My Husband!!!

This is classic Emory/Tinkerbell! Earlier that week we'd been discussing that Cory was mine first and then the word "husband" came up. This is us TRYING to convincing her that Cory is my husband! Later on that night, she decided that Tessa was her husband.

She's also figured out there's a difference between Utah and Arizona. We've been lucky enough to be invited to some friends' pools this last week, and she's always telling them, "MY pool is in Utah at my Grandpa's house." Emory went to her first birthday party all by herself. Seneca had a princess party and Emory chose to be this princess, and yes, she insisted on the wig and wore it the whole day!

She is also the singing queen. She's known all three verses to "I am a child of God" for awhile now, and loves learning new songs. She decided it's easier to just sing everything!

I'm not sure why I wanted Tessa to crawl, I think I was better off when she was content in a square foot area! She's a mover, finally. She's been scooting really well for the last week, and now she's off to the races. Yesterday, she got into the front room (which is vaulted) and started yelling because she loved the echo. Emory got worried and said,
"MOM . . . Tess is way far away!!"

Here's a picture of her new favorite thing to do, store food in her MASSIVE cheeks! We knew they had to be good for something other the munching on and pinching. On a side note, Emory does the same thing, stores food in her cheeks. It'll be 30 minutes after dinner and she'll be running around with her last bite on food in her mouth. At church, she finished up her granola bar as Sacrament Meeting was starting. I kid you not, 45 minutes later, she choked on some spit and volcanoed granola drool everywhere! Seriously! The old people behinds us were dying!

And last but not least . . . drum roll, please . . . introducing Cory Maughan!!! He's finally done with the major studying portion of medical school. The test was ridiculously hard, but we're glad it's over. It has been amazing to have his undivided attention and help. Seriously, is this what it's like to have a husband? The girls are loving it and can't get enough of him. Once in a while, when he's left the room or something Emory asks, "Where's Dad?" and then says, "I know, I know, he's studying!" I love saying, "No he's not studying, he's in the bathroom!"

I LOVE MY HUSBAND! We had a little party with some friends on Friday to commemorate his achievements, playing Rock Band and pigging out. I made this Lemon-Berry cake, my friend Alicia was in love with it. The best part was that it was a cake mix!
Pillsbury Recipe:

1 white cake mix
1/3 c. oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed)
Bake as directed.

Frosting:
1 can white frosting
1 - 8 oz. container whipped topping
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
Fold together.

You can frost it however you want. I put one cake-round down, frosted and then stuck fresh raspberries in the frosting. I put the other cake-round on top of that, and frosted the entire thing, garnishing with raspberries and a lemon slice. Yum!

I guess it's tradition now to have a picture of one of my children sleeping in a random place or falling asleep while doing something for each Blog. Need I say more?We went swimming at our friends house on Saturday. Emory and Kate are so cute, they do the silliest things. This is them feeding each other snacks! Here's Tess, the cutest rolly-polly ever!
I love how my 9 month old baby has more cleavage than me!

My testimony . . .

I'd like to bear my testimony, that I know Air Borne is true . . hah, sorry, that's a little sacrilegious, but this stuff is a miracle here on earth! Seriously, the girls started up with these little colds a few days after we got home, and I started pumpin' my tablets. End of story: Cory = Sinus infection, Girls = Virus-of-some-miserable-sort, Rachel = not sick, but stuck taking care of the said sick ones. What can you do, it's that dang, nasty recirculated airplane air!

Home sweet Home! What else can I say? Our visit to Utah was great, but it's so nice to have my life back. I really missed my friends, and so did Emory. It was so cold and rainy in Utah, that we've really been enjoying this 114 degree weather, no, seriously. The splash park and friends' pools have kept us cool in the morning, movies in the afternoon, then the park after the sun goes down. (It's still 105 after the sun goes down, but you can't believe how much cooler that feels!!) I think Cory's glad for the company, although we still don't see him too often. Wednesday is the LAST-ish test and we are dying! He did take a break last Saturday to take Emory and I to Kung Fu Panda, which was fabulous! Emory invited Parker (who was accompanied by his dad, Jeremy) and they pretty much acted like they were on a date. I don't know what we'll do with them?!?
Emory continues to make us roll with her off the wall comments etc. Here's a few of the latest:

Emory: Dr. Ravi, why is 6 afraid of 7?
Dr. Ravi: I don't know.
Emory: Because 7 8 9!! Get it? 7 ATE 9!!!

(playing with toys in her bath tub)
Emory-baby duck voice: Hello Mother Duck, how's the water?
Emory-mother duck voice: The waters great, but I have a surprise for you! Baby duck, meet my niece, Emory!!
(she whips out a Barbie, who's obviously meant to be Emory!) I love how she heard this word in Utah, and uses it all the time now.

Emory: Dad, I'm your sweetie, right?
Dad: Right!
Emory: And that makes you my Cory and that's mom's Tessa!
(Early that day we'd been discussing how Cory was mine first, I guess that's why Tessa and I are Captain Hook and Wendy?)

Tessa is trying so hard to crawl! She loves to scoot over to stuff to climb up on it, and gets in and out of the position like a champ, just can't figure it out. It frustrates her to no end! She'll get it pretty soon I think, and if not, she'll just take off walkin'. She's also cutting her first tooth and it's on the top! I thought she'd been extra fussy this week, and I kept feeling for any sign of teeth to no avail. I thought to check the top the other day and there it was her lateral incisor.
I'm sorry this is super long, but this is what I consider my journaling!

Picture catch up:

Ike and TessaPlanting tomatoesSissy Snake (named by Emory, caught by Josh)Grandma Lisa and TessaTrain ride to OgdenJungle Jim'sAs you can see I was a little freaked out by this one, but Emory loved it!I've seen a trend in some of my friends'/familys' blogs about children falling asleep in random places and positions. This is enough to have CPS come take my kids away, at least I thought! Notice Baby Einstein in the background?It said specifically on the package, Not For Real Babies, but what fun is that?My beautiful mom, Grandma Chris, and Tess.Grandpa Chris and Em at her birthday lunch at CPK.
I forgot to say something on Father's Day, but I love my daddy so much! He is always there for me and my girls. I love how he gets down and plays with them, even though he's old and decrepit! I always said that I wanted to marry someone just like my dad, and sometimes I'm a little freaked out by the "Tyler-ish" things Cory does! I couldn't ask for better dads in my life, love you all!Emory's B-DayMy masterpiece, the Tinkerbell Cake!!!
I almost cried when I had to cut it up, but it was "licious" Emory said!

Happy Birthday Emory Elizabeth!

Our Emory Elizabeth turned three on Tuesday, June 10th! What a girl! She brings so much joy to our lives and I don't know what I'd do without her. We had a fun party on the 7th and I'll post pictures of that later.

Here's a few of the things that happened this year for Emory:

• She transferred to big girl bed without one problem.


• She took Parent Tot and Preschool Swimming Lessons and excelled in both.


• She learned how to "take care of business" in the big girl way!!!


• She went skiing for the first time.


• She took a Dance Class and was amazing at learning new skills like somersaults, plias, chasses, etc.


• She got a new sister, Tessa, and is that best big sister around.


• She learned how to use her Leapster all by herself, the granddaughter of a pioneer gamer - thanks for those genes Dad!


• She knows all the letters, upper and lowercase, counts to 29, ( and would go farther if I'd tell her what's next?!) and knows almost all shapes and colors, and on and on and on . . .

Sorry to sound braggy, but this little girl is so special to us and we love her to the stars and back. One last thing, she said the most amazing thing to my brother Josh and his fiance Sydney. They were playing in a hut she'd made and Josh was telling her that he and Syd were getting married. She looked at him, so excited, and said, "Sydney will be Cinderella and you will be the Prince?!?!?"
Here's some pictures from over the years:

Emory's first week was tough, and I knew I could handle anything after that!

First Birthday

Second Birthday

The Engagement

Hooray!! My brother Josh is getting married! We're so happy because we speculated this day would never come. It seems like he and Sydney have been dating for ever, and now they're finally sealing the deal. We have an undetermined date etc. we're just happy they're finally commiting. I guess I have to remove my single add from the blog now?!?

We all love Sydney and welcome her to our crazy, loud, annoyingly noisy family. Emory is obsessed with her! Josh has to fight to get Sydney away from her.

Quick update . . .

We continue to be world travelers! We spent a few weeks in South Jordan and then a week in Logan full of tons and tons of activities. We rode the North FrontRunner up to Odgen. It's the new TRAX train the runs from SLC to Ogden, and Emory had a blast. Once when we were turning, she looked at me and said, "Hold on for you life, we're tipping over!!" I got to go to a good friends wedding reception, and it was crazy to see some old high school friends. We went to Printhe Cathpian (we made fun of the actor, he had a funky accent) with my family for Memorial Day. Emory loves any and all movies. She thought it was "awesome", and wouldn't stop talking.

Her favorite movie at the moment is "The Stabber Movie" otherwise known as "The Princess Bride". With all the swords and fighting and ROUSs I thought she'd be scared, yeah right. She now insists on watching it with Josh down in his room, without me. She's always saying, "You stay here, Mom! Don't come with us, Mom!" What an independent little stink! I can't get this girl out of the pool, either. She's a fish! She wants to take off her water wings and swim, but I'm not quite ready for that, I let her do it about half of the time, but I don't want to be accountable for her drowning.Tessa is moving more and more each day. I think that I want her to crawl too much, and should enjoy this semi-mobile phase. She gets where she needs to go by skooching on her bum, combined with some split action and arm pulling.

Her new favorite thing to eat are these things called Baby Mum-Mums. They are great! She wants to feed herself so badly, but still doesn't have any teeth. These dissolve and she can eat them all by herself. They also have them in a vegetable flavor, and I get them at Wally World- WalMart.

Start your paper chain Cory, 6 days till we come home!