Monday, June 22, 2009

The Birthday Celebration . . .

It seems that every year we celebrate Emory's birthday for about a week, and this year is no exception. We did the usual fun stuff on her real birthday; went to her favorite restaurant for lunch, opened presents, and generally gave her lots of attention. She wanted to open a present right after she woke up. (You'll see that wrapping paper in a new use later.) In Fairview we went to that awesome boutique, and they had Melissa and Doug puzzles on sale. Emory had her choice of zoo animals, cute children around the world, horses, etc. No, no, no . . . she chooses the Anatomy Puzzle. She is her father's daughter! She had no problem with it while we put it together, but would NOT lay next to it for a picture. Once this child gets something into her head, there's not a person on this earth who can talk her out of it. When we figured out she didn't want "Bone Man" looking at her, she laid on the other side just fine. She also got a new bike for her birthday (including a helmet, elbow and knee pads, riding gloves), new earrings, books, dolls, a pop-up train, clothes, side-walk chalk, and the piece d'resistance . . . an amazing assortment of dress-ups that my mom made. (My mom whipped these up in a day and didn't really use a pattern. I know . . . you can all be jealous she's mine!) This train from my Grandma was/is a big hit. It fits on top of a twin sized bed, so it's like she's sleeping in a tent!We also celebrated on the Saturday after with some of Cory's family. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse; it was muy busy but really good! Then we came back to our house for cake and ice cream with everyone. Emory is all about make-believe and princesses, so she wanted a Fairy Tale Castle. This in me trying my best and building a Fairy Tale Castle!
The tradition of new Naartjie outfits for her birthday continues.There are so many words to describe our Emory, I can't just choose one. Loving, bossy, thoughtful, possessive, obsessive, silly, beautiful, and too smart! She is such a reader, and it's driving me crazy. I can't read anything around her without her looking over my shoulder and reading ahead of me. She still wants us to read books to her, but now she catches my mistakes and isn't happy if I start paraphrasing. On top of her academic skills, she's a great little performer. She LIVES for singing time in Primary and sings most of the Princess Songs (I Know You, A Dream is a Wish, etc) by heart. She is a whizz on the computer, loves to cook, jump on the trampoline, swim, play the piano, and "go to the gym". She is a fantastic big sister, and although they have their quarrels, they are attached at the hip! Whenever these to are happy about something, their distinct "WOO-HOO" can be heard from throughout the house!
PS Tessa has always called Emory "Emmy". Lately, she's taken to calling her "Emeny" when she's angry or yelling at her. A little ironic that it's close to the the Dain Bramage of . . . Enemy? I think not!
Here's the wrapping paper!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fairview!

I've been promising my friend Heidi that we'd come visit her for months, so we finally got down to her side of the world. Fairview Utah . . . any ideas where it is? I only knew because my grandpa had a cabin in Mt. Pleasant when I was young, and Fairview was the last town before Mt. Pleasant. It's pretty much the center of Utah, at least it looks like that on the map.
I had such a great time driving down there and passing by the familiar sights that I used to watch for on the way to the cabin. We sold it after my Grandpa Norman passed away, and I love the memories I have of that place.
The girls loved seeing all the animals and going through the mountains to visit "our Heidi".
When we pulled up to the trailer, Emory said, "I love to visit the country." I think the tip-off that we were in the country was the sheep in Heidi's backyard!?!We played at a way fun park, shopped at THE CUTEST boutique - I'll be returning soon - and went to Rodger's Dairy Freeze for dinner. I have the best memories of Rodger's; I think I've mentioned this before but as a child I was obsessed with Kraft Singles (I think it was the 8th ingredient, gelatin, that won me over) but Rodger's made the yummiest grilled cheese sandwiches, with you guessed it, Kraft Singles! So, I got the girls a "girled" cheese and ate most of it!After dinner, Richard came home from work. He took the girls for a 4-wheelin' ride. Tessa had fun, we think, but wouldn't even crack smile. Emory loved it and talked about it for days. Richard showed us some of his hidden skills, and as he rode up Emory informed him, "You just did 2 tricks!!"Thanks Heidi, Richard, and Baloo for all the fun times!
That Sunday we had friends over for dinner. When I talk about Emory and Tessa being "our girls", these are "our boys"! We just can't seem to get enough of each other. I just think it's nice to have friends that are in the same circumstances as yourself; going to school, tight with the moneys, living in a relatives basement, husbands that seem to be twins separated at birth . . . the list goes on!
Gavin tucked Emory in (her face just says bliss!) and Emory tucked Gavin in.Emory loves her some Gavin, if you can't tell from this picture!
And cute Jackson used to be so scared of Kirby, but he's turning a corner. I love his face in this picture!One last thing, it's kinda been all about Emory lately, but who can forget this cutie! She came running up to me with this on her finger and she was fiercely whispering, "Momma! A feather, a FEATHER!" She is such a toot and a sweetie rolled into one. We just can't get over how precious and naughty she is.
Some of the hilarious things she's said lately are:
(Pointing at a decorative wooden duck)
Tessa: This your duck?
Mom: Nope
Tessa: My duck!
(Everything belongs to someone is her philosophy. Cory will hug me and she'll yell, "My momma!")

I walked out to load up the car and she was upset I'd left without her, and as I walked back in the door she yelled . . . "You're back!!!"

She's been singing the "Happy Birthday to You" song for a week straight. Now she thinks it's "my(her) birthday"!

She loves all the Disney Princesses, and let me tell you, I'm going crazy over them. They're the size of Polly Pocket dolls and she takes them everywhere, with not one or two in her hands, but FIVE! I'm just waiting for the meltdown when we lose one

The Color Game: We all know this one around here. She loves to guess the color of things. She knows all the names, but hasn't put them together. She'll hold something up and say, "What color?" We'll say, "I don't know, what color is it?" She'll then list three or four colors until she gets it!

Last of all, she'll run away from you, most likely in the aisle of a grocery store, and when she gets to the end, she'll turn around and yell, "I beat you!!" I wonder which competitive person she learned that from, Cory or Emory?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It's Birthday Time!

I can't even remember when she was this small! She was a VERY demanding newborn, what with needing the reminders to breathe, being fed through a tube, and all that jazz. Well, nothing has changed, she's as demanding as ever! She wanted to be woken up by us singing "Happy Birthday To You," and it's continued throughout the morning. Oh well, it's 1 out of 365 days that I'll let her get away with it.
Anyway, here she is with her bear on her 4th B-day!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Graduates . . .

Happy Graduation Adam and Kayla! On to bigger and better things.
My little/big brother Adam had a fun and busy year as a Student Body Officer. He'll be turning his mission papers in this summer!
Cory was really proud of Kayla and her accomplishments on the golf team. She's off to Snow College? I think. Boy, I'm a bad sister-in-law.
Anyways, hallelujah, no more High School.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

4 years ago . . .

I was finishing up a one of the craziest months of my life. Wow, it really is a distant memory!
May 15th, 2005: My water broke, I was only 27 weeks.
That was seriously one of the scariest days and nights of my life, and I know a lot of people who will attest to that! (Cory, my family - especially my mom, Coleman and Kellie - who were with me when my water broke) It was super intense the first few days, then things settled down. My hospital stay would follow a pretty predictable pattern; stable; contractions; IV and medicines I can't remember the names of; stable, etc. What a ride! Finally, my white blood cell count spiked, which suggested an infection. 4 weeks after my admission, out came Emory!
Like I said, those first few days were pretty terrible - I think you can tell by the look on my face!
My mom came to my rescue!Not very often that you can catch me not smiling for the camera, but I was in a bad mood. Finally, I got over it, and realized I had a task at hand - keeping my baby healthy and inside of me for as long as possible. I think I did I pretty good job!
My nurses were so fantastic. They were so good to keep me busy and took time to sit and visit with me. Many nurses would even call on their days off to check on me.
Mitra - She was from Iran and was so sweet. She got to be the surgical tech at my c-section, I was so happy!
Sweet Micie - When I think of Georgia hospitality, this little lady comes to mind. She talked just like Paula Deen! She took a trip a couple days before Emory was born, and came back so mad at me for not waiting till she got back.
Meagan - I loved this girl! She was just home from school for the summer and got a job helping out around Labor and Delivery. She always called every weekend to check on me and she even sang for us once.
Dr. Assevero - Not my favorite person, but, I guess you can't be too picky when you're an out-of-state emergency admit and you're insurance is being weird and . . . crazily enough, he ran all of the Hispanic Clinics in the area, I had a hard time picturing him speaking Spanish!
Clinica de la Mama! NO WORDS can express the laughter my mom and I had when we pulled up to this building. Now we knew why all the nurses asked why he was my doctor!Last but not least, my wonderful and adoring husband cutting my food for me! That hospital food was . . . well, lacking. So, my mom and Cory tried to bring me good stuff from the outside, every once in a while. This was my cousin's birthday celebration, and I was having a hard time cutting my steak. Like the napkin under my chin?
I am so grateful for modern medicine and the wonderful things that can come about because of it! (I'd like to think my strong will helped out a little!)
PS One funny little story; every other day I would have my blood drawn to check . . . stuff, anyways, it was usually the same guy. After a couple of times, he stopped talking and started looking at me funny. A week later, he finally asked me when I was going home. I said, "After I have my baby." His eyes got really wide and he said, "YOU'RE PREGNANT!" My belly was probably the size of most peoples after they've had their baby. It definitely made me feel better and gave me a good laugh!