertain her besides Mom.

I bought her a booster seat a few weeks ago that we use every once in a while. She loves sitting in it and will carry it all over the house if I let her.

We're also excited that in a few months Emily will be getting a new sibling to play with. I am 15 weeks pregnant and feeling a lot better now that my first trimester is over. Sorry if you feel left out, but we kept it a secret for a long time. All I have to say is that I am so thankful to live in a world where Zofran exists. This pregnancy has been slightly worse than my first, with the nausea and fatigue striking in fuller force than before. I really think it is because of the heat. We find out the gender in about a month. We're so grateful to be able to expand our family. We weren't sure when we would be able to have another baby and were thrilled when we didn't have any problems like before. The baby is due on February 14, but I'm thinking it will be more like the 18th or 19th. Emily will be 21 months by then (I've always wanted my children to be close together). Here's what my little baby looks like now (no, that is not a picture of me).

Walking! and End of Summer

2010-08-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

Emily has finally decided that she wants to walk. She has had great balance for months now, but has refused to try to walk. She has finally decided that it is something worth trying now. Last Sunday, we were skyping with my parents and we tried to get her to show off her stuff. She started standing up by herself, which she has never done before. She also took a bunch of steps for them, which was pretty exciting. Since then she has been working on it everyday. She is getting better and better. She still falls down a lot, but gets back up and tries again. She also cheats a lot, and will use any wall or piece of furniture within reach to cruise along, but I don't blame her. As I watch her try and try, I see how exhausting it must be and I am amazed that she keeps trying. We are so excited for this new phase, even though it means more childproofing is in store. It's so fun to watch her grow!

The summer is finally coming to an end. In the past month, we made an quick trip to Salt Lake for a funeral, I went to Girl's Camp, and I just returned from Youth Conference. I am so glad to be home. I really enjoyed going to Girl's Camp and Youth Conference, but both were so exhausting. I was glad to get home, sleep in my own bed, and wake up when I wanted to. I think Trevor is glad I am home, too. While I was gone, he got to play Mr. Mom and had to take Emily to babysitters everyday when he went to work. Thanks to all the family that helped! I am so glad that school is starting this week and things will be getting back to normal.

Twins

2010-08-09T20:57:00.012-06:00

Quite often, people will ask me what it's like being married to a twin. I don't know any different, but I thought this video might help explain it. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. Trevor and Trenton are very much alike in many ways, but also very different. I think this video shows a lot of how they are similar and what Randi (Trenton's wife) and I deal with all the time. This video is from the Midnight 5K that they ran a few months ago. Enjoy!

BTW, Trevor is the one on the left (if you can't tell).

Also, whenever you meet twins, don't ask them what it's like to be a twin...they don't know what it's like to not be a twin. :)

Our Summer Thus Far

2010-07-05T21:50:00.001-06:00

Summer has been so hectic for us so far. In the last few weeks, we've had family visit, been to a family reunion, I've attended a week long literacy class, celebrated Independence Day, and celebrated a birthday. Next week I have another week long literacy class, then girl's camp, and youth conference 2 weeks later. We were going to try to squeeze a vacation in, but that was stressing me out and that's not what vacations are for! So we've postponed that for the fall. I thought I would take a minute to squeeze in a post while I have a few minutes to spare.

Emily is almost 14 months now. She still isn't walking, but we're sure she could if she would try. She is so cautious that every time we let go of her hands, she sits down immediately. If she isn't paying attention, she will let go of the furniture and stand, but as soon as she notices that she is no longer holding on, she sits down. What a stinker! She is still a little pipsqueak and barely weighs 18 lbs. We still have her in her infant car seat because she is so tiny and we haven't gotten around to buying a new one yet. Her hair is getting quite a bit longer now. It's fun to be able to put it in pigtails and side pony tails, but quite often she looks like an orphan child because I don't do it everyday. She is really loving being in the water. She got some bath toys for her birthday and loves to be in the tub playing with her toys.

We've been able to go swimming a few times this summer. Like the bath tub, Emily loves it! Recently she discovered that the swimming pool is really just a giant cup and she sticks her face in the water to get a drink. Gross!

Trevor's brother, Trenton has been into running for a long time and has been trying to get Trevor into it too. Trevor had to complete a physical activity for our health insurance discount so he decided to run a 5K. It was a midnight 5K so at least it wasn't too hot! He surprised us all and finished in 28 minutes with no training! Since then, the two of them have been running about once a week. I guess now they are training for a half marathon. I'm just glad I only have to be a supportive spectator and not a participant.

We've also gotten into camping this summer...well, we've been twice. This was our second camping trip. We were much more prepared and it was not cold so we enjoyed ourselves much more. This picture is from the hiking trip we took the next day.

It was Emily's nap time by the end of the hike.

We were able to spend the holiday with lots of friends and family. We enjoyed watching many fireworks. Emily was a little hesitant about them at first, but by the end was clapping. I am enjoying this week off between my classes to be lazy and catch up on my relaxation. Then on Monday, it's back to class. Ugh!

Father's Day 2010

2010-06-21T12:22:00.000-06:00

I'm not so much into gift giving. I think it has become a tradition that has turned more into a chore. My dad is the most difficult person to buy things for. He has everything he needs and if he needs something he gets it...or it costs hundreds of dollars. We used to ask him what he wanted and he would say a new antenna for the radio station. Those things are in the thousands of dollars. For a while he wanted a glock. Finally he bought it for himself. Having this challenge every year has really made me think about the importance of gifts. Sure, gifts are appreciated. But I know what my dad really wants for Father's Day, birthdays and Christmas is to know that he has good kids who are happy and who love him. So in the past few weeks, I haven't stressed over what to get my dad for Father's Day. Instead, yesterday I called him on the phone like I do every Sunday, wished him a Happy Father's Day, talked to him a bit about how things were going, and told him I loved him.

Last year, it was Trevor's first year as a father. I got him a DVD I knew he wanted. But this year, we're trying to be better with our money. We decided we would rather save our money for a new car that we are eventually going to need than spend it on little gifts for each other. We don't do anniversary gifts or Valentine's Day. Now we can add Mother's Day and Father's Day to the list too. Don't misunderstand what I am saying. I am glad that we have Mother's Day and Father's Day to show appreciation for our parents. But since when does that mean that a gift must be given. It is always said that it is the thought that counts, so instead, while he was at work I got out my paint and made this card for him. I want him to know that he is a great dad. We, Emily and I both, appreciate all the wonderful things he does for us.

So that's how I feel about Father's Day. I really just wanted to show Emily's cute little foot prints, but now you got to hear my rant to. That's all...the end.

Learning

2010-06-19T21:35:00.002-06:00

So I feel as if I've been absent for a few days. I've still been around, breathing, sleeping, and eating (plus killing all the annoying ants in my kitchen...that's another story), but that seems to be about it. For the past week I have been doing homework. Ughh!!!! It's been 4 years since I took a college class. I signed up for two classes this summer in order to keep my teaching license current. I have to renew it in 4 years. My substitute teaching gives me a few points, but I also have to take some classes (probably 3) to be eligible to renew my license. I figured I would be an overachiever and take 2 classes this summer. It's only going to get harder as Emily gets older and our family grows so I decided to just get it out of the way. Plus as time goes on I'm going to start forgetting things :] I'm usually a procrastinator and don't usually think this way. So last week I got the homework assignments that go along with one of the classes I am taking. 125 assignments! And all due before the first day of class on July 12! What have I gotten myself into? I thought about dropping the class and just waiting to take an easier class but I pushed myself and decided I could do it. So that is what I have been doing all week long. I have read 9 out of the 12 chapters in the book and completed probably about 70% of the assignments. My friend and I are sharing the book so now it is her turn to have it for a week. I will finish the remaining chapters when I get my turn again. My brain is fried. I am tired. And I'm almost sad to report that I actually learned something. And class hasn't even started yet. This class has pushed me beyond my comfort zone and forced me to take on new and different ideas, but I have gained something from it. So I guess I can't completely complain...but I can still complain a lot! Now I'm going to veg for a week to make up for all my hard work. Have fun Shelli!

I was being a bad mom and trying to get Emily to watch a video so I could do my homework on Friday.

This is 1 minute later.

It didn't work very well.

Family Pictures

2010-06-11T09:45:00.004-06:00

My sister-in-law, Randi is amazing! She took some family pictures for us on Memorial Day. These are some of them. I LOVE them! Thanks SO MUCH Randi!

Digiscrappers Unite

2010-06-06T15:42:00.000-06:00

I am trying to make a handout for a fellow Young Women leader for Sunday. She asked me to make a handout that looks similar to this framed art from Deseret Book. Does anyone that does digital scrapbooking have anything that somewhat resembles the wreath border surrounding the text? I have gone through all of my files and I can't find anything even close. Please help. Thanks!

Tuesday's Picnic

2010-05-27T16:50:00.000-06:00

Phase 1 Complete

2010-05-27T16:45:00.001-06:00

For the past eight weeks, Trevor has been using his spare time to work on our back yard. This is a mammoth of a project. The yard is big and there is a lot to be desired. We are proud to say, with the help of many, that Phase 1 of the backyard is complete. We think it is a huge improvement. Even though we have the same amount of patio space, it seems so much bigger because not all of it was usable space before. We plan to add an awning and get a bigger table, but that can wait. The hardest part is over (of Phase 1). Phase 2 is a new sprinkler system and grass. It's a good thing my husband likes to work :)

Before

After

Video of Emily's Birthday Party

2010-05-22T11:07:00.002-06:00

This video is of Emily's birthday party. It is for my parent's sake, but you are welcome to watch it, too.

4 Years!

2010-05-20T21:03:00.001-06:00

Today is Trevor and my anniversary. We have been married for 4 whole years! It's not that long if you're one of those people that has been married for a long time. But for us, it is a long time. We finally stopped being called newlyweds just a year ago when Emily was born (I guess you're a newlywed until you have kids?) I am so grateful to be married to Trevor. He pretends to be a jerk all the time, but really he is the best husband. Hooray for 4 years!

Tonight for our anniversary we got Trenton and Randi to babysit Emily so we could go on a date! We don't go out all that much so it was nice to go and have some fun. We went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Paula's, and then we went bowling.

The bowling alley was empty. It was kind of nice because no one saw all of our gutter balls.

The plan was for me to kick Trevor's trash...but somehow he beat me.

Final Score

Trevor: 83

Kristi: 82

Emily's Birthday Party

2010-05-19T22:11:00.002-06:00

We had a fun party for Emily at the park on Sunday. Having a party at the park is the best! My house is too small for all of our family and clean-up was a breeze. Poor baby...she was still a little sick. There were lots of tears! But she sure enjoyed that cake. She ate two whole pieces! Mmm good!

Happy Birthday Emily!

2010-05-15T19:13:00.006-06:00

Today is Emily's first birthday. It's crazy to think that my little pipsqueak is a one year old. It's not strange that it's been a year...just weird that my baby is becoming less of a baby.

This weekend we went camping for the first time as a family. Trevor and I like to camp but haven't ever gone since we've been married. We always talk about going, but never actually go. So this weekend we packed up all our camping gear, bought a tent (the only item we didn't already own) and went into the wilderness. Well, sort of. We went to Oak Grove Campground. It was a nice little spot with an outhouse, a picnic table, and a fire pit. There were lots of other people there because of Father and Sons, but we were still able to find a campsite. We had a blast! We went with my brother, Ray (and family) and Trevor's brother, Trenton (and wife). We are already talking about going again. Luckily, Ray and Sarah are experienced campers and they made sure we didn't forget anything. We got a chance to use our dutch oven for the first time and to experience a sleepless night with a baby. Emily got a fever and kept waking up. Seriously, she NEVER does that. Luckily, we were prepared with Tylenol. She ended up sleeping with me in my sleeping bag and then we were finally able to get some rest (only about 4 good hours). Still, we are so glad we went and we had a great time. Too bad for Emily, her birthday was a little rough. She is still a little sick and we are tired. It's a good thing I planned the birthday celebrations for tomorrow! We're just going to have cake and ice cream with family. Maybe next year I'll be a little more ambitious and throw a real party. She will love eating her cake no matter what it looks like. Happy Birthday Emi-yee!

Randi's Tag

2010-05-12T10:25:00.002-06:00

Oops! Sorry Randi. Randi tagged me last week and I totally forgot. It's been a very busy month so far. Here are the things we've been up to:
-I had to speak in church on Mother's Day. Ahhh! Scary! So glad it is over.
-I also had to give the lesson in Young Women's the same day.
-Went visiting teaching
-Subbed 3 days last week and 3 days this week. (Thanks Sarah and Randi for helping with Emily!!!)
-Finished weaning Emily. We are done breastfeeding...tear. (actually it's not a big deal)
-Trevor's sister was in town last weekend so we were busy doing family stuff.
-My sister, Kathryn, had a baby and I wish I wasn't so busy right now so I could be of more help.
-Our mortgage guy called us and got us a lower rate...again! He is so awesome! We close today. I love saving money!
-Emily's birthday is on Saturday and I'm not sure what I'm going to do for it...I want to do something, but low key.

Sorry. That's all you get for the last few days. Today is the first time I've had time to just be at home and get stuff done. So now to the tag. Here it is.

1. What is your basic morning routine?
My alarm goes off at 8:00 a.m. I crawl out of bed and go in Emily's room. She is almost always already awake, but sitting in her crib with her fingers in her mouth, waiting patiently for me to come get her. As soon as she sees me, she starts wining for me to get her out of her crib. I get her up, feed her breakfast and then we go in the living room and play until 10:00 when it is time for her nap. That is when I can get on the computer and then get myself ready for the day.
2. How many times have you cried in your lifetime?
Hmmm....not that many. In my adult life, I think I can say only like twice a year tops. Maybe only once. Really...I'm not a crier. I hate it when I start to cry...it is nearly impossible to stop.
3.Who would you say is the most influential person in your life so far and why?
My mom. She is the perfect example of the person I want to be. She never says anything bad about anybody. She does everything she is supposed to do, never complains, and helps everyone. She is so humble...she is amazing!
4. What does your dream day include?
Sleeping all day...just kidding. Just staying at home with my baby and my hubby and enjoying being with each other.
5. I have to ask, who is your favorite musical artist, band etc?
I really don't hate much music. My dad is in the radio business so we always had every radio in the house on, each on a different station. We had to listen to a wide variety. Because of this, my music taste is very broad. I'm also very tolerable with my music. If I don't like it, I just tune it out. I guess my favorite is Weezer...but I like LOTS of others.
6.What is your worst irrational fear? (ex: fear of clowns, the dark..)
Rapists...I've seen too many Lifetime Original Movies. I can't go to sleep until I check all the doors to make sure they are locked. If I find one unlocked, I have to check every nook and cranny before I can go to sleep.
7. Do you have any hidden talents? Please share!
Well then it wouldn't be hidden...
I like to dabble in many things...
8. How many children do you want?
I want 5 or 6. I think Trevor wants 3. We've compromised with at least 4...but it's not really up to us. We're just glad we got at least 1.

I Need Your Help

2010-05-07T11:26:00.000-06:00

Help me please! I have been asked to speak in church. My topic is "The Joys of Motherhood." That's a pretty good topic, I think, but I keep thinking of all the different directions I could go with it. Maybe it'll be a collage of lots of things. Anyways, I was wondering, what do you think of when you hear "The Joys of Motherhood." I'm just curious...I want to consider all possible angles for this talk. Thanks for your help! Wish me luck!

October & November

2010-05-01T15:10:00.005-06:00

I finally finished scrapbooking my Disneyland pictures from November. Randi was awesome and took a TON of pictures with her camera. I knew these pages were going to take a while, so I am relieved that they are finished.

Got Milk?

2010-04-28T16:24:00.001-06:00

In a few short weeks my little baby will be a little one year old. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, she is still a little shrimp. Today she had cow's milk for the first time. I was a little apprehensive to give it to her before she is actually 1...but I think she is close enough. We started the weaning process on Monday and gave her a sippy cup of breastmilk that I had pumped and frozen a few months ago in place of her lunchtime feeding. She didn't really like it. Yesterday Trevor did the same thing and she seemed to like it a bit more. I thought we were making progress. Today we repeated the sippy cup routine at lunch. She took a few sips and then refused to drink more. I decided to see how she would do with cow's milk...she needs to eat something! I gave her half a cup and she downed the entire thing. She loved it! We weren't sure how she would do with the new taste, but she seems to enjoy it. It was cute to see her little milk beard when she was all done. I am still nursing her 3 times/day...there is no way I am going to quit cold turkey. That's crazy! We'll wait a few days and then drop another feeding until we are all done. It's been so great to be able to nurse Emily for this long. When we first started, it was a little overwhelming. But over time, it's become such a great thing to share with her.

September Pages

2010-04-23T15:19:00.002-06:00

Easter

2010-04-21T11:41:00.003-06:00

Here are those Easter pictures I promised. BTW, Happy 100th Post to me!

Spring

2010-04-21T09:26:00.006-06:00

I'm so happy that Spring is finally here! Neither Trevor or I enjoy the cold weather. I had my share of cold weather during my time in Rexburg. We are desert rats and we love it! During the past couple of weeks we have been busy working on our backyard. I use the term "we" loosely. Mostly Trevor has been out working. I have been outside a lot, and even helped a little. But really, he does most of the work. Our backyard has become a jungle over the last 4 years. When we moved into our house, it had the appearance of being a yard. We soon discovered that the grass was really weeds pretending to be grass. It has been on our list of projects to complete and we are finally getting to it. The first phase has involved pouring concrete, which Trevor has done himself and is becoming quite good at. There is still more concrete to be poured before we move onto the next phases. I'm hoping that it will be finished sometime this year (probably at the end) because Emily loves to be outside but just gets into too much trouble with all the tools and equipment around. I had her in the front yard yesterday, but that only lasted about 20 minutes because she kept trying to crawl into the street. Right now, I can still catch her...but not for long.

Emily is slowly growing out of the baby phase. She finally actually crawls (before it was always an army crawl). She cruises along the furniture and has really good balance. She can stand up and sit down against pretty much anything. She can bend over to pick things up and carry small things with her when she crawls. She will only stand by herself for about 3 seconds before she gets scared and sits down. But she is so close to walking. She now has 3 teeth (all on bottom), with her two top teeth coming in this week. We have stopped buying baby food and have been experimenting with all kinds of "people food." She loves spaghetti and enchiladas. She still sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2 naps during the day. She waves bye-bye and signs "all done" when she is finished eating. She gets into everything she is not supposed to touch and won't play with her toys. Mom and Dad's things are more interesting, I guess. My next project is to scrapbook Easter so you can see pictures from then. For now, enjoy these August pages that I recently completed. I can't wan't until it is swimming weather again!

More July Pages

2010-03-29T15:22:00.003-06:00

I am loving my photoshop program. It is not the real deal mucho dinero photoshop...it is just Photoshop Elements. It really is all that I need. It is such a great program for digital scrapbooking...which, if you can't tell, I'm recently addicted to. As I do more and more scrapbooking, I am learning more tricks. I discovered how to put a nice little outline around my photos. I think it gives it a nice "finished" look. I also figured out how to round the corners on a photo. I read all these complicated tutorials online and could not figure it out. There were so many steps and it just would not work. Then, I came across it on my own. 1 STEP!!! It was so easy. Randi also told me how to use the liquify feature. She told me to use it to fix people's smiles...I used it for something else :) I also have figured out how to make things disappear that are unwanted in a photo. In Emily's blessing photos, I was able to get rid of her flaky skin that newborns have. In our family photo, I was able to get rid of my car in the background and replace it with a tree and cover up a hole in the knee of Trevor's jeans. What else can I say...Photoshop is amazing!

4th of July

2010-03-28T22:29:00.002-06:00

June Pages

2010-03-26T21:49:00.001-06:00

May, Zions, Bath Time

2010-03-24T21:19:00.003-06:00

Baby Blessing and Father's Day

2010-03-23T18:48:00.007-06:00

July 2009

2010-03-22T20:31:00.002-06:00

I totally stole this idea from my friend, Becky. She is so creative! I love the idea because I have lots of random photos that don't warrant an entire page to themselves. Thanks, Becky!

Progress

2010-03-21T21:27:00.006-06:00

Here's a page that I did today. Enjoy!

Motivation

2010-03-20T23:25:00.007-06:00

It's been a while since I did any digital scrapbooking. At first, my excuse was that my hard drive was full. This was the truth because my hard drive was only 80 gigabytes and my scrapbooking downloads and saved pages were taking up a lot of space. Since then, we have gotten a new hard drive (1 TB) and I now have no excuse for my slacker ways. I decided that I need to share my pages with you. It will give me some sort of motivation if I share them with you as I create them. I was going to wait until I was all done with this year's book to share the pages, but that could take a long time. So here's the few pages I've done in the last few months. I hope you enjoy them!

Purse Tag

2010-03-16T17:53:00.007-06:00

Randi tagged me to do this purse tag so I dumped out contents of my purse and discovered it is time to clean it out! There is one requirement when I am shopping for a purse: it has to be small. Big enough for me to put my wallet, planner, keys, sunglasses, and cell phone in. Small enough to keep me from storing my entire life in there. When it gets really full, it makes my shoulder hurt...I know...I'm a wimp. I couldn't believe all the extra stuff I had in there. It is time to toss some stuff. Here is an explanation of a few noteworthy things.
The thread bobbin-my sister let me borrow it a few months ago when I was making an apron. I found it last week when I pulled my sewing machine out. I've been meaning to give it back to her, but keep forgetting. It's in my purse so I won't forget. I've seen her at least 5 times since I put it in my purse.
The coupons-Tillamook cheese is REALLY expensive. But we love it. Thus, we buy it whenever it is on sale. This coupon expires today...I'd better get to the store.
Dr. Appt. Cards-When Emily got sick last month I was at the doctor a couple of times and accumulated a few appointment cards. I also couldn't remember the name of (or pronounce) the condition that she was diagnosed with so I had the nurse write it down on a sticky note.
Name Tag-My grandma came to a Family History expo a few weeks ago and I was able to tag along. I think I was the youngest person there! Did you know I liked family history...I do.
Temple Recommend-We went to the temple 2 weeks ago. We were running so late that I didn't have time to put my recommend away. I better put it back or I won't be able to find it next time!
Reciepts-I collect all of my receipts in my purse as I get them. I'm always afraid I'm going to have to return something...and sometimes I do! I'll throw them away some time soon.
Tissue-I'm sorry, I was at a friend's party last night and needed to blow my nose. I'll throw it away right now!
Movie Tickets-New Moon and Alice in Wonderland. I really don't go to that many movies. New Moon was at the cheap theater and Alice was a matinee.
School Whistle-I subbed today. A good teacher must always have a whistle!

I tag Becky, Shelli, Aubrie, & Kim.

Growing Up

2010-03-08T15:44:00.003-07:00

Emily has grown so much during this past month. Not so much in size, but developmentally. At her 9 month check-up she weighed 15 lbs. 10 oz. and was 27 inches long. That puts her in the 5th % for her weight and the 30th % for her height...poor little midget baby. It looks like she will be the short kid at school, just like her mom. At the same doctor's appointment, they did a follow-up on her HSP. The rash was nearly completely gone (it is gone now). They checked her kidneys again and everything is still fine. We'll check them again in a few weeks just to make sure.
Developmentally, Emily has made a lot of new accomplishments this month. On February 18th, she used Trevor's radio to stand up.On February 23rd, she sat herself up (went from crawling to a sitting position) and clapped her hands.

Today (March 8th) she stood up in her crib while she was supposed to be taking a nap. I can't believe all the progress she has made in such a short amount of time. I think the bumps and bruises that accompany the toddler years are about to join us. We have to close all the doors in the house to keep her out of rooms she shouldn't be in. I have to remember to keep the pantry closed or she will find her way in there and start playing with the food. I think the "easy baby" phase is over.

Finally Finished

2010-03-08T15:06:00.001-07:00

Today I finished a project! Hooray! I have tons of unfinished crafts that never seem to get finished. Well today I finally finished a major one. This project is a major project because of the length of time it took me to complete it. I started this project over 5 years ago. I don't even know when I started it. I know I was in college because I remember buying the fabric at Porter's in Rexburg. I also know it was before Trevor and I met because I remember working on it at my sister's house when I lived with her. It was probably started 6 or 7 years ago. We'll never know. Anyways, today I finished it and it is complete...now I have to figure out what to do with it...

My Supermodelquin Family

2010-03-06T10:45:00.004-07:00

Here's what we look like as Old Navy Supermodelquins. You can do it too! Click here.

My Poor Baby

2010-02-17T11:37:00.023-07:00

It might seem like we've been on vacation for the past few weeks, but that would be far from the truth. Emily has been sick since last Sunday (Superbowl Sunday) and I've been spending my time comforting her and taking care of her. She developed a very mucousy cough along with nasal congestion on Sunday, February 7th. I felt so bad for her because there was nothing I could do to make it better. We put the humidifier in her room and that seemed to help a little. Still, even after I put her to bed at night, I would hear little coughs coming from her room, followed by some sad tears, and then she would go back to sleep. This went on all last week. By Tuesday, it had gotten pretty bad so we went to the store to find some medicine for her. I talked to the pharmacist, who referred me to my doctor’s office, who told me there wasn't any medicine I could give her, but just to use a humidifier-like we already were. So poor little Emily had to suffer a little longer.

On Sunday it seemed to be getting better so we went to church. She was fussy and upset, but that is normal for us on Sundays because church is right when she takes her morning nap most days. After church I took her home and was changing her diaper when I noticed bumps on her arms and legs. I assumed it was an allergic reaction to something she had touched, probably at church. I put her down for her nap. She only slept for about 45 minutes. When I got her up, the bumps had gotten worse-growing in size, turning red, and looking like welts. I texted my mom some pictures (moms always know what’s wrong!) and we decided it was probably hives. She only had them on her legs and arms so it had to be something environmental causing them. I used to get hives all the time when I was younger and we never knew what caused them. This set my mind at ease a little.

Sorry these are blurry...it was really hard to get her to hold still.

We went to Sunday dinner at Trevor’s parents’ house. Poor Emily looked like she had the measles. After dinner we noticed that her feet were swollen. That really freaked me out. Her usual fat, squishy feet were so swollen and hard that it had to be causing her pain. Luckily my pediatrician’s office has an after hours nurse and doctor on staff for such situations. I called and they told me I could give her some Benedryl so we went to the store and got her some Benedryl and some Hydrocortizone. That seemed to help. The swelling went down in her feet and the hives stopped getting worse. They didn't go away, but they stopped spreading.

On Monday her feet were back to normal and her “hives” were no longer bright red and bumpy. They were more of a purple color. As the days progressed, her feet and areas around her joints began to look bruised. I assumed it was because of the swelling. Her poor little feet had splotches of purple and blue all over. I continued giving her Benedryl throughout the day, hoping her hives would go away. If it hadn't have been a holiday, I would have gone straight to the doctor. In the mid-afternoon she woke up from her nap with a mild fever. I had Trevor (who was at work) talk to the pharmacist at the store and ask him what we should do. We gave her some Tylenol for her fever and watched it. Within a few hours her temperature was back to normal. By this point I was totally confused. Hives and a fever??? That didn't make sense to me.

On Tuesday morning I called my doctor’s office as soon as they opened and scheduled an appointment (she had her 9 month check-up scheduled for Friday anyways). I was able to get her in with the Physician’s Assistant. After looking over her hives, checking her mouth and her ears, and consulting with my doctor, the diagnosis was an ear infection and Henoch-Schonlein purpura . It still doesn't make sense to me. I can’t pronounce it and I can’t really explain it very well. It seems to be a type of vasculitis that affects people usually after a respiratory illness (her cough). The spots all over her arms and legs were not hives; it was inflammation of her blood vessels. It usually improves on its own, but can cause kidney problems. They checked her urine at the doctor and everything was fine. They will continue to check her urine periodically over the next few weeks to make sure she is okay. Besides that there really isn't much to do, other than wait it out. Today her rash looks more maroon-brown. The doctor said she looks like she has been run over a few times with a bicycle. Whenever we go anywhere I try to cover it up because it looks like she's been beat up. The doctor says it might cause her pain, but so far she has been fairly happy. Even though there isn't much we can do for her, I’m so relieved to know what the problem is and what to look for now to prevent complications. Before I had no idea and it was really difficult to not freak out completely. She is taking antibiotics for her ear infection. The HSP is not contagious, and should be gone within a few weeks. We're looking forward to getting back to our normal life soon.

Trampoline

2010-02-13T18:40:00.002-07:00

Some friends of my brother-in-law were getting rid of their trampoline and we were able to inherit it. It is only about a year old and in very good condition. Our next project is to tackle our backyard and we want a trampoline back there so we were more than happy to take this one off their hands. Emily is still a little young to fully enjoy it, but Trevor has been out there a few times and bounced around. He took Emily out and she sure thought it was fun!The only down-side is that it turns your clothes black-any ideas on how to fix that?

Crying: A Photographic Montage

2010-02-13T18:28:00.001-07:00

Learning To Use a Cup

2010-02-06T22:48:00.002-07:00

I decided it was time to start teaching Emily to use a cup. Her first birthday is in about 3 months and we are hoping to skip the bottle phase. So far, we are not having much luck.

She's Hiny!

2010-02-06T22:28:00.002-07:00

That's Logan-talk for "She's hiding!" Emily managed to crawl under the bed while I was on the computer. She's so excited about it, too!

Teeth!

2010-01-31T22:20:00.001-07:00

January has been an eventful month for us. Emily has been crawling all over the place. She still sticks to the Army Crawl method. In the past month she also got her first teeth. We kept thinking she would get them sooner, but her first little tooth nub appeared just before she was 8 months old. We are not complaining about the delay of this phase, but we are pretty excited about it! A few days after she cut her first tooth, her second one came in right next to it. We think they're pretty cute!

A Baby In a Basket

2010-01-31T22:05:00.001-07:00

Shopping

2010-01-30T08:48:00.005-07:00

She's getting so big!

Emily's New Look

2010-01-13T10:21:00.004-07:00

My First Digital Scrapbooking Pages

2010-01-02T12:34:00.005-07:00

Hooray! I did it! Digital scrapbooking is awesome!

Scooter Magooter

2009-12-31T12:09:00.005-07:00

Emily recently figured out how to scoot. Oh boy...we're in for it now!

TV Cabinet

2009-12-31T10:15:00.004-07:00

We needed a TV cabinet to go under our TV in our living room. We looked all over town and came to the conclusion that we could pay $150-200 for something cheap from Walmart or $400-500 for something nice from a furniture store. I have recently discovered how delightful Craig's List can be and found this beauty for $40. It's amazing what a little sand paper, stain, and new hardware (and an awesome husband) can do!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-31T09:39:00.009-07:00

Emily sure enjoyed opening her presents. We got her a few toys to play with. She always wants a toy to play with and I don't like getting a slobbery remote back. She LOVES paper and wanted to eat it all. When I cleaned up all the paper, I kept finding little pieces she had torn off.

We are still on present #1.

Here she is rolling in the paper...a dream come true for her.

We had a great Christmas. We were able to spend it with tons of family. It was so nice to be able to see so many people and have fun together. I hosted Christmas dinner at my house for my family and I think it turned our very nice. The best part was the Kitchen Floor Jello, yum!

The day after Christmas I took down all the Christmas decorations (except the outside lights) and put everything away before Trevor woke up. He woke up to quite a surprise. Every year, he wants to take the decorations down as soon as the presents are opened. Usually, I tell him no. But this year I just wanted things back to normal. I love the holidays and spending time with family, but I love the normalcy. Now if I could only get rid of this stinkin' weather! Brr!!

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

2009-12-14T20:37:00.003-07:00

Today Emily got to meet Santa Clause! He was visiting our credit union so we took her down to see him. She was a little interested at first, but that didn't last long!

Merry Christmas Tag

2009-12-12T11:57:00.008-07:00

The Christmas Edition of getting to know your friends.
Okay, here's what you're supposed to do:
Just copy this entire post and paste into a new post that you can put up on your blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper...gift bags are too easy to peak into and the presents MUST go under the tree.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. I have never and will never have a fake tree. How lame is that.
3. When do you put it up? 3 weeks before Christmas. Any earlier and it usually dies and then I have to listen to Trevor tell me we should have gotten a fake tree.
4. Favorite Christmas theme? Food. Is that a theme? Oh, well.
5. Do you like eggnog? Gross. But Trevor does so I try to remember to buy it.
6. Favorite gift received? My piano. Trevor got it for me the first year we were married.
7. Hardest person to buy for? my dad
8. Easiest person to buy for? Emily
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Trevor won't let me do Christmas cards...what a scrooge.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Home Alone (the movie) in spanish.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story...it is the BEST!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I probably just gave it to the DI, so sort of.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? homemade caramels and mint chocolate m&m's.
16. Lights on the tree? yes
17. Favorite Christmas song? White Christmas
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home...I hate traveling for Christmas...it is too scary.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Prancer, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Vixen, Dasher, Rudolph...is that all?
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like stars the best.
21. Open the presents? Not until Christmas morning...Christmas Eve is cheating!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? cold weather
23. Favorite ornament or color? Red and Silver
24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? Ham...Turkey is for Thanksgiving.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Happiness!

26. TAG - Randi, Sarah, Smelli, Aubrie, Shelli

Haircut and New Tricks

2009-12-10T15:26:00.005-07:00

Emily got a haircut. It looks so much better than it did before. The pictures do not give her hair the justice it deserves...it was seriously out of control...all different lengths all over. But I didn't know what to do. Trevor cut a piece of it off once when I was subbing. I've been wanting to cut it because it sticks straight up but I didn't know where to start. Luckily, my sisters neighbor is my hair lady and was able to fix my baby's tragic look. Now it is all nice and even. Hopefully it will start to grow faster now.Emily has also learned a new trick. She can finally sit up all by herself! The other night she sat in the living room for a good hour and a half. I am so excited for this phase. I can set her down and she doesn't freak out and I don't have to take the carseat everywhere we go.

Concrete

2009-12-02T15:20:00.008-07:00

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to posting these. We poured cement at the beginning of November. We have a spot next to our driveway that needs some help. When we moved in there were some rocks there, but in the past few years a swamp has emerged. We decided that a concrete pad would look really nice there and serve as an extra parking spot. Concrete is SUPER expensive so we are doing it a little bit at a time. Here is the first pad that we have poured. The cement guy was really nice and delivered it to our house for a little extra $. He even helped shovel and rake it. We plan to go as far back as the end of our house. That way there will be a small section behind the fence where our kids can ride their bikes (we live on a really busy road).

Disneyland

2009-11-23T13:53:00.005-07:00

Two weeks ago we went to Disneyland! Trevor's family planned a vacation and we decided to go. Only part of the family was able to go so it ended up being us, Trevor's parents, his twin brother, Trenton and his wife, Randi, and his younger brother, Dallas. We drove up on Sunday night so that we could go to the Tonight Show on Monday. I requested tickets weeks ago so that we would be able to see it. We love Conan. So on Monday we hung out in Hollywood all day, just exploring and seeing the sights. Then we went to Universal Studios (the lot, not the park) where they tape the show. We hung around for the afternoon, just walking around the shops and restaurants, waiting for the show. We were told to be there at 3:30 p.m. and taping started at 5 p.m. So we started heading over to the studio around 3. We missed the tram and waited for the next one, then walked a few blocks to the audience line. We got there at 3:32 and were told our spots had been given away!!! Our tickets were no longer valid! We were crushed. We had come to California a day early just to see Conan and now we might miss it. We waited in the standby line until finally we were given real tickets. We had bad seats, but we were just glad to get in. It was so much fun. It was really neat to see the set in person and to see what goes on before the show and during the commercial breaks. We had a great time.
On Tuesday we prepared for our first day in Disneyland. Trevor's family loves Disneyland. I went once when I was 7. Since we've been married, Trevor and I have gone 4 times. This was the first time that we have taken Emily. We swore that we would never take little kids...but we decided to try it out. Emily was great! She was so good. The hardest part for her was taking her naps in the park. She is such a good sleeper when we put her in her bed. But if she is not in her bed, she doesn't know what to do. She knows that bed=sleep. No bed=awake? It was a little confusing for her, but she would take cat naps here and there. Trevor's family was so good to help out with her. There were a lot of rides that she could go on and only a few that she couldn't. It was also the perfect time of year to go. The lines were so short and sometimes nonexistent-except for Veteran's Day, bad idea! But Tuesday and Thursday were perfect. We had so much fun. Randi was so awesome and took our pictures the whole time so we can remember the trip forever! Emily's favorite part was meeting the characters. We have never done that before but since we had Emily we thought it would make some cute pictures. She was so fascinated with them, especially their noses. I think the characters really liked her too. They would play with her before we took the picture. It was so cute. We spent 3 days in the park and had so much fun. I don't think we'll go back for a while. Having a baby adds a whole new dynamic to the mix. I was worried that it would be too hard, but I think she was the perfect age to take her. Maybe in a few years we'll go back. So fun!

October

2009-11-02T19:04:00.011-07:00

Our lives are so crazy right now....I finally got my camera back but have not had time to take many pictures. Luckily, I have my wonderful sister-in-law Randi, who always has her camera and does a much better job than me. I'll try to do a good job of recapping this past month, but I'm sure I'll miss something. My brain starts to hurt if I think too much.Randi babysat one afternoon for us so I could sub and got this cute little picture of Emily. I didn't even know she could do this until I saw this picture...I guess I probably hold her too much.
These are some other cute pictures that Randi took when I wasn't around. I think it really captures Emily's personality.

Emily is doing better with eating solid foods now. She prefers oatmeal over rice and likes it when it is mixed with milk. She has started eating carrots now and doesn't hate them as much as she did a week ago, though I think I probably hate them more-they stain everything! As you can see it is a team effort to feed her. She likes to put her fingers in her mouth while she is eating.

We had a busy month of birthdays. Trevor (and Trenton) and I celebrated ours at the end of September/beginning of October. We had a great party for Trevor and Trenton. I'm so glad that Trenton has Randi now so that I don't have to plan the party by myself anymore (and for other reasons as well!)

Trevor's younger brother, Dallas holding Emily.

Blowing out candles (they each got their own cake).

My nieces and nephew fighting over the drums on Rock Band.

Rock Band has become our new obsession. Dallas bought Beatles Rock Band when it came out and we have been hooked ever since. It can be seen at nearly every family gathering. Above is Trevor and Trenton playing.

Me, Courtney and Randi playing on Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, we had a great time. I ended up subbing that day. Emily was a cute little skeleton. It was a lot easier subbing in a class on Halloween than being the teacher because everything was already taken care of. I didn't have to do a thing. I just had fun! On Halloween Day, Emily and I spent the day at Kathryn's house with my family. We had lunch, I made my costume, and we carved pumpkins. Later that night we went to Randi's parents' house for their awesome Annual Halloween Bash.

A cute little pea in a pod!Emily rocking out on Rock Band.

Trevor (a pirate), Emily (pea pod), Kristi (ladybug).

Well that is October in a nutshell. The weather has been great (except for a cold spell last week) and we are having fun times as a family. Trevor is still on graveyards for a few more months...not fun, but he's surviving. November will be just as busy. We have a trip to Disneyland planned and the holidays fast approaching. I don't think things will calm down until January. It sure keeps things exciting!

Growing Fast

2009-10-05T13:33:00.006-06:00

Emily is getting so big. We are continuing to have so much fun with her. This last week I got sick and so she's had a runny nose the last few days. Poor baby. I feel so bad for her. She's been so grumpy, which is not like her at all. I haven't posted pictures in a while...my stupid camera is still not back from being fixed...and they didn't even fix it. It's been gone for 2 months and it will still be broken when it gets back. Grrr...
If she is awake when I take a shower I put her in her swing. This is what she looked like the other day when I got out. So serious looking.
My mom got her a high chair and we've been using it when she eats her cereal. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!Here she is getting ready for bed.

Milestones

2009-09-20T09:03:00.004-06:00

This morning Emily woke up an hour early. She does this very rarely. Usually if I let her cry for a few minutes she will go back to sleep. One time I went in there because she wouldn't stop crying and she had her blanket on her head and couldn't get it off. Once I took it off she went back to sleep. Well, this morning her cries kept getting more and more upset. So after a few minutes I went in to check on her. She had rolled over for the first time! The little girl hates being on her belly. Every time I put her down for tummy time she starts crying after about 10 seconds. She cries and cries until she finds her fingers to suck on, then she puts her head down and starts to fall asleep. So we don't do a whole lot of tummy time. When she's in her crib she usually does this move that Trevor calls the helicopter where she turns in all kinds of circles like the blades of a helicopter. This morning she had managed to roll over in her crib and when she got that way she didn't like it. So I rolled her back over and she went back to sleep. Crazy girl.
We had another first yesterday...we started solids. Emily had rice cereal for the first time. I don't know if it exactly qualifies as a solid, it was pretty runny. But she had some milk with rice mixed in with it. The first time I gave it to her she hated it. I think she almost started to cry. It was too cold. So I heated it up and tried some more. It was funny to watch her. She would suck up what was on the spoon like a vacuum, then a second later I would see it dribble out onto her chin. I'm not sure if she actually swallowed any of it. I'm excited to get to some tastier foods!

Back in the Classroom

2009-09-19T09:55:00.005-06:00

I'm teaching again...well, sort of. I am substituting. When I was teaching and I found out what subs make, I swore I would never do it. It wasn't worth it. I could make more money being a checker at the grocery store. Well, a few weeks ago, I found out that you can earn points through subbing.

Let me explain. In order to keep my teaching license, I have to earn points. This is super easy to do when you are a teacher. You get points every week for attending mandatory meetings and for going to workshops and classes that are provided to you free of charge. It's part of your job to earn points! As an unemployed educator, it is a little more difficult. You have to pay to take classes-college classes! I thought I was done with school. Plus, if you are not teaching, you are required to earn more points than those who are working!! So when I heard that I can earn some (not all) of my points through subbing, I thought, "Hey, I should look into that." I would much rather have them pay me to earn my points than me having to pay them to earn points. Through my inquiry, I found that subs get paid a little bit more than I thought and if you are certified (have a teaching license) you get paid even a little bit more. So in actuality, through subbing I will get paid the same amount that I would make being a checker at the grocery store. Some other pros include: shorter days, more enjoyable atmosphere, flexible schedule (I get to choose when I work!), and I love it!

I only want to work like 2-4 times/month so this is perfect. I went to my old school on Thursday and told them that I am now a substitute and that they should call me. I was back on Friday subbing for a 2nd grade class. This was perfect because I taught those kids last year. There were only 3 kids that I didn't know. 3 of the kids were in my class last year. It was so much fun. I really enjoyed myself. Trevor stayed home with Emily. I was gone for 4 1/2 hours. The best part is that I just get to show up at the beginning of the day and then go home when the day is over. In the past, I would stay for 2-4 hours after school on a Friday, planning for the next week. Yesterday I was out of there in 10 minutes! I don't have to grade papers, do report cards, have parent-teacher conferences, etc. I get to skip out on all the things I dreaded as a teacher. It will be nice to have a little extra cash for birthdays, Disneyland, and Christmas that is coming up in the next few months. I'm sure I will have bad days and classes that I can't stand. But then I never have to teach that class again!

In other news, Trevor has to go back on graveyards at the store. He was on graveyards last year from August-February. We're not excited about this. When he's on graveyards, he can't go to church or do anything else during the day. It messes up his whole schedule. Plus, it's going to be difficult for me (being home during the day) to not want to wake him up. Last year, I would be at work when he was sleeping and I would wake him up when I got home. Boo! I'm not happy.

4 months

2009-09-17T14:30:00.009-06:00

Emily is getting so big. She is not a little baby anymore. She is 4 months old. She got her shots on Tuesday...not fun. She was not happy all day and got a fever that night, but she is much better now. After her doctor appointment on Tuesday, we went to the company party for Trevor's work. We had a good time. I won a prize playing BINGO. Emily got a tattoo. I wanted her to get a skull and crossbones, but they didn't have one. Our friend, Colleen, picked out a butterfly one instead.Emily continues to be a great baby. She sleeps 10 hours at night! Thank you, Babywise! She gets to be more and more fun each day. She has started laughing, which is so adorable!

In this video, she has the hiccups!

The other night, I went in her room to check on her before I went to bed and she was laughing in her sleep!!! So precious! Much happier than the sad whimpering she used to do when she was first born. We're having so much fun with her!

Swimming...again!

2009-09-08T17:03:00.005-06:00

For Labor Day, Trevor had to work. He has to work on most holidays. But Trenton and Randi had the day off so they invited us to go swimming. Seriously, we love to swim. We just haven't had that many chances this summer. Emily is starting to enjoy the water a little more. After the initial shock, she becomes somewhat playful. She was even experimenting with splashing. She started that during her last bath... This time we were swimming in the middle of the day so I had to lather her up in sunscreen...even her little head since she is so bald on top. I was still worried she would get scorched so I made her wear her hat and sun glasses. She looked so silly. After a little swimming we had lunch and Emily decided she needed to take a nap. She cried and cried and cried for about 30 minutes and finally fell asleep in my arms sucking on my finger. Randi's mom held her so that I could swim (thanks Keri!) and get sunburned. When she woke up she was still a little grouchy, but oh so cute.How could you not love that face?!?!

New Blog

2009-09-03T14:02:00.003-06:00

I decided to start a new blog. Lately, all I've been up to is finding amazing deals on the internet. Some of them are so good, I feel the need to share them with others. I realize that some of you may not be interested in these deals, so I have created a new blog where I will post about these fabulous finds. If you are interested, you can check it out at kristideals.blogspot.com. For those of you that are not interested, you will not have to endure it any longer. I just can't help myself...I love saving money!

Swimming

2009-08-31T10:35:00.004-06:00

This weekend Trevor's aunt invited his family over for a swimming party. We love to go swimming but haven't been all summer! We had a blast! Emily didn't like it so much. The water was too cold for her liking. After a while in the pool we got in the hot tub (which was only bath water temperature) and hung out in there. She was a lot happier. I think she enjoyed that part. After a while it started getting late. Her grandma was holding her and she fell asleep sitting up. It was so cute. After that she cuddled with me. I tried to let others hold her, but every time I passed her off she would wake up and cry until I took her back. Poor baby...she was so tired. But we had a great time!

New Yard

2009-08-24T22:02:00.001-06:00

Ever since we moved into our house we've been slowly working on improving the facade of our house. When we moved in, there was dead grass, an ugly white fence, and a conglomerate of mismatched trees. We tore out the trees. We painted and got new fixtures. This summer we continued this project and tackled the yard. Trevor (with the help of many others) built a retaining wall, planted trees and other plants, laid rock, and finally laid sod. We think the transformation is amazing. When it comes to remodeling, the exterior is foreign ground for us. We think it is a huge improvement. Now onto the backyard...eeehh.

3 months and randomness

2009-08-17T11:17:00.005-06:00

I stole this picture that Randi took from her blog. My camera is in the repair shop right now so I haven't been able to take any pictures. Luckily we have Randi around who is always ready and willing (and much more talented) to take pictures of our baby. Emily is 3 months now. I can't believe how big she is. I have a sad drawer in her dresser of clothes that don't fit her anymore. And it just keeps filling up. She is so fun to have around.
We haven't been up to much lately. It was really strange to stay at home this week because school started. I felt like I should be stressing out, like I usually am at this time, but did not miss the lack of stress. I really thought I would get bored with staying at home, but I have loved every minute of it. Especially when I got sick this weekend and didn't have to worry if I would be better by Monday. It has been so nice to spend time as a family and enjoy each other. We get so excited when Trevor comes home from work! Last week we went to the fair and had a fun time watching the bears. They were so fascinating as they ate their veggies. We also got to check out Randi's art! This weekend we will lay sod and finish our front yard (hopefully). I will post pictures when it is done. Mostly we have been enjoying the nice weather and relaxing. Life is good.

Sadness

2009-07-20T19:21:00.008-06:00

Emily had her 2 month shots today. She screamed really hard for about 30 seconds, then whimpered for a minute, then fell asleep. She's been sleeping since then. My poor baby!
I do love the stylish bandaids that she scored. One is a blue crayon and the other is pink camouflage. Next time I'll see if they have a chartreuse colored crayon bandaid. :)