Christmas & Our Growing Girl

So we had a really nice Christmas. On Christmas Eve we had a few families from our ward over for dinner. It is a new tradition of ours to invite other people over who don't have family around to spend Christmas with. I think next year I will try and not make as much food. I tend to overdue things and then I worry too much about making sure everything is "just so" that I don't relax and enjoy myself as much as I should. Just something to work on. Christmas morning was fun with Emma. She didn't quite get the ripping of the paper, but she really has liked her new toys. The best was her reaction to her cabbage patch doll. I didn't think she'd care too much for it right now, but she was so excited and thought it was really neat to have a new friend just her size. It was also nice to have Mike home for a long weekend. We just hung out and were lazy. We went dog "browsing" even though we really shouldn't get a dog right now, Mike REALLY wants one. We'll have to be wise about getting a new addition to the family. Any thoughts?

So, Emma keeps getting bigger and growing up so fast. She loves to pull herself up to things, has begun cruising and is determined to walk on her own. (At least she wants too). She is just a lot of fun. She has been sick again this week. Besides her constant teething I think she has a cold and sore throat. She's been pretty miserable. Thankfully she was able to sleep throughout the night last night. We all needed it. So, I finally got a calling in the ward. I am going to be serving as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, I've served in the Relief Society in student wards, but it is such a different experience in a family ward. There are a lot more needs as well as a different dynamic. I hope I can serve the best that I can. It will be a good opportunity to serve.

This weekend we are going to brave the New Years traffic into Las Vegas and go and spend the weekend with Mike's sister Merilee and her family. It should be fun to get Emma together with her cousin Annadele, they will be cruisin all over the place. Hopefully we won't be stuck in traffic when we ring in the new year.:) It will be a fun adventure.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!

So last night we attended a couple Christmas parties and we were finally able to get a picture of Emma with Santa Claus. It was actually pretty lucky. We were leaving Mike's Work's Christmas party on our way to a friend Christmas party and on the way out we saw Santa waiting in a room. He was nice enough to hold Emma for a couple of pictures. It was nice to finally meet some of Mike's co-workers. It was a pot-luck dinner and so there were a great variety of Ethnic foods. Next was the Bishopric party, hosted by our Bishop. His wife is amazing because she hosted that party and then a baby shower the following morning. The food was awesome there and it was nice to get to know some of our ward members even better.

Tonight we went to take some Christmas goodies to our neighbors and didn't have a whole lot of success. For some reason we have a hard time finding people home. We were able to meet a couple new people though so that was nice. We have been "a lot" lax on the eating only one dessert this week. (At least I have). It's hard to be making goodies and receiving goodies and not at least sample one of them right? Oh, the holidays are difficult to cut back on the sweets.

We are LOVING the weather out here this winter. I thought that I would be missing the snow, but we both had to comment today on the fact that we don't miss the snow at all and we are relishing the 50-60 degree winter temperatures. We are trying to keep a positive outlook because once the summer hits and it is 110 degrees everyday I think we will have a different attitude about the "nice" weather in Bakersfield. I guess you take what you can get and be thankful for it.

This post is getting so long I know, but I had to talk about Emma. It just hit me today how fast she is growing up and it made me feel so sad. She isn't our "baby" anymore. I went to get her up from her nap and she was standing in her crib. She has been standing up to everything all day. What happened to our little baby who never moved anywhere unless we took her with us? It is fun to see her learn all of these new things and she sure gets proud of herself, but I guess it's just hard to let go of the little baby stage. I'm sure I'll be feeling like this her whole life as she gets older. I guess that's just life.

When Mommy's Sick!

So yesterday I got a lovely reality check. I have been super fortunate not to have had the stomach flu for about 4 years now and boy had I taken that time for granted. Yesterday morning I woke up and realized that something just wasn't right. That knot in your stomach, the constant dull headache, and the need to live in the bathroom. Sorry "Too much information". So I had caught the 24 hour bug! The first thing I thought of was that I needed my mommy, but then I realized that I AM the mommy and I have to take care of my child as well as myself. Oh boy, my hat goes off to all of you mom's out there who deal with being sick while pregnant and having other kids to take care of. It is not an easy or fun task. I was just feeling so bad for my poor neglected daughter because I didn't want to get her sick and I just couldn't play with her very much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate my sweet husband though. He was able to come home a little early and he watched Emma and helped around the house so that I could take it easy. It was such a blessing for me. It was funny because usually Emma is so excited to see her Dad when he gets home because she hasn't seen him all day, but yesterday it was just the opposite. She had spent more time with her dad that day so when she saw me she would get so excited and just had to crawl right over to see me. Oh she's funny.

(Oh yeah she is crawling all over the place now and getting into everything. She has also been pulling herself up to standing sometimes as well. She loves it, but it is sure crazy for mom and dad. It's kind of sad seeing our little baby growing up.)

So thankfully I'm feeling quite a bit better today and hopefully no one else catches the flu, and this post goes out to all of you women who have the responsibility of taking care of others while you are miserable and sick. Please give me some advice on how you are able to cope when your kids are sick at the same time. Oh, the fun things I know I have to look forward too.:)

Home for the Holidays

So it has been forever since my last post. We had a great mini-vacation to Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday and it was so good to see our family. We wish that we could be there for every holiday, but it's nice that we are close enough this year to make it to at least one. Of course our camera batteries were dead during the trip so I have zero pictures. Emma was a super traveler. She only cried for an hour total the whole drive there and back. We were so impressed and very blessed. Now that we are back she has had a hard time getting back onto her schedule. She was doing really well at sleeping through the night, but her sleeping has sure been sporadic since we've been home. I'm not sure if it's because she's getting another tooth, has a cold, or what. She has just been super fussy and I feel so bad for her. Last night she was up every 2 hours and wouldn't go down for any of her morning/afternoon naps. She must be SO tired. She finally fell asleep at 2:00, but she usually gets quite a bit more sleep than that. I hope we don't have another night like last night because both she and mommy need their sleep.

We got our Christmas decorations up and we were the only festive ones on our street until another lonely house decided to don some lights. Emma and I have been listening to Christmas music and Emma loves to dance along. She gets a big kick out of Mom and Dad twirling her around. She's been a pretty happy baby considering she hasn't been feeling well. She is 8 months old now and according to my grandpa she's a "husky guy". I'm glad that she has finally put on some cute baby fat.

Stay Puff Marshmello Girl



Last night we went to our Stake centers Nativity display. Every year they have members bring their nativities and then they put up a beautiful display of nativities from around the world. It is open to the public and I wish we would have invited some of our neighbors because it was a really nice presentation. Next year we will be more proactive. After the nativity display we were able to watch the First Presidency Devotional which was so nice as usual. It always helps me get into the spirit of Christmas. It's easy for me to get caught up in all of the decorations and presents to purchase, but it's nice to remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior, and all he sacrificed for us. It's our families and serving others that is truly important. Hopefully we can take this sweet spirit of Christmas into the next year.

Update on Emma's Room

Can you say "KISS" !

I just had to post this funny picture of Emma. I was finally able to get a picture of her with her cute personality. It wasn't until I got a closer look that I realized that she has a tongue like Gene Simmons from the rock band KISS! Too funny. Also, the other pictures aren't the best quality, but she has this toy fish that she loves to play with and her favorite thing to do is stick the whole tail in her mouth. She then proceeds to stick other things in there as well. I don't think she has quite figured out that only so much can go in her mouth at a time. I guess she can still try though.

Alive and Well

So we FINALLY got the Internet hooked up at our new house and now I can feel a little bit more connected to everyone again. We moved into our new home last Thursday and it has been so nice not having to drive back and forth from home to home like we were doing before. At first I was really nervous being in this big house alone, but now that we have been here a few days it is getting easier. It is such a blessing to have a place of our own. Gracie is a little overwhelmed with all the extra space and places to explore, but Emma has been doing great. She is trying so hard to crawl. She get so close, but can't figure out how to coordinate her hands and legs at the same time. She gets so frustrated that she can't do it, but is getting better every day. She is also getting a tooth! We have been waiting for this day for awhile and it is finally here. She has been a trooper and gives the funniest "gummy" grins.


Oh, We went and met our neighbors the other day and it was a lot of fun meeting new people. It was funny because when we introduced ourselves to our neighbors right next door they said, "Are you Mormon, because so are we." I guess the name Emma sent them in that direction for some reason. Anyway it was kind of funny. We didn't know them because they go to the Spanish ward. They also have a 16 year old daughter who I'm sure we will get good use out of for babysitting purposes. More than anything it is just nice to know and feel comfortable with the people around us. It makes us feel more at home.


So here are some of the pictures of the paint job on the house. I am taking a serious break from painting and so there are more pictures to come when I get everything done.

Living Room
Before

After

Kitchen
Before


After

My Husband "The Master"!

So it isn't "official" yet, but this past weekend Mike returned to Ohio State to defend his thesis and he passed, so he is on his way to receiving his Masters Degree. It is incredible all the blessing we have been receiving. Mike has had to really put a lot of extra effort into finishing his research early and also completing his thesis while working 50 hour weeks. At first it seemed like such a daunting task, but I know that he has been helped and blessed throughout the whole process, which has made it really not too bad. There have been a couple stressful days for him, but on the whole things have gone really smoothly. I guess his "defense" went really well. The professors on his committee were very complimentary and Mike commented that it was actually "fun" to present his research and to discuss it with his committee members. It was just such a relief to feel pretty much finished. He only has a couple minor formatting corrections to make to his paper and he will be on his way to graduating. Woo Hoo! So, just when Mike thought that he was going to have more time, today he was called as the ward executive secretary. It will be nice to be able to serve in our new ward. I'm grateful for my husbands example of working hard at whatever he's asked to do.

We are slowly, but surely working on moving into the new house. I had high hopes and ambitions of getting everything put away and ready for when Mike got back from Ohio this weekend, (Ha Ha) but of course my ambitions were unrealistic. It will be nice when we are not driving back and forth from the house to the apartment, but we are really blessed to be able to have our temporary housing for another week and so we are taking full advantage of this time. For my sister who is anxious to see the "slightly finished" paint job, don't worry photos are on the way.

I also have to mention how funny Emma is getting. She is at the point where she can, and will, grab anything within, and without her reaching distance. She gets bored so quickly of her old toys and wants whatever she is not supposed to be getting into. She can't quite crawl yet, but she does roll and scoot herself backwards pretty well. She is so close to crawling even though her dad keeps telling her that she is not allowed to get mobile until she is 2. Sometimes I wish that were the case because I am realizing what a handful she is going to be once she starts moving even more. Oh, the things you take for granted before you have kids. All of you mothers out there are SAINTS! It really is a lot of fun though so I can't complain too much although at dinner last night we went out to eat and she had her hands in daddy's pasta, water and she was bound and determined to get at the Sprite as well. We are going to have to really keep and eye on that one. She makes us laugh.

Our "Cabbage Patch" Doll

So over the past couple of months we have heard from countless people that Emma looks just like a cabbage patch doll. That's the first thing strangers will say, "Oh look she looks just like a "Cabbage Patch" doll." It must be true if so many people agree, but what do you think?





Our little "Emma Jeanette" (That could even be a cabbage patch name):) is 7 months old today. I keep talking about how big and grown up she is getting, but she just continues to change so much and it has been a lot of fun to see her progress. She has decided that it is fun to pull on mommy's hair and to grab Dad's glasses. She loves Gracie and likes to pet her when allowed. I think I will have to watch them pretty closely now that Emma know how to grab and Gracie sure know how to tell you when she doesn't like what you are doing. Gracie has been so good with Emma from the very beginning though. She's really patient with all of the "squealing" and attention that Emma gets. She's always pretty careful around her, but I'd be mad if someone pulled my tail. So here's Emma in her Halloween costume. We were so excited that we found it. Emma's bedroom has a ladybug theme and I just like ladybugs in general. We have the hardest time getting any good pictures of her. She is constantly moving and doesn't quite know how to "ham it up" for the camera yet. She just stares at it. She sure smiles for us on a regular basis though.






Emma and Mike have been really patient with me this week. I have been trying to get all of the painting done this week since our stuff is being moved into our house tomorrow. At the beginning of the week I had high hopes and aspirations, by the middle of the week I was in chaos and despair, and by the end of the week I really didn't care too much anymore. I just tried to focus more on what really "needed" to get done instead of trying to do "Everything". Sometimes I get these grand ideas and I think for some reason that I can accomplish them in a short amount of time. So I had a major reality check this week and I'm sure I'll have another one next week when I'm trying to get everything put away in our house. Poor Emma needs more mommy time so I'll have to adjust my expectations for myself and the house. It will be very nice to get all of stuff back finally though. So this post is forever long, but I just have to make a shout out to my hubby who is going to "Defend" his thesis this coming week. We are so proud of him and all of the hard work he has put in in order to get his research and thesis done on top of moving and starting a new job. It will be so nice for him when it is all over and he finally has a diploma in his hand. We wish him luck and wish we could be there to watch him present.

Week of Even More Changes

This past week has been one full of changes for our little family. First of all we finally CLOSED on our house. We are officially home owners and it is crazy. We had been hearing all of these horror stories from everyone about not being able to close for one reason or another, but we were so blessed that everything went as smoothly as it did. We were able to close the exact day that they had planned on. We are definitely excited, but overwhelmed at the same time with everything that we need to do to get everything ready and moved in. We just feel grateful to even have a home to live in so the rest will take care of itself. At least I need to remind myself of this while I am painting. For some reason I thought it would be such an easy, non time consuming thing to do, but today I spent all day painting 1 coat of paint on the kitchen. It consists of 1 1/2 walls. I have learned a lot in one day and hopefully things will go more smoothly from here on out.

So the other changes have been in Emma. I can't believe how much she is growing up. Just in the past week she has decided to roll over more, sit up on her own, get scared at loud noices, get upset when I put her down instead of giving her attention, she likes to play games with us and thinks she is so funny. We can't get over her fun loving personality that get's stronger everyday. Our little girl is growing up so fast and I just wish time would stand still sometimes. We love her so much and I had no idea I could love and worry about someone this much. It is pretty overwhelming, but also wonderful. We are so very blessed.

Life in Bakersfield

So this is the face that we are so lucky to see everyday. Emma has been sticking her tongue out a ton everyday. She does it when she is happy. It is pretty funny to see her like that. This picture just cracks me up. So we are doing really well here in California. Mike started his new job this week and is enjoying it so far. He really likes the people on his team. This is such a blessing since he works with them all day long. They are really positive about each other and so it makes working with them a pleasure. He is mostly "shadowing" in order to become familiar with everything that is going on, but he's been able to help out quite a bit as well and they are really happy to have him there. They have a lot of pressure on them right now to finish with a project and with Mike's help it will take them a lot less time. So we made a couple BIG purchases this past weekend. Sears was having a Columbus Day sale and so we got a good deal on a washer and dryer as well as a fridge. We probably should have waited until we closed on our house, but I wanted to get the sale price. So we are crossing our fingers that everything works out with our house. They bumped up our closing date to October 23rd which is exciting. Our loan officer is going to Jamaica for 2 weeks and is really working hard to have us close by the 23rd. We'll see. We won't officially be living in our new home until Mike gets back from Columbus where he will defend his thesis. Luckily we have temporary housing until November 13th and so we can move in slowly. So we are finally getting more settled her in Bakersfield.

Going Private!

We hate to do this because we want as many of our friends and family to be able to access our blog, but with all of the changes in our life right now we felt like it was time to make our blog private. If you would still like to view our blog please send us your e-mail address and we would be happy to include you. Please let us know as soon as possible. Thanks so much!
The Sharps

Settling In

So I had to show these funny pictures of Grace. It has been a little overwhelming for our cat to have a new place to explore, but she has found some perks, like this spot above our cabinets. She has been driving me crazy by trying to get into EVERY cupboard. She does it just to get our attention which is fine until it is in the middle of the night, and then I am not a happy camper.

I also had to share by excitement regarding Emma. This may sound crazy to most of you out there, but Emma slept the first time in her crib without being "swaddled". I have been wanting to ween Emma away from having to be swaddled for 2 months now and either she wasn't ready or something came up that made it inconsistent on my part, but I decided to try again and I found SUCCESS!!! Woo Hoo. I couldn't believe it. Whenever I used to lay her down she would just kick and play and cry for an hour and never fall asleep, but she slept all last night and her naps today without the swaddling blanket! She is just growing up so fast. Just this past week she has progressed in so many ways. She is getting physically bigger, but she is also sitting better on her own, making more consonant sounds, she has been singing a bit (well we like to think so), and has definitely began understanding the world around her and her role in it. We are getting better at understanding her moods and what she is trying to communicate with us. She is just FULL of personality. It has been so much fun to see her grow up but we also know this is just the beginning and soon she'll be moving around, talking, going to school, dating and getting married! Good thing we have awhile until those days, but I know they'll come sooner than we think. We are just enjoying this time while she is still young.

California Dreamin

So we are officially Californians. We flew into Bakersfield late last night and have been spending the day getting settled in. We have been really blessed in that Dreyer's is putting us up in temporary housing for 45 days. It is fully furnished and all of our necessities of life besides food are pretty much payed for. It has really made our transition very easy. Yesterday was a little crazy, but good for the most part. We were able to get our home cleaned really quickly. It was SOOOO nice not having to pack or move any of our stuff. We were so spoiled and felt stupid just sitting on the couch while other people pack our things. It has been a great load off of us though with Emma and all of Mike's school stuff that he still had to complete. We basically just came along for the ride. We had a lot of help from friends in the ward as well. One couple lent us their car after ours was shipped off and another provided us with cleaning supplies and a ride to the airport. We are really going to miss Columbus, we got to know some amazing people and will truly miss them. It's a lot harder saying goodbye to people that come into my life lately. I mean it is always hard, but as I've gotten older I guess reality hits a little bit more of how I may never see many of these people again and that makes me sad so we will get off of that sad subject.

Our flight as a lot smoother than we were anticipating. Gracie did the best of all. She didn't even make a peep and most people didn't realize we even had a cat with us. Emma on the other had made plenty of peeps. She was really tired and had a difficult time falling asleep. So the end of our day was the hardest because Emma was 3 hours past bedtime, our cat needed to get out of her carrier, and it took us 2 hours after landing to finally find our apartment and get settled. We're just glad to be here now and realize how blessed we are to have gotten her safely, have a place to live, family and friends that love us and a job. We are really fortunate and thank you all for your support.

OH, Emma is also 6 months old TODAY! I can't believe that we have had her for that long, but it has been a wonderful 6 months and we sure love her.




We wish we would've gotten more pictures with all of our friends out here, but of course we never had our camera with us, but at least we got a picture with the Renchers who were good friends of ours from our ward.

Emma at 6 months

Us at the airport

Ashley and I

The Cute Rencher Family

Emma Helping Pack

Mike always says he's going to ship Emma off to live with the Gypsies.

Ready to Move

So this past week we've been able to say goodbye to people and do some fun things before we go. We've always wanted to go to the Anthony Thomas chocolate factory and so we finally went. They are the local popular chocolate maker. It was a pretty interesting tour and they had this HUGE chocolate buckeye which is all the rage out here in the Buckeye state.:) On our way we had to stop by and take some pictures at the temple. We had some great experiences and opportunities to serve there. We will miss it. Mike has come along way with his thesis as well. He has been very blessed. I have been a little stressed and overwhelmed this week which is crazy since the movers are packing us up and moving us. It is going to be a slick process, so I guess it's just living in disorganization and all the changes that come with a move. It will be nice when they come and pack us up tomorrow because then things will be more real and we will be able to see progress. So, this Wednesday we will be official Californians. Wish us Luck.

There's No Place Like Home

So this post has double meaning. We were able to find a house. We haven't closed on it, but all the paperwork is in motion and we are pretty comfortable that everything will work out. It was a crazy weekend. Emma did alright on the trip considering the fact that she was extremely off of her schedule and we were packing her around all over the country and Bakersfield. There were only a couple flights that she was fussy on, but she was REALLY fussy. There was a man in front of us who just kept giving us annoyed sideways glances. He eventually got some earplugs and Emma fell asleep so he was nice at the end of the flight. It's amazing how nice it is to be home and even Emma is feeling it. While we were in Bakersfield Emma would cry every time we went back to the hotel and her sleeping wasn't the greatest. We got in at midnight last night and she slept the last 3 hours of the flight and she also slept in until 10:00 a.m.. This was such a blessing to me because I was really needing a day to sleep in as well. She must have jet lag because she has also been sleeping a ton all day long. She is noticeably happier to be in her own environment. So it's good to be home even though we will only be here for 1 more week!!!
So Bakersfield is a relatively nice city except for the fact that it is super hot. It was 100 degrees every day we were there and that is the end of September. I guess it doesn't start cooling off until November! So much for sweater season.:) We were really naive trying to go out for a weekend and being able to just buy a house without really having to think about it. We felt a little rushed into making a final decision, but we feel good about the decision we made. Our new home is ALOT bigger than what we need right now, but it has room to grow. It has 5 bedrooms and 3baths, but is only 2000 sq ft. The rooms aren't huge, but it is just the right size. We just feel so blessed to be able to have a home at all. Our home is a new construction home and we just got a great deal on it. They still have to put the flooring in and do some paint touchups on the interior and exterior, but other than that we will hopefully we ready to move in the beginning of November. So, once we move in we will be anxiously awaiting all the visitors we will be getting. Hey you can all have your own room.:) Since we don't need all the rooms we hope to eventually turn one into a living room.
Sorry this post was forever long, but there was a lot to talk about.

Ear Plugs and More

Lately Emma has been entertaining herself by making the most shrill scream in the world. I think she likes to hear herself squeal, but oh boy is she hurting mommy's ears. At first it was really cute, but when she does it all day long I am seriously in need of some ear plugs. This video will give you just a glimpse of what I listen to ALL DAY!:) In other news we finally heard from our relocation coordinator and everything is in the works. We are flying out to California next weekend to find a house and if everything works out we will put an offer down. We would really like to find something soon. We feel really blessed and the Nestle company has a very generous and fair relocation plan. On a side note, If you watched the Premiere of Glee, was anyone else EXTREMELY disappointed. They promoted it so much and I was so excited for just a fun show, but it was just so dirty I couldn't watch most of it. I hope future episodes aren't as bad. Maybe they'll change the subject matter a little if they get enough negative comments. Anyway, too bad.

Fitting it all in

So before we head out to California we have quite a few things that we want to do and people that we want to see. This past weekend was pretty full. First we spent a night as a family at a local Metro Park. We didn't bring the stroller this time and so we were able to "hike" down to the river. We love these parks, they are so pretty. Sunday we went to Fort Wayne, Indiana in order to see Mike's co-worker Sandra get married. It was a beautiful ceremony and really interesting for us to be at. That night we went to Michigan and stayed with Sister Hobbs, a sweet lady from Mike's mission. They are the family that we spent Thanksgiving with last year. They are really great to us and spoiled Emma with clothes and toys. We then went down to Detroit and tried to find more of the people Mike served while on his mission, but we only found a couple of them home. It was a good trip and Emma did really well considering she was in a car seat a lot of the time. At one period of time we think she was really overly tired because she just started cracking up for no reason. She was laughing so hard and couldn't stop. Her laugh is so infectious and we just couldn't help but laugh with her. We wish we had it on video because it was really funny. Well we have a lot more to do before we leave, but this past weekend was good start. Tomorrow I am having some co-workers over for dinner and hopefully it will be a good experience.