It's a very sad day...

Our friends, Mike and Candice Greene lost their little 5-year old boy, Jackson, last week. We are attending the services today in support of the family. Although I have only personally met Mike, Candice and Jackson once, we are very close with Mike's brother, Mac.

It breaks my heart to imagine what the Greene family is going through right now. Jackson was diagnosed with cancer back in July and his little body wasn't strong enough to stand the chemo. Since having Emery, I understand the love and bond between Mother and child so much more now. I don't understand why things like cancer happen to such little, innocent beings.

I hope the best for the Greene family and hope that they continue to cherish each and every moment with their other two children. A piece of me thinks about their family daily and wishes them the strength to get through this tough time in life.


Below is a link to the obituary and a beautiful picture of Jackson Greene.

http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=117389677

We almost lost our entire blog!!

As you all know, I am extremely technically challenged. It's pretty bad and to the point where if I ever actually have to call tech-support on my own computer (and, only once and it was before Ivan and I were dating) they have to start with questions like "what color is your start button". I seriously know nothing about computers and technology and don't have the patience to learn. I try to do things and then I just get frustrated and either give up or make Ivan help. Well .. this evening, I decided to make some changes to the blog .. I wanted to change the background to cute one's like my friends have and add a view counter.

So, I attempt the view counter. Nope, can't figure that stupid thing out. And, there are step by step directions on the stupid page where you download it from. Still can't get it, so I just give up and figure, "ooh well, I didn't really want one of those anyway". All the while just trying to convince myself of that so I don't get too frustrated.

Next, the blog background. Now, Ivan set the last background for me because I couldn't figure it out. So, I don't even try. I pick a background that I like and then call for Ivan. He comes and tries to do it and all of a sudden all of my posts are missing. I am trying to not openly freak out and deep down Ivan is freaking out too. Luckily, he was able to restore the posts, but he couldn't figure out the background. I think he just isn't willing to take time away from his Utefans.com or Diner Dash game to figure out my needs. Ooh well, needless to say, I'm back to a boring, old, background.

Learning Boundries or Parent Denial?

Okay, for you experienced Mommies out there ... could Emery really be learning her boundaries at the the ripe old age of 10 months, or am I in denial?

There aren't many things that we won't let Emery do/touch around the house. Not that we are push-overs, but we have more so baby proofed the house instead of having to walk after Emery saying "no, no" to everything. Below are some of the things we won't let her play with:

• The stereo/DVD player/DirecTV box
• The tray on our ottoman that usually has drinks on it
• Carter's dog food/water (although this WAS one of her favorite toys)
• Carter's bones and raw hides

Now, since we have been telling her no each time she tries to get into any of the above, now when she tries to get into any of them, she gets close, stops and smiles/smirks at us to see our response. Now we just have to give a simple "no" and she basically leaves the item alone.

Could it be that she is already learning her boundaries and will really be that good of a child? Or, is it all DENIAL on my part?

Camera Recommendations

If you have a camera that you love, and it's reasonably priced, please share the make/model. I think a new camera will have to be our family Christmas present to each other. And, maybe a little early, so we will have it in time for our trip to NY at the end of September.

Emery's 10 Month Photo Shoot

I love the idea of taking monthly pictures and love the frames in Emery's room where we can see her change from month to month. But, man, I can't wait for the last 2 photo shoots to be done. When I first started, it was easy, then a little tougher with getting Emery to smile and be able to see the silly toy. Now, at 10 months, it's nearly impossible. Ivan and I took a total of 15 pictures and we didn't really get any great one's. Boy did we try though. Ivan was behind me bouncing up and down and yelling Emery's name and she just wanted to get up and crawl!

This will prove that I really need a new camera. The delay in my current camera just doesn't work when trying to take pictures of a very active baby!


This one is the cutest to me, even though it is from the side. It shows her wonderful, happy smile and her two bottom teeth. Which is your favorite?
In the last month, Emery has gotten very, very active. She crawls after us all of the time and is actually pretty quick these days. However, when I am up running around the house, she does get quite frustrated when she finally gets to me and then I move to another room. She is also "cruising" all over everything. She walks herself around in our living room holding onto the couch, ottoman and her toys. She's going to be walking any time now. She pulls herself onto anything and everything. She's still a very happy and lovable baby. She has her moments, but they really are far and few between. She will try any table food we feed her, she just opens her mouth. And, she wants anything and everything that we are eating. She's dying for a taste of a nice cold, fountain coke. Not for a while though! And, she loves to watch you cook. Ivan's Mom cooks for her everyday and she loves watching the process of preparing the food. Ivan and I both think that it's just because she knows that she'll soon get food.

I am slowly trying to introduce the sippy cup, with no success yet. I haven't been consistent at all, but I would like to have Emery off the bottle around 1yr. We'll see how that goes. And, she still won't hold her own bottle or feed herself. But, I'm not going to complain. The time is going by so quickly, I'll take advantage of the 10 minutes of cuddle time that I get a few times a day while she drinks her bottle.

Emery is such a big girl ...

Emery looked like such a big girl today in her jeans and tennis shoes. Ivan and I can't get over it!

Here she is finding Carter's dog and water bowl for the first time. We really need to figure out what we are going to do and where we will move the dishes to. As expected, Carter was good about it and just started eating the food out of her hand. But, 1) I don't want to risk it with Carter and 2) I really don't want the mess all through my house.

Go Utes!!

It's official, the 2008-2009 College Football Season has begun. For those you who really know me are probably very surprised that 1) I know when the season starts or 2) that I even care. But, for the last 5 or so years since Ivan and I have been together, the start of the football season has a significant impact on our lives.

Ivan is OBSESSED with Utah Football. Him and his friends have season tickets and get together to watch every game. It's also Ivan's time to relax and enjoy some good old Jack Daniels. So, from now until the end of November, Emery and I are on our own basically every Saturday.

I am hoping for a very successful season for the Utah Utes. I love to see how excited Ivan gets over a big win. Lets hope for many good game and wins to come.

GOOOOO Utes!!!

Babies, Babies and More Babies

On my Mom's side of the family, we have had 3 weddings and 4 babies born in the last 2 years. Ivan and I started it off with our wedding, then two of my cousins got married last year in May and June. Then, Emery was born in November 2007 and since then, we've added three more babies, one in May 2008 and two just this month. Below are the newest additions to the family. Note, all of the babies are boys except for Emery. Do you think all of her boy cousins will grow up to beat up on Emery? That's all I'm worried about ... I think Emery will be tough and able to hold her own, at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Talon Chinery
August 21, 2008
5 lbs 6 oz
Son to my cousin Tasha in WA

Quinlan Barrett Rothey
August 26, 2008
8 lbs 11 oz
Son to my cousin Amelinda

I am so excited to have one little cousin living in Utah for Emery to play with. Quinlan is almost 10 months younger than Emery, but once has been around for a few months, he and Emery will be able to have lot of play dates, especially since Aarn and Amelinda live just a few miles away. I can't wait to see the little boys grow up and develop their own little personalities.

Tickle Me Elmo

Emery's Grandma and Auntie Silv bought her a Tickle Me Elmo last Christmas. A little early, but we all figured she would grow into it. I'm learning that she definitely takes some time to warm up to the stupid thing. (I'm sorry, am I supposed to actually like a bright red, talking, moving stuffed animal?)

Anyway, I got it out about a week ago and squeezed it's tummy so it would laugh, lay down and then sit itself up again. At first Emery just watched it and didn't know what to think. Then, I brought it closer to Emery and she freaked out. The closer it came to her, the more Emery freaked out and she kept pushing herself further from the Elmo.

Ivan got it out tonight and let it sit on the ottoman by Emery, not turned on. She kind of looked at it for a few minutes. Ivan then turned it on and Emery was ok for a few seconds, until she cried because she was scared. I picked her up and brought the Elmo closer to Emery. It was the funniest thing - she couldn't help but touch it, even through her fears. Every time she bent over to touch the Elmo she whimpered, but she still touched it. Once she touched it, she would turn her head to hide from it.

I think we will keep Elmo in the closet for a while longer (or just send it to Grandma's and Auntie Silv's for good) but it's good to know that Emery will face her fears at the ripe age of 9 1/2 months old.

The best part of the day...

Emery wakes up in the happiest mood every single day. How could you not just love the huge smile, messy hair and slightly swollen eyes first thing in the morning?PS (don't mind the totally mis-matched jammies please)

Emery's First Word

I'm not sure if you can exactly call it a word since she doesn't really realize what she is saying, but she started saying "ma, ma" today. She actually starts out by just moving her mouth with no noise coming out, but eventually, the sounds come out too. I swear, her Auntie Silv can teach her anything and everything she knows so far was taught by Auntie Silv.

In the last couple of weeks Emery has begun to:

• talk :)
• crawl
• pull herself to a standing position
• get into a sitting position from laying down
• clap
• wave bye-bye
• throw tantrums when you take away a toy or set her down from standing

Where or where does the time go? I cannot believe my little baby is growing up so quickly. I now understand why people have so many babies. It is such an amazing experience to see them grow up, try new things and develop their own little personalities.

Emery's 9 Month Pictures

I don't even feel like I need to say anything :)

Our World is Changing Forever!

The first picture is what Emery accomplished by herself Friday afternoon while I was vacuuming the living room. I knew that we were soon in for trouble ...


Today while vacuuming, this is what she did - again, all by herself.


She has been pulling herself up in her pack-n-play for a few weeks now, but here she is pulling herself up onto the couch. I don't know if I'm ready for a baby who is completely mobile all by herself.

She also wants to be standing all of the time. If we are sitting down playing with her, she will reach over and grab one thumb with each hand and pull herself up and hang out standing. She has even gone as far as to grab a toy (a pretty heavy one at that) and stand while holding it with one hand.

Any tips from anyone out there?

Jackson Hole, WY Baby!

Ivan and most of his friends are turning 30 this year. We made a 24 hour trip to Jackson Hole this weekend with Sam and Meagan to celebrate Sam's 30th birthday. We had a really good time like we always do with Sam and Meagan. We enjoyed a couple of good meals and went River Rafting. Meagan and I had never been and were terrified. Once I found out that we were only going to be on the water for a little over an hour I was okay, I figured that I could survive that long if I hated it. We ended up having a blast and when the guide guided us to the "dock" I looked back at Ivan and said, "it's over already". Our boat got the wettest out of any of the boats that went in our time slot. Meagan also got pulled into the water completely by her lovely husband Sam.


We stayed at these cute cabins at Cowboy Village. Thanks to Meagan for putting it all together and for inviting us along!






These next photos are the best we could get. It was late, dark and me being so bright, asked the oldest men around to take our picture. Ooh well, what do you do?




Some pictures of the scenery on the drive back to Utah.



We also had old fashioned pictures taken. I will have to wait for Meagan to send me the pictures online, but I will be sure to post them too. They turned out so cute and I can't wait for Sam and Meagan to use them for their Christmas Card this year!

Where does the time go?

I've been friends with Lindsey since High School. We just had our 10 year reunion this summer, so it's been a while. I've been friends with Jodi for about 8 years or so. As time goes by, we all know friendships are challenged with time constraints from everyday life. I don't see or talk to Lindsey or Jodi often these days, although I think about both of them often. I had the pleasure of driving 1 hr with Jodi to Lindsey's baby shower last weekend. It was great to catch up on our days and compare baby stores - Jodi's youngest, Saige, is 2 weeks older than Emery.

Here are some photos that I stole from Jodi's blog from the baby shower and some of our girl trips. Boy how I miss the girl trips.




The last one is from a cruise we took back in 2001. We all look so young .. it will be so quick now that our daughters will grow up and be taking girl trips as well. I can only hope that they grow up to have such good friends as I have had.

Family

We've had several family members in town over the weekend. Here are just a few pictures to enjoy..

Emery and her cousin Brandon who is 11 weeks old
The girls ... myself, Makayla, Tasha, Shannon and Emery

Myself and Emery with Brenda and Brandon


Okay, we had a lot of family in town for 4 days. I really need to get better with taking pictures. If only I had a better camera (hint, hint Ivan ... )

Emery has TEETH!

Emery has been working on getting her two bottom teeth for a few weeks now. She is very shy about it though and we usually only get to see them when she is eating and opens wide for a mouthful of food. I finally captured the teeth in a picture..

You need to click on the pictures to enlarge them to actually see the pearly whites though.

Happy 8th Birthday Makayla!

We had Makayla's 8th birthday party at Boondock's last night. It was a blast - when we got there, Makayla said, " please wake me up, I think I'm dreaming". We were there from 7p until midnight when the place closed. We had pizza, cake, played mini-golf, rode the go-carts, played video games, you name it. We all had a great time, but were exhausted by the time we left. A special thank you to Grandma Phyllis for putting on such a wonderful birthday for Makayla!

The girl wrapped tickets around Makayla as we sang happy birthday. If she was wrapped in them all by the time we finished singing, she got all 200 tickets. And, she earned them all.

Misc Events

Our annual trip to the zoo...


I was reading People magazine the other night and Emery wanted to join in on the fun ...
Makayla and Emery at the Children's Museum at Gateway. Makayla was a little old for the museum, but if you have children between the ages of 3-5, I would definitely recommend it.