a little taste of lately

fun with friends...and stickers

pizza and the opening ceremonies of the olympics

sitting on a really big bench

if you have trouble sleeping, snuggling with daddy and watching the olympics is just what you need.

emma's first piggie aka "joystick" (she wasn't cooperating for a very good picture)

logan was giving his toys a bath. it didn't take long for my whole bathroom floor to be covered in water (no surprise there). lots of toys in a little sink. so we moved him to the bathtub where he played happily for almost an hour. when emma woke up from her nap she joined him and i was able to sit (on the toilet) and make my shopping list! giving his toys a bath was such a hit that we did it again two days later. i think we'll be doing this a lot. especially as it gets colder. 

we don't have ac (ugh!) but about a month ago we got this big swamp cooler that has helped keep us cool. and the kids find it really entertaining to stand in front of it when it's on full blast! emma especially loves it.

that's a "hug" in case you couldn't tell ;)

we got rid of our tv programming 2 years ago and because we had an old tv and no digital converter box we didn't even get local channels. but with the olympics coming up, we decided to finally invest in a new tv. we love it and dave and i have been watching the olympics every night! it is so inspiring! i'm still not used to having tv and so i never turn it on during the day, but a few days ago logan turned it on and diving was on. he is quite intrigued by diving and pretends to be a diver. he uses the coffee table as his diving board (luckily he just jumps off it and doesn't dive) and he pretends to be a diver/swimmer in the bathtub! 

logan has long loved sitting at our desk and listening to music and watching the slide show of our family pictures. and now emma has joined in! she will walk up and pat the chair, which is her way of saying, "lift me up onto the chair." right now the music of choice is the mickey mouse clubhouse pandora station. 

yesterday i walked in to find emma reading books in her room. i love this sight!

logan wanted to take pictures with our camera. it's pretty heavy and big for a little guy but he did pretty well. it's fun to see things from his perspective.

fun at the swimming pool and playing in the sprinklers. with food of course!

my sister and her family are moving to utah (and i cry every time i really stop and think about it). we were at their house helping them pack and josh was great to build a train track to keep the kids entertained. 

emma loves the water! she had a great time at the splash park yesterday and kept putting her face in the fountain. everyone thought it was so funny.

life is good!

emma: 15 months

i know these posts aren't the most interesting for people, but they seem to be the only way i can remember what my babies are doing at different stages (and it has been so fun to look back and remember what logan was doing at whatever age emma is currently at). i can't believe how quickly i forget the little things they do and i want to remember each and every little one. so here goes!

• she still loves to eat and will eat almost anything (although she has gotten a little pickier as she gets older), but fruit is by far one of her favorites. i think she could eat a costco flat of peaches in one day if i let her (and i swear she doesn't even chew her slices, just slurps them down). 
• she packs her mouth full of food all the time. these days it is usually grapes or an entire pack of fruit snacks (no joke, the whole pack in her mouth at once).
• when we tell her it's time for bed she'll walk to her bedroom. she will almost dive out of our arms into her crib when she is really tired and ready for bed.

• she is constantly standing up in the bath, and even a slip or two hasn't stopped her from doing it again. she also loves to put her face totally in the water in the bath and lay on her belly and turn her head to the side and lay her ear in the water.
• she is always putting her finger up her nose. and she gets it way up there. awesome.
• she's been officially walking for about a month now (a week or two before she turned 15 months) and i love it! it's so fun for me to witness the transition from crawling to becoming a full time walker. plus i love her little jellies!

• she loves to stand and spin in circles.
• she loves music and instantly starts dancing when music starts. it is the cutest!
• she is dramatic! i don't know if it is a girl thing or just her personality (or probably a bit of both), but she's a bit of a drama queen! she lets us know if she isn't happy about something.
• she is squishy and snuggly! i can't get enough of her snuggles.
• she only gets her binky when she sleeps, so it stays in her crib. lately she's been pushing down her crib bumpers in order to sneak out her binky. and then she acts all coy when she gets caught.
• she has lots of teeth! and she loves to give a big toothy grin!

• she loves to "clean up" and help put stuff away.
• she loves to mimic whatever we do: brushing hair, putting on a necklace, wiping the counter, dusting
• she loves the vacuum and follows me around and gets right in front while i'm vacuuming. it slows the process down a bit, but at least she's not scared of it like logan was at that age. she thinks it's totally entertaining.  
• logan is really into "yo gabba gabba" right now and therefore emma loves it too. as soon as the opening music starts she is dancing and squealing!
• she is such a babbler. she is constantly talking and while she still isn't really saying any words, she seems more like she is trying to communicate with us and she is usually able to get her point across, even without words. she is also trying to mimic what we say more (and i swear she has copied some of our words, but then i can't get her to say it again).

 

• she has also become quite the squealer. especially in church which is just perfect ;)
• she understands so much. because she doesn't talk, i think i sometimes forget how much she still understands. i love when i ask her to bring me something or point to something or do something and she responds. it is soo much fun!
• she is soo wiggly! we thought logan was busy, but he was nothing compared to emma. she is always on the go. it makes scripture study, church and even reading books a challenge.
• she loves to go through and empty out bags. during relief society and sunday school at church she literally empties out the entire (totally stuffed full) diaper bag. but it keeps her occupied so i don't bother cleaning it up until the class is over.
• she loves to give open mouthed, wet kisses!
• she loves her lovey (blanket)! 
• she is becoming quite the little climber. 

• she is quite girly. she loves jewelry and is always putting on necklaces. she also loves to have her hair brush and loves to primp.
• she gives high fives
• she loves to stand in front of fans and have the air blow on her. as soon as we turn on a fan she hurries to get in front of it.
• she loves to open drawers and cupboards! boy she loves getting into things :)
• she is a genuinely happy baby and gives her smiles freely to others. she charms people wherever we go! we sure love her!! 

 
15 month stats:
24 pounds, .5 ounces - 70th percentile
31 inches - 74th percentile
head - 47 cm - 75th percentile

refinement

this morning we had to leave the library suddenly, with no books and me pulling a screaming child out the door. a child's screams seem especially loud as they bounce off the walls in a quiet library. i think we made quite a scene. at least that is what i gathered from all of the people staring at us as we left. 

i tried to use the experience as a teaching moment with logan. to teach him that if we aren't obedient we lose privileges. this time it meant leaving the library with no books and no videos. and i tried not to lose my cool. the verdict is still out on if i succeeded with either of those things. 

as i made lunch i couldn't help but think about god's plan and how he put us in families. we're here on earth to learn from our experiences and to grow. we know that in order for us to learn and grow there has to be adversity. adversity is what helps smooth out our rough edges and helps us grow toward our potential as children of god little by little, experience by experience. i love this scripture in job 23:10, "but he knoweth the way that i take: when he hath tried me, i shall come forth as gold." and really often it is within the walls of our own homes and with our own families that we are refined the most. it's no wonder that heavenly father's plan included us being parents and bringing children into this world. of course there are many reasons why that was part of the plan and one of them i believe was because he knew how it would help us learn, grow and become the people he sent us here to become. i can't think of any experience that consistently challenges us more, refines us more, exposes our weaknesses more (like makes it very clear that i need more patience), humbles us more, softens our hearts more and causes us to turn to god more sincerely in prayer than parenting. my need for repentance is made pretty clear every time i lose my temper with my kids and have to ask for forgiveness or don't handle a situation quite as well as i should have. i have such a desire to be a better mother and i have quickly learned (and have to relearn often) that i can't do it on my own. i need help from the lord. and when i am humble enough to ask for his help, he is so ready and willing to help. after all, these are his children he has entrusted us with. 

parenting has also helped me understand more, in the tiniest way, our relationship with our heavenly father. because if i think of how much i love my children and would do anything for them, how i want them to grow to be the best people they can, how i want them to find true joy in their lives and how sometimes i know they have to fall down and even get hurt a little to learn and grow, it gives me an inkling of how he must feel about us. and that is incredible! 

so here's to refining and hopefully a rough patch or two becoming a tiny bit smoother today. 

christmas in july: brothers of the sun tour

a couple weekends ago i cashed in my awesome christmas present from dave to see tim mcgraw and kenny chesney together in concert! after 7 months of waiting i had almost forgotten about it! kari was my date for the night and we had a great time! things got off to an exciting start. after driving around for forever trying to find a parking spot (and having 2 separate lots close right before we were about to enter them), a police officer outside of one of the lots told us where we were going to have to go to park and it was going to be quite the hike to the stadium. i was sure we could find something closer and sure enough, on a street outside of some townhouses kari parallelled parked like a pro and we were on our way. as we were walking to the stadium we ran into the same policeman from earlier and he was surprised to see us so soon. when we told him where we parked he told us we would probably be towed. we really didn't want to have to walk all the way back to our car to check, but we definitely weren't going to risk getting towed. luckily our kind police officer friend was willing to give us a ride! it was both kari and i's first time riding in a cop car :) we got to where we had parked, checked the signs and we were good! we got a "police escort" right up to the stadium doors! it was pretty good service (and a funny story to tell)!

the concert was awesome! we were way up, up, up in the stadium but it didn't matter. tim mcgraw played first and i just have to mention that he wore all white. seriously! white jeans and a tight white top and a white belt (with a black cowboy hat for some variety i guess). i told kari he might be the only guy who could pull that off (although i still thought it was kinda funny). he played a lot of old stuff, which i loved. 

then kenny chesney played and he is such a great entertainer! he is all over the place. i couldn't help but think what incredible shape he must be in to run all over while singing and not sound winded. and to do it for a couple of hours! even though they played a concert together, they both played for about 1.5-2 hours each! before kenny chesney's song, "boys of fall" (which is about football) he even had peyton manning come out on stage. he got a huge welcome from denver! and then kenny and tim played together. they took turns singing each of their songs and they honestly both looked like they were having the time of their lives singing together (even though they've probably done it tons of times). i had seen each of them in concert before, but it was years ago. it was such a fun night! and great people watching i must add! i just love concerts. and boy do i love country music!!

by the time the concert ended it was late. we followed the crowd out of the stadium and thought we were on the right track to get back to our car, but we got totally turned around (which really isn't hard for me. sense of direction is not something i was blessed with). i kinda remembered the name of the street we parked on and a police officer pointed us in the right direction. unfortunately he pointed us the long way and we were walking through a scary part of town and by this time we were walking alone...us and all the sketchy dudes that were roaming and driving by, honking and calling out their windows at us. we finally started running and were so happy to finally see the car! that's when we realized there was a way more direct route, that was a lot more populated. oh well, at least he got us there. all in all, it was a great night! thanks dave for the present, it rocked!