Christmas 2011

We had a very layed back Christmas  this year.  We usually have people over , but we just hung out togrther this year.  Mike got a lot of days off for the holidays so we made the most of just being with "Daddy". 

This was the first year that Emma could understand the concept of Santa Clause.  She was so scared of Santa last year and was actually really excited for him to come this year.  I think she was a little overwhelmed in the morning with all her presents to open.  She didn't understand why she had to unwrap other presents when she just wanted to open and play with ones she had just gotten.

Her favorite presents are her roller skates and baby doll.

  Here is a picture of Emma in all her roller skating glory.

It was nice to have Christmas on Sunday so we could go to church and spend the day thinking about our Savior.  We really tried to emphasize to Emma that Christmas is celebrating Jesus's birthday.  We made him a birthday cake and everything.  Emma is still waiting for Jesus to come home so he can have some of his birthday cake.:)  Sure love these kids of ours.  Emma is just a crack up and Vivian has just started eating cereal.  They are just growing up so fast.  This weekend we are heading to the Andals in Vegas for our annual New Years party.  We are sure looking forward to spending some more time with family, and Emma has been asking all month if we could go to Annadele's house so it's a good thing we can go.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Winter Blues

You ever have just one of those days, well in all honesty it has been just one of those months. My poor family has had to be really patient with me. I'm not sure if it's just the gloomy winter weather, or the fact that Mike has been gone quite a bit with work, or just the stress of the holidays, but unfortunately I have just been a serious grump the past few weeks. Sorry this is a downer post, but it's just what's been on my mind lately. Any suggestions for getting out of the doldrums? I know I just need to get out, exercises and just get up and do, but sometimes it is just hard to be motivated. I think I just need to work on finding "balance" in my life. Whenever I feel out of sorts it's because something is missing from my daily routine. On Sunday I was able to go to a Christmas concert and sing the Hallelujah chorus which brought such joy to my soul. I sure miss being able to sing in a choir that large, and especially the Messiah and Christmas music. I need to take more advantage of the blessing of being the ward choir director. Yesterday was somewhat of a turning point for me. In the morning I was so impatient with Emma. I swear I was getting on her for everything. Instead of stepping back and realizing that she was tired and needed some empathy, I just wanted her to go along with my schedule. Tantrums and frustrations ensued. I should know better by now. Poor little girl, I just pray I can do better so she doesn't grow up with a mother who is grumpy all the time. Urgh! So frustrated about that. Luckily I have a patient husband and the girls ended up both taking a 3 hr. nap yesterday so I was able to take a step back and relax and try a bit better in the afternoon. Today we had preschool here at our house and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to be active and have more organized fun for my child. Anyway, I am just hoping that this lull doesn't last for too long. I have been truly blessed with a beautiful family, and a wonderful Christmas season that allows us to serve others and remember all the blessings we've been given. Vivian at 5 months

(Doesn't that wry smile look just like her daddy?) At 5 months Vivian is such a chatter box. She loves to sing. She is very social and curious, she hates to eat and sleep if there is something going on that she would rather look at. She loves to roll all over the place. Her favorite person is Emma and she loves Rusty as well. She has problems going poop on a regular basis, but is otherwise a sweet little child. She loves her hands and always has a hand in her mouth. She spits up a ton and especially loves to spit up on her dad. What funny gal.

Emma is a very smart child who is starting to say very humorous adult phrases like, "I was just kidding". She has said some really funny ones that I unfortunatley cannot remember. She loves to play with her friends, jump, see the sparkly house lights, and loves to draw temples. We sure love her. She is a great big sister and is always helping Vivian be happy.

Thanksgiving and More

You know it as been awhile when you husband comments on how long it has been since you last posted. This past week after getting home from Utah I have been less than motivated. We got home, put up the Christmas decorations, did the laundry and then I crashed for the rest of the week. I think we needed some time to not be on the go. We had such a nice time visiting family while we were in Utah. It wasn't long enough though with sickness spread throughout, but it is always so great to see everyone. We sure miss being with family, and especially having our kids know their cousins. It was great that Emma was able to get to know some of them a little bit better.



We were also able to see my Grandpa who is currently in the nursing home. I love these pictures we were able to get. They were ALL smiling.

As usual I forgot to get my camera out by the end of the trip and so I don't have as many pictures as I hoped.


Mike is currently on his second business trip since we've been back and we are sure missing him.

In other news our kids are growing up too fast. Emma has been so bossy lately by saying things like, "Mommy don't talk anymore", or "Mommy don't say NO." After really making mom annoyed I can see the humor in this little girl not wanting to hear that she can't or shouldn't be doing things she wants too. She's pretty smart. She will hopefully be starting potty training as well. I guess I should say that I will hopefully being potty training soon. I have been putting off the inevitable.

Vivian went to the doctor the other day and she weighs almost 13 lbs!!! Yeah! Finally she is gaining some good weight. She is also Miss Rolly Polly and loves to roll over and tries to grab things.

We also got a new addition to our family, a new computer. We have been needing one for awhile, ours was pretty outdated, but it finally bit the dust and we had to get a new one. I am sure loving this HUGE screen. Happy Holiday Season to you all.

Vivian at 4 months

How can you not LOVE that face!!



I can't believe our little Viv is 4 months old. She is sure a blessing to our family. She has changed quite a bit from the first two months. She sure doesn't sleep all day which is nice so we can see her smiling face.:) She is still a sweet heart, but is definitely getting more demanding as she gets older. She has a bit of a temper we are finding out. Emma just loves her and is such a wonderful big sister. She is always good to sing her songs or get her toys to help her feel better. Vivian's favorite thing nowadays is sucking on her hands. I swear I feed her, but she just has her hands in her mouth all the time. (We think she may be teething a little)
She also loves lying on her back. Sometimes she would rather lie on her back and be free than have us hold her. She gets a kick out of Rusty and he sure tries to get her attention as well. It has been a lot of fun seeing both Emma and Vivian grow so much in the past few months. We sure love them and can't wait to show them off to all our family in less than a week!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Most Random Day EVER!

(SAY AHHHH!)


So Tuesday started out as a fairly untypical day. Emma had preschool and I had a dentist appointment. Because of my appointment Vivian was going to be babysat for the first time. I headed off to my dentist appointment hoping that Vivian would survive. She hadn't been feeling well that past week and was very cranky. I got to the dentist knowing that I was going to have 3 minor cavities filled. Once they started the procedure I was surprised by how long it was taking and how much the dentist was drilling one tooth in particular. He stopped midway to let me know that it was a very deep filling and they were getting very close to the root. If he hit it they would have to do a root canal! Yikes!! Needless to say I was panicking. Not only did I not want a root canal, but I definitely didn't have the extra time to get one. I needed to get back and feed Vivian as soon as possible. Luckily the dentist was awesome and DID NOT hit my root so all was well. (Just an aside, I HATE going to the dentist and used to say that I would rather have a baby than go, but I have since changed my tune, and so getting fillings was a cake walk):) An hour and a half later I called the sister in my ward who was watching Vivian to let her know I was on my way. Luckily Vivian had just woken up and was doing well. I HAD left a bottle, but Vivian won't really take one anymore. So I am on a mad dash to go pick her up when I stop at a stop light and begin hearing this Meowing sound and someone honking. I look over and this lady is yelling to me from her car that some cat just crawled up into my car. WHAT!!! HOW RANDOM IS THAT!!! So here I am stopping traffic in the turning lane of a very busy road trying to get this cat to not only come out from under my car, but come out from the "body" of my car, not run out into oncoming traffic, and I didn't want to continue driving with the fear that I would run over or crush the cat. Urgh! The lady who stopped was trying to help me and we eventually were able to cross traffic and the get to a side street where the cat ran out and off the road. We followed the cat, which ended up being a little kitten, and after multiple tries were able to catch it. We didn't want to leave it there next to the busy road so I said I would take it home with me. (I figured my hubby wouldn't mind one bit) My vet was close by so I decided to stop and drop the kitten off there so that we could get it checked out before bringing it home. Mike's work is half a mile from the vet so I thought he could just meet me over there and stay while I picked up the kids. Yeah, so I got there and couldn't find my phone to call him. I had to use the vets phone and he wouldn't pick up because he didn't recognize the number. By this time it was time to pick Emma up as well and I was horrified by how late I was for picking up Vivian. I decided to just pick them all up with the little kitten still in the car, hiding under the seat. I picked up Vivian and she was fine. I felt like the worst mom ever though. I guess Vivian had done really well which I was grateful for. I decided to feed her at the sisters home and then pick Emma up, so I had to call and see if she could stay a little while longer at preschool. I got Viv fed, picked up Emma and FINALLY made it home.

Now we had to decide what to do with this kitten. We were finally able to lure the kitten into a kennel with some milk and put her in the bathroom. She was very scared and would hiss at us. We got her some food which she chowed down in a matter of seconds. Poor thing must have been starving. We got her a litter box and luckily she has been using it. We decided that it wasn't the best decision to keep the cat for a number of reasons, but first of all because we are leaving for Utah in a week. We posted on Craigslist, talked to the SPCA, etc but were having no luck. The shelter here will kill kittens if they are not adopted quickly. We have A LOT of stray animals here in Bakersfield. It is sad. So the shelter was NOT an option. We tried to take her to the vet, but the vet couldn't even get close to her in order to check her. We would have had to sedate her in order to even get a check up/shots. We decided to think about that for a day and last night I saw an add for a family that "fosters" small animals. They take the animal into their home, socialize it and prepare it for adoption. They said that they would be happy to take our little kitten. I couldn't believe what angels there are out there who are willing to do that. We feel so blessed and grateful that this cute little kitten will have a chance at a good happy life. WOW!! It has been an eventful last couple of days. Now on to cleaning my house and making food for the Recipe Group we are hosting tonight. AHHHH I must be crazy.

More Halloween Fun

I regret not taking more pictures this past month. We have participated in so many activities and don't really have too many good pictures to show for it. Halloween was a lot of fun. This was our first year taking Emma trick or treating and she had a mixed reaction to the whole thing. She LOVED getting candy which has been a trial in itself, but she was also very nervous of all the decorations. There were a few blow up figures that she wouldn't even get close too. I think she would be scared at Disneyland, she doesn't really like seeing people in costume. We had the Haney's over for dinner and then we took their daughter Haylee and Emma around our neighborhood. Haylee's costume was sooo cute.
I made dinner in a pumpkin for the first time and it turned out o.k. I think I need to stop inviting people over on Mondays because after the weekend our house is a mess and Mondays are my crazy day trying to clean everything up. All in all it was a good day and it was fun to have trick or treaters come to our house. Our first 2 years of marriage we never had ANY!

(Can you tell Emma is NOT feeling well, she wouldn't smile for any pictures.)

So after all those fun festivities we have come down with colds here at the Sharp house. Emma got it first and then it has been passed on to the rest of us. I am normally super lucky and don't get sick when the rest of family does, but I guess it was about time I got my fair share. It has been lasting awhile with Emma and making her pretty grumpy which in turn has honestly made mommy pretty grumpy as well, but we've been trying to take it easy.

Lastly, I have to share this cute story. All day long yesterday Emma kept asking for candy. After throwing some in the garbage and getting pretty annoyed at her continuous asking my cute hubby took her aside and gave a good little life lesson. He drew her this funny little stick figure and proceeded to teach her about bodies, how we all have bodies and Heavenly Father wants us to keep out bodies healthy and strong. He talked to her about exercising and to keep our bodies strong and how we also need to put good things into our body. (Candy was not a good thing for our body). We're sure it pretty much went right over her head, but I'm thankful for my children's father who is so good at trying to teach them and help them understand the "whys" of what we do.
We went on a walk yesterday and after asking for candy her dad told her she couldn't have any because she was sick. Her response, "I'm not sick, I'm feeling much better.:) We sure get a kick out of her.

Halloween Fun

We have been having a lot of opportunities to get into the fun of Halloween this year. Emma and some of the kids from pre-school went to a pumpkin patch, and she also went to a "carnival" birthday party. We have the ward trunk or treat, as well as another family Halloween party and that is all before the actual day of trick or treating.:) I just had to post these cute pictures of Emma in her "Little Witch" costume.

Preschool Fun

So I wish I would've taken some pictures to document our fun, but obviously I didn't. This past week was my turn to teach our little preschool co-op. It was just Tuesday and Thursday from 8:15-11:15. The kids bring a lunch with them and so they have lunch at preschool as well. I really tried to be prepared for a variety of situations so that I could be flexible, and I was happy by how well each day went. The first day I could tell that some of the kids were apprehensive by coming to a new place and having a different routine, but we had a good time. Each week we teach a different color, letter, number, and shape as well as a monthly theme. It felt so good being able to put my education to some use. We have a wide range of ages in the kids that attend. Emma is the youngest at 2 1/2 all the way up to a 4 1/2 year old. I was concerned about this, but it was just fine. I think the thing I was most surprised about was Emma. I had been so concerned about how she was doing in preschool since she is the youngest and sometimes has a hard time sitting still for too long, but she was so good. It makes me emotional just thinking about it because I was so proud of her. It may have been because she was at out house, but she wanted to participate in everything, and was really excited to do everything we were doing. I have been so amazed at how much she has been picking up on things and really retaining information. She is sure a cute smartie pants. We sure love her. The other day we were going on a walk and Emma saw some kids down the street. She started calling them her "friends". Any kids are "her friends". Mike commented that she sure had a lot of friends and she replied by saying, "Yes, I do." We sure got a kick out of that. She is sooo friendly. She has also been getting closer to potty training. She has pooped on the potty a few times and the past couple of days has told me that she needed to sit on the toilet and has actually gone pee. Neither Mike or I are too excited about the potty training days and have been holding off until we get back from our Thanksgiving trip to Utah, but she is sure looking ready so it won't be long.

She wanted me to take a picture of her doing this back bend looking upside down. Funny girl.:)



Wow I sure have a lot of laundry to put away.:)


Also, Vivian is now 3 months old. Where has all the time gone. I can't believe that someday she will grow up just like Emma. I look at Emma and still can't believe have big she is. They really do grow up so fast. It is fun seeing their personalities come out and see all they can do, but I also need to remember to appreciate these days I have with them while they are young. We sure are blessed.

Home Decor

Recently I've been feeling a little bit more crafty. There is a wreath project going around my ward and I jumped on board. So here is my halloween creation. I think it turned out a little too busy, but it was fun.


And

here is Emma's hand at decorating. This is the second time I have gone into my bathroom to find it decorated with these little beauties. Too funny.



And of course these little cuties "decorate" my home and life each day. They are the best addition our home could ask for.

Trail of 100 Giants

Yesterday Mike took a half day and we went up to the Sequoia's. I had never seen them and we wanted to take advantage of the time we had left with Mike's mom here. Here are some pictures of our day. Amazing trees and the cutest baby ever, if I do say so myself.:)

Busy Day

So yesterday was Vivian's blessing day and it was a pretty busy day and week leading up to it. Mike was gone on a business trip earlier in the week and I was determined to get a TON accomplished while he was gone. As hard as I worked it didn't seem to make much of a dent. Luckily Mike was a great help after he got home. This is just a good lesson in not letting my house get so bad in the first place.:) Mike's mom came out on Friday and Emma was sure excited to see her grandma. She has gotten good and spoiled already.
It is wonderful to see family, we can't wait until Thanksgiving so we can see everyone. Sunday was a beautiful day, but very busy as well. I am the ward choir director and we were singing in Sacrament meeting so I had an early morning practice followed by a brunch. We had invited some of Mike's co-workers, our neighbors and some other friends, but luckily we had the choir there because no one else was able to make it to the brunch. Mike received a lot of support for the blessing though. Both of his bosses and another co-worker were kind enough to come to the blessing. It was really sweet of them to make the effort. Mike gave Vivian a beautiful blessing, I'm so grateful for his worthiness to bless our family.

The day continued with my primary lesson, chasing Emma, getting a nap, and enjoying some good family time. All in all it was a wonderful day. I really wanted to show you these pictures of my cute family.


This is what we found one night when we went in to see if Emma was asleep. Too cute!
She LOVES Jesus.


I sure love them all, what a blessing they are to me.