I'm not ready for this, but I am working on it.

 The girls went back to school at the end of August. This year they are going to a charter school about 10 minutes from our house, I am still on the fence about if it is a good thing or just a lot of hype. I am going to reevaluate in a few months and see if I think it is a good fit for the girls.

I felt bad about pulling Marti out of our neighborhood school and she was kind of worried about not knowing anyone in her class, but she is a friendly girl and has had no problem making friends. Emersyn is having a little harder time adjusting to school, luckily it is nothing major, it's just taking her a little longer to come out of her shell.

I have felt so much anxiety about them both being in school this year, even though Emersyn has gone to preschool for the past 2 years. It feels like the end of an era, I think most mom's understand what I am talking about. I spent the week before they started crying a lot, and then I heard something that really gave me some perspective. I don't know remember where I heard it or even who said it, but it was a definitely a light bulb moment for me. It was about sadness being an easier emotion to access than joy, instead of looking back and feeling sad that a certain period of your life is over be grateful that you experienced it. So now instead of going with the immediate feeling of loss that is so easy to dwell on I am trying to look deeper and remember the joy that my kids have brought into my life. I am not perfect at it yet, but I am trying.

There goes my baby....

Emersyn is 6!!! We happened to be visiting Jason and Stephanie in Boise on her birthday and thanks to their wonderful family it was a great day.

Uncle Jason knows how much Emersyn loves pancakes so he made some special for her. At this point I shouldn't be surprised at how much Emersyn can eat but I still find it pretty amazing, that kid loves food! 

It was smoking hot in Boise so we went to a splash pad near their house and had some delicious snow cones. After the boys were done with football practice we went to their neighborhood pool for some night swimming, pizza, presents and Phineas & Ferb cake. She got a Tag pen, some books and her very own camera from Mom and Dad. Stephanie and their kids made a scavenger hunt for Emersyn so she could find her present from them. Luckily Carter was there to help with the dirty work and they eventually found a cute little pink bat and ball.

Jason and Stephanie have a great tradition at their house for birthday's, while we were eating our pancake feast everyone around the table said what they liked best about Emersyn. It was such a great experience for Emersyn! I can tell her every minute of every day what a special kid she is but I am her Mom so what else would I say?! It was so wonderful to hear what her sister and cousins said about her.  She didn't say much while we were at the table but after she came to me and whispered in my ear "did you hear what they said about me!" I know for sure that she felt the love of everyone in that room. Happy Birthday my beautiful baby girl!

The 7 year itch

 

In what feels like the blink of an eye Marti has grown from a cherub cheeked little baby to a much too grown up looking, and acting, little lady. I can't believe that she is 7 years old, it has gone by so fast!  I love that she knows exactly what she wants and will do what it takes to get there. She is the best big sister to Emersyn, always taking on the role of peacekeeper and negotiator. She is such a responsible, hard working young lady we couldn't be more proud of her.

Here are some pictures from her birthday party, the kids had a great time throwing water balloons, playing on the slip and slide and of course whacking the pinata. Marti got a whole bunch of crafting presents that she loves, hopefully that will keep her busy for a few weeks. Mom and Dad got her a new bike that she has been riding around the neighborhood nonstop.

Beautiful inside and out

I took the girls to have their pictures taken right before Marti's birthday. It was so fun! The pictures turned out fantastic and when I saw them I couldn't believe how gorgeous my kids are! Here is just a sample of the 100+ photos they took.

Graduation Day

Emersyn graduated from preschool in June. They put on an end of year program that was Disney themed. They sang a bunch of songs, my favorite was Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride from Lilo and Stitch. The kids put on grass skirts and did the hula, Emersyn loves to dance and really got into it. At the end they put on their graduation caps and got an award from their teachers, every kid got a different award and Emersyn's was the Mary Poppins award. Not surprising, that kid loves babies!


She had a great year at school, I saw her really came out of her shell more and become a leader in her class. We are so proud of our little Emy, next stop Kindergarten!

MIC-wait didn't I already do this?!-KEY-I am having the strangest feeling of deja vu-MOUSE

All I am going to say about how this trip came about is that when you get a smoking good deal to go to Disneyworld you don't pass it up, even if you had just been to Disneyland in December.

We spent our first day at Magic Kingdom, riding most of the same rides that are at Disneyland. Some are a little bit different, but it is pretty much the same concept. We each had our own favorites, but a few of the highlights were Space Mountain, the Buzz Lightyear ride, the People Mover, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The worst ride is Stitches Great Escape, unless you enjoy spit in your face, uncomfortable shoulder harnesses, and having a stinky burp blown in your face stay away from this terrible ride. After a really long day we ate dinner inside Cinderella's castle and got to meet all the princesses. The girls loved it.

The next day we went to Hollywood Studios, it has some rides but it also has many shows. We went to a smaller version of the Broadway Beauty and the Beast that Marti loved. We watched the Pixar parade and got to see some of the characters that are not as common, like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and the Up cast.

With all the fun stuff we did that day we also managed to scar our poor kids for life. Neither Kory or I had ever been on The Tower of Terror so we didn't really know what to expect. I told the girls it was like the Ladybug Drop at Lagoon that they have been on a million times. I was totally wrong, it is not like that at all. They did pretty well until we shot up to the top of the building and doors opened. Marti just hid her face and held on tight, Emersyn completely lost her marbles. I felt so terrible. She was screaming and crying and making the most heartbreaking sounds you have ever heard. By the time the ride was over I was sure that the other people on the ride thought we were the worst parents in the world. Needless to say they will never be going on that ride again.

After the trauma, we called it a day early and headed back to our hotel for a swim. We stayed at a Disney hotel so there were always fun activities to do. They had games going all the time by the pool, in the food court they had board games and a Wii you could play while you ate and at night they played Disney movies outside on a big screen. It can definitely get expensive to visit Disney parks but I really am amazed at the level of service they provide, their employees really try to give the kids a wonderful experience.

Our 3rd stop was Epcot, by far Kory's favorite. We were there during their Flower and Garden Festival and it was just beautiful. We rode Soarin' and talked to Crush the turtle, but most of our day was spent walking through the different countries. We ate a delicious lunch in Germany, Emy discovered a new favorite dessert, Bavarian Cheesecake. We got sprinkled on a little in the afternoon but the storm clouds didn't stick around long.

Just before we left Epcot I came real close to having my own Emersyn style freak out on the Mission Space ride. They put you in what is basically a metal tube, put a harness over your head and then the control panel comes about 6 inches from your face and you are completely closed in. I was trying to stay at least somewhat calm so I didn't freak out the girls, but I'm don't think I did very well. I learned to believe the sign that tells you not to ride if you have a problem with claustrophobia, I won't be doing that ever again.

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom, the girls got their faces painted like Tigers, we rode the Safari, the girls cried when we rode Dinosaur, and then at about 3:30 the clouds opened and we got whacked by a huge rain storm. Luckily we had our rain ponchos but even with them we still got completely soaked. We grabbed the bus back to our hotel and then when the rain slowed we hopped on another bus to Downtown Disney. The girls had been saving their money for their own souvenirs so we spent about 2 hours in the Disney store while they decided what to get.

Included in our Disneyworld package was a dining plan for the entire week that included 2 meals and 1 snack per person per day. It doesn't sound like a lot of food, but it is. Every meal included enough food for at least 2 people. By the end of the week we were trying to figure out how to use all of our remaining credits and still fit in the airplane seats. We had a bunch of unused snack credits so we went to the candy store and got a bunch of stuff we could bring home with us. I think we ended up not using 2 meal credits. We would have used them all if the food court was open when we left for the airport at 3:30 in the morning, but apparently no sane person likes to be up that early.

Wow this post is long....I really am almost done. I just have to say thank you to my amazing family for a wonderful trip. I know I have said it before but it is true, there is nothing in the world I like to do more than share experiences with my family.

Adventure is out there!

The Aluminum Anniversary

Kory and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in March, that's right we are now in double digits. We were able to take a long weekend away without the girls so we took a trip down to Las Vegas. We went to LOVE, the Beatles show, it was excellent. I fulfilled a bucket list item by going to the Hoover Dam, we took a dam tour that I found fascinating. I think Kory probably liked it too. We ate delicious food, stayed up late, walked until our feet hurt, tried to stay away from the weirdos on the strip (seriously, WOW), and had a really wonderful time.

We ate dinner one night in an English pub, they had famous quotes on their place mats and I found one that I think sums up Kory perfectly;

The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse. --Jules Renard

I think that is one of the things I love most about Kory, he is self assured enough to not need to please anyone. I hope the girls inherit that trait from him...heck I hope some of it rubs off on me.

Happy Anniversary to us!

MIC-see you real soon-KEY-why?because I like you-MOUSE

I think this is the picture that best describes our trip to Disneyland, the stuff that memories are made of.  We had a really good time but there were a few things I would definitely change for our next trip. I will never drive down again for one, and two I won't go during peak season.

After our awful drive down we spent the first day at California Adventure and had breakfast with the princesses, it was a really fun way to get our trip started and it made it so we got most of the character visits out of the way. We still spent time finding Jasmine and Minnie in the park, Emersyn would never have forgiven us if we hadn't. After a long day in the park we weren't sure if we wanted to stay for the World of Color show, I am soooo glad we decided to. It was amazing.

Marti loved the Finding Nemo Submarine ride and Emy liked spinning round and round in the teacups. Their favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, they could have gone on it all day. Unfortunately they both really liked It's a Small World, the creepiest ride on the planet, but it worked out fine because Kory and I got to sit behind the girls and had a good ol' time making snarky comments about it while the girls enjoyed it. I had never been on Space Mountain before so I had no idea what to expect and now I totally love that ride, I also really liked the new Star Tours. Kory's favorite was Soarin' over California.

Kory made us go see the "cutting edge" 3D adventure that is Captain EO, let's just say unless you saw it as a kid and have some nostalgia for it don't waste your time. The 80s were just terrible, awful, blech.

The girls favorite non ride thing we did was a trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where their very own Fairy Godmother in training helped them turn into their favorite princesses. Complete with costume, fake hair, and makeup. To be honest it is totally overpriced, (what isn't in Disneyland?) and I wasn't sure it would be worth it but in the end I was glad we did it. The girls absolutely loved it and I was really impressed with how the workers made them feel so special. We didn't plan it out very well because right after they got all gussied up we went on Space Mountain. Luckily they put so much hairspray and so many bobby pins in their hair I am not sure a tornado could have gotten that wig loose.

 I love that the girls are at the age where we don't have to worry about strollers, diapers and nap schedules. Even Kory put on his happy face, even though he hates amusement parks and crowds of people. Marti and Emy were both so well behaved, even when we had to wait in long lines and after an entire day of walking. After one particularly long day we even ordered room service at our hotel, the girls thought that was the best thing we had ever done and couldn't understand why we didn't do that for every meal (oh crap, we're in trouble).

It was such a good time, there is nothing on the planet I like better than sharing experiences with my family. Adventure is out there!

Santa Babies

 The girls did a special photo session with "Santa" at Thanksgiving Point this year. The pictures turned out super cute and it was surprisingly cheap for these really creative photos. The guy in the Santa suit is actually Kory, which was pretty hilarious. Kory didn't think it was so amusing but he still did it because he is such a good sport....and because he can't say no to his girls.

The Mommy that stays

If you haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 2, spoiler alert, there is a part where Po's mama has to leave him because she is getting chased by bad guys so she hides him in a radish crate where he is found by the goose who takes care of him. When we watched the movie in the theater Emersyn was really affected by this scene, probably because she is such a sensitive soul. She cried, no not cried, sobbed during that part of the movie. She was so emotional she came to sit on my lap and watching her cry made me start crying and it was a whole crying thing. At the end of the scene she looked up at me, put her hands on my cheeks and said "don't leave me Mama". Well jeez, you would have to be totally dead inside not to cry if your kid says that to you. It was a very sweet moment.

Fast forward a few months later, Emersyn has a panda stuffed animal that she likes to play with, she calls him Po. We were outside one day and she was taking Po on a walk in a stroller. I was pulling weeds so I had my weed bucket next to me and told her that she could put Po in the bucket and I would find him and be his goose Daddy. She looked at me for a minute and said "Well, this is Po but I am not going to be that kind of Mommy. I am going to be like you, the Mommy that stays". At that point she turned and continued playing, unaware of how profound that statement was.

If I ever had one minute of doubt that quitting my job and staying home with my kids was the right choice at that moment it completely washed away. I feel so grateful for this experience and really the person to thank for that is Kory. He never complains when he gets home from work at 11 at night and then gets up at 5:30 in the morning to go back, or when Marti tells him that she hopes he gets fired so that he can stay home with them. He just does it and for that I am eternally grateful.

Up, up and away

Emersyn's ITP drama is hopefully coming to an end. Her level has been increasing for the past 2 weeks and as of today she is at 83,000. She has been able to return to normal activity for about a week and has been loving it. The first day she could go outside and play like a normal kid she was overjoyed. She ran, jumped and rode her bike to her heart's content.

On a less positive note, her Hematologist told me that there is a pretty high chance that she has the chronic type of ITP. We won't know for sure unless her platelet level drops again. Wishful thinking or not, for right now I am going to assume that it is not going to come back and if it does we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thanks again for all the support!

Earthquakes, hurricanes and flooding. Oh my!

We took a trip to see Jon and Michelle's family in Delaware at the end of August. We weren't sure we would be able to go until about a week before when we got cleared by Emersyn's doctor and I am so glad that we could make it! We have missed seeing them soooo much and it was so nice of them to allow us to mess up their beautiful new house for a week.

We flew into Philadelphia and before we drove to Jon and Michelle's we spent a day in historic Philadelphia, if you are a history buff like I am Philly should definitely be on your list of places to visit. It was amazing to see the Liberty Bell and take a tour of Liberty Hall. Kory and the girls were really good to humor me for a little while, I think I may even be converting Marti to my side, she was listening intently to the tour guide and would lean over and whisper what he had just said to me "in case I didn't hear it".

Emersyn and Marti had seen the tour buses going around all day and really wanted to ride one, Kory and I debated on whether or not we should (they are expensive) and in the end we decided to do it. It was a good decision, we learned a lot about the city that we wouldn't have, the girls were happy sitting on the upper deck and Emersyn took a nap (bonus). We were on the hunt for an authentic cheese steak sandwich and we found it at Reading Terminal Market, it was alright but I didn't think it was that big of a deal (how un-american of me).

After our day of sightseeing we drove out to Jon and Michelle's and met their newest addition, sweet little cabbage patch kid look alike Aubrey. She didn't warm up to Kory right away, I think she was put off by all his hair, but she came around a little bit by the time we left.

Our big adventure for the week was going to Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We could not have picked a more beautiful day to go, the weather was perfect. The older kids were happy going with Jon and Kory to ride the big manly roller coasters while Michelle and I were running the smaller kids from kiddie ride to kiddie ride.

Right before we left the park we stopped at Hershey World and took the free Chocolate Tour. You sit in cars and it takes you around to show how they make chocolate, complete with singing cows. I asked Emersyn what her favorite ride was at the park and of course she said the free chocolate tour. If I had known she would be that easy to please we just could have gone on that all day and saved a few bucks.

While we were at Hershey Park we got word that there was an earthquake that hit Washington D.C., the first one in a long time. There were people at the Park who said they felt it, but none of us felt anything. Crisis averted, or so we thought....

At this point we started hearing a lot about Hurricane Irene, it looked like it was heading up the eastern coast. It was scheduled to hit where we were on Sunday, the same day we were supposed to fly out. I called the airline and managed to get our flight changed to Saturday, but it still looked a little bit iffy.

  While we waited for the more info on the hurricane the next activity on the agenda was a trip to the beach. We drove to Rehoboth Beach and had a great time playing in the waves and digging in the sand. Dallin and Josh were trying to teach me how to swim in the ocean without getting taken out by the waves. I got smashed into the beach more than I would like to admit so I think I have a lot more practicing to do. We walked the boardwalk and ate taffy and salt and vinegar fries, yum. It reminded me why someday I would like to live by the ocean.

By Friday people were starting to freak out about the hurricane and the potential of flooding. Kory and I had scheduled a little 24 hour trip to New York City on Friday to see Wicked but it made us too nervous that we wouldn't be able to get back to the girls so we ended up not going. We were disappointed, but just couldn't take the risk.

Instead we all strapped on our bowling shoes to see who could post the worst bowling score. I am an awful, awful bowler but we still had a good time. Michelle managed to get a babysitter for Friday night and the adults went out to dinner, where I managed to put my big foot in my big mouth (sorry Michelle, I spend most of time with little kids, that's a valid excuse right?). Even with that we still had a lot of fun catching up, and laughing at the poor waiter who didn't know how to make a caesar salad.

Just as the rains were starting to come down on Saturday our flight was taking off without any problems. It was pretty turbulent as we were flying out of Philly which made me super nervous, of course I am always nervous when I fly. We were worried about Jon and Michelle and whether they would have flooding at their house, but thank goodness everything turned out just fine.

We had such a great time it was hard to believe how fast it went by. Marti was especially upset that she had to leave Brinley, she just loves that girl. We miss having their family nearby and we are so grateful to them for making us feel so welcome.

ITP

Emersyn was diagnosed with Idiopathic (immune) Thrombocytopenia Purpura, or ITP, at the beginning of August. She had been having bloody noses for a few days, but I wasn't that concerned about them until I saw the broken blood vessels on her chest. We went to our Dr's and they sent us to Primary Children's to get tested. When the Dr told me what she had I panicked, I had never heard of it before (most people haven't) and I was having a hard time wrapping my mind about what it meant.

Basically what it means is Emersyn is really low on platelets. Really, really, low. Normal is 150,000-400,000, she had 6,000. They don't know what causes it or if this is just a one time problem. She has been on steroids for the past 3 weeks, but so far her level went up one week and then it was down to 3,000 the next week. Poor kid has had her blood drawn 5 times already this month with more draws to come, but she is so brave, never cries or makes a sound.

Platelets cause your blood to clot when you get injured so without them Emersyn has had to be very restricted in what she can do. That means no running, jumping, bike riding, swimming, playing on the playground, or basically anything else that kids want to do when it is the middle of summer. She has handled it like a champ, she always has been my angel baby, and Marti is a big help reminding her to calm down if she starts to get a little too rambunctious.

I know we still have awhile before I can say that Emersyn is 100% again, but this week I have been feeling much more positive about it and I just wanted to say thank you to all of our family and friends for their love and support. It is so wonderful that Emersyn knows that she has so many people who love her.

A special thanks to Dr. Kemp for talking me through everything, (it's great to have a Dr in the family).

The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that they have a common enemy.

It's pretty rare for all the Cobbley grand kids to be together at Grandma and Grandpa's house at the same time so we took the chance when Jamie and Aaron came to town to take some pictures of them. We are up to 10 and counting. It was great to see everyone.

Kids dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.

Can you believe this face?!? Emersyn got to get all gussied up for her dance recital, she hated putting the makeup and outfit on, then she liked looking at herself for a few minutes, then she wanted to take everything off. Marti was so jealous that Emy got to wear mascara and lipstick she may start dance classes just so she can wear makeup once in a while. Emy did a great job at her recital.

Emersyn also finished her preschool this month and had her end of year program. She has learned so much I am excited for her to go back for another year of preschool before she starts Kindergarten.

Soccer is all very well as a game for rough girls, but is hardly suitable for delicate boys.

This is the perfect picture to convey the feeling of Marti playing soccer this year. It was her first year playing and for the first few practices and games I didn't think she would ever figure it out. She had a weird habit of kicking the ball like she had a peg leg that wouldn't bend, it looked quite awkward and I am not sure how she did it without falling over. By about the 5th game she had started to figure out the concept and the rest of the season she made great improvement. She was dying to score a goal and she got close a few times, but she will have to wait until next season for that.

She really liked being part of a team so I think we will keep going with team sports. She wants to try basketball next which I am sure will make Kory happy, not quite as happy as if she asked to play golf, but happy.

Run over by progress.

It's been a while since my last post...not because I haven't had anything to write but I just got behind. The girls have been super busy with school, end of year programs and parties, swimming lessons, dance, recitals, gymnastics, and of course Marti's soccer practice and games (I am going to do a post about that when I have downloaded pics from my camera, let's just say pretty funny). I really don't know how parents who have more than 2 kids get everything done, you guys are pretty amazing (I'm talking to you Stephanie, Michelle, and Trystal).

As Marti and Emersyn get older I long for the days when they were toddlers and the calendar wasn't packed with activities, there was no homework to do, and they weren't constantly running from friends house to friends house. I am glad that they are getting older and growing into wonderful little ladies, but really I can't imagine any Mommy not feeling at least a little sense of loss at their "babies" burgeoning independence.

Potato Bugs

Marti used to be such a girly girl and now she is turning into such a tomboy. I am not prepared for this. I guess it is our fault for moving into a neighborhood filled with boys. Seriously, there is not a single girl her age on our entire street. It is not unusual to see 4 or 5 little boys in the backyard playing with Marti.

The other day Marti and 4 of her friends were outside collecting and selling potato bugs. They had a little wagon with a sign on it that they pulled up and down the street. Marti brought 4 home in a detergent scoop, she called them her pets. She would pick them up and let them walk on her, she would gently pet them, and if they flipped on their backs she would help them turn over. It was so sweet. She may be a tomboy, but she still has girl in her.

You can be what you choose to be. But you can never be an elephant.

Yeah, I'm a slacker. I am going to finish this....right now.

Day 24-A letter to your parents
Done. Pettet Family History Thanksgiving 2010

Day 25-What I would find in your bag
Who is this "I" and why are they going through my bag? Sounds fishy.

Day 26-What do you think about your friends
Friends are like bras; close to your heart and there for support.

Day 27-Why you are doing this 30 day challenge
I have no idea, I can't remember.

Day 28-A picture of you from last year and now-how have you changed?


Ummmm, my hair is longer now.

Day 29-In this past month, what have you learned?
A month is a long time and I am not very interesting.

Day 30-Your favorite song
Landslide, the original Fleetwood Mac version.

And now to get back to what I really like to write about....my kids.

Day 23-Something you crave for a lot

See previous posts. (holy crap is this over yet)