My Dad...

This is me and my dad on the day I was baptized. I got to watch my dad be set apart as a bishop today and I feel so grateful to have been raised in a home with a man who held the priesthood and honored it. I don't think there is any greater blessing that a man can give his family than to honor the priesthood that he holds.  My testimony of the priesthood stems mainly from the priesthood blessings that he has given me that I have seen fulfilled. He is such a great man and I know he will be a wonderful bishop.

I have been blessed

Most of you probably know that Jamie got laid off in September. In November, he got a contract position with General Dynamics. The position was supposed to last from 13-18 months. A couple of weeks ago his manager went to the higher up and told him that he had seen enough and he wanted Jamie on permanent. So today he got offered a permanent position. A co-worker told Jamie that his manager said he needed 3 Jamies:) I am so grateful to have a husband who works so hard to support our family and am grateful to a Heavenly Father who blesses us way more than we deserve.

Stairs

While I was writing about missing Emmy, Addy climbed the stairs for the 1st time. The moral of this story is don't focus so much on the past that you miss the present. Here she is in action.

I Miss Her

Being a parent is such a contradiciton. Your kids drive you so crazy sometimes and yet the minute they leave you cry like a baby and miss them so much. My parents came down yesterday and went home today. We are going up this weekend so they decided that Emmy could go home with them if she wanted and she said yes. I asked her if she was going to miss me and she told me no that grammy had lots of toys and I would be there in 3 days.

Haircut

There are so many things that I love about Jamie. One of them is that he will cut our kids hair. He even cut Emmy's the last time it was done. TJ and Emmy both have tons of hair and TJ seems like he needs his cut all the time and it is so nice not to have to take him to a barber. However, it is not his favorite thing to do. Here are the before pictures (notice the sideburns.)

The during pictures. Not even Mr. Incredible could help the situation.

And the after pictures.

What a cutie! It amazes me that from such a young age my kids are already showing their personalities. He is already a flirt and a tease. Girls beware!!!

Kinda

Emmy is just getting to where she is about done taking naps. If she takes one then she ends up staying up until 10 or 11, playing in her room before she goes to bed at night. I am not ready for her to be done with her naps. It is the down time that I need in the afternoon. So we have made a deal that she doesn't have to take a nap if she will go in her room and play for about an hour and a half every afternoon. So here was the conversation from our dinner table tonight while we were discussing her nap.
Dad: "Did you ever get to sleep?"
Emmy: "Kinda"
Mom: "What does kinda mean?"
Emmy: "It means that you play instead of taking a nap."

Shots

My two girls got shots today. Addy got 6 shots and one oral vaccine and Emmy got 2 shots and a TB test. Emmy did so good. She barely whimpered. She loved the sucker and the Tinkerbell sticker she got. They gave her the shots in her thighs, and she didn't want to put her pants back on because she wanted to show her dad her bandaids. Addy screamed, but come on, she got one shot for each month she's been alive. This picture is about a month old, but I love it. Maybe it's because I don't have a sister, but I can't wait to see them grow up together.

Emmy isms

Emmy is always saying things that crack me up. Here are a couple of the most recent.

Emmy: "Mom, me and T.J.'s stomachs hurt."
Me: "Well I'll take you home and put you to bed."
Emmy: "That won't help us."
Me: "What will?"
Emmy: "A sandwich."


Me: "Do you know that other kids will make fun of you and not want to play with you if you eat your boogers?
Emmy: "I don't want to play with other kids."

Addy's 6 Months Old

I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She is crawling everywhere she wants to go. She is such a happy baby. As long as you are paying attention to her, she will let you hug and kiss on her as much as you want.

We love you Addy!

Emmy's 3rd Birthday

Emmy celebrated her 3rd birthday for about a week. The weekend before her birthday Grammy and Poppa came down and she got to go see Princess and the Frog and they gave her a car to go with the people that live in her dollhouse. The car's horn beeps and the radio plays. She loves it.

On her birthday we met her dad for lunch and went to a park. Emmy loves her dad and any excuse to spend time with him is a good one.

That night we got to go to Joe's with the Espersons for more food and fun. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday all she said was a "Cinda" (Cinderella) Barbie Cake, and she was excited to get it.

Nana and Poppy got her a fun princess dress-up dress that she had to put on as soon as we got home. The Esperson's also got her passes to the zoo which we are so excited to get to use.

From mom and dad she got a helmet for her new bike. Overall, I would say it was a good day. Three things we love about Emmy:

1. She is so appreciative. She always wants to know who gives her things and wants to know if she sent a thank you card to them.
2. How smart she is. She is constantly saying things that I think are beyond her years, that keep us laughing.
3. What a good big sister she is. She is always watching out for T.J. and Addy and helps keep them happy.

Happy Birthday Emmy. We love you!

New Years Eve

Me and Jamie decided a while ago that neither one of us really likes Martinelli's. So whenever we have something to celebrate we buy chocolate milk and use it instead. It really is so much better premixed than when you make your own. So for New Years Eve we counted down at 8 with the kids and had milk and cookies to eat. They didn't have any idea what was going on, but they loved the milk and cookies. It is a tradition in my family that you put your shoe out on New Year's Eve and the little new year baby fills it with something while you are sleeping. I was trying to explain this to Emmy and she wanted to know if the little New Year guy was going to come into her room. I think I scared her. Me and Jamie stayed up and watched Angels and Demons and Twilight and actually made it to midnight. So it was a goodnight for all of us.