* The happenings of the Adams Family *

The Story of Stella's Toe

2011-05-03T20:40:00.003-07:00

Coming home and valentines day

2011-05-03T20:40:00.001-07:00

Coming Home... what a day that was. When we booked our flights I had found such a killer deal I didn't even look to see when the flight home was. Well It left at 8:00 in the morning. So the shuttle came to get us 3 hours early. So just after 4:00 in the morning we got up. I had gotten the girls ready the night before so we could just grab them and go. The clothes and everything they needed were packed away. Well as soon as we got them up they were wide awake. So its was 5 in the morning and they are talking and playing, it was the strangest thing! We get to the airport and the lines to check in where huge. Who would have thought that early in the morning there would be so many people there. We somehow managed to entertain the kids till the flight, and yet they were still awake! They took a quick cat nap on the flight to Colorado. And then were awake the rest of the day... a flight home and the 2 hour car ride. When we got home the were so tired and so they went to bed early and slept hard.

It was so strange coming home... one because it was cold and we were use to the Florida sunshine and two because my sister had moved out while we were gone. It was so strange having the house empty. She moved in with us in July and her and her little one have been here since. We were so used to the noise that the quiet was so hard to get used to. We left the unpacking and everything to do for the next day and Aaron and I crashed hard not looking forward to real life the next day.

Funny the next day was valentines day. We woke up and did pink heart pancakes, which were a huge hit with the girls. Then we gave them their gifts. Later that night we got a heart shaped pizza, one of our favorites! It was a nice relaxing night which we needed from adjusting back to normal life.

Day Seven visiting hotels and saying goodbye

2011-05-03T20:38:00.001-07:00

On our last day in Disney we wanted to see the rest of the park. Disney has some of the most amazing hotels and we wanted to see them all and take Aaron to eat at the ESPN club one of his favorite places. We started the day by FINALLY finding the playground at our hotel. It was so big that it took us 7 days to find it tucked away in the corner.

Then my grandfather picked us up and gave us a tour of the hotels. They are all over the top and so grand. We wished we would have stayed in some of them and then looked up the prices and decided our room was just great! Then we had a late lunch at the ESPN club, Emma loved that there were TVs everywhere even in the bathrooms! The we took the ferry over to the yacht and beach club and played in the man made beach. It was so beautiful and sunny that we just sat there forever soaking it all up knowing that we would have to go home tomorrow.

Then my grandpa dropped us off and we went swimming and relaxed while we waited for my aunt and her new boyfriend to meet us. We had dinner and visited for a while. It was nice to spend time with them, but we had to go to bed early know that an early day was coming for us tomorrow!

Day Six Becoming a Princess and visiting a animal resuce center

2011-05-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

We had a nice relaxing morning today. We went back to downtown Disney to go to the team mickey store to find Aaron a great baseball Disney gift. The store was all decked out and it was so fun to look around. We then went to the rain forest cafe for lunch. We thought the girls would love the animals and thunderstorm, but they were scared of it. After eating we took the bus back to the hotel where my grandmother meet us.
My grandmother is a fairy godmother in Cinderella's castle and we waned her to do her up as a princess. She could not get us a discount on it and felt bad having us pay so much. So she came to our hotel and did it. Emma loved every minute of it and looked so magically when she was finished.
After she was all done up, we went home with my grandparents were we met my aunt. She is only 9 months older than me but she is still my aunt. She works at a animal rescue center and wanted to give us a tour. Emma loved to see all the animals and looked out of placed all done up like a princess. Stella was even able to feed a bear which she didn't know what to think about. It was so fun to spend time with them and get to see where they live since they have moved since the last time we stayed with them.

Day Five Epcot

2011-05-03T20:33:00.001-07:00

Epcot has always been our favorite park and we could not wait to take the kids. The day did not turn out to be as beautiful as yesterday but we knew we would have a fun day. We started with the iconic ball and did the ride within it. Then went to character signing to see Micky, Minnie, goofy, Pluto, chip and dale. It was nice to see them all in once place. Then my grandpa had to leave to get my grandma so we were left alone the rest of the day. Which meant less pictures and no tour guide, but we managed. While we went to the different countries we stopped and saw some of our most favorite characters.
We got to ride some of our favorite rides: test track and sorin. We also saw the funniest show that was done with Crush. And yummy lunch in Mexico! We had a wonderful time together and even got to see the firework show. we picked a place right behind the pole so the view was unobstructed. We could still see it and it was beautiful.

This picture is strange, but it shows Emma's favorite part of Disney! Her light up spinning Minnie. We told her that she could pick one thing she really wanted as a souvenir. After looking for three days she picked the thing she wanted the first night. This Minnie mouse. Which was nice because it was reasonable without our grandparents discount.

Day Four Space Center

2011-05-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

Day four we decided to take my grandpa up on his offer to drive us to Cape Canaveral to see the space center. Today was the most beautiful day of the trip and we loved all the sunshine we got! After the hour long drive we arrived at a beautiful place. It is amazing that the space center is surround by such beauty.

We spent most of the morning and afternoon there touring all the complex. It is huge and we learned so much about the space program and even got to see the discovery out on the pad. The last shuttle to go out. It was so great to get to see it out there. We had such a fun time and we were glad that we got to get out there and see it.
After the ride home, we decided to take a break and enjoy things around the hotel. The hotel had huge statues all over the hotel from each decade. The girls loved walking around and seeing them, but the best part was seeing Emma's face when she finally got to go swimming. Who would have thought that in February we would be swimming outside. After pizza and nice warm baths we were all ready for bed so we could be ready for tomorrow.

Day Three Magic Kingdom

2011-04-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

We could not wait to take the girls to magic kingdom! We were all ready with our autograph book to see all the characters. The day started rainy and really cold. But we got some nice sunshine in the middle of the day. My Nana had to work so my papa took us around till she got off. We started with toon town since after our visit they were tearing it down to build a larger fantsy land. Emma loved seeing Mickey Mouse and playing around. Next was the carousel which was Emma favorite part and she even got to ride Cinderellas horse. My Nana worked in Cinderellas castle so we stopped in and saw her and Emma got some fairy dust. We walked around the rest of the park seeing some of the must sees but also having to skip some like splash mountain because of the weather. We meet up with my Nana when she got off work and saw some great great shows like the laugh floor with mike and had a wonderful dinner. We then waited in a forever long line to see the princesses. It was worth it because it was the girls favorite part and Stella loved Cinderella. Then we went to go watch the fireworks. They were so beautiful and we loved the way the lighted the castle up in different colors. They day was so fun, wish we would have known where all the character where a head of time because we missed some of them because they were in weird spots. But we got a good chunk of them and Emma was really happy with them! We were so tired from walking around all day but it was so worth it.

Day 2 Sea World/ Downtown Disney

2011-04-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Day two was spent at Sea World. We knew that we wanted to do something else besides Disney. And after looking at all our options we thought that Sea World would be the best option. Like we were asked a million times if we were going to Harry potter, we sure wanted to but didn't think the kids would enjoy it has much and that was really important to us!

Sea World did not let us down. The animals and shows were far more than I had remembered or had expected. The girls just loved all the animals and the day was so warm and sunny that we just enjoyed walking around and seeing everything. Some of our favorite were:

Aaron somehow convincing Emma to ride this ride. They are in the very back. Afterwards she was so freaked out we bought her a blue treat because she had been such a brave girl. It worked but the remainder of the trip if she sensed a ride was scary no way was she going on it!

Of course the whale show has to be on here. Even though they cant go in the water with them anymore it was still beautiful.

But the best show has to be the dolphin and bird show. they did all sorts of tricks with them and the actors even were suspended in the air dancing. It was so fun to watch!

A huge storm rolled in late afternoon and we had seen most of the park so we decided to call it a day. My grandparents dropped us off at our hotel. This is a picture of the lobby, it's was so over the top and there was so many fun things to do there. But we decided to go to downtown Disney for some dinner and shopping. We took the bus from our hotel over there and then it started raining real hard. We got our our trusty Disney ponchos and braved it. We had the best dinner at a place called Earl of Sand which. Tasty Tasty. Then went to the shops. We got to see all sorts of crazy things. It was so fun to relax and spend time together. When we got home we were all wet and we all needed nice warm baths and showers. Then off to bed because day three would be a long day in...

Day one Hollywood Studios

2011-04-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

My grandparents picked us up early Sunday morning to take us to our first day of Disney! There was a light rain so they suggested we go to Hollywood Studios since they have alot of attar actions and shows that are indoors. We were happy to be doing anything so we took their advice. Aaron and I went to Florida in 2004 to see my grandparents and spent a couple of days in Disney. When we went to this part I just remember the two big rides they have there- the aerosmith roller coaster and the tower of terror. But this park has so many neat shows. Some of our favorites were

The Little Mermaid show (they somehow spray water above you and with lights make it look like you are under the water)

The Broadway type beauty and the beast show

The back lot tour (which is a lot like universal studious)

Eating lunch in a car watching a movie

but the best part... the AMAZING car stunt show. They showed you all the secerts they use in movies and it ended with a BANG! The only bad part was Aaron went to the bathroom while we were seating and we lost him. Spent the show enjoying it with strangers. We finally found him after it was over, thank goodness it was the slow season or else it might have been a distater!

We cut the day a little short since we were so tired and really dragging. Aaron and I were a little bummed we didn't not get to ride the aerosmith coaster but the wait was still over 45 minutes and we didn't want to have to make my grandparents watch the girls for that long, plus we road it when we were hear last and just relived it! And we wanted to be all nice and rested for what we had planned for day 2...

Florida Trip

2011-04-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

So my wonderful grandparents live in Orlando and we have wanted to go visit them and go to Disney since they have some wonderful perks there. We have planned the trip several times but just never have done it. Well they tell us that they are moving in June, so that made us jump in and do it. February is their slow season and we found cheap flights and a cheap room at one of Disney's hotels. So we booked it and didn't look back. So for 8 wonderful days we took off from life and went to Florida.

Day one was all travel. We spent Friday night February 4th at my uncles house so we were close to the airport. Our flight left at 1:00 and I must say we were SOOOOOO nervous about flying with the girls. We did 2 flights there and it was a good chunk of the day in flights and the airport. But we packed the bags and hoped for the best. Well we got the best. The girls were amazing and we had little problems. They both enjoyed the surrounding and were troopers since we flew in around 11:30pm their time.

We then boarded our bus (When you stay at a Disney hotel they shuttle you to and from the airport for free!) We were so tired but thank goodness we were the first stop! We got all unloaded...minus Aaron's backpack which he left on the bus and took us two days to track down. And checked in and went and crashed because bright and early Sunday Morning....

Out of hibernation!

2011-04-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this title on a blog I follow and I thought it was perfect to sum up our blog. I feel bad that we have done a terrible job of keeping up with our blog, but have had many obstacles along the way. The biggest one was our terrible computer, which hubby fixed by buying me a beautiful one that is worthy of my many hours spent on it. So with my new toy I will try and update you and we can get this thing up and running again.

I guess I will start with my kids because they are the easiest to brag about! Emma is 2 days away from turning 5 years old. I have no idea how that is happening. She still feels like my little baby. Maybe in my mind I'm trying to keep her that way! :) She is active in preschool where she can now name and write her letters. She loves learning and soaks up everything that she is taught. She also is in dance, I think she spends more time staring off into space than dancing but she swears that she loves it. She spends her days doing many girly things and also very boyish play. In February we were able to make the trip to Disney world (yes will post all about it later) and she was able to meet the princess which she talks about all the time. Emma is an independent girl and I spend my days trying to facilitate her. She loves her role as a big sister and just loves on Stella any chance she can get!

And speaking of Stella! My baby is no longer a baby. She just turned 16 months old. She has had a rough couple of months. The end of February she was playing with Emma and some how her big toe got shut in the door and the end was almost all the way pinched off. It was bloody and gross but after 5 and half hours in the ER with many, many stitches later she is put back to together. But that doesn't stop her. Like this picture she is always with a scratch or bruise. She has no fear and will leap off anything. And she is now walking everywhere, the toe set her back with this one, but she has over come it and is doing so well. Her blonde hair is growing in thicker ( after a terrible haircut by Emma!) and curly! She looks so grown up with it pulled up. This little girl is a ray of sunshine to us. She loves to be cuddled with and we give it to her often since Emma is more of a 'leave me alone' kinda girl.

Next would be Aaron (got to save the best for last , right?) He has been super busy with work. He hit his 6 months that he had to stay with his current position and had been madly applying for HR manager jobs. He came close on one, but we are still having our fingers crossed for that right one. He also has started his Master classes. I'm not quite ready for that again, but it needs to be done so we will get through it. He was put in as the gospel doctrine teacher this summer. I'm sure he does an amazing job, but I never get to be in his class. He is sure a great father and hubby and takes good care of us!

Last would be me. I'm doing the same old! Balancing my wonderful family and my part time job. It is difficult at times, but some how all works out. I was put in as the primary chorister this past summer and seem to be always working on that. Who knew it would be such a demanding calling. I'm still chugging along with my scrapbooks and even get to head out of town next week to work on it. I also have joined a book club and have had a lot of fun reading new things and getting together with some great ladies. In January my brother left on his mission. It has been really weird having him gone and to think that he is old enough to serve a mission. We sure miss him but are so grateful for the work that he is doing. My dad is a convert so we know the value of a missionary.

Well I hope that helps get everyone all caught up. I will post the goods from our trip to Florida... since it was AMAZING! :) and then will start on the day to day stuff. Hope you enjoy. Sometimes it totally feels like nobody is reading this, but I know you are so I will do a better job!

Where did the summer go?

2010-09-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

So our poor blog has been neglected the past couple of months. I have kinda checked out of the blogging/face book world for a while to get a break and spend some good time with my kiddos and focus on some other things that I have wanted to get done. But after several requests of updating I thought I would try and get it done! I have several posts that I started and never finished that I will finish and that will put us into June. Then I will do a post for each summer month and then get us to today. So bear with me until I get them all done. We have been doing some really fun things lately that we want to share. I am also making the though all the blog posts that I have missed, but my goal this week is to get it all done and caught up! So wish me luck and hope you enjoy!

ps. the post that I have been working on will show up before this one. So there will be new ones before this one!

can you tell we are ready for summer...?

2010-06-12T22:02:00.001-07:00

I love this picture of Emma! Can't you tell that she is all ready for a nice summer day? This spring has been such a cold one that we all want that warm sun to come out for good!

packing away the newborn stage

2010-06-12T19:45:00.006-07:00

Before we went out of town for Memorial Day I went through all of Stella's baby stuff to pack up and put away. It is weird to think that she out grown her swing and bouncer. She spent many night in that swing. It really saved our lives. It is sad to see her out of her baby stage, but I cant wait to see grow up more!

Big shoes to fill

2010-06-12T19:45:00.005-07:00

My mother in law sent these shoes for Stella. Emma wanted to try them on her. They are still quite big! But we cant wait to have her fit in them.

Cant get enough of these three!

2010-06-12T19:45:00.003-07:00

I took this picture in May, I just love the three! I wish that there was more time in my day to spend with them. Stella has been such a wonderful addition to our family and I can't believe that its only been 6 months. It feels like she has been in our family forever!

What we look forward to...

2010-06-12T19:45:00.001-07:00

In May 19-21st marked another trip to Lava to scrapbook with my friends! As always it was so great to get away and get some much needed scrap booking done. I was able to go through all most my entire list getting almost to when Stella was born. I have not scrap booked when Emma was born so I have to do both of them and I must say that I am really overwhelmed thinking about it!

I took Stella with me from Thursday night to Saturday when my mom came up and then took her home. She was still nursing so it was easier to bring then have to pump the whole time. I was surprised how great she did and she loved all the attention of the ladies there!

We also went out to eat and spent the evening at the hot pools. It was fun to be able to go this year, the last two times I couldn't because I was pregnant. The weekend was so fun and I love to have a chance to go with my great friends and do something that I love!

Toys...

2010-06-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

Stella is getting to a point where she is really starting to be able to interact toys. She can now grab them and get them where else... in her mouth. She really loves that little bear that looks likes a skeleton. Funny what they cling to. She is still not sure about her saucer, she would much rather sit in her bumbo with a couple of toys in her lap. But her favorite toy on her bouncer is the wheel that has little beads in it that she can roll around. It is funny to me what different things she likes to play with that are different from what Emma liked at that age. What fun it is to watch the difference/similarities of these two girls!

A little bit country ..a little bit rock and roll

2010-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Emma's spring rectal was May 15th at Poky high school. This years theme was a little bit county, a little bit rock and roll. Emma's ballet dance was to the El Paso song. Which we thought was so cute because that is where Aaron grew up. It was cute because he taught her the words to the first part of the song so every time she would practice the song she would be singing "out in the west Texas town of El Paso... I feel in love with a Mexican girl!" It took a lot of practicing to get her to not sing it for her recital. And her tap song was to paperback writer.

So early that morning I took the girls and we sat threw the dress rehearsal. Emma was decked out in curlers so she has curly hair for later, but she was so excited to dance on the big stage again. After several hours of waiting her class was told they could go home. After taking her out to lunch we ran home to get her all decked out. Curly hair and make up what more could she ask for! Then off to the high school to get good seats. We learned last year that if you don't come really early you get crappy seats, so we went really early and got some good ones up front. I took her down to her dressing room which was so cute, the high school is over 100 years old and is just beautiful in the details.

Then it was time to start. My mom, Kourntey and my best friend Amber and her daughter all came to watch. We loved the whole show they did such a great job! Emma improved so much since her last recital. And did most of the dance with her class. It was a sad night because he dance studio is closing and this was their last performance. We have had a wonderful year learning to dance and hope her next studio will be a great!

A full Sunday Afternoon

2010-06-12T19:43:00.004-07:00

After church on the 16th of May since it was nice outside we decided to finally get something put together that have been sitting in our garage! I had gotten a composter for a great deal from Costco and the day before we had finally replaced our BBQ grill. So we took the girls outside and I tackled the composter and Aaron the grill. After a couple of hours we got them both put together. Emma loves riding her bike around, this was the first time she has really gotten to test out her new bike! And Stella got her first taste of the grass, which she was not to sure about. It was a day of hard work but it was nice to have those done.

A weekend of love from my family

2010-06-12T19:43:00.003-07:00

Mothers Day! Always something fun to look forward to, it is wonderful to have my family show their appreciation for what I do for them. The day before my mother in law was come home from Utah for an eye appointment and she was able to stop and have lunch with us! It was so great to be able to see her right before mothers day and give her the gift we made for her. We casted Emma and Stella holding hands for her. She is such a great mother and grandmother and it was fun to be able to celebrate that with her.

After lunch Emma, Stella and I went and hung out with my mother to work on some crafts! While we were there we took some pictures of us in our mothers day shirts!

On Mothers Day I was woken to Breakfast in Bed from Emma and Aaron. It was so tasty and sweet of them, because we have 9:00 church so they must have gotten up early! Then off to church where for the first time I was sang to by Emma in the primary. It made me tear up because she LOVES to sing and was signing the song at the top of her lungs looking right at me. She is such a sweetie. Then after church I was showered with cards and gifts! Cheri had given me the tulips the day before (they are my favorite flowers!) Aaron got me the only thing I ever ask for my truffles, Fred Myer's mountain dew (my favorite pop I know really weird) and the blind side. Which has become one of my favorite movies. It was really sweet because in the card he said he bought it for me because I remind him of the lady in the movie always going out of my way for others. I really appreciated that he thinks of me like that! Then a wonderful roast dinner from hubby and dessert with my mom and sister. It was a wonderful day and I felt so loved by my family. Being a mother to my two girls is the best gift ever, and that is all I will ever need!

Zumba

2010-06-12T19:43:00.001-07:00

Gold's started offering a new exercise class that worked perfect with my schedule so I went one day to try it out! Well it was so fun and quite the workout. I have been hooked ever since. I should have know it was good with all the people that were waiting for it to start! It is a new Latin dance carido workout! It doesn't feel like you are working out because it is so much fun please your learning some new dance moves. I highly recommend it, a step closer to getting my pre baby body back!

Cinco de Mayo

2010-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

On the morning of cinco de mayo we woke up to a snow storm. It was so crazy to see so much snow on the ground again. If was funny the girls reaction to it. Emma LOVED it

and got all bundled up and wanted to play in it. While Stella HATED it

and did not want back into her snow suit. It didn't last long and was mostly gone by that afternoon. That night Emma and I made a taco fest for dinner. Emma loves to stand on a kitchen chair in the kitchen and help me cook! So I took her to the store and she helped me pick out all the stuff and helped me assemble all of it as a surprise to Aaron. It was a fun night and a great chance to teach Emma about another country and culture.

Girl time

2010-05-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

Twice a year the making memories warehouse opens up and sales scrap booking supplies for a huge discount. We usually go down and stock up. And while we are down in salt lake do shopping and go out to eat. It is always a fun girls day! Well this year was no different. Amber, Hetty and I took off from Poky and went straight down to the sale, we were meet our friend Aislynn and her sister. We spent some good quality time there getting us some new stuff. Walking away with boxes of stuff, don't believe us look at our picture! Then it was lunch time, none of my friends had been to PF Chang's so of course I had to take them there. We all ordered a different meal and spilt them all so we could get a taste of everything. It was all amazing and we were all stuffed. The waitress asked if we wanted to get any dessert to go with it, we said no. But then she brought the tray over for the people next to us and we say this insane piece of chocolate cake. They call it the great wall of chocolate it is that big! After seeing it we decide to get one and all spilt it thinking we would all just take a bite because we were all to full. Well we ate the whole thing in record speed, it was that good! Our tummies were all full when we made the trip back home. I sure have some great friends and love spending girl time with them. Thanks hubby for helping out with the girls so I could go!

New things from Stella

2010-05-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Stella is just changing so much these past weeks.

She is now wanting to be on her tummy and will balance on her tummy with her arms and legs out like an airplane. Emma did the same things as a baby.

She is now holding her own bottle

And dark hair is staring to lighten

Happy birthday hubby!

2010-05-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Aaron hates birthday. He never wants a big fuss and wouldn't care if we celebrated it or not. Well that is not ok with my family, who are HUGE birthday people. So after Amber's party on Saturday my mom and I threw a surprise party for Aaron on Sunday. We had a BBQ and a cake. Nothing big which is his style! On his actual birthday we took him, Amber and her hubby to lava! Amber and Aaron share the same birthday so it was fun to celebrate them together! So we ate dinner at A&W and then into lava to sit in the hot pools. It felt so wonderful and was great to relax for the night. Earlier in the day we took him shopping and got him a new set of golf clubs! It was a great couples of days in birthday celebrations. April is such a busy birthday month for us.

Pulling off a suprise party

2010-05-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

After all the company left and things got back to normal I was onto my next task, throwing a surprise party for my best friend. Amber turned 30 this year, the big one, so I wanted this one to be special. She is not a real birthday person, but I could tell she wanted a fuss this year. So with the help from her mom and our other friend we planned to have a lunch party while we were scrapbook at the church the Saturday before her birthday. So all week I sent out evites, made food assignments, got decorations and made the grand plan to get her out of there so her guests could come. It was SO hard doing this without her knowing because we do so much together. Every time she would come over or call I was worried it would come out or she would see it. And the night before was the worst. We took her out to the movies and before we left our friend came over to my house to go over what else we needed to do. Well Amber was asking her why she didn't text her back and she was doing such a bad job lying about it that Amber knew something was off. wow, it was hard not to say somethings. Well Saturday came and we all went to the church and scrap booked. Around lunchtime we sent her away with my co conspirator and we got all set up and decorated. I had everyone bring pictures of them with her from her past 30 years and we used them to decorate. Well after a couple of hiccups we got her back and then her guests came out and really surprised her. She didn't see it coming, which is always great! We had a great party and it was fun to celebrate someone that sure means a lot to so many people! The pictures are a bit blurry so you will have to imagine it!

Monster trucks at katarina

2010-05-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

Emma is a very quirky child. There are things about her that are very girly and then they are things about her that scream the opposite. Well her love of monster trucks is one of those things. She just loves watching them. And every year they come to holt arena (which Emma couldn't say for the longest time and would call it katarina!) and every time we drive past she asks me when they are coming into town and she can go see them! We were not able to take her last year so I made sure that we could take her this year. We even got the front row tickets which allowed us to go down on the field before hand and see the trucks up close. We went with my best friend her son, her sister in law and our other friend's daughter. We all had a great time, but it runs late and by 10:00 Emma was tired and asked to go home so we packed up early to get her to bed. But she was smiles all night and loved every minute of it!

50th wedding party

2010-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

On April 16th we drove down to Utah to attend my grandparents 50th wedding annverisary. It was great to gather with my moms family and see relatives we have not seen in a while. It was also fun to get to show off cute Stella and Emma who some of them had never met. We had dinner and just visited for a couple of hours and we ended the night with pictures. We sure had fun being together as a family! And yes Stella is in 2 different outfits, it was one of those days with a baby!

4 generations of first born girls

The children of my grandparents

The Grandchildren

The Great Grandchildren

Meeting Grandma and Granpa and seeing Aunt Kristen!

2010-05-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

My mom's parents live in Florida, so that means that we don't get to see them very often. Aaron and I went to Florida to see them in 04 so it has been 6 years since we have seen them. And that also meant that Emma and Stella has never meet them. So we were so excited when my aunt wanted to have a 50th wedding anniversary party for them in Utah. So my grandparents flew out for a week to see everyone and to go to their party. While they were here they came up to pocatello for a couple of days (April 13-15) to see us. We were able to pull some strings in a hurry and get Kristen and Sasha up here as well. It was so great having everyone together and get to spend some time with my grandparents. We have spent a lot of our childhood with them living far away so we never have gotten to spend a lot of time with them.

While they were here we spent a lot of time at my parents house just hanging out.

But some of the fun things we did were:
All the girls got together to have pedicures done! My Grandma had never gotten one so we had to make sure that got one!
We also made watch bands. My grandmother had never seen them in Florida so we made her a couple of them and got her watch face.

We had a really busy but wonderful couple of days! It was so hard to say good bye not knowing when we would see them again. But we hoping get out there in the next year to take Emma to Disney and visit them! Crossing our fingers.

Learning the true meaning of Easter

2010-05-05T21:53:00.001-07:00

This year we really wanted to teach Emma what Easter was and why we celebrate it. So for FHE and throughout the week we talked about and by the time Easter came she could tell us why we celebrate it. I was really proud of her because she really soaked up everything we said. During the week before we made sugar water Easter baskets (like we did growing up!) and dyed eggs with my mom and Koree. Which they both got a kick out of! With Easter Sunday being Conference Sunday it was different for us but we really enjoyed it. After waking up and getting our Easter baskets we gathered to watch the lamb of god before eating breakfast, and then on to conference. We loved spend the time together. Afterwards we went to my parents house for an Easter egg hunt, easter gifts from Grammy and dinner.

a pinkalious party!

2010-05-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Emma's favorite book is called pinkalious. It is about a girl who loves pink and eats to many pink cupcakes and then turns pink. I saw online someone had done a party with it, and Emma and I thought it would be a cute idea. So we went with it. We search all over town for everything pink for the party. Emma was such a big helper with her party and really appreciated it all. It was funny because she had such a girly party and invited alot of boys. But it all worked out! Here is Emma in her Pinkalious outfit

and Her pink decorations for the party

We started the party with coloring pages from the book,

followed by the reading of the story for those who had not heard it before,

playing pin the cherry on the cupcake

followed by decorating of pink cupcakes.

Everyone had such a great time and I think it was a hit, well at least a hit with the one person that matter, miss Emma!

Are you really 4 years old?

2010-05-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

On April 8th our little Emma Grace turned 4! I still have a hard time believing that she is getting so big. Her request like last year was that she get to go to chilis for lunch! what a gooofy kid. So after waking up and getting a ballon, one of her favoite things, and getting to open a gift.

Then we met dad and chilis for lunch. Then to my parents for cake and ice cream and opening of her gifts. We got her a big girl bike and stuff for coloring and drawing. My family got her a new leapster, leggings and dress up clothes. Other gifts were pjs, dolls and new clothes. She had a fun day but was really looking foward to her party on saturday!...

A new member of the church

2010-05-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Our niece was baptised a member of the church on Saturday March 27th. What a spiritual but long day! I had a really long and stressful week that week and didn't want to pack and have to sleep somewhere else. At this point Stella was not sleeping well. She was waking up between 4-6 gassy and wanting to be held. So I really wanted to sleep at home. well the Baptism was at 9 down in Springville. So that meant we had to leave our house at 5! We thought the kids would go back to bed and it would be a quite ride down. Well both of them decided to stay awake. Crazy kids.

We had spent the week before talking alot about what was going to happen to Hailey and why we get baptized. It was such a wonderful time to teach her a gospel fundamental and get her excited when she was going to be able to be baptized. It was funny when we talked to her about the holy ghost she told us "I already know about the ghost" when I asked her what she knew she said "he tells you when the big black dog is coming to get you" I didn't know what she was talking about but could gather that she had learned a story in primary about the holy ghost. I love her teachers and are grateful for the hard work in teaching her!

The baptism was such an amazing experience. To see our little niece make such a wonderful decision and to see her so happy and the spirt was so strong it felt like it wrapped itself around us like a blanket. I love seeing our families getting stronger and stronger in the gospel. we are so lucky.

After the service we had a brunch at Aaron's sisters house and then we got to visit the rest of the day. It was so hard to leave because we love spending time with Aaron's family. But with being up so long we needed to get back home. so at 11:30 we made it back home. We were all so tired but we had such a wonderful day it was so worth it!

I'm one lucky mama!

2010-05-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

I cant blame this losing my pictures on this one, because I forgot to take them. But for St Patty's day this year we taught Emma about the leprechaun and how we needed to try and catch him. Well we had no luck this year but he left us treats! For Emma green bubbles, silly puddy and candy. Aaron got green powerade, mike and Ike's and gum. And for me green pop and Andes chocolates. I dressed the girls in green but the only picture I got was Stella. Emma kept running away. But I am so lucky to have two sweet little girls in my life.

Stella's Blessing

2010-05-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

On March 14th Aaron blessed Stella in our home ward. Because Aaron's dad is a stake president in Montana we had to wait until he had a break in his Sunday schedule to bless her. So she was a little older than Emma when we were able to bless her. Aaron's parents and 2 of his sister and their families were able to be there with my family and our friends. The night before we went to IF with the Adams side of the family and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. There were so many of us there that night but it was so great to see all of them and get to spend some time with them. We don't get to see all of them often enough. They are such great people, what a family to get to marry into!

Sunday morning bright and early (it was daylight saving so we gathered at what really was 8:00!) Aaron gave Stella such a beautiful blessing. It meant so much to me to be able to see my husband take out daughter in his arms and give her a blessing. I am grateful to have my husband hold the priesthood and to be surrounded by so many of our family. She is one loved little girl and I hope she felt that.

After the blessing we had brunch with our family and friends. It is always so wonderful to have everyone we love gathered together. After theparty was finished we were ready for a really long nap. It was a long but wonderful weekend.

3 months old

2010-05-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here are miss Stella's 3 month pictures! She is just a doll and we are just soaking up all the time that we have with her. She has the biggest smile and loves attention. When we took her to the Dr for her check up she weighed only 12 pounds and was 24 and 3/4 inches long. She is much smaller than her sister was at 3 months, so we are all wondering how they will compare when they are older. Stella just loved Emma and her cooing and talking gets more frequent when she is around! Sleeping at night is still hard for her and she wakes up about 4 with gas and is really fussy. So for that reason she is still sleeping in our room. It's hard to believe how fast this girl is growing!

oh blog how do I update you...

2010-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

WOW, has it almost been 2 months since I have updated this! It has been a whirlwind of events and I still feel like I am trying to get everything caught up in my life. We have celebrating 4 birthdays, got to see my grandparents who we haven't seen in 6 years, my sister flew up from Arizona, started a book club and have watched my Stella grow bigger and stronger! Thinking about it makes me tired! But now it is time to get back on track so bare with me while I get us up to date!

I think the biggest thing that has happened, happened last week buy will give you an insight on the lack of pictures! While my hubby was doing homework a couple of weeks ago a virus got on our computer... YIKES! I started freaking out because I have not backed up my pictures from 2009, (I know dumb thing to do, it just doesn't seem to be at the top of my list of things I have to get done!) Well thanks to some great computer guys everything was restored and I got it back last week. Well realizing it was dumb that I had not backed them up I was putting the pictures into folders getting ready to back them up when I realize all the 2008, 2009 and the few of the 2010 pictures were missing. I looked everywhere and then took it back to the computer place! Well there are now gone for good. What a wave of emotions these past few days have been. I feel dumb for not doing something that I KNEW I should have done, guilt for losing Stella baby pictures and sadness for missing something that I cherish so much. The glimmer of hope is that I have all of the pictures that I posted on my blog, and thank goodness I posted a lot of when Stella was first born, so with them and pictures from my family and friends I have enough to piece together the past couple of months.

It was intersecting that this past Sunday our lesson in young women's was about Journals. I had prepared and gotten together all different types of journals that they suggested in the lesson for the girls to see so that they could get an idea of what would work for them. When I was setting up for the lesson I thought about my blog book, so I had my hubby run home and get them for me. The girls were really excited to see them and to realize that it was a type of journal and I was grateful for the outlet to be able to record my life and my feelings. I have thought alot lately after losing my pictures and I have realized how much I value not only my pictures but all the stories behind them and my feelings during that time. In the lesson it talks about making sure that we post about our hard times with the good times. And I think that has been my problem lately. Being overwhelmed with a baby and a bossy 4 year old, a hubby busy with school and working at a time when I want more than anything to stay home with them. So when I think about blogging or writing in my journal I just don't want to do it. But those are the times that I need to do it!

Ok, so here goes the updating! Just so you all know I have been reading everyones blogs and have been loving them. Just need to take more time to comment on them so you know that I am loving them!

Learning to drink from a bottle

2010-03-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Since I was going back to work we had to start getting Stella ready for a bottle. She was just as easy as Emma was with getting her to take the bottle and switch easily between the two. Emma LOVES to feed her and does a really good job doing it. I usually don't get to see her helping because I feed her when I am around, but a couple of weeks ago when I was bring home Emma from dance class Aaron was feeding her and she ran in to help so I was able to get a couple of these pictures.

What we would do without our swing?

2010-03-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Stella is a swing baby. I don't know what I would do without it. There are nights that she sleeps in it. We have gone and gotten batteries in the middle of the night because they died. Emma liked the swing but Stella LOVES the swing. They are times she sleeps great and there are times when she does not sleep well and with the help from the swing those night are easier on us!

Back to work

2010-03-11T13:55:00.001-08:00

On Febrary 11th I started my first day back to work! I started slow over three weeks and on the week of the 22nd went back all the way. It was hard getting ready to go back, but once it came it was much easier than I thought it would be. I only work 15 hours a week and with my schedule and Aaron's there is only a couple of days a week and for a couple of hours that they are at my parents. The arrangement works out perfect! Are their days I want to not work and just stay at home... almost everyday. But I know that for us this is what we are suppose to be doing. My kids are well cared for and loved at papa and grammy's house and the work I do I love and is helping others in the process. I know when Aaron is all finished and in his career I will look back at these days knowing that they were hard but we made it through it fine. I love all the time I spend with my family and make sure that I make the most of it. Even if is means curling on the couch with them watching more Dora's then I want to!

Sisters

2010-03-11T13:53:00.001-08:00

I was really worried when I was pregnant with Stella that the transition from one child to two would be hard. Since there is a big gap between them I was afraid that Emma would have a hard time because she was so used to it being just us and that she would have a hard time knowing what to do with a baby. Well I have been so surprised by my sweet Emma. She has just taken to Stella and loves her so much. She is so helpful and loving to her. Sometimes a little to much. When we were putting her to bed a while ago she wanted to give Stella a "real hug and kiss" not one while I held her. I know that she will always love and take care of her little sister. I sure love these guys and cant imagine life any other way.

Let me call you sweetheart, Im in love with you....

2010-03-11T13:49:00.001-08:00

Valentines Day this year was sure crazy with it being on Sunday! But we made the best of it. When we were in Utah for Bronson's blessing we found these super cute V-day shirts for the girls. So on Saturday I got them ready and took their pictures. Wow, they did not turn out as great as I thought but they still are cute. After that we hung out with Aaron was at work and made treats for our friends. That night Aaron surprised me with an outing without the kiddos. This was the first time we had done it since we had Stella. We went out to eat and went and saw Valentines day. It was a very cute show. It was great to have alone time with my hubby but felt strange without the baby.

On Sunday we dressed the girls in red and pink dresses for Church and they were greeted at the the table with V-Day surprises! (not sure why there are no pictures from the whole day?) Emma got a balloon that she had been wanting at Fred Myers for weeks, a heart shaped cup, chocolates and some books. Stella got a new dress which she wore to church. After church, Emma and I made dinner for Aaron. We don't eat steaks alot at our house so we have for the past couple of years made some for him. It was fun to make Aaron's favorite things, and use the fancy dishes! We sure have some many things that we love and always have a wonderful time celebrating it!

Out Cold!

2010-02-24T21:59:00.001-08:00

So last Friday I was getting ready to scrapbook with some friends and was waiting for Aaron to get home from the gym so I could go. While I was feeding Stella I looked over and Emma had gone to sleep. And I mean she was out and snoring asleep. And then after Stella was done she did the same thing. When Aaron came home I told him that it must have been his lucky night because it was 8:00 and they were both out for the night! Why doesn't that happen when it is might night home?

Just some cute pictures of Stella

2010-02-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pictures of little Stella. It has been fun to take her picture lately because she has noticed the red eye light and will smile for you. I cant always snap them fast enough but we are getting closer.

Are you ready for some football...?

2010-02-24T21:44:00.001-08:00

So we ran home from Utah so that we could come home and watch the Superbowl. I know.. sounds terrible. But we had made plans with our good friends to watch it at their house and have a party. Well we made it there just in time without a chance to go home first. Emma as always had some much fun with Paige and Payden. (they ended up watching a movie in another part of the house!) We sure enjoyed the game and the commericals this year were pretty good. It is always fun to spend time with friends and relax~

Meeting a new cousin and first time away from home!

2010-02-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

On February 6th we made our first trip out of town with Stella. Aaron's sister had a baby boy 2 weeks before we had Stella, and it was time to bless him! We had not been able to make it down there to meet him yet so this trip was filled with a lot of fun things. That afternoon we gathered with Family and friends to watch as Bronson was blessed at the Robisons home. It is always great to get together as a family, but it seemed sad to be missing two siblings. We have been blessed for a while to all be so close, but now it is not as easy to all get together!

After the blessing we just hung out and enjoyed each other and the two new babies in the family. Emma had that best time with all of her cousins and especially loved being told stories and tucked in by Papa. Stella also enjoyed her first time sleeping away from the house. Thank goodness Alison had a spare swing so that we could enjoy the night as well.

The next we had to head back to poky. As always it was not long enough. We sure love our family and wish we got to see them more. Aaron's weird schedule has not let us come down as much as we would like, but this trip really helped! Now we are looking forward to Stella's blessing in March so that we can all get together again.

Making valentines

2010-02-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

As we started getting ready for Valentines day, I took Emma to the store to pick out what she wanted to do for valentines day. She looked at all the cards and then told me she wanted to make her own. I thought it was a great idea, she is so crafty and loves to color and make things. So she picked out stickers and colors for her valentines. She asked me to make them hearts and then she went to town coloring and decorating them. The thing I loved about them is that they were all different. She asked me who each of them where for and then and decorated. After they were all done we made chocolate suckers to give with them. I have always wanted to teach Emma that this holiday is about showing everyone in our lives that we love them and to do something special for them. She sure loved making them and didn't tire out after doing over 20 of them!

Playing with dad when she was all done!

2 months old

2010-02-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Well next week Stella will be 3 months old, So I thought I better update this! There were pictures taken when she was 2 months old...

She:

* smiles and tries to talk to you

* had some baby acne that thank goodness went away

* thinks that her bed time is 1:30 am (yes we are tired!)

* Is finally fitting into all of her 0-3 month clothes

* Cant seem to keep her socks on no matter what we do

* Starting to round out and look more like her mom

* weighs 9 pounds 15 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long (which is one pound heavier than Emma and 3/4 inches shorter!)

* is still as cuddly and loves to be held!

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman!

2010-02-03T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well us here in Poky finally got some good snow on Sunday. Since then Emma has been begging me to go make a snowman. With the baby I had not figured out a way to get out there with her, so Tuesday on Aaron's day off he took her out there and played.

They made snow angels

And a tiny snowman with a marshmallow face

BUT best of all... they made this little girls day! Finally getting to play in the snow after a long and snowless winter!

The thrill of a good deal!

2010-02-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have not fully gotten into the couponing world. To be honest it is somewhat confusing! So it is a good thing that I have a good friend who is well versed into couponing! So Albertsons was having a stellar Quaker sale. 5 boxes for $5! I thought that was great considering the amount of granola bars and oatmeal we go through! But Then Amber told me that at Fred Myers they had coupons for the Quaker stuff so that it would only be 5 boxes for $2! Crazy huh, so Thursday night Amber and I went to get our hands on some of the goodies! I walked away with 25 boxes of granola bars, 10 boxes of oatmeal and 10 boxes of life cereal. I paid a grand total of $17.70! I saved $158.05. What a high to walk out with so much and have paid so little. We couldnt believe it. So of course we told everyone about it. So Friday night after a wonderful night of scrap booking with my friends, 8 of us went to Albertsons once again to stock up! I then got 5 boxes of granola bars, 5 oatmeal's, 10 boxes of Cinnamon life and 5 containers of oats. And the total $13.63 saving $94.75! What a boost to my food storage! Now to clean out the storage room so I can put it all away!

Just had to laugh

2010-01-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I went to my parents house because Emma was dying to play over there. While I was talking to my mom Emma was pounding on Koree's bedroom door. I can never tell if she is playing of if something is really wrong... so I ignored the first one. After two more I thought something might be wrong so I went in to check. This is what I saw.
Koree had gotten into my mom's scrapbook tape. it is double sticky tape that he used to wrap Emma to the swing that she keeps in his room. She had manged to drag it to the door and pound on it to get some help. When I walked in he was hiding in the closet ( knew he was in trouble!) and she was screaming for help. I just started laughing. It was so funny. We had to use scissors to get her out. She was so upset, we kept asking her why she let him do it. Well I guess she knows for next time!

What happened?

2010-01-28T17:45:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday we came home from running some errands and left Stella's sweater on her when we put her in her chair. After getting Dinner started I looked over and this is what I saw...

I thought it was so funny I had to take a picture!

Dad's Rock Star

2010-01-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

I had ordered some new clothes for the girls and they came last week. So Emma wanted her picture taken in her new shirt. It said Dad's Rock Star. She just loves the shirt. So while I was taking pictures of her we took some new ones of Stella and a video of her cooing. We got some good ones!

Sleeping Beauties

2010-01-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

Sleeping children, there is nothing cuter. I took these the other day when I got a few minutes of peace and quite when they were both taking a nap. Those are sure cherished moments in my day.

Cry baby

2010-01-28T17:29:00.001-08:00

Stella has started crying tears, it is so sad! And when she cry she curls her tongue. It is so cute and unique. So the other day when she was crying I wanted to get a picture of it. Well Emma just thought it was the meanest thing (which she was right!) But I got it. Tears and the curled tongue. SO cute.

Sleepover

2010-01-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Emma and Koree have wanted to have a sleepover for a while now, so last week we made arrangements for him to come spend the night. While we were getting them ready for bed they wanted me to take their pictures. These are the pictures they wanted me to take. Arnt they so cute. They had fun together until Koree wanted to go home and started crying and wouldn't go to sleep. Emma started to get annoyed with him and started yelling that she wanted to go to sleep. It was a long night with him but they sure had fun together. Next time it might be more of a play date rather than a sleepover!

An update on us!

2010-01-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well I have been so frustrated with my camera that I have not posted anything onto the blog! But I finally figured out how to upload my pictures onto the computer! YEAH so now back to the blog world for some updating!

Thing have been crazy busy around here, which is both a good and a bad thing. Aaron started classes again a couple of weeks ago. It is not quite the stain last semester was which I am so thankful for, but it is still him gone more than I like. But he applied for graduation last week. What a great feeling that is! We are so proud of him. And now the process of applying to the Masters program. We both cant wait for him to be ALL finished, but know that this is what he is suppose to be doing!

Aaron got me all hooked up at the gym and the other night I got to finally work out! It felt so great to finally get going on losing the rest of the baby weight. It is funny how everyone can tell me that I look great but I how don't feel it yet. But now I am staring to feel better.

Stella is getting SO big! It is like one day she was a tiny newborn and now she is a baby. She is smiling more and more active. She is still not wanting to go to sleep at night and it is usually 1 or 1:30 before we all get to bed. I cant wait until we can get her to sleep earlier so I can have a better schedule. Yesterday we took her to the Dr for her check up and she had to get her first round of shots. It was so sad, the first time the are poked it always the hardest! But the Dr said that she looks great and the hematoma had healed great.

I am staying busy picking up my first piano student and getting in the hang of teaching her. I also starting teaching in young women's again. I took a month off to get used to having the baby and adjusting to things. With 9:00 church and a baby that likes to stay up late the first lesson I taught was very sleep deprived, but here is hoping the next lesson will be much better! I am also getting ready to go back to work. I wish that we were in a better schedule so it did not seem so scary! But hopefully the next two weeks will be better. I am cutting my hours almost in half from before so it wont be as demanding.

Emma is so active. I wish the weather was better so I could take her outside to run some of it off. She is still such a wonderful helper and I love all the help and support that she gives me. She is still just loving her dancing class and cant wait for preschool, she talks about it everyday.

This weekend I get to spend getting my scrapbook caught up and spending time with great friends. I love these weekend and are so grateful for my hubby who is so supportive of me going. So there is a update and now that I fixed the camera problem I will also post some pictures.

It's so hard to say goodbye....

2010-01-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

So today our ward got a new bishop! Since we have been married this is the first time that we have gotten a new bishop. We have not been in a ward long enough to have him released. It was a real bitter sweet day. We just love our ward and have such a wonderful experiences the past couple of years we have been there. As Aaron and I talked about who we thought would replace him (the stake president gave an idea it was going to happen today, last week at ward conference!) we also thought about the exchanges we have had with the bishopric. What great experiences with these men we have had and we can honestly say that we love and supported them. As the bishop got up today to conduct his last sacrament he got teary eyed, and I sat in the mothers lounge with Stella I did to. But we are so happy for this new phase in our ward. The men that were called are just as wonderful and we look forward to getting to know them better and supporting them in their new callings.

And as a side n0te. Aaron and I got all of us up and ready and to church early for our new time of 9:00. And with a new baby that didn't sleep the night before that was a huge accomplishment for us!

Five dollar a footloooong

2010-01-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

I love the things that come out of miss Emma's mouth! Some days it is what gets me though my days. So we went to Subway for dinner on Friday to Subway. To Emma that restaurant is called 'five dollar a footloooong'! We have tried explaining to her that is not the name of it, but she just does not believe us. I forgot how odd it is until we are around other people. We were taking our dinner to eat at Holt arena and Emma kept asking "we are not going to eat at five dollar foot long"? What a hoot this little girl is. Thanks for keeping us laughing!

A Friday night treat!

2010-01-17T17:15:00.001-08:00

What a treat Friday night was for us! Andrew was coming to Pocatello to run at the track meet at Holt Arena. We love to watch him fun and were glad that we were able to make it. And then as an added bonus Kristen was able to come up and she brought up Miss Hailey with her. They had not meet Stella yet so it was great to have them up here and to spend the evening together.
After dinner we headed up to Holt Arena to spend the evening. Emma had just a great time with Hailey and copied everything that she did.
Hailey, Emma and Stella are the only girl cousins on the Adams side so it was so fun having them all together. We sure had a wonderful night even though we stayed till 10:30pm and didnt get to see his last run! What a fun night with wonderful family!

great couple of days

2010-01-12T20:46:00.001-08:00

Wow the past couple of days Miss Stella had made heat melting milestones. Late last week we starting hearing those little cooing noises that are a warm welcoming from the crying. It was so cute we were in her bedroom getting her ready when Emma was talking to her and she starting cooing back. It sure made Emma's day. It is so fun to hear her staring to vocalize with us!

And then a couple of nights ago Aaron was holding Stella at the table and I sat down and started talking to him and she heard my voice and looked right at me. It was so cute and nice to know that she is starting to recognize not only my voice but my face as well. Oh, I sure love this little girl!

And today while Aaron and I were getting her ready for the day, we were talking to her and she gave us a big smile. That smile was the first intention smile. It was so sweet and we tried all day to get another, but that is all that she has given us so far.

It has been a treat to see this little girl start to be more aware of us and show signs that she likes us. She is such a wonderful addition to our family and we cant wait for more from her.

RIP leapster December 2009-January 2010

2010-01-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

Emma got a leapster for Christmas. It has been so nice, I can have her play it while I need to have my attention other places (making dinner, feeding the baby) and she has really been learning a lot with it. Finally getting those colors down.

Well the other day I was talking to my sister on the phone while Emma was eating lunch. She tells me she is finshed and going to play with her leapster, which I tell her would be fine. Then I hear some running water. I go back to see what she is doing and she had it under the running water. I scream and yank it away from her and she starts to cry. I dry it all off while Emma is crying more and more. So I jump off the phone and explained to her what had happened. She tells me that it was dirty from the Cheetos and she was just cleaning it, clearly unaware of what the problem is. My heart just sank. At no point did we explain to her that wasn't ok to do. She had no idea what she had just done had ruined her new toy.

I felt just as sad for her all day. When we were driving to an appointment later she told me that she had seen a frowny face. I asked her where and she told me that it was on her face because she ruined her leapster. And then asked me what she needed to do it make it a happy face. oh, Emma! What a heartache Last Thursday was. Leapster may you rest in peace.

Playing dress up

2010-01-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

We have been having so much fun with Stella lately. When she was born she was tiny she only fit into a couple of her newborn outfits. And then with her hematoma we couldn't put any headbands in her hair. But now she is finally fitting into her cute clothes and we can put her headbands in. She looks so cute and Emma and I are having so much fun playing dress up with her. And of course with every picture of Stella there has to be one of Emma, who is also just as cute!

Another Bridger to add to the fam!

2010-01-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

My sister Kourtney had her baby. Bridger Scott Barney was born at 10:10 AM on 1/7/10. He weighed in at 6lbs 12oz and was 20 inches long.
It is funny because when Aaron and I got married we each have a sister named Kristen both with the same birthday. And when Kourtney told us that she was going to name her little one Bridger we thought it would be funny if she had her Bridger on the same day as the Bridger on the Adams side. But she did not make it to the 17th!

Emma, Stella and I were all able to go meet him a couple of days later when they got home. What a crazy year for babies in our families. Stella made three on the Adams side and Bridger made 2 on my side. What a fun year.

Thoughts on a new year!

2010-01-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

The start of a new year gives us a great opportunity to look at our lives and see if it is where we want them to be. I am a person that loves to make new goals periodically through my life. And with our schedules finally getting back to normal after having Stella it was good timing to reflect and make some new goals!

1. Become more spiritual. I think this is the most important to me right now! Being pregnant and then having a new baby has really made us lax in our scripture study and prayer. I want to do much better with this and really teach Emma and Stella better out of the scriptures. I also want to be a better teacher and spend more time preparing for my lessons. I also want a stronger testimony and take more of my time in service to others.

2. Pictures. I don't take enough pictures of the event in our lives. I want to take more pictures and more meaningful pictures. I also want to learn to take better pictures so they better capture my kids.

3. Record things more often. I don't do well recording the events of my life as they happen. I want to do better so that when I look back I don't forget things. I want to remember all the funny things that Emma says and the milestones that Stella is reaching.

So here goes! I hope that I can take the time to really do these goals well. It always feel great to make a goal and then meet it.

Stuck at home

2009-12-31T18:00:00.001-08:00

Well New Years Eve was a lot quieter for us than it usually is because little miss Emma got streap throat the day before. We did not want anyone to get her yuckiness so we opted to spend the evening at our house. Because of the change in plans when went to Fred Meyer to get snacks and stuff for dinner they were all out of sparkling cider! It just felt like things kept getting worse and worse. But we made the best out of it. We rented movies and spent the night watching them and playing games. Emma did not last long and fell asleep around 10:00. It was so sad to see her that sick. So Aaron, Stella and I rang in 2010 with pop and watched the neighbors fireworks from the window. Since Emma missed the excitement we redid if for her the next day so that she could pop her poppers and use a big person glass!

2009 brought us many wonderful things and we hope 2010 is just as great for us!

one month old!

2009-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

I cant believe that our little girl is already a month old. How fast the time has gone by.

* She is a cuddle bug and would spend all day in your arms if you let her

* Makes some of the funniest faces especailly a wonderful scowl

* Loves the swing and it is has saved us on a couple of nights

* Is such an easy going baby and hardly ever cries

* Still is wearing newborn size diapers and clothes

* Loves to stick out her tounge and curls it when she cries

*when she is on yout chest she will grab onto your shirt

First time at home

2009-12-31T17:00:00.000-08:00

The holiday season was so different for us this year because of Stella coming. We usually spend one Holiday with my family and the other with Aaron's. We could not make it to Montana for either this year, which was sad but for Christmas we were able to spend it at our home and make some of our own traditions.

Emma loves to "spend the night" on our bedroom floor so we had her sleep with us Christmas eve so we knew when she got up. At about a quarter to 10 we all got up and went to see what Santa got us. Emma was so excited to see all the gifts that she had gotten and could not wait to open them, so we left her go first and she opened all of them.

She got a light bright, Polly pockets and Dora books from mom and dad. From nana and papa a game system, play dough and Mrs. potato head. And from Santa...her Dora scooter. When she opened the box her face just lite up and she wanted it opened right them. We made her wait until everyone was finished and then it took me an hour to put it together. They were horrible instructions!

Next was Stella. I was a little sad because none of the christmas clothes fit her yet, so she just had a 'normal' outfit on! With her only being three weeks old, she only had a couple of gifts. Puppets from Nana and papa. And a glow worm and tummy mat from mom and dad. And a matching hat with Emma from Aunt Alison!Then was dad's turn. He got DVDs, crossword puzzles, PJ's , book light and a Wii game. And as a family gift he picked out a new TV. He has wanted one forever and I think we have been looking for several years and finally made the plunge and got a 40 inches HD tv!
Last was my turn! Aaron did great with my gifts this year! I got a new bathrobe, slippers, a bag of truffles and hot tamales and new perfume. And Aaron's parents got me some new makeup!
After we had opened our gifts, Aaron (Santa) had another surprise for us. After I had gotten all of Emma's gifts I saw an commerical for an aqua doodle. I thought Emma would love it so much, but Aaron kept saying that she had enough gifts. Which he was right, but I really wanted to get it for her! He said lets wait till after Christmas. So he tells Emma that Santa left another gift for her in the closet. So she quickly went and opened it and it was the aqua doodle. I was so surprised and really touched that he went and got it for her! Emma loves it so much and I am glad that she got it.
After everything was opened we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and lounged around the house. Then we headed to my parents house for pizza. We all had a wonderful Christmas this year and Santa sure brought us some great things. even thought it was different to be home this year we all really enjoyed it!

Twas the night before Christmas...

2009-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve this year was super busy. The girls and I started the day by running gifts to friends and wishing them a Merry Christmas. Then home where we meet dad and we made several dozen sugar cookies, which we then passed out to the neighbors and left a plate for Santa. Next was Santa...Emma has been not sure if she wanted to go and sit on his lap (she is really shy sometimes) but at the last minute decided she wanted to. So we run her to the mall and she would not get close to him. She just shouted to him want she wanted. Which was a Dora scooter. Then we headed to my parents house where we had a wonderful dinner. Croissant sandwiches. Since we had the girls open their Christmas PJ's when Nana Adams was here, we had them open their new blankets to keep them warm. My parents also had us open our gifts from them since we were going to do Christmas at our house in the morning. After all the gifts were opened, we took the girls to go look at Christmas lights. We saw some really beautiful ones. Then home to read the Christmas story from Luke and a toast! Then it was off to bed so Santa could come visit. It was a super busy day. But it was wonderful to spend it as a family. Christmas this year has been a whirlwind having a new baby, but it was sure fun to have Emma so excited.

Why wont you sleep?

2009-12-31T15:00:00.000-08:00

Stella started having a hard time sleeping at night when she was about 2 and half weeks old. She just wanted to be held and Aaron and I are such sound sleepers we can not do that. Plus we are scared of rolling over her. We thought we had tried everything then one night my sister put her in the swaddler that she bought for her little one to practice using it. It was amazing what happened when they put it on her. She was no longer fussy and she went right to sleep. So we went out and bought one and she has slept sounded ever since. What a blessing. It looks like she is in a straight jacket but it helps her not wake herself up in the middle of the night! YEAH for a good night sleep.

Meeting more family!

2009-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

On Monday the 21st we were able to go up to Idaho Falls so Stella could meet more of the Adams Family. Aaron's sister and her hubby were in town from Virgina to spend Christmas in Montana. Cheri and Eric had come down to pick them up in Idaho Falls so we all meet up at Grandma and Grandpa Adams home. All of who had not meet her yet. And as a surprise Aaron's uncle Paul was there from Seattle.

We had such a wonderful visiting with everyone especially those that we hardly see! Lauren and Grandma Adams both made Stella a blanket which were stunning and I know she will get a lot of use out of. We spent time as a family watching pictures of grandma and grandpa Adams while their kids were growing up. After that we opened some early Christmas gifts and headed home around midnight. It was sure hard to leave knowing that it would be a long while before we get to see Lauren and Evan again. Being all together like that showed us how much we miss having Aaron's family close together!

New Family Pictures

2009-12-31T13:00:00.000-08:00

After Church we meet with a photographer to have some new family pictures taken and pictures of the two girls. Here are some of our favorites! Hope you enjoy....

Going to Church for the first time

2009-12-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

The 19th of December was the first time we were able to take Stella to church. Because of her Hematoma and my healing I had stayed home the first couple of weeks with her. It was a great Sunday to be her first because it was the Sunday before Christmas. We dressed up Emma and Stella in their Christmas dresses and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at church. We were a little worried about the transition from one kids to two kids during sacrament. And we were more worried when we got there after sacrament had started and the only open bench was the one on the front row. But Emma did amazing and we were able to make it through sacrament with a couple of hiccups! Hopefully Sundays will continue to be that easy when we change to 9:00 church.... yikes!

Quality Time with Emma

2009-12-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

I have tried hard to make sure that Emma has gotten the attention that she has needed since that baby came. And this past week she seemed to get some good quality time she needed! After Kristen and Sasha came into town she wanted have a "spend the night" over at Grammy's. So her, Joey and Sasha had one. From what I was told they all stayed up to late having a great time together!

At Stella's shower I bought Emma a gift certificate to get a pedicure done at a little child's spa here in town. Kristen wanted me to wait to have it down when they were in town. So on the 18th we meet Amber and her kids at Artic Circle to play and then took all the girls to have their toes down. Emma loved it so much. She was super jealous when Amber and I got pedicures done before Thanksgiving and I got a flower pained on my toes. So this was a super treat for her.

Then on the 19th was the day Emma has been looking forward to forever! Her first ballet rectal. It was a really long day, but so worth it. We started with the dress rectal at 9:00 until about 12 then got something to eat, ran home to get dressed and then back for the performance! As I watched Emma that day, I felt like she had grown up so much in that day. With her costume and makeup done she seemed years older. I was so proud of her to see her get up on stage and have a great time. She did very little of her dance routine, which all of us moms didn't think they would do! But she did her own dance and was so happy to be there. The afternoon was great because so many of our friends also dance in the same company. And the best part was that so many people were there to support Emma. What a fun day!

Stella's 3rd week

2009-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

In Stella's third week it brought a new visitor. My sister Kristen and her daughter Sasha that live in Arizona. This week seemed to be super crazy as we spent alot of time at my parents house spending time with them, since we hardly get to see them.

Kristen brought lots of goodies for the girls when she came. She made Stella some really cute headbands and hat. She also brought with her some tuts I had her friend make for the new family pictures we are going to have taken. Emma wanted to try hers on and for some reason Joey ended up in it! Doesn't he look cute?

On the 12th my mom gave Stella her first massage. She had learned how to do infant massage to help when they got Joey. We used it with Emma to help when she was gassy and it really worked wonders for her. It wasn't her favorite thing to get a full massage, but Stella is a different story! She just loved it and let her massage her forever.

Over the weekend Stella's hematoma seemed to be getting bigger. I started to freak out wondering if it was just me, or had it gotten bigger. So on Monday the 14th I took her in once again to see Dr West. Well it wasn't just me it had in fact gotten bigger. He was worried about it and had me make an appointment to have a cat scan done on it so that he could see what was in it to make sure everything was ok. On Tuesday I took her in to have it down, I was scared and not sure what to expect. It was quick and easy and didn't bother her at all. The Dr called me later that evening to say that it was for sure just a hematoma and he was not sure why it had gotten bigger but that it would go down on it's own! What a relief. He wants to still see her every two weeks to keep an eye on it but is not worried about it anymore. YEAH

On the 16th my family decided to celebrate Christmas a little early. Since Kristen and Sasha were going home before Christmas we wanted to have dinner and do our sibling gift exchange before they left. So we all made a pan of lasagna and had a fest that night. And then exchanged gifts. Kristen and Mark gave Aaron a red sox lap top pad and me a necklace (made by Kristen)! Kristen also made a necklace and bow for Emma and Kourtney and Ben gave Stella a tag blanket. We all had a wonderful time and glad that we were able to do it with Kristen there.

This week was really busy and stressful, but it is always wonderful to see Kristen and Sasha and it was worth being worn out by the end of it!

It pays to be honest

2009-12-30T20:53:00.000-08:00

I love the baby book that I bought for Emma. It had everything in it that I wanted and turned out so great. So I wanted to get something just like it for Stella. They still had the one I bought Emma and was going to just get another one when I found one that had the exact same pages but done in different colors. I just loved it and started looking around for the best deal. I could not find it anywhere in town and found it in a couple of stores online. The first place was the best deal but wanted $10 to ship it! I couldn't believe that it would cost that much to ship a book. So I ended up buying it from ToysRus. I got it in the mail just before she was born (with Emma I got her baby book in the mail the day she was born and thought it might have happened with Stella...no long she was not born for 4 more days!) But when I opened the package there were two of the same baby book in there. Thinking I had ordered two instead of just one, I looked at the invoice. They had only charged me for one.

So I called them to tell them what had happened. They didn't know what to tell me and sounded stunned that I would call and tell them. After talking to a supervisor they said that they would email me a UPS postage and asked me to mail it back to them. So I wrote on the tag that they had sent me an extra copy and put it in the mail and did not think anything of it.

Well I just got an email from them saying that they successfully had gotten by returned and had credited my bank account with the exact amount that I had paid them. I just started laughing, sometimes I think we are tested to see if we will really do the right thing and when we do there is always a reward for us!

Week 2 for Stella

2009-12-30T20:25:00.001-08:00

Stella's second week of life was much easier on everyone. We were able to hold and enjoy her, unlike her first week of life. And we all took advantage of it.

On Sunday the 6th Cheri (Aaron's mom) was able to come down for the week and help us out with the baby and our house. What a lifesaver she was. She kept everything neat and clean and kept us fed! It was just what I needed to be able to heal and to get used to having a little in our lives again. I don't know what we would have done without her!

On the 7th, Cheri helped me get out and put up our Christmas decorations. Emma has been so excited for Christmas this year. So she couldn't wait to get the tree up and turned on. She was so helpful this year and it really helped get us into the Christmas mood. With just having a baby, Christmas didn't seem to be the same, but this really helped! Kourtney had come over to see Stella and got to see the transformation.

Cheri also got new Jammie's for the girls for them to wear for Christmas. She had them open them that night so that they could enjoy them all month long! Emma looked great in hers, Stella is still only able to fit into newborn clothes that she did not get to enjoy them yet. But I am sure she will love them as much.

We also took Stella out for her first real out ting this week. Cheri helped me take the kids to the mall to get some much needed things. Like comfy pants for me and things we needed and wanted for the house! Because Aaron still has classes this week, it was nice company to take them out of the house and get some much needed shopping done. I know I could not have done it by myself, not just yet!

On the 10th Stella got her first bath! Because of the Hematoma, jaundice and umbilical cord she had been able to have one but with everything healed and back to normal she was able to have her first bath. Emma loved being able to take a bath with her and helped in some much needed ways. Stella screamed through most of it and because of that, it did not last long. She isn't the water baby that Emma was... and still is

And to end the week, Cheri took us all to see The Princess and the Frog. It is disney's new movie. What a cute movie it was and for the first time, Emma sat and watch the whole thing. Usually it will hold her attention for a moment and then she will start playing around and getting into trouble.

Compared to the last week, this one was a million times better. It was wonderful for Stella to meet her Nana and for all of us to enjoy her company for the whole week. I don't know what we would have done without her.

Emmas Jealousy

2009-12-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

Everyone has been asking if Emma is jealousy of the new baby. Well the only thing that she has been jealous of is all the time we spend taking her pictures. She has started saying "take a picture of me like this...and like this!" It is really cute and she sounds like a little model. But if that is all I have to worry about I will surely take it! Here are some of her funny pictures!

We have great Family & Friends

2009-12-27T21:18:00.000-08:00

We have such wonderful family & friends! I don't even know how to thank everyone for what they did for us after we had Stella. So many people stopped by to say hello and see if we needed anything! Which was much needed for me as I had to run so often to the Doctors.

Aaron's parents sent us the most amazing flowers that sure brighten my day for over a week!

And for a week we had people come in and bring us dinner. What a relief not to have to cook a meal for my family. It was such a wonderful blessing. Everything tasted amazing and the company was just as great. Aaron was able to only work half days the first week, so it was nice to have people come in and out to help and keep us company! Thank you again to everyone that helped, I don't think you will ever know how much it meant it us!

First week of life

2009-12-27T21:00:00.001-08:00

I think the word that sums up her first week of life is HEMATOMA! When Stella was born she had a hematoma on the right side of her head. It is like a big bump that was caused because of the fast delivery. Her doctor only released her in the 24 hours window if I brought her in his office the next day(Tuesday). So we did, he looked it over and measured it and told us that the thing he is worried about it when it breaks down it causes jaundice. So he wanted us to keep an eye on its size and her skin color and to come back the next day. The next day (Wednesday)we went in and she was starting to turn yellow. So he sent us to the hospital to have her foot poked. Well she had Jaundice and he had the beli lights sent to our house. She was to spend all day in there expect to eat. Well she HATED the lights and wanted to be held and it was so hard to keep her in there and not to take her out. We wanted to hold our little girl. We went back into the doctor on Thursday and he said that her color was looking much better and that he wanted her to stay in the lights until Monday, but only for 12 hours. So we kept her in her lights all day so we could let her sleep in her bed at night. It worked much better than the day before, but was hard to have her in there when we wanted to hold her and show her off! On Monday, being 8 days old the doctor felt really good about her color and the size of the hematoma and said we were done with the lights! YEAH... and that we did not need to see him until her 2 weeks appointment. With all the running around to his office and the hospital after just having her, I was so exhausted and was glad to hear that I would have a break from him for a while!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2009-12-27T20:56:00.001-08:00

Aaron needed a new baseball hat and when he went to buy it they were buy one get one half off. So he decided to buy the other one for Emma. When he gave it her she was so excited and knew right away what it was! She loves to wear it and I know come baseball season it will get a lot of wearing time!

Emma & Stella

2009-12-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

It is funny how different our children are even from the beginning there were difference and similarities between Emma & Stella!

Emma Grace
* Came 8 days early
* Fast labor only in the hospital for 2 hours
* 7lbs 5 oz and 21 1/2 inches long
* Looked a lot like Aaron with my dimples
* Had strawberry blonde hair
* Very quiet baby hardly cried
* Did not like to be wrapped up and always wanted her hands out

Stella Joy
* Came right on her due date
* REALLY fast labor, less than an hour at the hospital
* Also 7 lbs and 5 oz, 21 1/2 inches long
* Looks a lot like me
* A lot of dark hair
* LOVES to be held and can be very local if you put her down when she does not want to be
* loves to be swaddled and held really tight
* makes the funniest faces and have seen many smiles already

We are excited to see what other similarities and difference these two girls have!

Coming Home

2009-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

Since the delivery went well and there were no complications my doctor told us that we could go home after the 24 hours were up! Since Aaron had to work on Monday for a half of a day and the visitor restrictions were so tight and Emma could not come up to visit, I opted to leave Monday night. They had to wait until Dr West cleared Stella, but at 9:30pm we were all ready and released to go home to a very excited big sister. It seemed to take forever to get her all bundled up, we were use to a spring baby where you didn't need to get them into a to big for them snowsuit! But with some maneuvering we did it!

Emma was so tired when we got there but could not wait to meet her and hold her. She jumped right onto the couch with her arms wide open! She just loved Stella and was so soft with her. After about five minutes she was done and asked Aaron to put her to bed. We were so happy that she did so well with her. There was no jealousy just love for a new member of our family.

Introducing Stella Joy Adams

2009-12-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well here is the long awaited post! I feel bad that it has taken me so long to get this up here! But with recovering and guests I finally have the blog caught up enough to post this. Hope you enjoy!

We went into the hospital at 7:45 on the 29th. At the initial exam I was at a 4 and so the admitted me and started the paperwork. I had told them that I wanted pain medication and the nurse said that as soon as they had finished with the paperwork I should be ready and they would make the phone call. At that point I was feeling pretty good and thought I would be ok to wait.

Well 15 minutes later I was at an 8 and the baby was ready to come. The nurse was panicked and said that the nurse could not make it to the hospital before she would be born and that I would have to do it on my own. I started panicking, I was in so much pain and the thought of having to do it on my own was terrifying! But with the help of my dear hubby and two wonderful nurses I some how managed to do it! The on call Dr barely made it before I started pushing, good thing there was a resident doctor there to get me started! Well at 8:40, just shy of an hour after coming to the hospital she was born. She was 7lbs and 5 oz and 21 and 1/2 inches long (both of which were what Emma was when she was born!) She has a full head of dark brown hair and Emma's dimples.

After the delivery she cried and cried and the doctor said that because her delivery was so fast that she more than likely had a headache. After they took her and gave her a bath, she had calmed down. My mom and sister were able to come up and meet her that night while we were still in the delivery room. It was funny because when we called and told them to let everyone know that we were going to the hospital they then had to turn around and recall them to say she was here! What a crazy night! We called and talked to Emma to tell her that her baby sister had arrived and she was so excited but still sad that she would not be able to come see her! She also was freaked out when she heard Stella start crying in the background, she thought that I was crying! (She is a tad overprotective of me!)

On Monday Aaron had to go in for a half of day of work since he had just taken the past 4 days off, but with visitors and Stella I kept busy while he was gone! My dad even came up and took some great pictures of her!

The Waiting Game

2009-12-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

When we were planning for miss Stella to come, we all thought she was going to come early like her big sister did. Emma was 8 days early and we were not ready for her. I had not finished training my replacement for work, house wasn't put together or bags packs. So this time around I wanted to be ready and not feel that panic that I felt then. When I went to the Dr on Monday November 23rd I was dilated to a 2 and almost all the way effaced, she did not think that I would make it until the next appointment but we went ahead and scheduled it just in case. The next couple of days I spent getting all the loose ends done up and even fit in a pedicure with my best friend in hopes that it would help start the labor. Then came Thanksgiving and the celebrating we did with family, but after it was over we were ready for her to come. Friday we woke up and went to my moms to make the gingerbread houses, she had dropped really low and we all thought I would not make it much longer!

So my mom offered to watch Emma and Aaron and I went and did alot of walking in Costco and the mall and then went out to dinner. Nothing happened so we went home hoping that she would come on Saturday. Aaron had off from work from Thursday until Sunday so we really wanted her to come so that we did not have to work about getting him home from work! Well Saturday came and went with contractions, but nothing really of note that would make us go to the hospital! On Sunday the 29th, which was her due date, I spent the first part of the day having contact ions but it was not until around 6:00 that they started to get stronger and closer so around 7:00 we headed to the hospital ready for this little girl to come out!~ These pictures are of us packed and ready to go! And my last picture pregnant! Emma stayed with my mom while we were at the hospital! Her bad had been packed for over a week, she wanted the baby to come more than anyone!

Our attempt at a gingerbread village

2009-12-08T14:26:00.001-08:00

Last year we bought a gingerbread kit from Costco and put it together after thanksgiving dinner. They kids had so much fun that we wanted to do it again this year. While I was at Walmart one day I found a kit that had 5 little gingerbread houses that made a village, we though that it would be perfect because then everyone would have their own. Well it did not turn out as we had hoped. Both Emma and Joey only wanted to eat them and we had to beg them to put them together so we could take their pictures. Emma's was the A frame house and Joey's was the one with the red roof. They were not happy and we ended up doing most of the work. We never got the village put together, only a couple of the individual houses. Next year we will have to try for something else!

A day of thanks

2009-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

Because the baby was due any day, we were not able to make it up to Montana to have Thanksgiving with Aaron's side of the family. It is a good thing my family lives in town because we were able to crash with them and thanksgiving with my family. We all started the day with sleeping in late and then watching the parade together. Emma was in heaven because there was a giant Dora balloon in the parade this year! Then we all got ready and headed over to my parents house to help with cooking and for the guys to watch the football game. We had a wonderful dinner ( or actually lunch) even though one of the guests had to leave a little early! We sure missed you Ben!

After we were all stuffed we went home for naps and came back for pie! The best part. I had wanted to rent 4 Christmas to watch to get us in the Christmas mood and because it had looked good in the previews. Well alot of people had that idea because it was gone at all 12 red boxes in town! We after checking back online for over an house one was finally returned and we snatched it up. By then it was after 9:00 so we took the movie back to our house with Kourtney and Ben and watched it. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it was still fun to get together! All in all we had a wonderful relaxing day full of some wonderful food. Now comes the waiting game... when will little Stella come?

November 20th!

2009-12-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

November 20th was a busy day for me. To start with it was my last day of work. I had been looking forward to this day for a while, but when it came I was sad. I love the people that I work with and the clients and it was harder than I thought to say goodbye! They took me out to lunch and got me some great gifts! It was so sweet of them to think of me and they begged me to make sure that I come back.

After getting off work Aaron and I got to have a date night. Emma spent the night at my parents house and we met our good friends Amber and Shayne and went to dinner at Bajio. I must say it is one of my favorites and always Tasty! Then we meet up with 2 more couples and went and saw New Moon! We usually are the crazy types that will go to the midnight showings of movies, but this year we decided that we just could not do it. So we bought tickets to watch it Friday night. It was still just as crazy and required us to stand in line over an hour to get a good seat! But it was all worth it. We got to see a WONDERFUL movie and enjoy the company of great friends. What a day.

Getting Ready for Stella

2009-12-07T22:29:00.000-08:00

There were so many things that I wanted to get done before the baby came. Of course like always I think I took on more than I should have. Here are some of the things that I have been working on:

* Her nursery- I didn't' want to pain the walls since I had just painted them when we were using the room, so I picked out a bedding set that had brown in it. I just love the set once we got it in her room. It looks great. Now we are finishing up her name and cutting out vinyl flowers to put in her room.

* Blankets- Because Emma was born in the spring alot of the blankets we used for her are light ones, Stella needed warm ones. So I have been working on a handful of warm blankets so she will be nice and toasty warm!

* Diaper Bag- My friend got a new diaper bag when she had her little girl, and I just loved it. So I got the pattern from her and my mom and I made one for me! I love it...it turns out great and I just love it.

* Hair Bows- When I had Emma we had not figured out how to make hair bows yet, so I am making hair bows for Stella that will work for her and with new headbands since Emma's are all lost.

* Stuff for Emma- We wanted to get something for Emma so that when we brought home the baby she would not feel left out. So we got her a little baby and made her a matching blanket and burp cloth for her. They turned out so cute, and hopefully Emma will love them!

* New baby book- Now I am on the hunt for a baby book. I love the one that I got for Emma and want something similar. I finally found a book and a calendar that I love and are just like Emma's but different colors so it will be easy to compare them. Now it is finding them at a place that does not charge so much for shipping!

Funny how making this list it doesn't look like much, oh but the stress it has given me to get them all done.

A Tea Party for Stella

2009-12-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

My sister Kristen had heard of this really cute idea for a baby shower. They had a tea party and invited not only moms but their little girls to come and welcome the new baby. So from Arizona she organized and planned a tea party to welcome little Stella! With help from my mom and friends on November 14th we had a wonderful tea party at my friends house. They decorated the room with little tea pots and these super cute paper flowers. We had it from 10-12am so we had a brunch with all sorts of breakfast foods. We wanted to make sure that Emma was a part of it and she even got a few gifts of her own. The party turned out great! With great company, great food and great gifts for baby Stella. Thank you everyone that came and especially those who put it all together.

Good bye Grandma Bobbie!

2009-12-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

On November 9th, my mom, Koree, and Bobbie were driving back from SLC after Koree's doctor appointment. About 8 at night they pulled into my moms driveway and my mom unloaded all her things. They went back outside and grandma was in her seat, seat belt on, and was saying her goodbyes. That was the last time anyone spoke to her. About 5 minutes after my family went back inside my parents could see cops outside-they opened the door and realized Bobbie was still there. She had for some reason gotten out of the car and was eventually ran over by her own van, she died on the way to the hospital.
Emma was really close to Bobbie and called her Grandma Bobbie, it was really sad to have to explain to her that she had left us to live with Jesus. But kids have such a sweet disposition. She took is so well and really was an example to us! This is just another example of why we are so grateful to have the gospel in our lives so that we know that we will see each other again! Good bye Grandma Bobbie we sure love and miss you, but know we will see you again soon!

FYI

2009-12-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

So our blog is really far behind! That is what happens when you have a baby! But I know you are wanting pictures of the baby...but I going to post a ton of posts so that I can get caught up for our blog book. So make sure you check back often so that you don't miss anything!

our new nephew!

2009-11-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

On November 11th, Aaron's sister Alison and her husband Rhett and their 5th baby. They named him Bronson Eric Robison. We are so excited to add another little one to our family! We are disappointed that we could not get down there and meet him, but with our little one close to arriving we decided it wasn't the best idea. But we are so excited for them and cant wait to meet him!

Pregnancy Photos

2009-11-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

On November 8th we met our friend at ISU and took these pregnancy photos. Aaron and I schedules are insane and it has been difficult to find a time to get everyone together to take these. I was worried that all the pretty fall colors would be gone, but we found these amazing red bushes there that were perfect! We were disappointed with the pregnancy photos that we had taken with Emma, but these turned out so great and loved some of the candids that we were able to caught with Emma. She is so excited to be a big sister and you can see that in some of these pictures! Sorry there is so many, I am having a problem getting the slide show to embed!

Our Halloween

2009-11-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

I know that I have needed to post these for a while, but have not wanted to. Halloween for me this year really showed me how much this pregnancy has slowed me down and a feel a little guilt about it not being what it should have been. But I know that there are some out there that wanted to see the pictures...so here goes!

We started our Halloween celebrations the Monday before by making cookies with My best friend Amber and her kids (and no there are no pictures....) We made orange sugar cookies and then put chocolate chips in them so that they looked like pumpkins! They turned out great and the kids had a great time making them.

We had made plans on Friday to carve pumpkins and have a little party, but after plans fell through We decided we were to tired to do it on our own ( once again me being a loser!) So we never did get the pumpkins carved. I am hoping that it was not to traumatic for Emma and she wont even realize!

Halloween day came and guess who could not find Emma's Halloween shirt or her bottoms for her Halloween PJ's! Yes that would be me. I washed them and everything so that they would be ready, and could not find them anywhere... until Sunday when I found them in her toys. So there is no cute pictures of her in her pumpkin shirt!

After running a couple of errand that morning we met Amber and her kids again to have lunch and go see Where the Wild Things Are. We were so excited to see it and thought the kids would just love it because they all loved the book! Well the movie did not live up to my expectations and did not hold Emma's attention. I had to bribe her with treats to get her to not ask to go home!

After that we raced home to get her ready for the night. She looked great in her witch costume, and after sleeping in a million braids she had that best hair!
Aaron was not able to get off until 5:00 so My sister and I took her and Joey to our wards trunk or treat. There were so many people there and I think she was set for candy after that. But we wanted to take her so that Aaron could be there, so we went to a friends wards. We had a good time and got some homemade goodies! After that we called it a night and went home. For dinner we made little pizza that looked like mummy's and all went to bed early! Here hoping next year will be better for us!

We love Fall!

2009-11-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

Fall is my favorite season and there is so much that we love about it! The leaves changing colors and falling off (which means big leaf piles to play in), the cooler air and so much more. This fall it has been hard to get out and enjoy it than usually! With Aaron's school schedule and the weird weather we thought we were going to miss our car rides to see the leaves, but a couple of Fridays ago we were able to go to ISU and look at all the colors and Emma even got to play in a couple of really big piles!

Emma and I the past couple of years have loved raking the leaves in our front yard and putting them into those pumpkin trash bags! Well this year I was able to get them raked up but bending over and putting them in the trash bag never happened (thank goodness Aaron finished the project for us yesterday!) We also put our pumpkins we grew out on the steps! What a fun look it was.

Another thing that we love about fall is the marching band season! This is the last year that my brother will be in the band and he is the last of us! So we had to make sure that we got to see him compete this year. We all went one Saturday to Holt Arena and cheered as loud as we could for him. They did such a great job and it was fun to be able to watch him, brought back such great memories!
The warm weather we are having is keeping that wonderful fall weather still with us, but we know that the cold weather will set in and then winter will come. Which brings many good and bad things with it..... But we were glad to have fall for as long as it lasts!

Good-Bye Sweet Lisa Jane!

2009-11-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

I think the reason that it has taken me so long to write this post is because part of me still does not believe that it has really happened. But after two weeks, I think it is time to post about it!

On October 17th, 2009 Aaron's sweet cousin Lisa Okland passed away. She was only 24 years old and on a lonely night she took her own life. She had a zest for life unlike anyone we had ever known. She was one of those people that you love the moment you meet her and she could walk into a room and make an instant impact. Growing up I did not have alot of extended family, so when I married Aaron it was such a shock to have close family not on one side, but both sides of the family. I remember meeting Lisa for the first time, She was so fun and instantly I felt like I had known her my whole life. After marrying her high school sweetheart and moving to Tempe, we continued to stay in touch and Aaron and I loved to read her blog that was filled with such wonderful adventures that showcased their loved of the outdoors!

On October 24th we gathered as family and friends to pay tribute to this amazing women! Aaron was not able to make it with me so my dear friend Amber spent the day at her funeral with me. The service was so beautiful and was a wonderful way to say good bye to her. She was a photographer and her pictures were on display all over the church. It was hard to say good-bye to her, but what a comfort and peace was there to help all of us that were mourning such a special person!

The more that I have thought about the situation the past couple of weeks the more I realize how important and fragile our lives are. How Satan can have such a powerful grip on us. How important the gospel is to us and especially the plan of salvation. That repentance is real and that Christ atoned for all of our sins! I love the words that Grandpa Wiscombe gave at her funeral,

"I wish Lisa would have telephoned me before she wondered into that dark night last Saturday. I would have told her how much I loved her. How much we all loved her. I would have explained that in God's love and mercy all things broken can in time or in eternity be repaired. What is torn can be mended. What is fractured can be rejoined. We do not have to surrender to our mistakes but rather learn from them. The ideal method that God has presented to us in no that difficult for any of us to understand. These are fundamentals-when we sin we repent, when we fall down we stand up, when we fail we strive on for a better day!"

I wish we had gotten one more chance to tell her how much we loved her and how much joy she brought into our lives. But I know that we will get that chance again. That knowledge has really gotten us through a dark couple of weeks. I hope that those reading this post know how much we love each of you. I know in life we never hear it enough. If anyone feels that despair in their lives, look to those that can help you! I know that we would have done anything we could have to have given that peace to Lisa!

Good bye Lisa...until we meet again!

Taking a mintue

2009-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

So keeping up with my blog has been at the bottom of my list these days. As you can tell... So I thought I would take a minute today and update everyone on what has been going on with us! I will start with Emma because she is always the most fun! She is getting more and more excited for her sister to come and has even learned her name. The other day we went through her toys and she pick out some to give to her (I hope that is a good sign!) Since Aaron and I have have been super busy with things around the house she has learned to get into all sorts of stuff. I think in the past week we have cleaned drawings off the walls twice (one time she told me she had drawn a ghost and it looked exactly like that. To bad it was not on paper that I could save!), Gotten on and messed with both computers more times than I can count and the best one so far was getting a hold of my haircutting stuff while she said she was going to the bathroom and taking a chuck of her hair off on the right side! She said she had done with because there was hair in her mouth. I tried to explain to her that I could have gotten her a haircut, so that is what we did today.

We took her up to my hairdresser and had her fix it. It looks super cute and I told her if she wanted it shorter I would have let her do it without cutting it herself!

We have been working with her lately on her bossiness. She is the sassiest child I know. So we set up a rewards system for her to earn something if she was not bossy. Well she worked really hard so that we could take her to Chili's! I dont know what it is with this girl and that restaurant! On her birthday that is all she wanted was to go there. She had a blast there and She even got to get her own meal. When we go out the two of us usually share something because I cant ever finish anything. But later that night she got sick and meal ended up all over her floor! It took two times cleaning her carpets to get it all out !

Aaron has been crazy busy keeping up with school and working and doing things around the house. I dont know how he does it some days. He is a couple of little things away from the bathroom being all done. I will post pictures when it is all done. He has done a great job on it! The spare room down stairs is all painted and ready for us to move our stuff down. Hopefully we will get it done in the next couple of days. Then cleaning our old room to get ready to move the nursery into it! What a ton of work we have been doing these past couple of weeks! We can't wait to be finished so that we can relax before this baby comes!

I don't even know where to begin with what I have been doing! My best friend and I took on a never ending list of things to can this year from our garden and such. The only thing I knew how to do was applesauce, so this was all new for me. I bought a big pot, water bath, and a million jars and away we went. IN a couple of weeks we were able to do:

24 quarts of peaches/20 quarts of pears/11 quarts of apricots

20 pints of plum syrup/8 pints of elderberry syrup

34 pints of spaghetti sauce/8 pints of pizza sauce/32 pints of salsa

many, many, many batches of apricot fruit leather

20ish freezer bags of zucchini

We learned many things for next year, but sometimes you just have to do it to learn. But it was such a great feeling to be able to put all of the stuff away knowing that we grew and canned it ourselves. Hopefully next year we will be able to do even more. Since the canning is over I have been working on the house to get it ready for the baby to come. I feel like I am working so hard and getting nothing done, but slowly we are making progress. Litttle Stella is doing great and right on target. We are down to a little over 5 weeks for her to come. It still does not feel real. But I have been busy working on projects with my mom for her. We are making new blankets (since I did not need really warm ones with Emma) a cover for the car seat and the cutest diaper bag ever! I will post pictures of it when it is done. I am so excited for it! But a treat that I was able to do last weekend was to go to our scrapbook retreat in LAVA! What a much needed weekend. I was able to get SO MUCH done and we had so many people there this time. What great company and food. Just wish I could have gone to the hot pools with them, But I can next time.

I hope I am getting most of what has been going on! If I remember something I will just have to post again! I cut back on my hours at work so I am finally able to get some things done that I have been putting off! So hopefully I can keep this updated better! Now on to Halloween preparations! YEAH

What are the odds?

2009-10-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weekends ago my friends and I headed down to Utah for the big warehouse sale that they have in Centerville! It is always a wonderful trip filled with alot of shopping and good company! As always we found tons of great scrap booking stuff, clothes for the kids and this year I was able to get Emma's Halloween costume for a steal! She is going to be a witch!
But on our way home we had the funniest thing happen! Right outside of town we ran over something that popped our tire. So we pull off to the side of the road and start unloading the million bags of things from the trunk to find the stuff to change it. What a sight, three women trying to change a tire. Well thank goodness someone stopped to help us. As we got to talking we found out that the guy that stopped was in the high counsel in our stake. What are the odds? He was so funny and we had a great chat as he helped us get ready to get back on the road. Just shows you what kind of people there are in the world that would willingly stop and help three women on a Saturday evening change their tire!