Happy Halloween!

Here are pictures of Emery's 2nd Halloween costume. I attempted to make her a punk rocker - it didn't quite work out as I had imagined, but I still think it's cute!



Emery with her cousin Hanna who was dressed up as "Wendy's the restaurant".

An eventful weekend...

Although we didn't go anywhere or do anything too exciting, a lot has changed this weekend with Emery. She has...

• Officially starting walking regularly. It's so cute, she walks pretty fast, smiles the whole time with her arms out like she's reaching for someone. Surprisingly, she's been pretty coordinated and hasn't even fallen once. I'm sure it will come in time though.
• Become a cuddly baby and I'm so happy about it. Up until now, she's been too busy and independent to ever cuddle. She got up early this morning before I left for work and just wanted to lay with me and cuddle. I'm loving it!
• Figured out how to pick her nose - gross! She loves exploring with her right index finger and usually chews on it due to teething. I think one time she missed her mouth and then figured out that her finger fits perfectly into her nostril! I keep telling her no, but I guess it was bound to happen sometime.
  

Countdown about Summer...

Ten things I wish I could say to ten different people right now:

1. You have made me the happiest person since coming into my life.
2. Thank you for taking care of our baby and cleaning up the house tonight.
3. It was a wonderful weekend visit and I can't wait until Christmas.
4. Your life is in turmoil and I wish you would realize it.
5. You are my best friend and I am so grateful to have you in my life.
6. I'm sorry that we don't talk or see each other as often as we should.
7. I am so proud of your family's strength and I think of you daily.
8. Please leave me alone so I can get some things accomplished.
   

Nine things about myself:

1. I am a freak about dry skin and put lotion on my hand after washing them - every time!
2. I hate to get my face wet.
3. I love pajama pants and bare feet.
4. I am somewhat addicted to blogs.
5. I have become much more of a people person over the years.
6. Having a baby has really changed my perspective on life in a good way.
7. I still sneak into Emery's room after she's gone to sleep to check on her.
8. I HATE putting laundry away.
9. I need a massage.
   

Eight ways to win my heart:

1. Bring me a big fountain coke with extra ice
2. Costco cake.
3. Take me to get pampered with a pedicure or massage.
4. Put the laundry away for me.
5. Make me laugh.
6. Make me feel safe and secure.
7. Watch home shows/HGTV with me and act interested.
8. Give me unexpected little things - notes, treats, hugs, etc.
   

Seven things that cross my mind a lot:

1. Am I the best Mom I can be for Emery?
2. What will go wrong next with the house?
3. Do I really have a shopping addiction?
4. Keeping my house clean.
5. Guilt for not following through with ideas that show my gratefulness for those who help me.
6. I hope Utah Football wins this week...
7. Is Carter really miserable now that Emery is here?
   

Six things I do before I fall asleep:

1. Wash my face and brush my teeth
2. Watch shows that were Tivo'd that day
3. Pack Emery's diaper bag
4. Check email, blogs, etc.
5. Check on Emery
6. Set my alarm
   

Five people who mean a lot to me:

1. Ivan
2. Emery
3. Mom
4. Mandy
5. Grandma Ruth
   

Four things I'm wearing right now:

1. Pajama pants
2. T-shirt
3. Hair clip
   
4. Wedding rings
   

Three songs I listen to a lot:

1. "I know I've been a real bad girl" ...Gwen Stefani?
2. Whatever is on the radio..
   

Two things I want to do before I die:

1. See Emery grow up and be involved in all of her special moments
   
2. Build my dream house
   

One confession:
I made Ivan keep Emery up past her bedtime so I could see her tonight after I got home from work late. I hope I don't pay for it in the morning ...

Halloween Party

We had a family Halloween party at Aunt Vickie's tonight .. Costumes were required, but only a few people followed the rules. Everyone who dressed up looked very cute though ..

Shannon, Aunt Wanda, Aunt Vickie and my Mom

Shannon dressed as Mary and had Emery be her little lamb..
Grandma Phyllis and Emery


By the end of the photo-shoot, this is what Emery looked like. Poor child, she was dressed like an animal most of the day and also in front of flashing camera's all day. I finally said, "Emery is done" and took her in to put her regular clothes on. Even though Emery couldn't say it, I think she was very grateful that I finally called it quits for her.

Gardner Village

I have family in town this weekend from California, Nevada and Arizona. We decided to head out to Gardner Village this afternoon, although it wasn't exactly what we expected. Most of us had never been to Garner Village during Halloween season and while there were lots of fun shops to go into, we didn't think about the fact that there were 3 babies, 2 kids and about 10 adults. Needless to say, we didn't get much shopping done, but we did enjoy the warm weather and being outside. Here are a few pictures from the day (not surprisingly though, I have the most of Emery).




Emery had her first taste of a donut. Of course, like her Mom, she was in love at first taste and couldn't get enough ...

Self Feeding..

We've been trying to get Emery to self feed for the past few days. She loves Cheerios (will seriously get all excited and dance when she sees the box of them) so we decided to practice with them. Ivan and I were sitting on the couch feeding her Cheerios. Ivan ended up putting a Cheerio on the couch instead of putting it into Emery's mouth. What did she do?

She leaned over with a huge open mouth and put the Cheerio directly from the couch to her mouth without any hands! I totally knew that's what she was going to do and it was hilarious!

After that, Ivan realized he had to put the Cheerios further back on the couch so she couldn't reach them with her mouth. She finally figured out the concept of self feeding and is getting better and better as the days go by. I'm hoping she'll have it down enough by her 1st birthday so she can feed herself cake!

Emery's 11 Month Pictures

Yes, I'm late ... I love the idea of taking monthly pictures like this, but I have to admit I'm glad there is only one more month ..

Anyway, below are Emery's 11 Month pictures. I love the 1st one other than 1) she isn't smiling and 2) she has a dirty sock in her hand. Which one is your favorite?

Things this past month...

• Emery now has 4 teeth - two top and two bottom
• She loves to sleep - sleeps roughly 16-18 hours/day still
• She loves all table food
• She loves to rough house with Daddy and Carter
• She loves to play with books, shoes, socks and all electronics
• She loves to race around the ottoman in the living room

Fruit vs. Veggies??

Overall, Emery is a great eater. She loves table food and will actually "run" to you when she sees food. The other night, I had just fed Emery her 2 containers of baby food and then I was eating dinner. Sure enough, my little shadow ran over and had to share whatever it was that I was eating. There aren't any table foods that I can think of that the child won't eat - including pickles, salmon, yougurt and steak.

Anyway, Emery has been refusing to eat her baby food fruits for about 6 weeks now. The craziest thing is that she can tell which are fruits and which are veggies - how, who knows? It must be something about the colors of the foods? I won't even say anything about which I'm feeding her and I'll mix up the order between fruits and veggies.

As soon as I put a little bit of fruit onto the spoon, she looks away and refuses to open her mouth. If I actually happen to get the fruit into her mouth, she spits it out. It's funny to me that she is so particular and actually prefers veggies over fruits. Oh well, I'll keep trying to get some fruit in her here and there.

Are you there?

I saw this post on another blog and I can totally relate:

Have you ever been engaged in a conversation with another person and they are completely ignoring you? That's what it's like to blog if people don't leave you comments. I know you all check the blog, so use your highly honed computer skills and start leaving me a comment every now and then. I'm not going to name names, you know who you are. That's enough for now.

Have you wondered HOW to leave a comment? It's easy, just follow the steps below:

• At the bottom of each post, it says who posted and the time posted. Click on "comments".
• A page will come up where you leave your comments
  
• Yes, you have to do some validation by typing in some weird letters that pop up by the website
• It's as SIMPLE as that

So, Mom, Danny, Brenda, Karen, Mac - I know you guys are out there. And, I'm not sure who else checks in regularly, but start leaving comments please.

Thanks to my friend Jodi who always supports my blog by commenting on it!