#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.)

#5

Technology
I am grateful for phones, computers and internet. We are 1 1/2 hours or more from any family and between the internet and phone, I don't feel the distance as much. Also, I rarely watch shows live on TV anymore because they are all online(with shorter commercials) and since I watch them on my laptop anywhere in the house, I can get more done everyday.

#4

Family
Seriously, I have the best family! They are my closest friends and I'm so grateful to have so many amazing people in my life. I could really do a post on each of them individually because I love them all so much!

#3

Jared
There is no way to really express how grateful I am for Jared... He always puts others before himself, works hard, anticipates our family's needs, is the best dad, keeps me laughing everyday, supports me in everything I do, loves Emma and I unconditionally and so much more. Oh, and did I mention he spoiled me for my birthday yesterday? :) He is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him.

#2

Motherhood
The blessing, responsibility, joy and challenge of raising a child. Emma is only 8 months old, so I know I have a lot more learning and growing to do, but I am so grateful to have her in my life, to be trusted with such an important task. She makes me appreciate the little things- kisses, how interesting water is, leaves falling off the trees(she can't take her eyes off them), the way grass feels, bright and shiny things, dogs barking, and so much more. Is there really anything better than being a mom?

Gratitude

I have so much to be grateful for! This month I am going to do a blog entry everyday on something I'm grateful for. Today I'm going to have to double up since we were in Utah yesterday and I wasn't able to blog.

#1: The Priesthood
We have really been able to see the Priesthood at work this week and I am so grateful to have the Priesthood in my home. Aubrey was blessed yesterday, and there are very few things as amazing as watching the men in my family hold a new baby in their arms. I hope she understands how much she is loved!

Halloween 2009

For some reason I never posted about some of the happenings in October.
Our pumpkins!

Emma enjoying the pumpkin guts! She really, really liked it!

Trick or Treating with Zane, Julie, Jackson and Heidi in Tremonton. It was a lot of fun!