Diapers?

We have been using Huggies since day 1 with Emma, but lately they seem to be leaking. She really has no bum, so I think that has a lot to do with the leakage. It is about time to buy some more diapers and I was just curious what other people have tried and liked. If you get a second, can you vote in the poll? Thanks!

Lights

This is our 3rd Christmas in Twin Falls, and we finally made it to the famous "South Hills Lights". There is a family that lives about 15 miles south of town that goes all out decorating their place. They use 250,000 lights, rack up a $2,000 power bill Thanksgiving through New Year's and even have a camel there. I guess we were never motivated enough to go see them, but they really are amazing! They don't charge anything to get in, provide carrots for you to feed the camel and give out candy canes. It was pretty fun!

Emma in her carseat on the way- showing off her adorable new hat her Aunt Julie made for her.
View from the road(our camera is pretty fuzzy without the flash)
Emma, Melody and "Bull" the camel.
Emma, Jared and Bull. Emma wasn't sure what to think. He was huge!!
I had to use the flash to get a decent picture of Jared and Emma, but you kind of get the idea of how crazy these lights are.

Christmas Day 2009

Christmas Day Emma went around and woke everyone up at 7:30ish. She was just so excited! Ok, it was me, but Emma did the talking. :)

Emma hanging out with my Dad before we started opening presents.


Going through her stocking. Anytime she pulled out something fun she would turn and hold it up for my mom and dad to see.


Opening her first present. She did pretty well ripping the paper and pulling out the things that were in there. Socks and shirts will probably never be so exciting again!

Christmas Eve 2009

This year we spent Christmas in Howe with my family. Christmas Eve day my sister Kelsi, Jared and I all did our hair. Kelsi dyed her hair darker, I put in lowlights, and Jared got a much needed trim. Cute, huh? And you will just have to assume the after pictures are cuter than the during pictures, because I completely forgot to take some!




Every Christmas Eve, my family acts out the nativity. We find sheets, bathrobes, coats, etc. that work as costumes so it is always interesting to see how we all look. I remembered to take a few pictures this year...
Emma was Baby Jesus. This is her in her "manger". She isn't actually sleeping, I must have caught her with her eyes closed in this picture. Oh, and she is wearing her pajamas that she got to open and wear Christmas Eve.

The three wise men- Kelsi, Clint and Jared.

My dad narrating the Christmas story from the scriptures.

Emma receiving her gifts from the wise men.

A big week for us...

I'm officially halfway through this pregnancy! This baby is very active and likes to kick and push Emma back when she is climbing on me and my stomach. Indication of what is to come? :) Anyway, I'm feeling great and have all sorts of energy right now so I am taking advantage of that and getting lots done. My goal for January is to get everything Emma-proofed (latches, gates, etc.) I can't believe we are only 4 1/2 months out!

Emma is 10 months old this week! She is growing and changing so much everyday. Her personality is becoming more and more apparent and she has us laughing all the time. A couple of milestones for her:
-She crawls now. She still has to be motivated to go somewhere, but when she crawls she is fast. She still would rather be on her feet than her hands and knees.
-She has four teeth- the bottom middle two and the two eyeteeth. The two middle teeth on the top are getting close.
-She is waving at everything and everyone. She is such a friendly little thing and it takes me forever to get through the grocery store because I always have a couple of people stop to talk to her and tell her how cute she is. She hams it up and give them her best "shy" smiles.
-Things in the hair department are a little difficult because she only leaves the headbands in if she doesn't realize they are there and she has been finding them all the time lately. But her hair is now long enough that I have to do something with it, so we have been experimenting with different things.
-She is pulling herself up on everything, and letting go for a several seconds to test the waters. She can walk along long objects, like couches and things pretty well. It is pretty cute to see such a tiny little person trying to walk around. We lowered her crib mattress to the lowest height out of necessity. She recently discovered her hippo toy that she can hold onto and push around and is really good at walking behind/next to it.

We love this little girl so much and her little grins and giggles just make my day!

Little Musician

Emma has always enjoyed sitting on my lap while I play the piano. She used to put her hand on my wrists and let them bounce up and down. Now she sits back and sings along while I play. Usually when I am done she wants to play. She can get a note here and there, but she also likes it when I hold onto her forearms to give her leverage for maximum noise. I took this while she was sitting and playing on my lap today.

No Two Alike

My friend gave this to me and I LOVE it- we are handing them out with snowflake ornaments to the primary kids today. Just thought I should share!

Beautiful beautiful snowflakes, floating down to Earth
All created to be unique, each holding significant worth

Just like an intricate snowflake, we come from up above
To bless the world with beauty, to sparkle the world with love

No two of us alike, we hold our own design,
And because we are so different, we get a chance to shine

When Heavenly Father makes snowflakes, I think He takes great care,
He works on every detail, He makes them precious and rare

He lovingly spends time with every one, He blesses them all the way through
If He cares this much about snowflakes, Imagine what He thinks about you.

Getting big

Emma's feet have been hanging off the end of her infant carseat for a couple of months now, so at Thanksgiving we finally installed a bigger carseat. She sits back there and grins and giggles at us because she loves it so much. But we still put her in the other carseat on occasion because it just seems easier, especially when it is cold. Emma naps really well in it, too, and we didn't want to disrupt that. I made a quick trip to Utah with my mom on Tuesday and decided to take her in the bigger carseat. My fears were unfounded, and she was very good and slept just as well in this carseat. I guess this officially means my baby isn't a baby anymore!
Catching her mid-babble.

As she fell asleep.

Christmas Reflections

It has been a rough week for Emma. After she and I came down with every cold and flu that have gone around this year, I decided that nursing her wasn't helping either of us anymore and that it was probably time to wean her. So I upped her formula and began the process. Things were great and she wasn't having a hard time adjusting at all! Then Saturday night and Sunday night she woke up screaming as though she was in a lot of pain. And she was up pretty much all night. She also had a bad night Tuesday night. I finally realized that the last time I bought formula I got the kind that had a lot more iron than what we had been using and it was upsetting her stomach. That seemed to be the problem, and she has slept great since then.

I had a lot of time to reflect while I just sat and held my baby in the light from the Christmas tree while the rest of the house was dark, quiet and peaceful. And I really wouldn't trade those moments with her for anything. I am definitely blessed beyond what I need or deserve. I'm so grateful for this time of year and how it grounds me and helps me remember what is really important. Holding a sweet, helpless baby in my arms helps to give me perspective on the Savior's birth and how Mary and Joseph must have felt. I am overwhelmed when she looks up at me with trusting eyes. It also gives me a better idea of the love Heavenly Father has for me and each one of his children.

Have you ever....

...forgotten to take your socks off before your bath? Yeah, me neither.

Hidden Talents

We went to a ward Christmas party tonight... not our ward's, but a ward in our stake.


As you can see, one of us dressed a little more festively than everyone else. (He somehow got himself signed up for Santa duty.)


These pics were in the Bishop's office before things really got started. It was just the three of us in there but Emma still wasn't impressed with her dad's new look.

The picture the photographer got...
And they insisted I get in on one, too.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

It was only a few degrees outside last night so we decided to make use of the stack of wood we have in our yard and our fireplace for the first time since we have lived in this house. Ahhh.... it felt so good!

The Sock Drawer

The other day I was doing laundry and Emma discovered the pile of socks, which she found very entertaining. Now when I'm out of toys or games that seem to interest her for longer than 2 minutes, we resort to dumping out the sock drawer for her to play with. Maybe she will start organizing and folding laundry next?

Tuesday!

I know yesterday was a Monday, but it really felt like a Monday. Emma only took one really short nap and we were both tired and a little impatient by the time Jared got home from work. Then Emma went to sleep at 6 p.m., and I thought for sure we were going to regret letting her fall asleep so early.(She has always slept with a blanket either over her face or next to her face- she can't fall asleep without it.)

But she must be growing or something because she slept until 7 a.m. and woke up happy and ready to play! She has been running around in her walker for almost an hour, smiling and singing.

It snowed off and on all weekend, but just enough to cover the ground. So I was surprised to look outside and see how much snow we got just last night. I love it!
A good nights sleep, happy baby, yoga class this morning, playgroup this afternoon and Biggest Loser finale tonight! It is shaping up to be a great day!

Sunday Night Football

It has been a good weekend. Nowhere we really had to be or anything we had to do. We spent most of the day at home yesterday and today. Jared is a huge Vikings fan and Emma is a huge football fan... so they hung out watching the game for a little while tonight. Football keeps her attention longer than anything else on the TV, I think partly because Jared is a very active football watcher and she is entertained by his cheering or yelling and gestures. I wish I could get a picture of her reacting to his reactions- too funny!

Mountain Man

Jared went on a 4 day hunting trip with his dad, brothers and sister, and this is a picture of his facial hair after a few days of not shaving. It took Emma a few minutes to figure out who he was when he got back. Then he shaved it and she had to figure out who he was all over again!

#30- The BEST one!

This has been one of the best months I have had in a long time. It is hard to feel anything but happy when you are constantly thinking of something you are grateful for. I have SO many goods things in my life and by the end of the month, I had a hard time listing only one thing each day.

But I think I saved the best one for last... Today I am grateful for the coming addition to our family. That's right! We are expecting Baby #2 on May 9, 2010!! So we are at 17 weeks already! Things are going well and everything looks good!

#29

I am grateful for our Christmas tree! My family always goes Christmas tree hunting the day after Thanksgiving, but we were in Pocatello for Thanksgiving so we didn't get to go. My parents, Clint and Kelsi went with some of my cousins and cut one down for us when they got theirs. Kelsi dropped it off in Poky on her way back to Logan and we strapped in to the roof of our car and brought it home! We weren't going to have a tree for at least another week so I'm excited to already have it!

Oh, and Jared put our outside lights up last week before we left for Thanksgiving and I love them! So does Emma. She just stares at them with the most amazed look on her face.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house!!

#28

I love these. But we don't even have a Jamba Juice in Twin, so we made a Jamba run tonight while we are in Poky to get my fix. DELICIOUS. Made me remember how much I enjoy them!


PS: Emma got another tooth today. One of her little eyeteeth on the top. Her other one should be breaking through anytime, and her top middle ones are getting pretty close, too. But for at least a little while we are going to have a little vampire-looking baby. (Seems fitting since "New Moon" just came out and we went and saw it today.) I'll get a picture up of her as soon as it is down far enough to be seen in a picture.

#27

I'm grateful to have a window scraper. It might seem kind of silly, but I really appreciated it this morning at 4 a.m. when I headed out to do some crazy person shopping. Oh, and I went to Wal-Mart this year- WAY crazier than Shopko or anywhere else we went last year! Made it out alive though! :)

#26

Today is a day when I am especially grateful for many things... too many to even count. But today I am very grateful for food. Not just eating a gigantic, delicious dinner(which we definitely did and ate WAY too much of), but I'm grateful that we always have food in our cupboards and fridge. We are so blessed to have our basic needs met.

PS- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

#25

I can't believe that I'm not posting on this until day 25, but I thought it would be fitting since Emma is 9 months old today. I haven't done a blog on Emma for a while, so I should probably warn readers there might be an overload of motherly gushing below...

Some funny quirks:
-We finally got Emma to sleep with her feet covered. We were always having to leave her feet hanging out of her sleepers because she couldn't sleep with them in there.
-Her hands are constantly moving in little circles. You would probably have to see it to fully understand, but her little hands just rotate around on her wrists constantly, like she is leading music or something.
-She growls. Don't know exactly where she picked it up, but she has a pretty awesome growl. She used to do it all the time, now she mainly does it to show frustration or displeasure at something.
-She loves it when we blow in her face and when we fan a blanket in front of her. Her hands and feet start going a million miles an hour and she grins and giggles.
-She loves people and attention, seriously she is such a ham. But she usually only likes these people at a distance, not when they want to hold her.
-She is such a talker. All day. All the time. And I love it.
-One of my other favorite things is when she sings. Jared and I sing to her all the time, and she tries to mimic us. She is a big fan of the Righteous Brothers. :)
-She also dances and bobs along with music now. It's hilarious! Usually this just happens at home, often when she is sitting on my lap while I play the piano or if some fun music comes on the TV. She was sitting in the cart at Old Navy the other day and was dancing up and down and swaying. I was laughing so hard and I didn't have my camera!
-Anything Jared and I eat or do is better than what she has. We were doing a puzzle the other night and we thought Emma was content sitting on the couch next to Jared playing with her toys. I left the room and came back in to she had crawled through his arm to "help" with the puzzle.

Milestones:
-She has conquered her walker, and follows me all over in our house since there is no carpet. She is so proud of herself.
-She is a really good sitter now. Occasionally she'll get a little over-eager to grab something and tips over, but not too often.
-She sits up in her baths and plays with toys, except for when I'm washing her hair.
-She still hates rolling over. She will do it, but very rarely, and then usually only from back to front. She still will just scream and give up when she gets stuck on her stomach.
-She crawls backwards all the time. Forward crawling only occurs when she is really motivated.
-She remembers people now. It only takes her a minute to remember her grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles and go to them. She always loves her cousins and has never seemed to forget them.
-She doesn't drink out of her bottle anymore, and has been on just her sippy cup for 2 months or so.
-She FINALLY took a formula about a month ago, so now she drinks formula one feeding a day.
-She sleeps so well at night, from about 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. except for a feeding at about 6:30 a.m. It is wonderful!

Whew! I won't wait so long until next time to post about her so it isn't so much! There are just so many things I don't want to forget. Anyway, I love being her mom and all of the fun and silly things she does. I'm so grateful that I get to be with her all day so I don't miss anything.

#24

Emma and I both came down with a really nasty cold and are on the tail end of it now. I always think it is interesting how much more I appreciate my health after I have been sick. I'm SO grateful to be healthy and that the rest of my family is healthy!

#23

I am grateful for snow. It is so beautiful and makes my day. It seems like snow doesn't stick around for very long here, so it makes it even more exciting when we get it. We got a fun little snowstorm yesterday that got me very excited for the holidays. In fact, Jared is putting our lights up tonight after work and I've been listening to Christmas music all day. (Oh, I'm also grateful for good tires when there is snow on the roads.)

#22

I really love my calling in Primary and I love spending time with the kids. Today was fun because they shared what they are thankful for and I am always amazed by how smart and thoughtful they are. I learn so much from them and really love them!

#21

I'm so grateful to have a temple here in Twin Falls. I'm also grateful that Jared and I got to go today. Although we have been to the temple separately, we haven't gone together since Emma was born... that is WAY too long. We really need that. Thanks Mandee and Kendra for watching Emma for us! She loves her grandma and aunt and misses you already!

#20

I'm grateful for books. Especially the kind you can't put down until you finish. Those are the best! People should warn me, though, because I stayed up way to late reading all of "The Hunger Games" yesterday. I also recently read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It was very interesting. But now I'm out of books on my list. Anyone have any good book suggestions for me?

#19

Emma has officially figured out how to use this walker, and since we don't have any carpet in our house, she can follow me all around upstairs. Her newfound independence makes her very happy. Happy baby=happy mom!

#18

I'm so grateful for a full night's sleep. I mentioned in an earlier post that Emma has been struggling the last week or so with teething, and last night Jared decided to give me the night off. He heard her wake up so quickly that I really don't know how many times she was up. It is seriously amazing how sleeping all night makes you feel like you can do anything. Thanks, Jared!

#17

I am grateful for heat! I love hearing my furnace kick on and feeling its effects when it is cold outside or getting into my car and turning the heater on. Feels so good!

#16

I'm not sure what I would do without Teething Tablets, Baby Tylenol and Baby Orajel. This has been a rough week in the teething department for Emma and even with these things she is pretty miserable. Thank goodness I can give her something that helps her feel better!

#15

I'm grateful for Sundays! We always have meetings and church on Sundays, but they are part of what I enjoy about Sundays. I don't worry about cleaning, laundry, running errands or exercising. It is my day of rest, and a family day- the best day of the week!

#14

I'm grateful for bathtime! It makes her so happy and usually means bedtime is really soon. Also, I really love MY baths, too!

#13

Mmmmmm..... today I am grateful for these!

#12

A Yard
I'm so grateful to have a yard! I'm not much of a gardener yet(I intend to be someday), but regardless it is so nice to have our own space outside. Especially since the weather has been so beautiful this fall. Emma LOVES playing in the leaves... and trying to eat them.
(I don't actually have any pictures of Emma eating the leaves because I was too busy worrying about getting them out of her mouth, but this was right after I took them away from her.)

#11

Freedom
I am grateful to live in the United States and to have so many rights and freedoms. I'm especially grateful for all those who have sacrificed so much fighting for those rights. You definitely deserve a day to honor you! Thank you!

"Lest We Forget"

#10

Grandparents
I got an e-mail from my Grandpa Callister yesterday that made my whole day. His e-mail just reminded me of how lucky I am to have such amazing grandparents and to have grown up so close to both sets of grandparents. They are so supportive and loving and always have good advice- I am so lucky!

#9

Jared's Job
This morning as Jared walked out the door to begin another week of work, I thought about how grateful I was that he had a good job to go to every week. He works for a really great guy and he learns a lot everyday. His job (and Jared working hard there) are what allow me to stay at home with Emma.

#8

Home
I am so grateful to have a home. When it is cold, windy, rainy or really hot outside I love walking into my home and feeling the constancy inside. I love going on trips and visiting family and friends, but I really love coming home and the way I feel there.

#7

Piano
I'm so grateful to have a piano in our home! Jared and I both play it all the time, and Emma loves it when we play, too! It is so calming and adds so much to our home!

#6

Stroller
Today I am grateful for my jogging stroller! The weather has still been beautiful so Emma and I have been out walking. It isn't a fancy stroller or anything, but it does the job and Emma and I have been all over town in this thing!
(This is a picture I took of Emma in the stroller on our walk today.)