Utah State Fair

As tradition has it, we headed to the Utah State Fair last Sunday. I was so happy that the new baby didn't come before we were able to hit up the fair.

Emery had a great time playing with games..
Feeding the animals ..
Riding the train with Mama (that was quite the ride - I thought I would for sure go into labor after all of the bumps of that little train)..
Riding a few rides like a big girl ..

Riding a car racing ride with quick turns with Grandma Phyllis. Ivan tried letting Emery ride this one alone and I was the freak Mom who ran up right as she was getting on saying, "No way, someone is riding with her or she isn't going". It's a good thing I did, the corner turns were really fast and Emery didn't like the ride. I know for sure she would have cried and possibly gotten hurt with the sharp turns if she had ridden alone.
Ivan and Emery went down the big slide together ..
Emery had her first taste of Cotton Candy and loved it - thanks Grandma Phyllis!
We saw some seals on our way out ..
We ended up having a great time at the fair. I was asked about 5 times why I was walking around the hot fair being so pregnant. Honestly, I did fine and we left around 3p right when it started to get really hot. Ivan enjoyed a corn on the cob and we shared a Philly steak sandwich and I had my famous funnel cake. Everyone knows I really just go for the food. Emery loved the snacks as well and had a good time on the rides. I have to admit, I felt a little lonely for Emery when she was riding the rides by herself. I can't wait for about 2 years from now when Emery and the new baby can ride the fair rides together.

Lastly, here is Emery enjoying her Sunday night tradition with Papa. She loves to shave with him and put on his deodorant.

Labor Day Luau

We decided to check out the the Labor Day Luau at Thanksgiving Point this year. We actually tried going last year but I waited too long to buy tickets and they were sold out. Since we had never been to it, we didn't really know what to expect. I bought the tickets online and the description really was just that the dinner was buffet style and seats were not guaranteed. Dinner was to start at 530p and the Luau show would start at 730p.

I wanted to get there by 5p since the seats were not guaranteed and I wasn't 100% sure what that meant. We ended up getting there around 515p and we drive up and see a huge line doubling over with people waiting to get into the venue. I then see a bunch of people carrying blankets and chairs. As soon as I saw that, I thought to myself, "oops, was I supposed to bring those?" We brought sweaters for the chilly evening later and that's it.

Luckily, as we got into the long line, we realized that we were not the only underprepared family there. It was probably 50% of the people who were prepared. I wish Thanksgiving Point would have given a better description/info on the event.

Anyway, we got into the venue and ate dinner. Luckily, there were about 6 picnic style table and chairs and we were able to steal one so we weren't sitting on the ground eating dinner. The food was pretty good but then we had to wait another hour for the show to start. We finally moved over to the area where the show was to start. We sat on the grass (no blankets or chairs) for about 15 minutes. Then Emery said, "I'm ready to go home. Let's go home". I was a little disappointed that we weren't going to see the show, but deep down I was ok with heading home. We were uncomfortable sitting on the ground and it was getting really cold, really fast.

So, off we went. We did spend about an hour getting to the car, stopping on the way to play in the little play ground areas and maze that are at Thanksgiving Point. After all is said and done, I think the Luau could have been a much better experience if we were better prepared. I would also say that the tickets were pricey considering what you get for the money.

You're Driving Me Crazy!

Let me set the scene for you. I was sitting on the couch folding towels and Emery was sitting on the floor glued to the TV watching Toy Story. I was trying to get Emery to finish her dinner.

Me: "Emery, come here and take another bite"
Emery: no response - just glued to the TV
Me: "Emery (a little louder) come on Mama, come take another big girl bite"
Emery: no response
Me: "Emery" much louder with some whistles and clapping - (don't judge - I'm 9 months prego!)
Emery: Turns around and says "Shh Mama - quit making so much noise. You are driving me crazy"

Ok then!

Maternity Pictures - 36 Weeks

We had maternity pictures taken last weekend at Murray Park. Of course, it was not the greatest of weather and was horribly windy. I swear, every single time I schedule outside pictures we are fighting bad weather and wind. Add to it that Ivan hates getting his picture taken and it's a little bit of a rough experience for everyone involved. I teased Ivan on the way to get the pictures done that he was battling himself inside. I told him that I thought he knew deep down that it was just an hour of his life and not a big deal but then on the other hand he really didn't want to get pictures taken. Luckily for me, he agreed to be in a few. Emery is taking after Ivan and wasn't too happy to be getting her pictures taken either. It may have had something to do with silly me telling her we were going to the park - why would she want to get pictures taken when she could go play at the park? I learned my lesson on that one.

Photos were taken by Katie Veenker - you can check out her blog at:
http://katieveenkerphotography.blogspot.com/
She did a great job - thanks Katie!

Your Bum is Too Big!

Yesterday morning, I was trying to get Emery to take her pull up off from overnight and put on her big girl undies. I took out a pair of Dora undies and started dancing around with them and acting like I was going to put them on.

Emery said, "No Mama - your bum is too big for my undies"

Nice.

Uncle D, Dance and Emery's ANGRY Face!

Uncle D came over last weekend to hang out. Emery definitely has him wrapped around her little finger and she had a blast blowing bubbles with Uncle D.


Here is Emery getting ready for dance class last week. If you can't tell, we were in the process of giving Carter a bone before leaving the house. Dance class went much better, although Emery still isn't out dancing with the class the entire time. She took it upon herself to walk out to the group and hold the teachers hand twice. We are making progress though. After seeing how the other kids interact in dance class and then how reserved Emery it, it just confirms my reasoning for wanting to get her into something to interact with other kids. She basically spends most of her time with me, Ivan and Grandma Lola. I feel confident that with a few more weeks of dance class under her belt, Emery will be out dancing with the class and teacher and feeling a lot more comfortable.

Here is Emery's angry face. She wanted the camera and I wouldn't give it to her. Boy was she mad at me!

36 Weeks

We are into the final countdown now. We have finally started making some good progress on preparing for this little one to come into the world. The crib is put back together, everything is washed and ready to go. I did have to buy some replacement parts for the swing ($2 for the parts - $8 for shipping and handling but whatever) so that won't be set up for another week or so. I've committed to washing all of the bottles and binky's next weekend, then it's pretty much just a waiting game.

My Dr appointments are still very uneventful. However, if I do have issues, they are usually really odd one's. For example, my left foot started hurting really bad about 4 weeks ago. It was all of a sudden too, I don't remember doing anything to injure it. I was to the point that I couldn't walk and I felt like everyone just thought I was doing the "pregnant waddle" and that wasn't the case at all. Ends up, I have Plantar Fascia - who gets that? Dr Quinn feels confident that it will go away as soon as I deliver but he recommended I get a pair of sole inserts. Well, the problem isn't so much with buying the sole insterts. The problem is that sole inserts won't stay in flip flops and that's really all I own. I'm not about to buy sole inserts and new shoes for 4 weeks! My mom gave a recommendation that she heard about not wearing flat shoes. Viola! I put on my wedged flip flops and I'm back to normal - no more waddling! Yay!

Other than that, I'm feeling good. The acid reflux is still kicking my butt. There are days (like today) that I get less than 5 hours of sleep due to acid reflux. I end up emailing my work at random hours of the night/morning - they love it ;)

We still haven't decided on a name. I guess we will wait and see if we think the baby looks like one of the names that we have come up with when she is born. Dr Quinn said that he can induce me 7 days early without a medical reason. I'm a little tempted to take him up on his offer but I also worry because my babies tend to be very small. I'm almost thinking of inducing maybe 3-4 days early just so we can plan around daycare for Emery, Ivan's work and school schedule and the good old Utah Football schedule. Is it funny that we aren't planning around anything for me?

Emery's Big Girl Room

We have successfully had Emery in her new room for 6 days now. Ivan and I were both worried about the transition, but honestly, we should have known better. Emery has been great with every transition into becoming a big girl.

We did however, take the crib apart based on advice from other parents. I pushed Ivan to do it so we were forced to make the plunge and didn't have the option of giving in and putting Emery back into her crib. I think it helped Emery since we could tell her that she had to sleep in her big girl bed since her crib was broken. There's nothing wrong with parents telling a little white lie right?

The first night, I rocked Emery and sang to her and put her down. She kept saying, "Mama sleep with me, Mama cuddle with me". It was really hard not to lay down with her but I knew that if I started that habit, I would be in for a lot of trouble. So I told her that I couldn't, tucked her in and left the room. About 2 minutes later, I heard the pitter patter of little feet on the kitchen floor. She was up asking for band aids for her knee (she had a nasty fall a few days before this). I gave her band aids and tucked her back in. She went to sleep and stayed in her room all night. Since then, she's gotten up here and there - at max, once per night. She usually just comes into our room saying "Mama, Mama" gets me up just to hold her hand and walk her back to her room to tuck her in. She's been doing really good with napping in her new room as well.



Below are Emery's bears that she just has to sleep with. I try to limit the number of stuffed animals that she gets because it seems like any new one she gets, she just has to sleep with. Pretty soon her bed with be covered with them. And if she doesn't have one when she goes to sleep, she knows it and won't go to sleep until she has every single one.Left to right -
Snake and "Nemo" - Auntie Silv and Uncle D bought her these when they took her to the Aquarium a few months ago
Maya's Bear - Makayla brought this to Utah with her on her last visit and left it for Emery.
Puppy - I got this from Cyprus CU when I opened Emery's savings account
Elmo - good old Elmo - he's been around for a long time
Pink Puppy - I know this isn't a puppy but I called it that one day and it just stuck. This is the cutest stuffed animal. My Aunt Wanda bought one of these for all of the babies born around the time Emery was born. You can push on it's paw and it tells little baby prayers.

Dance Class - Week One

I recently signed Emery up for dance classes. I wanted to find a way to get her interacting with other kids and I found a dance class that would work perfectly with my schedule. The first class was last night at 6p. I rushed out of work right at 230p (this never happens) so we could get home to get in a decent nap. We woke up from nap time, got into the cute little leotard, tights and skirt and headed off.

There were only 8 girls in the class and the teacher was great with them. However, Emery wouldn't let me leave the dance room during the entire 45 minute class. She also wouldn't leave my side and join the other little girls for the dance class. I expected her to struggle a little (she's also a tad young for the class/age group) but I figured she would warm up to it within the 45 minutes. She did start copying the teacher and other girls a couple of times during the class so we made a little progress.

Then, near the end, Emery said she had to go potty. As I was walking her out of the room - she peed her pants. She's had a few accidents lately and we are struggling with potty training regression. Then, as we get into the bathroom, Emery sees a fly which she is convinced is a bee. She starts screaming and crying because she is TERRIFIED of bees. There we were, in the bathroom, me trying to figure out the best way to get Emery home without me having a spare change of clothes and she's freaking out screaming and crying about the 'bee'. It was quite the bathroom experience to say the least! We finally got out of the bathroom and headed home.

So, week one of dance class wasn't the best experience, but we will keep at it. I'm hoping she will really warm up to dance classes in the next few weeks. My next plan of attack will be to have Ivan take her to see if she's more willing to participate. Needless to say, no pictures from this week - my plan was to take some once we got home. Stay tuned for pictures and an update on the dance class experience next week.

Daddy and Daughter

Just a couple of cute pictures of Ivan and Emery .. Emery loves rough housing with her Papa and he loves his little girl to pieces. They are so cute together!

32 Weeks

Time continues to fly by. I was 32 weeks on Wednesday and still going strong. Everything is going really well and my Dr appts are quick and to the point. At my last appt, Dr Quinn asked me twice if I had any concerns, questions, pains, etc and my response was, "nope, I feel fine". He then asked me if he could see patients like me all day long. I jokingly (with some true seriousness to it) said that we could have my appts over the phone and I'd be fine with it.

There's just something about driving all the way from work in West Valley to the Dr in Riverton every 2 weeks for a 15 min appt that includes being weighed, peeing in a cup and hearing the heartbeat. It's nice to hear the heartbeat, but when I feel the baby moving all of the time, I pretty much know everything is fine. I guess I should just be grateful that I'm having another uneventful pregnancy, right?

Anyway, we are starting to make some progress on preparing for baby #2. We finally traded in my Accord for an Armada (hoping to post picutres of "Mama's big car" as Emery calls it). Yes, I have thoroughly convinced myself that a new car was required in the preparation for baby #2. We also bought and put together Emery's big girl furniture. We still need to get a mattress and move all of her clothes to her new room before I can start sorting through all of the bins of baby clothes/gear that I have in our storage room. That's next on the list.

Names - nope, still don't have any. I like Aliya, but I'm not in love with it quite yet. 7 1/2 weeks or less to go so we better get on it.

Lagoon Day

We headed out to Lagoon earlier in the month when Makayla was here (yes, I'm WAY behind on blogging once again). We went the weekend of July 4th and it was the perfect time to go. The weather was decent and there weren't any lines for any of the rides. Unfortunately, I was only able to go on a whopping 2 rides - the carousel and one haunted house but we still had a great time overall.

The whole gang ..


Emery loved most of the kiddie rides. It was funny because she got shy when she came around to where we were standing and could see her. For the first few rounds of each ride, she would bury her face and not look up at anyone. But, she loved them all.
Ivan and my Mom even took her on some swings and she liked those too.
Sweet cousins

This is a ladybug ride that shoots you straight up in the air and then has some pretty large drops. The first time people went, Ivan took Emery on it. Not the greatest idea - she cried the entire time. They also took Emery into the haunted house right at the entrance of Lagoon as the first ride - once gain, not a great idea. Emery came out of the ride saying, "I scared of monsters". We continue to hear a lot of "I scared of monsters" to this day. Oops - hopefully we haven't scarred her for life.

I can't dance!

We went to the South Towne Expo Center tonight to check out the Days of '47 Parade Floats. My Mom and Lola joined us for dinner and the festivities and it was a great night hanging out with family.

While we were at the Expo Center they had a stage where different cultures were dancing and playing music so we stopped to check it out. There were 2 couples from Chile dancing and they were amazing.

Ivan then asked Emery if she wanted to dance and tried to get her into it. She immediately started yelling "I can't dance, I can't dance!" Ivan didn't give up and tried to get her to start dancing with him. The poor girl sat down on the floor and started balling and yelling "I can't dance". I had to rescue her and tell her that I can relate. I have no rhythm at all, I am a 100% white girl!

It will be interesting to see if Emery gets comfortable with dancing. All of Ivan's extended family loves to dance and they are great dancers. I always think back to our wedding reception and how much fun the Real Family made our reception by getting out on the dance floor (and dragging all of the white folks out too) and having a good time. Hopefully with time, Emery will get more confident in her dancing skills and we will learn that she will take after her Papa's side and not mine. I feel bad for her if she takes after me.

Bad Habits

Have you ever been in the midst of creating a habit that you know will end up bad but it's too enjoyable at the current moment to change anything about it?

Yes, that's what we are currently doing. For the last several months, Emery has been waking up between 8-830a. I know that doesn't seem early to most people, but prior to that, the earliest she was waking up was 930a and one hour does make a big difference when Mama and Papa are late night owls.

Anyway, we are creating a habit of bringing Emery to our bed when she gets up to watch about 30 minutes of a movie to allow us to wake up a little more before actually beginning our day. We are starting to get ourselves into trouble though. Emery woke up this morning at 530a to go potty. I took her potty and put her back to bed. About 15 minutes later, she woke up again - here's how it went:

Emery: "I sleep in Mama's bed"
Me: "It's still night night time, you need to go back to sleep"
Emery: "I got to Mama's bed and cuddle. I want to cuddle Mama"

Now, what Mom out there can turn down their toddlers request to cuddle? She gets me with that every time. So, I brought her to my bed and we slept and cuddled until 830a when she started her non-stop chit chat for the day. (Who has that much to say at 830a? Oh, Emery has plenty to talk about).

I figure that I've started to acknowledge there is a problem forming and that's the first step to correcting it right? My plan is to break the habit when we finally get Emery into her big girl bed. For the time being, I will enjoy the cuddle time with my baby.

29 Weeks!

I'm one week late on this post but I figure it's better than never. I'm now 29 weeks along and time is still flying by. We have not done anything to prepare for the new baby. We don't have a name, still have Emery in the crib and still need to trade in my car before my due date gets here. I'm hoping to make some progress on the above to do items in the next 3 weeks, but no promises here.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good. I haven't gained as much weight this pregnancy but I do feel like everything I have gained is in my tummy. I have been able to manage my acid reflux by eating raw almonds nightly which has been nice.

However, I finally had my 2nd life experience with HEARTBURN over the weekend. It was horrible. I woke up at 6a with acid reflux and was up for about an hour. I went back to sleep and when I got up at 9a for the day my chest felt like it was on fire! I was miserable but I didn't want to ruin the plans for the day so we still went to Murray Park. We left the park around 2p because I had lasted as long as I could. We stoppped to pick up some Prilosec and Mylanta. I remember seeing my Great Grandma drinking Mylanta straight out of the bottle and I started doing the same thing. I was in so much pain I finally went to Instacare. I was pretty sure they couldn't do anything but I was miserable and it had been 5+ hours. The Dr. walked into the room and said, "so you are 7 months pregnant and have heartburn. What would you like me to do about it?" Not exactly the response I was looking for.

Luckily, I went home and was able to take a nap and woke up feeling better. The heartburn came back later that night but I've been keeping up on Prilosec and raw almonds and I've been fine since. I hope I am able to manage the heartburn because it is horrible.

4th of July Festivities

We went to Murray Park on Saturday to enjoy the 4th of July festivities. Before we left, Emery had to go potty - she took it upon herself to grab her Cinderella book so she had some light reading to keep her busy while she did her business.
We had a good day at Murray Park. We spent the majority of the time sitting down and enjoying the nice weather and some good food at the festivities. We all know I'm about food and people watching and Emery and my Mom like to do the same thing, We've also rubbed off on Ivan a bit so he enjoys the food and people watching right along with us.

The one activity that Emery wanted to do was the bouncy house. When it was finally her turn to get it, she didn't want to go because there were other kids in the bouncy house. Luckily, we stuck with it and calmed her fears. With Makayla by her side, she jumped in and had a great time. As soon as she got out, she wanted more and more. The girls played in the jumpy house another 2 times before we headed home for naps and the opportunity to get out of the heat.

Kamayla?

As Emery is learning to speak there are often times that she mispronounces words. I would say 90% of her words I can understand while most people can probably understand 60-75% of them right now.

For a long time she called Carter, the dog, Dashu. She's also been calling Makayla by Maya for as long as she's been able to call her anything. We finally taught Emery how to pronounce Carter's name correctly.

Makayla is here with us for 2 weeks this summer. I am determined to teach Emery how to say her name correctly during this trip. We have made progress, however, Emery is now pronouncing Makayla's name as KaMayLa. Very cute, but not exactly what we are aiming for. We have another week to go, hopefully Emery will master the correct pronunciation of Makayla's name by then.

We've been having a great time with Makayla here and have been very busy. Last week, the girls made a trip to the pool. It was very windy and the water was freezing so we didn't stay long but we still had a good time.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

We went to Olive Garden last night for dinner. We were lucky enough to be seated by a family with 5 kids and the Mom and Dad. They were, well, a little ghetto. The kids were making a ton of noise and a huge mess. The lady from the table across from us kept turning around to glare at the family. Trust me, she wasn't trying to hide her anger, I was waiting for her to ask to be moved. Ivan and I just kind of sat and watched the show in amazement. The family was ridiculous and the kids were out of control. I think there are times where you just have to admit to yourself that your kids should not go to dinner in restaurants if they can't behave, but that is just my opinion.

A few minutes before the family left, one of their little boys, probably 4 years old, comes over to our table and was definitely invading in our person space. He walked right over and started jumping around and just making noise. Emery quickly stands up, puts her hand out in a "stop motion" and says "Careful boy, Papa's Coke." She kept repeating it until the boy left the table.

It was hilarious that Emery just spoke her mind and Ivan and I were grateful that she ran the boy off. She is protective of coke, milk, food and toys wherever we go. Ivan and I started laughing hysterically and we just couldn't stop. I felt bad because I know the family thought we were laughing at them, but we really weren't. It was just so funny that Emery was the only one at the table that could run the boy off without people thinking we were totally rude.

Moral of the story, don't take your kids to restaurants if they can't behave or you will be "that family" and keep a 2 1/2 year old around to say what everyone else is thinking.

Ouch!

I've never been the most coordinated person in the world. I will be traumatized for my entire life from my family teasing me when I was little about the way I run. I clearly remember being at my Great Grandma Ruth's house and my family egging me on, telling me to run down the long hallway that runs from the dining room to the bedrooms. Meanwhile, my family would stand in the dining room laughing at the way I run. Apparently, I stick my but out, my elbows go way back and I look like a hot mess.

Anyway, coordination aside, I am also more accident prone while pregnant. Sunday night I was ironing Ivan's work clothes and burned my wrist. It hurt so bad! So I have this nasty burn on my wrist.

Yesterday at work, I totally ate it and fell on all fours. I was walking down the stairs with someone from my team. As I stepped off of the last step, I started slipping and luckily caught myself, well, kind of, and landed on all fours. As I was trying to get up, I started slipping again but I was able to get up without falling again. I felt so stupid and really bad for the guy with me. He just kept saying, "I tried to help and catch you". Um, that may have been worse. I just imagined him trying to catch me and falling with me and both of us ending up on the ground and then a stranger walking in and seeing us. Wouldn't that be a great rumor and good old Discover Card "some guy was in the stairwell making out with a prego girl ... I bet it's his baby" Ha ha. Anyway, it ended up that someone had spilled water on the floor and obviously didn't bother to clean it up or tell facilities so they could clean it up. I told facilities about the spill so it could be cleaned up and hopefully nobody else would fall.

I am fine other than my knees hurt like hell. I am surprised that they aren't all bruised up today. My boss kept teasing me that I'm not allowed to go out on leave until September because they aren't ready. Luckily, nothing serious came from the fall, other than some bruised knees and me being quite embarrassed. I will try to stay away from irons and stairs for the rest of my pregnancy but I'm sure more embarrassing stories will come.

Ear Infection - Really?

Emery was fighting a nasty fever for a few days last week. Then she was fine for one day and on Saturday night she came down with a horrible cough. She was supposed to go to the zoo on Sunday but I decided it was best for her to stay home since she wasn't feeling well.

I took her to the pediatrician today to get checked out. This was literally the first time she has seen any doctor aside from her well baby visits. I took her to get her cough checked out and it turns out she is fighting a small ear infection. So, it's also Emery's first round of antibiotics. I am so impressed that she has made it this long without really getting sick, other than the normal cold, and without having to be on antibiotics.

Emery was really good at the doctors. The toughest thing was getting her onto the scale (she weighs a whole 26 lbs!). She did great with Dr. Ring taking her temperature, listening to her lungs and checking out her mouth and ears. Emery is my little trooper! Hopefully she kicks the ear infection and cough soon and we don't start having issues with ear infections. Keep your fingers crossed for us!