Jefrie Lynn

Emy and I took a trip to Denver last weekend for my brothers baby's blessing, her name is Jefrie Lynn and she is very cute and little. Marti was pretty jealous that Emersyn got to fly on an airplane. Emy didn't even notice, she slept the whole way.

On Saturday we played at the park, went swimming at the hotel pool and then ate dinner at my Aunt & Uncle's house. I also got to play some Rock Band, my poor cousins were subjected to Lynn and I's horrible singing (no one should ever let us have a microphone).

After the baby blessing on Sunday we went to return our rental car. Poor Emersyn hadn't had a real nap for a few days and was just exhausted, I went to wake her up when we got to the rental car return and the guy that was checking us out must have felt bad because he said that she needed more sleep and that he would drive us to the airport and drop us off. It was only about 15-20 minutes more sleep but it was definitely very helpful.

By the time we got home Emersyn was done with traveling, and I think my dad was done lugging her car seat all over the airport. Every time I fly I am reminded how much more work it is when you have babies/toddlers, there is the undressing and then re-dressing at security, you have to carry around (kind of like a pack mule) a car seat, a diaper bag and enough toys and treats to keep them occupied. Then there is the ever present worry of what am I going to do if I have to change her diaper while I am on the plane. When Marti was a baby I tried to do it in the plane bathroom, but I am pretty sure that is impossible. The only real option I could come up with is to put down the tray table and use it as a changing table. This works ok if you are sitting next to someone you know, but if you are not it gets a bit awkward.

Sorry, kind of got off the subject, anyway here are some pictures of our trip (good thing you had your camera Trystal).

Happy Birthday Grandma Cindy!

To celebrate my mom's 50th birthday we had a bowling pizza party, complete with matching shirts that had our nicknames on them. I thought that if we put names on our shirts it would somehow magically make us better bowlers, no such luck, my score was still about the same as the little kids.

The beginning of the end.

After months of procrastination by me, Marti finally started gymnastics a few weeks ago. She has been asking me to sign her up since her birthday last July.

She loved it, I hated it. I know that it is a good thing for kids to do things on their own and gain more independence...etc. etc. etc. but I love having my kids home with me, all to myself. I am already dreading the first day of school and it is still 2 years away.

Geez, where has all the time gone?

Emy

It has been a busy time for us lately, we were dog sitting for Aaron and Lynn while they were in Mexico and then we watched Conner and Kaily while their parents were in Florida (with lots of help from Dave and Val).

Unfortunately we also had a scare with Emersyn, about a week before Christmas she came down with some sort of illness. She wasn't able to keep any food or water down but she didn't have a fever or anything else. She would barf and then ask for a treat or to go play. It lasted about 10 days and I was just about to call the doctor for an appt. when she seemed to get better. So when she started barfing again I decided I wouldn't wait as long to go see the doctor.

I took her in on Thursday and they decided to check for a bladder infection in case that was the cause. They ran her urine and it came back that she didn't have a bladder infection but the doctor was concerned because she had too much bilirubin in her urine. That could have been an indication that her liver wasn't functioning like it was supposed to so we needed to get her blood work done to find out. Well that was horrible, I had to hold her while they took her blood and she screamed over and over again "oucheeeee". They were going to run the blood work right away and if it was bad news they would call us that night. That was the longest night of my life, I really can't imagine anything worse than waiting around for someone to tell you there is something wrong with your child.

Luckily the phone call didn't come and when I talked to the Dr. the next day he said that her lab work was normal. We still don't know why she was sick, maybe a virus or something, but she is doing better now. It wasn't a fun experience but it really reminded me of how special Emy is and how grateful I am to be her mom.

"And now," cried Max "let the wild rumpus start!"

Another Christmas has come and gone. Here are a few of the high and low lights....

We woke up to no power and about a foot of snow on the ground, which throughout the course of the day turned into at least 2 feet.

Marti had been asking for a princess kitchen for about 2 months, we set it up on Christmas Eve expecting a big response from Marti on Christmas morning. Marti came down the stairs and wouldn't even look at her kitchen, so typical Marti, she is so wary of new things (and places and people). Emersyn got half way down the stairs threw her hands up in the air and yelled "oh yeah!", she just about fell down the rest of the stairs she was so excited. Marti was excited too, it just takes longer to get it out of her.

Marti and Emersyn got recorders in their stockings, I just happened to see them in Pier One a few days before Christmas and thought they would be fun. Marti loves it, she calls it her flute. She is so serious about having her fingers on the holes before she blows in it.

We went to Kemps for Christmas brunch, biscuits and gravy and ableskivers. Emersyn ate more food than just about anyone else.

Marti and Emy loved running around and laughing with their Kemp and Cobbley cousins, and of course opening presents.

After a ham and turkey dinner at the Cobbleys we got in our snow gear and went sledding down their backyard. Emersyn went down the hill all by herself, what a daredevil.

There was one injury on Christmas, of course it happened to Emy, she is about as coordinated as her mom (that's not much). She was getting pulled in the wagon and she fell out and bit right through her lip, luckily she didn't need any stitches. She is so tough she just cried for a few minutes and then headed back down to play.

Here is a slide show of our Christmas morning....

Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? paper, I love to wrap presents, although you can make gift bags look nice too.
2. Artificial or real tree? artificial, the only good thing about a real tree is the smell, and you can fake that with a candle (not quite the same, but almost)
3. When do you put up a tree? the weekend before Thanksgiving
4. When do you take it down? the weekend after new years
5. Do you like eggnog? I don't know if I have ever had it, but I am sure I probably wouldn't like it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? garth brooks concert tickets
7. Hardest person to buy for? my dad, isn't that the hardest person for everyone?
8. Easiest person to buy for? Marti, she loves princesses
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? gosh, I don't know
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? usually I start in the summer, but this year I was late and didn't start until well into December
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I plead the 5th
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? cinnamon rolls
16. Lights on the tree? white
17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home, at some point we will have a warm Christmas maybe go to Hawaii or New Zealand
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? ummmm, yes I think so
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? neither, this year there is a Utah Jazz santa hat
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? one on Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? that it has to end
23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? last year I did a really fun green, blue and gold kind of Moroccan tree, it was so beautiful
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? ham, I love ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? more joy

Tis the season

It's so neat that the girls are interested in doing Christmasy things this year. Lynn had all the kids over to her house to decorate gingerbread houses, of course they had to wait for the super glue to dry first (ha ha Lynn). This year the kids even mostly decorated instead of just eating the candy, except Emersyn, she is her mother's daughter.

They helped trim our Utah Jazz tree, of course I had to follow after them so that not all the ornaments were at the bottom.

We made snowflakes to hang around the house and a Christmas chain so we know how many more days until Christmas. Marti tells everyone she sees that as soon as all the rings are off the chain Santa will come to our house to bring her princess kitchen.

Marti and I helped decorate my mom's enormous tree, my favorite part was when we got done I asked Marti if she liked it and she said, with her best southern accent, "yes, I sure do".