New Years Eve 2011

So as is our tradition we spent New Years in Vegas with the Andals. It was so nice being able to spend time with family, and Emma couldn't wait to see Annadele. We had a great time just relaxing, eating great food, and playing games. It was a lot of fun watching Emma interact with her cousins. She was so sad to come home. She wanted to go back to Annadele's for a week after. Happy New Year to you all. At the Bellagio

Bragging Rights

So today Vivian turned 6 months old. I can't believe how quickly time flies. She is eating cereal now and loves to steal the spoon from us. She isn't sitting on her own yet, but she is so close. She would just prefer laying on her back and kicking around. She loves being able to move. She is pretty loved around here. Emma and Rusty especially can't get enough of her.:) .

I wanted to get some cute pictures of her today and Emma wanted to get in on the action. I have such a hard time getting good pictures of her so I was so excited with the results. I told her to pose and this is what she came up with.:) She just cracks me up, what a fun kid.

Emma just loves Vivian and there is no one that Vivian loves more than Emma. She just lights up whenever Emma is around her. We sure are blessed to have these beautiful princesses, children of God.

Mike's Disney Celebration

We had a pretty quiet day planned for Mike's birthday, dinner at home and the evening spent as a family, UNTIL Mike came home from work and announced that he had won an award at work and they had given him 2 free park hopper passes to Disneyland. Our plans changed pretty quickly. We originally thought we might go down and spend the night, but luckily we decided against that plan because none of us would have gotten any sleep since Emma has a very hard time sleeping in new places. We got up really early on Saturday morning and headed down. It only took us a couple hours so it wasn't a bad trip at all. We had such a nice time. Disneyland was pretty crowded of course, but because our kids are so young still we were able to just hit all the rides that had small lines. It's funny how things change once you have children. We went on completely different rides this time compared with the trip Mike and I made shortly after we were married. Although we rode less rides this time around I think I enjoyed it more just being able to see Emma enjoying herself so much. She really did not know what to expect and was pretty overwhelmed, but she was just in awe of everything. She especially LOVED the princesses and riding the tea cups, her sweet daddy took her on them twice.:) The park was decorated for the holidays still so it was just magical being there with all of the lights. I also discovered an awesome service in the "Baby Center". They provide a whole building just for diaper changing, nursing, pumping, high chairs for feeding, toddler toilets, microwave and sink as well as any items such as diapers, bottles, food and formula that you might need. I was so grateful for a place to feed Vivian away from all of the crowds. We had a park hopper so we stopped by California Adventure as well. They had a really fun Disney Junior Live show that Emma really enjoyed. She loves all those characters and it was a fun show. Mike was able to go on a lot more rides with Emma since I was feeding Vivian quite a bit, but we all had a great time. For dinner we hit up the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and we saw the fireworks from our car in the parking lot. We sure loved being together as a family, watching childlike joy on everyone's faces, the kind Disneyland employee's who were always wishing Mike a Happy Birthday,eating Banana Cream Pie at 11:00 P.M, and so much more. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Mike's birthday. We sure love this husband and father of ours. He is so kind, patient, loving, full of faith, and so much fun. I can't wait until next year when he is officially "old" like me.:)

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!!!