Friday, December 18, 2009

Catch Up!

This December is flying by. We have already had most of our family parties, work parties, gotten most of our baking done and I think I am done with my Christmas shopping. Yeah! Time to sit back relax and watch all of our Christmas movies, which is all Emma wants to do right now as she has a cold. It started on Wednesday but today she seems to be doing a little better. I just hope its all gone by Christmas.

Earlier this month we were invited to the Weber State v. Utah basketball game with my parents. We also decided to chance it and take Emma with us. She did pretty well. She didn't freak out at all the screaming fans and kept herself entertain for the first half. The las half was a little long and so we had to keep going out for walks which is fine with me. I'm not there for the game. I also tried to keep my cheering neutral but sorry Quinn the Wildcats got the win!





When Grandma took Emma for a walk she said she got some strange looks!



We also had our neighborhood get together where we stand in the cold and drink hot chocolate and eat doughnuts and look at the lights. There was just enough snow on the ground that I made Emma put on all her winter stuff. This is the first time she had had her snow pants on and she was not happy as you can see. However once we got outside and she realized that Mom and Dad didn't care if she went in the snow then all was good.

Emma decided to make her self a bed on the coffee table with pillows and her blanket. So cute!



Emma playing with play dough. When I asked her to look at the camera and say cheese this is what I got.

Quinn had his cold a week ago and so he and Emma cuddle on the cough for a few minutes.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Santa Visit -- It Could Have Been Much, Much Worse

Looking back at Lauralee's last post about Emma's visit to Santa Claus...I just wanted to add my two cents. It's funny, isn't it, that we insist on making our kids sit with Santa even though we have an inkling that they will stiffen up like a mummy and/or scream in sheer terror. I look at it more as a rite of passage for human beings -- a sociological event rather than a holiday one. I have a picture of me freaking out on Santa's lap, and so does Laura. And now, so does Emma. To me, it's all in good fun, and still far removed from the frat-boy mentality that requires the new guys to be hazed. At least I hope that's how it's viewed. At the very least (as Becky pointed out): this is a small payback for our children waking us up at 4 AM for the first years of their lives.

All that being said, this Santa visit could have been much, much worse. Our Santa was extremely kind, and the lady taking the picture was magnificent. Emma probably spent less than 10 seconds on Santa's lap, during which time she never actually loosened up to make it into a sitting position. She also never let me let go of her. The lady taking the picture somehow managed to snap the shot when both Santa and Emma were looking up, but still crop me, who was standing right next to them, out of the picture completely. And it was all done in under 10 seconds. The line to see Santa was relatively short. And the picture was free!

But perhaps the best thing is that our Santa wasn't any of THESE Santas:


Wasted Santa





Incognito Santa






Creepy Santa






Stoned Santa






Spooky Santa



Not-Even-Trying Santa


Drug Lord Santa






Killer Clown Santa






Shady Santa








This Santa's fine. It's that freaky elf you've got to watch out for!






Kabuki Santa






Raunchy Santa






On-The-Lam-From-The-Law Santa





Disgusted Santa

Season's Greetings!

Quinn

Friday, December 11, 2009

A visit to Santa!


Colonial Sqaure just up the street from us was having a free family night where every story was offering something like a small treat or hot chocolate for free. They also had carraige rides and a Santa. The line wasn't too long and Emma was having a good time watching all the kids go up to him and sit on his lap. It was another story when it was her turn though. As soon as she realized that Quinn was going to put her on his lap he said she just went stiff as a board. Santa was great though and he hung on long enough for them to snap this great photo for us. (also free) Don't worry she didn't cry for long because Santa's elf gave her a huge candy cane and she lit right back up.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Emma at 2!

Here are somethings about Emma at 2 years old!

Emma is a happy girl - she loves life.

Emma is a good eater - for the most part. If she is in the mood to eat she will eat just about anything. She loves fruits and vegetables the most. She is a typical toddler though and there are days where she just can't take the time to stop playing to eat.

Emma is not a morning person. Quinn and I once awake can get up and go. Not Emma, she enjoys waking up on her own, playing in her crib, watching some T.V. or reading books before eating any breakfast. If you try to rush her she will resist.

Emma loves books! She loves to stack them into piles over and over again. (I think she likes the control) She loves to flip through them and have them read to her. Her favorite book right now is The Grinch by Dr. Seuss. She will let me read the entire book to her and it is quite long for a toddler.

Emma loves stuffed animals. She has way too many. Right now her favorite is a dog which Quinn named Ralph for her. She takes it everywhere we go and sleeps with it. She is very concerned about where he is all day long. She will come up to me several times a day to let me know that he is nice dog or a cute dog. Her attachment to Winnie the Pooh is gone for the moment but I'm sure she will switch her affections again soon.

Emma is also very complementary to us. She will often tell me "Cute" when I put on a sweater or a shirt I wasn't wearing before.

Emma loves T.V. or movies. (A bit too much for me). Right now she is in love with Frosty the Snowman and wants to watch it everyday (although I am able to suggest another movie but I'm sure that will change in time). The disc also included Frosty Returns but don't even try to play that. The first time she watched it I was in the kitchen fixing dinner and I heard her yelling, "NO" to the T.V. She knew it was not the same (I agree).

I is very strong willed. It is almost impossible to make her do something she doesn't want too. (she doesn't understand bribes yet) Here is an example. Our dentist insisted that we brush her teeth. We explained that she wouldn't let us. He said that he had to do this trick with his kids and it took about two weeks before they learned. He said to let her brush and then it is your turn to brush. If she won't let you then one of you hold her down and the other can brush while she cries. Eventually she will learn that it is better to just open her mouth then to be held down. So we tried this - for two months straight. We took a couple of weeks off because some kids need to be introduced a couple of times to new things. We are back doing it and it is going only slightly better. She still has to be held down. Now Emma is smart. She doesn't cry or yell that much. She clamps down her jaw and there is all most no way to get in. The only thing that works sometimes is to sing a song while we do it. Right now Jingle Bells is working. Stubborn kid!!

Emma is smart - she loves to learn new things - especially puzzles.

Emma loves to sing. She knows most of the words to I am a Child of God, Once there was a Snowman and the ABC song. She will also sing along with others making up her own words but in rhythm.

Emma likes to count but this still needs some work. When she counts by herself she repeats 3-2-3 over and over. When we count with her she never says one, she will wait for you to say it and then will say 2-3 she always forgets 4 and 5 and moves right on through 6-7-8-9 and then will wait for you to say 10.

Emma love to color but she has discovered that it is fun to color on other things like the couch and her books. So we are not doing as much of that at the moment.

Emma loves to climb. She will climb up and over the back of the couch. She will climb in her crib but now out yet thank goodness. She will push a chair over to anywhere she wants reach - nothing is safe anymore.

Emma loves - loves to be outside. You have to drag her in kicking and screaming. This is good but she feels so couped up right now because it is so cold I won't go out. She has lots of energy stored up right now.

Emma was not a cuddly baby and that has only changed a little. It is a rare moment when she will come lay by me or let me cuddle her when we rock. She loves to be rocked but just not held/cuddle tightly at the same time. I love those moments when it happens though.

Emma loves to be around people and kids. She chases kids yelling out "kids" wanting to do what they are doing. She also bosses them around if she gets the chance. The other day at a family party she walked in and said, "Hi people." She is very social, she must get that from someone else because it didn't come from me or Quinn (maybe his mother).

Emma is many things and we love her for all of them.

Emma's Two Year Old Pictures!

Well we did it, we got some cute pictures. Yeah! It was a miracle and took two tries. The first time we went I got Emma up and at a leisurely pace got her ready so that we wouldn't have any tears. (She hates being rushed) When we got to Target they were behind so after walking around the store for 30 min it was finally almost our turn. The lady asked if there were any special shots I was looking for. I laughed and said anything you can get will be great, she is at that age where they won't sit still and smile at the camera for anything. Then Emma pinched her finger. I was all over after that. She had a total melt down. Nothing worked, not cookies or kisses or even a teddy bear which the lady offered Emma. She promptly took the teddy bear and took off out into the store to go home. After returning the bear we rescheduled.

Take number two went better. At least there were no tears. Quinn was also with me which helped a lot and we only had to wait about 10 min. I was disappointed though, the girl taking the pictures did nothing but click the camera. She gave us no direction and no suggestions. She never once tried to make Emma smile. We did all the work and believe me it was work. Emma was very bossy during this photo shoot. She chose where and when she would sit and with what prop. We are so lucky to have these three pictures.

Well here they are. Enjoy!





Monday, November 30, 2009

Quinn's Salute to New Moon

I've been collecting these for awhile now...











Go ahead and send your hate e-mail. I feed on it....like a vampire sucking blood through his fangs. Oh, wait. Fangs is just another convenient vampire fact that Twilight conveniently forgets...

Quinn

Monday, November 23, 2009

Emma's Birthday Part 2 - With the Van Bibber's

Yesterday we celebrated my Dad's birthday and Emma's birthday. We had a great dinner, lots of presents (mostly for Emma), eat cake and watched a very long soccer game. (GO REAL!) Emma had a great time feeding the dog her dinner, eating two cupcakes because she feed the dog and opening a huge pile of presents. She received clothes, two sing-a-long DVD's, cars, puzzles, a shape shorter, a piglet and a tigger stuffed animal, two snowmen figurines and a ball popper toy. This last toy I thought was going to be a hit but it makes Emma very nervous because the balls pop out on their own and sometimes go flying off the toy. Emma likes to control things and have order and so this toy causes her anxiety because her hands are so small she can't control all five balls at once. It's great fun to watch and hopefully she will learn to just have fun with it.

Helping Papa with his gift.





Loving her Winnie the Pooh sing-along-song DVD.



As you can see she has three of the balls in her hand and she is desperately trying to contain the other two.

Puzzles!



Piglet and Tigger!



Emma's cute cupcakes from her Grandma!



Helping Grandpa blow out his.



Messy Girl!

Playing with Uncle Taylor in a big box!

I'm being brave and posting my first belly shot of this pregnancy. Here is James and I at 22 1/2 weeks.



Happy Birthday again Emma - Can't believe you're 2 years old already.
We Love You!