the jensens

girls weekend in LA

2012-01-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

My mom, sisters and I took a weekend away from our families and met up in LA for some girl time. Peter is still too little for me to leave behind, so he was the exception. It was such a fun break from our daily routines. I think moms need this type of break every so often. Just some time to take a breath, do something for yourself, have fun and then get back to the grind. We plan on doing this every year so I'm looking forward to the next one without my kids. I love them like crazy, but I think two days out of the year to be away from them is healthy.

We spent our short time together indulging ourselves: manicures/pedicures, movie, sightseeing, shopping, eating out, etc. Hopefully next time we'll get more pictures. Enjoy the few I managed to take.

hiking spencer butte

2012-01-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

We finally went on our first family hike here in Eugene. I'd love to say that it was wonderful, but it reminded me a little too much of the last hike that I went on with Bryant. I was cursing him all the way up and all the way down.
Let me explain....
I had a miscarriage before getting pregnant with Emmy. So when I found out I was pregnant with her, I was trying to be extra cautious. I was also wanting to surprise Bryant. The day that I was going to tell him, he planned a hike for us. I told him I would only go if it was an easy hike. He was fine with that. So we get to the mountain, Bryant chooses the shortest hike and we set out on our leisure hike. Or so I thought. It may not come to a surprise to many, but the shortest route was also the most direct route to the top, aka, the steepest and most strenuous route. Bryant was being so sweet the entire way up, apologizing for it being harder than I wanted, trying to help me in any way he could, and I just kept snapping at him. I was so mad! By the time we got to the top, I could barely talk to him. If memory serves right, I didn't explain my upset feelings until we had hiked back down and were in our car. Bryant was trying to understand why I was so upset and instead of being able to share this wonderful news with him in the fun way that I had planned, I blurted it out that I was pregnant through tears and fears of having another miscarriage because of that stupid hike! Poor guy.
All turned out well.

Back to our hike in Eugene. Once again, we chose the most direct route to the top. Do we never learn? Thankfully, I didn't feel the need to curse Bryant's name, but it probably wasn't the safest hike to do with the kids. None of us were really in danger, but I was certainly questioning whether or not I wanted to do anymore hikes after this one. It was still very beautiful and enjoyable. Once we got to the top, we saw families with younger kids coming up a different path. A much easier and more family friendly path, as we later found hiking back down the longer, albeit easier and safer route.

I'm hopeful that our next hike will be less traumatic.

check out peter's cheeks! love them!

a little about peter

2012-01-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

A post about Peter is way past due.

This little boy is one sweet baby. As stated before, the first month was a little rough. Peter constantly had to be held otherwise he was screaming bloody murder. But once month two came around, he seemed to start adjusting to life outside of the womb. And he has been such a sweetheart since. He'll smile at the three of us at the drop of a hat. He laughs when we undress him and is especially ticklish under his arms. His legs are the chunkiest I've seen, this picture doesn't do them justice. At about 3 months he weighed 17 lbs, is wearing 9 month clothes and is in a size 3 diaper while Emmy is just one size bigger than him.
He is one big boy.

And we love him like crazy.

christmas, 4 day car trip, new year's

2012-01-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

We're still recovering from our trip to Arizona. We left just two days after Emmy was released from the hospital. I flew out with the kids on Thursday evening and Bryant left the following morning to drive to Arizona. Reading that, you might automatically feel sorry for the poor husband who had to spend 22 hours in a car, while the the lucky mother only had to spend 2.5 hours on a plane. I certainly thought Bryant was getting the raw end of the deal. Well, dear reader, let me tell you that both you and I were wrong! That was one nightmare of a flight! Emmy was the nightmare actually. I've never seen her act that way. She was sick. I'll give her that. But whew! I vowed that I would never again fly with two kids by myself.

Emmy returned to her normal self after a couple more days in Arizona. I think that's when she finally started feeling better. She loved spending time with all of the her family! Peter too -- he was such a sweet baby and loved having everyone hold him. He seems to have finally mellowed out and is just a sweet, chunky little thing. Next post will be all about him.

Christmas was a little different this year, but wonderful nonetheless. Instead of spending Christmas Eve with the Platts in St. Johns, we stayed in Chandler and had our annual gift exchange on the 23rd instead. My family really knows how to put together an exciting gift exchange. I'm already looking forward to next years!

Christmas Eve we spent with Bryant's mom watching It's A Wonderful Life and eating Indian food. Christmas morning was so fun with just our little family. Peter slept through most of it -- not unexpected. Emmy absolutely loved it. She loved taking turns opening presents. And she adored her Toodee (from Yo Gabba Gabba!) that Santa brought her.

Christmas night was with Bryant's mom and siblings, where we had a lovely homemade dinner by Patrice and opened gifts from her as well. The next day we got together with Bryant's dad and Jackie for some pizza and gifts for the grandkids.

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas and trip to Arizona. It was a much shorter trip this year, so we didn't have time to see all of our friends. Hopefully next time!

We left just a few days after Christmas, made a stop in Delano along the way to say hi to just a few of the friends we made there and continued our way up the coast back to Eugene. Bryant pleaded with me to take the scenic route back home. I finally gave in. It was beautiful, but I don't know if it was worth all of the windy roads and crying from the back seat.

4 days later, we were back in Eugene, just in time to celebrate New Year's Eve. We unloaded the van, I ran and got a few essentials from the grocery store while Bryant bathed Emmy and then we decided we were too beat to make any dinner so we went out. We were one. good. looking. bunch. Emmy in her pajamas, rain boots and a crooked pony tail, Peter in a spit-up covered shirt, and Mom and Dad not hiding very well the fact that we had just ended a 7 hour drive. Bleh. After dinner, we put the kids to bed, popped in the last Harry Potter dvd and stayed up just long enough to watch the ball drop, share a midnight kiss and some sparkling cider.

The few pictures we got on our trip:

our not-so-much-of-an-anniversary

2012-01-03T16:25:00.002-07:00

When Bryant and I got engaged and chose January 2, 2009 as our wedding date, we felt like that was the perfect choice: it was between semesters, it was around the holidays so family and friends would be in town and it gave us a few months to plan the necessaries.

Three years later, we've just about concluded that January 2 is one of the hardest days of the year for us to celebrate our anniversary in the way we would like:

Jan. 2, 2010: I was recovering from giving birth to Emmy Mae just two weeks prior. We managed to go to Camelback Mountain just as the sun was setting. We sat there together, me on my donut cushion, wincing in pain as I tried to sit in a position that my broken tail bone wouldn't shoot pain through my body. Very romantic. We also went out to dinner while Grandma Laurie watched our newborn. Not too bad considering.

Jan. 2, 2011: Neither of us really remember this anniversary. I know that Emmy was sick so we weren't able to do much. Since our anniversary fell on a Sunday, we went to breakfast on Monday morning to the same restaurant we went to for breakfast on our honeymoon. I don't think we did much more, otherwise I think at least one of us would have some recollection.

Jan. 2, 2012: Emmy was sick again. As was Peter. And me. Honestly, who doesn't get sick this time of year?
We had barely returned from Arizona. The car trip back to Oregon took us four days and was full of long, windy roads. Some beautiful views, but it was hard to fully enjoy the beauty with sick, crying kids in the back.
So I picked up some Baja Fresh and we watched our pre-recorded movie, Ray. (wasn't Jamie Foxx amazing?!) We were okay with that since together we made the decision that at least until the kids are a little bit older and while we're still traveling for Christmas, we'll celebrate our anniversary on a different date. That way we'll actually be able to give our anniversary some thought.

Looking forward to our late anniversary date.

emmy is 2

2011-12-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I was trying to get the kids to sleep.

It was another night of one parent vs two children at bed time.

And another night of lots of crying and tried patience.

Finally I got Emmy in her bed made from laid out blankets on the floor next to my bed.

She was still tossing and turning, twirling her her hair around her little fingers. That's what she does when she doesn't have Mom's hair to play with. It helps to calm her and fall asleep.

I was up in the bed, lying next to Peter, helping him to keep the pacifier in his mouth so he could fall asleep as well.

We were almost there.

And then Emmy started crying.

I brought her up into bed with us

and she climbed right up into my lap

and cuddled with me.

I couldn't help but think that Emmy somehow knew my thoughts:

My little girl is turning 2 in just a couple of hours.

She's growing up faster than I'm ready for.

Soon she'll be a teenager, she'll start dating, then she'll be on her way to college and then... I was almost in panic mode.

But then she crawled into my lap, put her head on my chest, wrapped my hair around her fingers in one hand and patted my arm with her other little hand and

I was calmed.

I still have my little girl

and I'm going to enjoy this time I have with her.

Emmy Mae, you are one of the greatest joys in our lives.

We are bursting with love for you.

Please be sweet to us in this 3rd year of your life.

Try not to make being 2 so terrible.

Continue to be sweet.

Please.

(dressed up in one of her birthday gifts -- thanks, Ryan & Carly).

home from the hospital

2011-12-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Emmy was admitted to the hospital late Sunday night. I was actually really grateful for that because that entire day leading up to her internment was frightening. Thursday evening she started a fever, then Saturday morning she woke up with croup. Her fever got up to 104.5. Then by Sunday she was really struggling to breathe. Bryant took her to urgent care in the morning while I stayed home with Peter. The breathing treatment they gave her at urgent care helped her enough to fall asleep at nap time, but when she woke up she was back to struggling for breath. Then her throat started hurting bad enough that she refused to swallow anything: water, food, medicine, even her own saliva. Finally we decided to take her back to urgent care. She got another breathing treatment, but then they sent her to the ER where she was examined once again, found to have the beginnings of an infection in her ear and lung as well as croup and was admitted to the hospital. She ended up staying two nights there with nurses and doctors constantly checking on her, giving her meds, keeping her hooked up to monitors, etc. I'm sure you can imagine how well a two year old handled being confined to a cage of a bed for two days. Not very well.
Sadly, the doctor says that Emmy is likely to end up in the hospital every time she gets croup.

This experience in the hospital made me so grateful for the healthy children that I have. Yeah, they get sick every once in awhile, but I know there are parents whose kids suffer from much more serious sicknesses and it makes me hurt for them and especially their little sweethearts.

so cute, but so sad.

proof that she was confined to a cage. not fun. both bryant and i slept in there with her on separate nights. once again, not fun.

so glad to be home.

emmy's birthday party

2011-12-03T17:01:00.001-07:00

Emmy's Yo Gabba Gabba! themed birthday party:

The work that I put into it was so worth it! As soon as Emmy saw it all she was just oozing with excitement.

activity #1: coloring yo gabba gabba characters. emmy doesn't usually

like to color for very long. i think she was just relishing

every yo gabba gabba moment that she could.

activity #2: pin the eye on muno

daisy rigby, our pin-the-eye-on-muno-winner!

activity #3: stuffing the face with cake.
she couldn't get enough of her muno cake. we finally had to rip it from her

cake covered hands and were only able to avoid the real tears

(because there were plenty of fake ones) by distracting

her with the next activity.

activity #4: presents. she loved all of them and was more than a little protective

if anyone else came near them.

activity #5: foot race in parents shoes.

activity #6: dance party!

The whole party was even more fun that I had anticipated.

I can't believe we almost have a 2-year-old on our hands, although

Emmy is very set on convincing us that she is 2 and it is just

as terrible as everyone says it is.

Not really.

She is still such a sweetie, but she certainly has her moments these days.

day 30: blessings

2011-11-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun little exercise to reflect on my blessings every day. I enjoyed sitting down at the end of each day, running back over the details in my mind and expressing gratitude through writing and prayer for all of the blessings that I have. There is so much to be grateful for....

day 29: bryant

2011-11-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for a husband who is interested in what I have to say.

All of the time.

And I don't even think that he is pretending.

I know that some of the things that I talk to him about are only things

that women think about and are important to them.

But he knows that they're important to me and so he listens and

tries to understand. And I love that about him.

day 28: the prophet

2011-11-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight for Family Home Evening we learned about the prophet. FHE is a lot more fun now that Emmy is more involved. We showed her a picture of President Monson and were teaching her how to say his name. That's a mouthful, especially for an almost 2-year-old who struggles producing multi-syllable words. She did pretty darn good though. "Pez Maaahhh Son". So cute.

day 27: the pitter-pattering of little feet

2011-11-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Every time I hear Emmy's little feet running on our wood floors it brings a smile to my face. It's such an endearing, joyful sound.

day 26: lost phone

2011-11-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving evening I was sitting on the couch next to Bryant, visiting with our friends who were at our house for the holiday. I had my phone on my lap, but had to get up to check on Emmy who was back in her room playing with her friends. Ten minutes later I was back on the couch and my phone was gone. We searched that night and all yesterday with no luck. It's gone.
So today I made some trips to different stores to find out what deals there were.
Turns out it was a blessing to lose my phone. I was able to get a smart phone, a better plan and we were still able to cut our monthly bill in half. Yes!

day 25: post-thanksgiving family day

2011-11-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

The weather was beautiful today. To more fully enjoy it, we went to Skinner Butte Park to enjoy some time together as a family. There were a lot of families there enjoying time together. I loved sitting on the bench watching all of the families interact.

Emmy played on the swings and playground; we went down by the river, but were unable to find any rocks to throw in because of the massive amount of wet leaves covering the ground; we sat on a bench in the sunshine and watched the cyclists/joggers/walkers burning any extra calories they may have taken in the day prior; decided to get a little exercise ourselves and ran around with Emmy. Then we went to the top of the summit and enjoyed the beautiful view of Eugene. And we ended our outing getting a few slices of ny pizza.

It was the perfect post-Thanksgiving family day.

day 24: thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

Our enjoyable Thanksgiving of 2011 in pictures, because I am too tired to do anything else:

our dinner table

don't you just love the turkey napkin holder? the pilgrim hats were fun to make. gotta love the ideas you get from pinterest.

and our dinner guests:

Jen and Scott Ficklin

Emily and Chris Palmer

Seth, Oriane & Saphyre Stewart

Kelly, Mason, Emily & Izzy Cook

day 23: thanksgiving preparations

2011-11-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

We're hosting Thanksgiving this year at our house. Since we can't be with family, we're looking forward to spending the holiday with some friends here.
It has been raining all day so we've stayed inside, listening to Christmas music and enjoying this wonderful time of year, all while making some fun crafts. I think Bryant thinks I can get a little out of hand, but I enjoy it.
I have been having so much fun preparing for the event this year! Pictures tomorrow.

day 22: kneeling in prayer

2011-11-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

We let Emmy stay up later than usual. After we watched a show on tv,

it was time for her story then lights out.

It was Bryant's turn to put her to bed. He turned to her, asked her if she wanted to go read a book and Emmy excitedly raced back to her room to await her storytime.

She loves books.

Bryant followed behind her and by the time he got to her room, he found her kneeling at her bedside with her arms folded, ready to say her prayers. Thankfully, Bryant called me back there as soon as he saw her and I got to witness the sweet scene as well.

Our kids sure know how to make our hearts melt.

This is one way that Peter melts our hearts every day:

day 21: a clean kitchen and empty trash cans

2011-11-21T23:19:00.001-07:00

When we first moved into this house, I set a goal to only go to bed with a clean kitchen.

No dirty dishes in the sink.

I was pretty successful until September 19. That's when Peter was born. I pretty much don't have any cleaning goals anymore.

Survival is a success these days.

Last night we went to bed with with a dirty kitchen.

Nothing new.

But this morning I awoke to

a running dishwasher,

cleaned counters,

emptied trash cans

and a husband who was especially perky for having gotten just a few hours of sleep.

What a wonderful way to start out the day!

Can't wait to see what I wake up to tomorrow morning.
Hope you don't disappoint, babe.

day 20: a pretty enough backyard

2011-11-20T20:24:00.001-07:00

It's time for Christmas cards and that means it's time for a new family picture (if any of you who actually still read this blog want a Jensen Christmas card, let me know). We had planned yesterday to go out and snap a few pictures with our tripod, but, not surprisingly, rain was in the forecast. However, the sun did come out in the afternoon and it would have been perfect, but by the time I could have gotten us all ready, daylight would have been long gone.
The forecast for today was "mostly sunny". But as our friends, the Palmers, confirmed for us, sunny days are actually colder here in Eugene since the clouds keep in all of the warmth. So instead of venturing out to a fun location for family pictures, we decided our backyard would have to do. I'd stay inside the warm house while Bryant set up the tripod, I'd hurry out with the kids, take a few pictures and then it would all be over with. That would not have been a possibility with our house in Delano. Our yard just wasn't nearly pretty enough.

day 19: things that matter most

2011-11-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday is the one day of the week that I feel like I can ask for 100% of Bryant's help with the kids and doing work around the house. I started getting a little frazzled today when it got to be 2:00 and we hadn't even gotten to one of the things that I needed his help with. Scratch that. We did go to the grocery store together.
We were sitting at the table together, having a late lunch, discussing our plan of action for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Emmy was over by the front door, trying to climb up in the stroller, repeating over and over again, " I wanna wah... in da stroh..." She was wanting to go for a walk in the stroller.
Bryant still needed to run to the bike shop before starting in on my to do list. He then suggested that we all go together and then go on a walk afterwards. I was all for going on a walk until I realized how late it was. My first response was, "No. I've got so many things that I need to get done today. You can just go with Emmy and I'll stay here with Peter."
But then I stopped and remembered something that President Uchtdorf once said:

"We would do well to slow down a little, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most."

We spent the rest of the afternoon together as a family, outside of the house, and didn't get hardly anything done on my to do list.
And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

But don't get used to getting out of your to do list, Bryant.

day 18: waking up happy

2011-11-18T17:44:00.001-07:00

Emmy woke up from her nap today to find me working on preparations for her upcoming Yo Gabba Gabba! birthday party. This girl is nuts for that show. The majority of the time, Emmy wakes up pretty cranky from her naps. She needs time to fully wake up and for her happy side to show again. Not today though. She woke up to Yo Gabba Gabba! characters on paper, coloring pages alongside some crayons and colorful bags that she could tote around and play fashion show with in front of the hall mirror.

She is going to love her party! Hopefully she'll be just as happy.

day 17: toddler talk and daddy talk

2011-11-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

Two things I was grateful to hear today:

1. As Bryant was walking out the door this morning on his way to work, Emmy followed him to the door as usual.

"Bye, bye Emmy."

"Bye, bye Da."

"See you later."

"Ok. Na nuh noo day, Da."

It melted my heart.

(For those of you who don't speak "Emmy", that was "Have a good day, Dad.")

2. I chatted with my dad over the phone tonight. He was telling me how he had been looking through some old photographs when we (all of his kids) were little. He and my mom were reminiscing on those wonderful times. My dad told me how he wished he could have had the maturity and understanding of his (nearly) 60-year-old self when he was 25. He would have spent more time with each child and cherished each moment more. Time passes so quickly, he told me; enjoy this special time when your children are so little.

I needed that reminder.

day 16: socializing

2011-11-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

I had to go to the church for a bit this evening. While I was there, I was able to have a few friendly conversations with individuals whom I hadn't really had a chance to chat with before. It always surprises me how much I enjoy something as simple as a friendly conversation.

day 15: eugene

2011-11-15T22:50:00.001-07:00

We really have been loving Eugene. It's been such a fun change for us. It is absolutely gorgeous here. (I think the rainy season has finally started, and so far we're doing great.) Our house is adorable. Our neighborhood is Mayberry worthy. Our location is absolutely ideal. Our ward is amazing. And we've met some wonderful people.

So many things to be thankful for....

day 14: a morning jog

2011-11-14T21:34:00.001-07:00

The four of us went on a jog this morning.

Bryant and I want to be more consistent in our exercise.

As we were jogging, we reminisced on our dating years

and our morning jogs back in Tempe, AZ.

We lived about 2.5 miles from each other and would wake up at a previously set time, jog along a pre-chosen path, meet up and jog back to one of our houses before driving the other one home. It was such a fun way to start off each day.

Quite a few times Bryant would hide somewhere,

wait for me to come along and jump out and scare me.

It worked every time.

Then there was the time that I ended up jogging all the way to his house, peeked in his window only to find him fast asleep.

I didn't know what to do.

I knocked on his window so that he could realize that he had slept in, but then felt bad for doing so and told him he could just go back to sleep and I'd just jog back home on my own.

He couldn't believe I was serious. He asked why I woke him up then.

I was not about to have made that run without getting my prize -- being able to see and spend just a few minutes with the guy that I was in love with.

Of course, I was much too reserved and shy to say that so instead I told him I just wanted to make sure that he didn't sleep in even later and miss any classes/meetings that he might have that day. I continued to apologize for having woke him and quickly left him to make my way back home.

I was so glad that he didn't listen to my pleadings that he go back to sleep, but instead drove me back to my house. I'm sure it was a wonderful car ride home. Any time with him was always so magical.

It was fun to reminisce this morning on our beginnings. And then to look at where we are now with our two beautiful children.

All while jogging along the beautiful fall streets of Eugene.

day 13: good health

2011-11-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight we watched a movie called Midway to Heaven as a family. It was about a young widower with a college aged daughter who was struggling to move past the loss of his sweet wife to cancer and accept "losing" his daughter to marriage. It was a little cheesy in parts, but there were sweet parts. (Although the woman that the widower ends up seriously dating in the end was just downright obnoxious.) The dead wife was a main character in the movie, trying to help her husband move on. That part was so sad to me.

About a year and a half ago, I had a little bit of a health scare. Nothing with lasting consequences, but it was enough to scare me to tears -- for days. The thought of leaving my husband and sweet children, or them leaving me, terrifies me beyond words.

I know that there is life after death. Our time on earth is just a small spec in God's great plan. We'll be reunited with our family and friends whom we have lost. And yet knowing all of that, losing dear ones or them losing me still scares me. I think my fears have more to do with something the widower expressed in this movie rather than a lack of faith or something else. He said to his ghost of a wife something along the lines of, "I'm scared of going an entire day without thinking of you." Even though his wife still encouraged him to move on, it was at this point that she confessed it wasn't easy for her either.

I went to bed feeling so thankful for my good health, to have my sweet family and for this wonderful time of our lives that doesn't seem like it could get much better.

day 12: love for books

2011-11-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Bryant has left me for the evening to watch the Oregon/Stanford game with some friends. I'm home with our sick kids. Not my idea of a fun Saturday night. Bryant deserves a few hours to hang out with friends, I guess.
Peter fell asleep for a bit, so I selfishly turned on Yo Gabba Gabba! for Emmy while I read a bit in my book. It's hard to find time to read at all now. I've missed my books.
I was remembering back in middle school when most of my friends were very vocal about how much they did not like reading. What?! I could not fathom that feeling. How could anyone not enjoy losing themselves in a book? I grew up in a family that loves reading -- both parents, all siblings, both grandparents come to think of it.
What a blessing that has been in my life.

day 11: pizza and ice cream

2011-11-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight for date night our family ate at a wonderful restaurant: La Perla Pizzeria -- "one of a select few restaurants in the nation producing True Neapolitan Pizza" (as stated on their website). The margherita pizza was delicious! And the price was pretty reasonable. Emmy really enjoyed the food which always makes the evening more enjoyable.
And to finish off our lovely dinner, we had ice cream at Eugene's Prince Pucklers. I had my favorite -- mint oreo. It was dreamy.
An overall lovely evening for the family.

day 10: cleanliness

2011-11-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

I spent all day cleaning. Or better said, I spent all day taking care of my kids and cleaning certain areas of the house whenever I could find the chance.

I have always really appreciated cleanliness. Summertime in the Platt household growing up was full of days of cleaning. So many times my friends would call and ask me to go do something that day. My response was always the same: first I have to finish cleaning. They couldn't fathom how we always had something to clean, especially when our house was already clean! When your regular chore list had "wash light bulbs" on it, you were bound to be cleaning every day.

And I can honestly say that I am so thankful that my mother taught me to appreciate cleanliness. Not just the state of clean, but the process of clean as well. It is so rewarding to me.

day 9: christmas music

2011-11-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

This music is just way too good to only listen to for one month.
When I was little, I would never listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving because it just got me way too excited for Christmas which already seemed like it would never arrive.

But no longer. I'm even okay with listening to it in October.

It always brings a smile to my face and makes any day better.

I love Christmas music!

day 8: smile

2011-11-08T23:17:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for this cute little smile!

day 7: my little best friend

2011-11-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

Even though Emmy has been a little more difficult lately, I love that this little girl is one of my best friends. I love her so much.

I am thankful for her everyday.

day 6: understanding people

2011-11-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

By the time we get out of church, Emmy is definitely ready for a nap. In other words, she is cranky.

Today was no exception.

Once she realized we were heading out the door,

away from her friends

and all the toys in the nursery,

she started screaming and ran the opposite direction.

She ran into the Relief Society room where many different people were still
easing their way out of the room.

One lady tried to say hi to her which ended up driving her into my arms.

Yes!

I then had to wait for a few people to pass by us before we could head back out the door.

They each tried to either say hi to Emmy or touch her arm in a friendly way.

What they received in return was a "NO WAY!" or an angry swing of the arm.

I apologized over and over again, making sure to mention that it was nap time.

And everyone was so understanding.

I was so thankful for their kindness.

day 5: family day

2011-11-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time that our family was able to have a day together without any other commitments. Just a day to enjoy time together.

Today we finally had that.

And it was wonderful.

Bryant made us a scrumptious breakfast.

Then we headed to the mall because Brobee and Plex (from Yo Gabba Gabba!) were at the Vans store and we knew Emmy would love seeing them. Unfortunately, the line was way too long so we decided to just let her see them from a distance rather than get a picture taken with them. I think she would have been scared of them up close anyway. Especially Brobee. He's pretty creepy.

We wandered around the mall, made a few purchases, grabbed some lunch, bought a few groceries then came back home and just hung out.

It was lovely.

I am so thankful I have such a wonderful family!

day 4: avoiding tantrums

2011-11-04T21:25:00.005-07:00

Sometimes the only way to avoid a tantrum is to ask Emmy if she wants to go see her friends. She immediately stops crying and excitedly exclaims, "Yeah!' As tantrums become more common, I am feeling more thankful each day for the fact that Emmy has such sweet little friends she can play with regularly.

And so, today I am thankful that Emmy could play with her little pals.

It made for a happier day.

Saphyre Stewart, Izzy Cook, Drew Phelps, Emmy Jensen

day 3: girls night out

2011-11-03T21:22:00.001-07:00

Today I was thankful for a girls night out.

All of the girls got together for some frozen yogurt and to say goodbye to Angie who is

moving back to Utah.

Oriane Stewart and Marci Rigby and their daughters

Annie Callister, Chelsea Belton and Lori Bustos

Lori, Amy Gillas and Christie Harris

Angie Phelps, Emily Cook and Miss Chubby Face

Farewell Angie! We'll miss you!

And poor Emmy will miss her friend, Drew. :(

day 2: small talk

2011-11-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

I went to the mall today. The heater was broken in one of the stores that I perused. The temperature was 45 degrees inside, according to the girl working there. Whenever I'm out shopping/running errands, I tend to get caught up in my to do list. My aim is to get in and out as quickly as I can, even more so now with two kids.
But today I remembered my mom. She is always aware of those around her. Wherever she goes, she makes small talk with whomever she encounters. The result is always a lot of laughter and smiles -- kind of like they've formed a small friendship in a matter of a few minutes. I've always loved that about my mom.
I knew she would have made friendly conversation with the girl who was freezing behind the counter. And so I decided to do the same. The result was smiles and laughter from both parties. And I felt happier leaving the store.
Funny how something so simple can bring happiness.

Thanks, Mom, for being such a good teacher. I'm so thankful for you.

day 1: the story of the blue bike and the red bike

2011-11-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Remember the red bike that Bryant got for his birthday last year?
He has been loving riding it here in Eugene. The bike path he takes to work is right along the river and he often comments on the beautiful scenery he enjoyed on his commute.

Last Thursday at the end of his workday, Bryant went to the bike rack to retrieve his bicycle to go home. Frustratingly he found that someone had locked his bike in with their own, despite the many other open spaces on the rack. He called me, asked if we could come pick him up and we obligingly drove downtown to get him. Bryant climbed into the car, but before we left I wanted to see how exactly his bike had been locked in.

When I found his bike, and the blue bike, locked in together, I found a kind, simple and playful note that Bryant had left on the blue bike asking the bike to be careful to not lock him in again so that his bike wouldn't have to stay the night at work instead of his comfortable home. I was impressed at Bryant's kindness, especially considering the frustrating day that he had, only to end it on that frustrating note.

We checked back the next day, but both bikes were still locked up and the note still there. Finally, by Sunday the blue bike was gone and Bryant's bike was ready to take home. We barely got the chance to pick it up tonight.

And this is what Bryant found taped to his red bicycle:

I'm thankful to know that there are kind, thoughtful and generous strangers. And more importantly, I'm thankful for the kind example of my sweet husband. I fear that I wouldn't have been as gracious in the same situation.

halloween happenings

2011-10-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

This year I took the easy route with our Halloween costumes.

Next year I hope to do better, be more creative and fun.

And hopefully Bryant will give some thought to it too next year.

5 minutes before we were supposed to leave on Halloween night, he asks me,

"So I guess we're not dressing up for Halloween this year?"

That's the first thought you've given it, huh babe?

Here are our cuties sporting their Costco costumes:

Peter the Puppy

Emmy the Duckling

Duck kisses

Playgroup Halloween Party

Emmy and her good friend Drew the Monkey

Eating their chocolate bribes -- the only way we could get them to sit still long enough to get a picture

Dinosaur Saphyre, Emmy, Drew

Trick-or-Treating

the kiddos: dinosaur, monkey, cow, bee (her duck costume was just too small)

Emmy and her best friend, Isabel

the moms: Emily C, Oriane, Taryn, Angie

Emmy LOVED trick-or-treating with her friends.

She's not even two and we felt like we were cramping her style.

he's official

2011-10-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I went back and reread the post about Emmy's baby blessing and am realizing that we tend to do things last minute.

Since Bryant's mom was in town and was able to come to church with us before flying back to AZ, we quickly decided it the best opportunity to bless Peter.

Once again, Bryant did a wonderful job.

We love having little Peter Frank in our family!

grandma jensen's visit

2011-10-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Bryant's mom took her first vacation in almost 10 years and flew here to Eugene to spend the weekend with us. We felt so special to be apart of her well-deserved time off!

While she was here we spent our time staying up late every night, getting a later start each day, eating some yummy and some not so yummy food, going to Lone Pine Farm and spending a lovely day at the coast.

Emmy loved having her Grandma Jensen here, as did Peter. He seemed to coo and smile more at her than he does at us!

Lone Pine Farm

Heceta Beach

Come back soon Grandma Jensen!

baby shower

2011-10-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

My parents time here was short and sweet. Sadly, we just weren't in picture-taking mode so nothing to show from their visit. Emmy was certainly sad when they left early Sunday morning. The next afternoon we got a knock on our door and Emmy excitedly exclaimed, "Gam! (Grandma) Papa!" It was really cute, but so sad since they were already back to the grind in Arizona. We hope they'll come for another visit soon.

This past weekend, three of my friends -- Chelsea, Emily C, and Angie threw me a baby shower! It was fun to have the guest of honor in attendance outside of my body -- much more comfortable for both of us. We had a lovely time: good food, good friends, good conversation, cute decorations and some super cute and helpful gifts. Thanks girls!

Before having kids, I had plenty of experience in changing girls diapers. I changed a few boys diapers here and there, but nothing to prepare me for changing my son's diapers. Nearly every time I was changing him he chose that moment to relieve himself. Urine would shoot up and soak everything around him. I was changing his clothes three times a day. We tried different items to cover him up while we changed him and finally found that washcloths were the best option. Until Emily C's gift.

Love it!

best of all

2011-10-11T10:19:00.004-07:00

Followed by a delicious Vietnamese meal, birthday gifts from my dear wife this year were:

- bottle of pure maple syrup,

- B.H. Roberts Biography by Truman Madsen,

- bunch of sweet aluminum water bottles, and

- (best of all!) a bicycle seat and helmet for Emmy Mae.

Emmy and I are just loving riding around Eugene--over the river, in the parks, and weaving through drum circle crowds at the downtown farmer's market.

Thanks Tare! You're the best....

celebrating bryant at 33

2011-10-06T21:42:00.002-07:00

Today Bryant turned 33. I'm not going to write about what we did to celebrate -- I'll let him if he so desires. Instead, I just want to say a few things about the wonderful man that I married.

As I've shared in my latest posts, life since our little Pete arrived (although very joyful) has been challenging for me with the difficult labor and recovery, adjusting to parenting two kids rather than just one and dealing with my emotions that have been out of whack. I've mentioned the help that we, and mainly I, have received from friends here, but Bryant has really been my saving grace.
I can't express how grateful I am for the wonderful husband and father he is. I think one reason that Emmy has been adjusting so well without her normal one-on-one time with Mom is because Bryant is so great with her. She absolutely adores him. She has turned into a little Daddy's girl in these last couple of weeks and Bryant is eating it up.
I must admit, with all of the extra diapers Bryant has been changing, his help at nap time whenever he's working from home, getting Emmy up in the morning and getting her breakfast while I'm either nursing Peter or catching up on lost sleep from being up with him during the night, making most of our meals, etc., I am finding myself to be even more in love with him these days.
I couldn't ask for a better man to spend eternity with. He is perfect for me.
I love you, Bryant.
Happy birthday!

2 weeks

2011-10-03T21:40:00.001-07:00

We've had two weeks with this little guy so far.

Slowly, but surely, we're getting adjusted to life with another kid in the Jensen home.

We've had so much help from friends here.

My back has still been giving me issues, so I haven't been able to do a lot of the tasks that I normally do.

Thankfully, friends have dropped in and asked to take Emmy with them and their kids to the park. What a lifesaver!

And, of course, it's been so nice to have yummy meals prepared for us.

A dear friend even dropped off some flowers with the dinner she made for our family. They brightened my day even more than I could have expected.

Peter is growing quite nicely, gaining more than a pound in one week.

He is learning to handle, quite well, all the love that he gets from his big sister, although, as you can see below, sometimes she just crosses the line.

Now it's time for Peter to get some loving from his Platt grandparents!

Can't wait to see my parents this weekend!

the need to focus on successes

2011-09-27T20:48:00.002-07:00

If I can be honest here, the first week of being a mother of two wasn't what I was anticipating. I got a few things right, I guess: I'm low on sleep; I'm going from one task to the next, not really even having time to sit down and take a rest; and I am so in love with these two kids that every challenge that I'm faced with is worth it.
However, there are feelings and circumstances that have come about that I don't feel like I was ready for.

1. You read in all the pregnancy books and websites, and the doctors always tell you, that your first two weeks after baby comes, it's perfectly normal to feel weepy. I wasn't that way at all after Emmy was born, but my emotions have been a lot closer to the surface this time around.
2. I feel overwhelmed -- more than I thought I would. I knew it would be a big adjustment to throw another kid in the loop, but it's been harder with my recovery and not having my mom here for the first few days. Thankfully, Bryant has been a great help.
3. I didn't consider in the least that my relationship with Emmy would change. I guess I should have realized that it would. I don't get the time with her that I used to, obviously. And my patience is being tried like it never has before with her, mainly because she is crazy about Peter and is constantly trying to climb on him to give him kisses, grabbing his arms and swinging them around, saying who knows what, which often times ends up with him crying. I keep trying to tell her to be soft and quiet, but it is not sinking in. I'm sure that's normal at this age. I am so happy that she loves him so much -- she's adjusted so well to all of these changes, probably better than I have.
4. And as a result of all of this, I feel discouraged at my feelings of frustration and feel less competent as a mother.

But here are a few words from an apostle of Jesus Christ that have given me comfort these last few days:

"Forget not to be patient with yourself. I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way. God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add, God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. And yet, we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others, usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It is wonderful that you have strengths. And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses. God wants to help us to eventually turn all our weaknesses into strengths. But he knows that this is a long term goal. He wants us to become perfect. And if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It's okay that you're not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourselves. Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself. In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life's sweetest experiences.... Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor, First Presidency
(You can watch his entire address here. It's wonderful.)

So here's to focusing on the little successes that I am having, because I know they're there, I just need to think a little harder to find them.

peter's arrival... and mom's recovery

2011-09-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

It seems like most people say that going through labor with your second child tends to be much easier than it was with your first. Well, I am living proof that this is not always the case. Even though the duration of the labor was less than half with Peter than it was with Emmy and I only had to push with Peter for 23 minutes versus the hour and a half that I did with Emmy, when all was said and done, I was (and am) wondering whether I can ever do all of this again. I'm sure if I give it awhile, there will be no question.

And now, for the nitty gritty....

On my last appointment with my OB, I had progressed enough that she had no problem scheduling an induction date if I wanted. With the sleepless nights I had been having for the past month, I jumped at the chance. I could choose Monday or Friday. Without hesitation, I chose Monday, September 19th, the day before my due date (although that was my original due date).

So on Monday morning, Bryant and I dropped Emmy off at my friend Emily's house. My mom was planning on coming out here for the birth, but her heart issues haven't gone away and she ended up having to have another procedure just today (all went well so hopefully she'll start feeling better very soon). We got to the hospital to be induced at 8:00am. The lady who escorted us from the lobby up to my delivery room took one look at me and asked, with a rather high level of certainty, "Are you having twins?" "No... I look like it, huh?" "Yeah, you're just pretty big!". I should have known right then that it wasn't going to be a good day.
I didn't actually get the pitocin started until a little after 9:30 and then my doctor broke my water about 10 minutes after that. My contractions were getting so strong that 2 hours later I got my epidural. And that's where the trouble began.
The anesthesiologist was a really young guy, had only been on the job for a few months. It took him 3 or 4 tries before he got the needle in the right place (a couple of times it hit the nerve... not fun). As soon as the anesthesia started to enter my body, I felt like something was wrong. I don't remember what exactly I asked, but I remember asking the doctor, "Is it normal that I'm feeling such and such?" After about 15 minutes of the epidural, Bryant had just given me a couple of ice chips. Then the realization came -- I couldn't swallow. I turned to Bryant, informed him of my predicament and witnessed the fear rise in him. I tried telling him to call the nurse, but with the liquid in my throat that couldn't leave, I was having a hard time talking. Bryant raced out the door, told the nurses that I wasn't able to swallow. It was about this time that things got really hazy. For the next hour and a half I was pretty much passed out. I know I woke up a few times here and there for about 10 seconds -- enough time to look really crazy to whoever was in the room, throwing my head from side to side, trying to express my frustration at not being able to swallow, feeling nauseated beyond belief and not being able to move 90% of my body. Bryant told me that there was a team of 4 nurses, my doctor and the anesthesiologist in there the whole time. Poor Bryant. He was so worried and lost. I'm sure it was the harder on him even than it was on me.
Anyway, by the time I came to, I was dilated to an 8, but so far from being able to feel anything in my body that once I got to a 10, I was just going to have to wait around until I could feel enough to push.
That time came at 3:20. I honestly thought that I would be able to push 3 or 4 times and that this baby would be out.
Peter turned out to be quite a bit bigger than we had expected. As Bryant noted in his post, after 23 minutes of pushing, at 3:43pm Peter Frank was born at 9 lbs, 21 in, with a 14.5 in head. I was terrified that I would re-injure my tailbone, but thankfully it was just a little sore for the first few days. Even Peter's large head and body didn't do the damage that I was so sure would occur. Thanks to all those who kept me in their prayers for this very reason.
Perhaps the Lord knew that I wouldn't be able to handle a broken tailbone along with the awful epidural incident and the awful after-effects.

Once we got home, the migraine, back and neck aches started. Wednesday and Thursday I spent in bed in our darkened bedroom. I felt like I had been hit by a car. It was awful. On Thursday I ended up having to go to the hospital to get an epidural blood patch due to the leaking spinal fluid from the faulty epidural I got. Ironically, the same doctor who gave me the epidural was the same one assigned to fix the problem that he caused in the first place. No way, I told them. You'll need to get me another doctor. I don't want him.
I was told that when I got to the hospital that I needed to go to the spa location inside. Wow. That didn't sound too shabby at all. Turns out that term was rather cruel and misleading. SPA stood for Surgical Procedure Area. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours and once I left, the migraine was gone and I was able to go home with just a very sore lower back.
Today has by far been the easiest since Peter's arrival.

Even with as hard as all of that was, this little boy was so worth it. He's an angel! His appetite is a little crazy -- he eats every hour/hour and a half so sleep is a little hard to come by for us, but we all love him like crazy. Emmy is especially smitten. Anytime she holds him or kisses him, she giggles with excitement. Even the tone she uses when she talks about "Pete" is so endearing. She's such a sweet older sister.

Enjoy the few pictures that we've been able to take in his first few days.

Emmy responding to Peter's cries: "He's SAD!"

"He's CRYING!""

First Bath

welcome son....

2011-09-20T15:28:00.003-07:00

Welcome to the world Peter Frank Jensen: born 9/19 at 3:43pm, 9 lbs. even, 21 inches, 14.5-inch head (yes, very big, just like her sister).

Taryn did fantastically well! We had a little scare with the anesthesia, but I'll let her tell the tale later. For now, know she and the baby are well, still at the hospital, but should be coming home soon. Emmy's as sweet as can be with her little brother, giving him kisses and says, "hi Pete!".

More soon....

38.5 weeks and jumping

2011-09-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am not the one jumping, of course. That would be Emmy. Although I don't think her feet ever officially left the ground....

Here are a few pictures Bryant took of Emmy and me in our backyard before we headed out on our Friday night stroll.

Check out that belly!

Notice that I purposefully left out any frontal shots that Bryant got of me. My chubby face is just too much for this blog.

a successful project

2011-09-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

I finally made some time today to sew a nursing cover for myself. And I really like the final project (although I might like it more if I hadn't made it so wide -- better too wide than too narrow I guess). This has definitely been my most successful sewing project thus far. And let me tell you why....

I started trying to teach myself to sew about a year ago. My mother-in-law was so kind to lend me her sewing machine to work out some projects I thought I might be able to do. My first project (a blanket) was an absolute disaster! It was horrible. And up until just a few weeks ago, for the life of me, I could not figure out how to sew a straight line. I tried explaining my woes to many different people and their response was always, "It must be your machine." I knew they were just being nice, not knowing how to steer me in the right direction. I knew I was the problem, but I thought I was just awful at sewing.

And then a few weeks ago I had a breakthrough! My mom gave me one of her sewing machines that she hadn't used in a few years. I returned my mother-in-law's machine to her and set to trying to run the new machine I had in my hands. To spare the boring details, I ended up coming across a troubleshooting page on the internet that mentioned a common mistake made by beginners in sewing. I read that particular line over and over again, thinking to myself, "Have I honestly been making that ridiculous mistake for the last year?!" Yes. Yes I was. And I was pretty embarrassed.

Sewing is so much easier now that I'm doing it right! And sewing a straight line is no longer a problem. As a result, curse words at the sewing table are practically obsolete.

double strollers

2011-09-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

Since we have only 2 weeks before this little boy arrives, it's time to purchase the double stroller. But which kind?

I already have plans to go jogging with a couple of friends on a regular basis once I'm up to exercising after baby boy comes. So I'm leaning towards just getting this one:

However, jogging strollers aren't the easiest to maneuver on just regular strolls. So for running errands one of these next two would probably be better. But I'm thinking we can only get one of the three, wherein lies our problem.

Your suggestions/opinions would be very appreciated!

eugene

2011-09-03T08:21:00.003-07:00

front yard

back yard (lucky for us, the owners left the play set)

Four weeks ago we pulled our moving truck into the driveway of this charming place and have been working ever since at getting settled in. Believe it or not, the inside is just as, if not even more, charming than the outside. We feel like we really lucked out in finding this house. The neighborhood is wonderful (so many of the neighbors have knocked on our door, welcoming us to the neighborhood and leaving us their number in case we have any problem or question about anything) and the location is awesome (walking distance to a couple of different parks, shopping, restaurants, a mile or two away from church, Costco, Target, the mall, etc. And just a short bike ride for Bryant to his office at the university). It's perfect!

One of the things that I have really been enjoying since we've been here is getting together with other young couples. We've been invited over to dinners by some wonderful families from church and friendships are forming quite nicely. Also, Emmy and I go to a Mom and Me playgroup and attend story time at the library every week. Nearly every day we have something to look forward to. That's been especially nice since Bryant has been commuting back and forth from here to Delano for the last few weeks to finish up teaching the summer quarter. He finally finished and is here in Eugene to stay -- thankfully. My energy level seems to be less every day, especially since I'm not getting much sleep at night. I am so ready for this little boy to come! I was so looking forward to getting out of the summer heat in Delano and enjoying the cooler weather here in Eugene in my large, uncomfortable state. And it certainly has been nicer outdoors, but since air conditioning isn't a common thing here in Eugene, the warmer days have been rather miserable when we're inside -- the temperature hanging around 83/84. Yuck.

But back to our little boy....

He is due to arrive in just over two weeks, but we'll see when we actually get him here. I'm not sure how much longer I can handle these sleepless nights. His crib bedding that I'm making is still unfinished. As is the nursing cover and diaper bag that I have plans to make. I'm pretty sure the little bit of free time that I have now will be even harder to come by once our little one gets here, so I better kick things into gear. So little time.

thrown for a loop in arizona

2011-08-29T16:20:00.006-07:00

Before heading to Oregon, we made one last trip to Arizona to see family and to go to my cousin, Adam's wedding. We planned to spend a few days in the valley and the last part of our trip in St. Johns. Bryant would head back to Delano to pack up the moving truck and drive it up to Eugene while my mom, Emmy and I followed him just a couple of days later and we'd meet up at our rental home in Eugene.

The first part of our Arizona stay went smoothly -- spending time with family, eating at our favorite restaurants and letting Emmy get reacquainted with her cousins. And then we were thrown for a loop.

My mom hadn't been feeling well since we got to Arizona. In reality, it's been awhile since she hasn't been feeling well, but by the time we got there, it was pretty bad. She had no energy and was close to passing out much of the day. She even bought something from Costco that would allow her to check her blood pressure, hear rate, etc. From that, she learned that her heart rate was extremely low (in the high 30s and low 40s). Then the day before we were supposed to head to St. Johns, my mom finally took herself to the doctor at which point he told her that she had either had, was having or was going to have a heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and the kids and my dad all got there as soon as we could (though most of the family was coming from out of town).

Turns out that the bottom two chambers of my mom's heart had stopped working. The doctors didn't (and after continued testing still don't) know what led to this, but they were certain that she needed to have a pacemaker put in ASAP. She's only 55, mind you. It all happened so quickly. My mom was visibly worried, but grateful that something could be done to help her. After the procedure, the doctors tested the pacemaker and found that the top chambers of my mom's heart were 3% dependent on the pacemaker whereas the bottom chambers were 100% dependent. Since then, all four chambers are now 100% dependent on it. What a blessing that she got the pacemaker in when she did.

Needless to say, we didn't make the trip to St. Johns, nor did my mom drive with Emmy and me up to Eugene. It was hard leaving Arizona for Oregon when my mom seemed to be in such a fragile state, but she's doing better and I am so grateful for that.

Emmy and I went back to Delano with Bryant and finished packing up the house (even though Bryant was supposed to do it:) ) and followed Bryant in the moving truck to our new home in Eugene.

Our last breakfast in Delano with some of our favorite people: Lorenzo Morales, his daugher Melissa Ruiz and her daughter Natalie, who does not like having her picture taken. Natalie was Emmy's best friend in Delano and Emmy still talks about her everyday and screams with excitement every time she sees Natalie's picture up on her bookshelf.

Saying goodbye to our first home purchase. We put a lot of hard work into that house. Wish we could have painted the outside. And got some new windows. Bleh.

Next post: Settling into Eugene.

our first home purchase in review

2011-08-28T23:10:00.017-07:00

So I didn't get back to blogging as soon as I thought I would. But I certainly have my reasons. And I'll explain them over these next few posts....:

Packing always takes longer than you think it will. Actually, let me rephrase that. Packing always takes longer than Bryant thinks it will. I kept trying to tell him that we needed to be getting more done, but he thought we would have more time. As a result, I ended up packing nearly everything. Of course, Bryant was extremely busy with work and other responsibilities, but sadly for him, that didn't help me to refrain from getting after him over and over again. I was not very patient the last couple of weeks in Delano. The stress of moving, the heat and the discomforts of pregnancy were just a few of the reasons. I did apologize and, of course, Bryant was so kind about it as always.

Along with packing, I was trying to get the house ready to rent to a wonderful family from church. That meant finishing a few projects -- two of the biggest were the bathrooms that were in dire need of an update. I finished them just in time, but wasn't able to get to everything that I was hoping.
So, for fun, here are some before and after pictures of our house. (After searching through my pictures, turns out that I didn't get any pictures of most the rooms once they were finished. Oops. But you'll still be able to see that changes were made) This is what we were able to get done in one year, with limited resources -- the befores and afters:

master bathroom

hall bathroom

kitchen (still not the final product, but this is all i had)

dining room

front room (obviously another non-final product... can you tell i like to move the furniture around a lot?)

den/craft room (not a final product again)

this is a shot from our front room, looking into the kitchen/dining area. you can see that we tore out a wall that was a closet on one side and a pantry on the other. very awkward placement. the after picture was taken the week we moved in, hence all of the unpacked moving boxes, half-painted walls, etc.

front yard (new grass, trees, flower bed and stone walkway). we were pretty proud of this accomplishment, especially the walkway which isn't too visible from this shot. the flower bed, on the other hand, was a bit of an embarrassment. i'm a novice, what can i say?

As for the packing up of the truck, our wonderful friends of Delano did not disappoint. We originally planned to pack up on a Tuesday morning, but on Monday afternoon, changed the plan to Monday night at 8, so that the family who is now renting our house could use the moving truck and move in that same night. So the plan was to move one family in and one family out all at the same time. Not very nice of us, I know. But despite that, we had at least 30 people show up to help. Yes, you read that right -- thirty!!! What angels they were.

Next post: our trip to AZ.

moving... again

2011-07-22T08:12:00.003-07:00

This will be our fourth move in just 2 1/2 years of marriage.

And this is the second time packing up boxes and moving to a different state while pregnant -- though I am much further along this time around and, therefore, much more uncomfortable and worn out.

But, don't be fooled -- we are so excited!

This will be a fun change.

Blogging has been one of the furthest things from my mind this last month, so I apologize to the few who may still try to stay caught up on our lives through this blog.

So, to catch you up....

Back in March, Bryant applied for a postdoc position at the University of Oregon. Sometime in May, he was contacted with a date for a phone interview. Around mid-May he had the interview via skype, but didn't feel that it went well, mainly because our internet connection is awful and he kept getting disconnected. They let him know that they would get back to him soon and if they were interested, they would fly him out to Eugene for a second interview. Bryant wasn't holding out any hope.

Then just a couple of days later, Bryant got a call from the UofO letting him know that out of the 50 candidates he was one of the 2 that they really liked and went ahead and offered him the job over the phone.

So the first week of June we flew out to Eugene so Bryant could talk some more with them and so I could look at housing and see if we would like living there.

We fell in love with Eugene. It's GORGEOUS there!

Granted, I think we were a little fooled with the weather -- it was so sunny the entire time we were there. But we have been told that even though it rains a lot there, it's mostly just a light mist, the sun still comes out everyday and the rain does stop for awhile. We've never lived anywhere other than really sunny, hot places so this will be quite the change.

And now, in just two weeks, we'll be sitting in our rental house in Eugene, working once again at getting settled into a new place.

Wow.

That came fast.

This last weekend our ward from church here in Delano threw us a farewell party. These wonderful people here have been so kind to us and made us feel so special and loved. Delano hasn't been the easiest place for me to live so when Bryant and I started talking about the things we would miss from here, I pretty much just stuck with listing names of individuals. But let me tell you, that list was long. As was Bryant's.

We love the people here and will miss them so much.

Good thing keeping in touch these days is so much easier with e-mail, facebook, blogs, etc.

Gotta love the 21st century.

Time to get back to packing....

More to come soon.

Promise. :)

father's day

2011-06-21T08:43:00.002-07:00

These gifts were about the only thing that I could do for Bryant this Father's Day.

I had plans for more, but wore myself out over the weekend and woke up sick on Father's Day.

No yummy breakfast, no waiting hand and foot on my sweetheart.

But, of course, he didn't expect any of that and was just fine doing everything for himself.

I was able to make dinner for him so I'll at least give myself credit for that. :)

The preparation of these gifts was fun. Although I don't think Bryant really appreciated the

homemade craftiness of some of these. :)

I got the tie filled candy pot idea here.

And Emmy's "I love ewe Dad" craft here (with a few changes).

Bryant is always wanting some book or another so that's always a given.

But I think Emmy's favorite gift for her Dad was the mug with pictures of her on it.

Surprise. Surprise.

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful man in our home!

You make life so wonderful for us!

Thanks Daddy/Bryant!

Love, Emmy Mae & Taryn

family photo shoot

2011-06-20T09:23:00.008-07:00

We took the opportunity this weekend to do a mini family photo shoot. We grabbed our tripod and headed to an old, rundown building in Delano that we've been wanting to take pictures in front of for awhile now.

Even though it was awkward being on one of the main streets in town and having cars honk and people yell silly things at us,

it was worth it so get some fun shots.

Here's a look into Emmy's personality that shows through pretty well in many of these pics.

such a sweetheart!

i love the background in this picture!

cute daddy/daughter shot

telling mom one of her many stories. they sound so exciting! -- can't wait to be able to understand them one day.

she can be such a cheese ball

watching the train go by in the comfort of dad's arms. it was right in front of us so it was really loud. this is after bryant calmed her down a little.

so sassy!

It's never fun when you come to the realization that you make such mean/ugly faces so often.

Poor Bryant has been receiving this look probably on a daily basis since we've known each other, without me ever realizing it. It appears that this is my "Huh?" or "What?" face.

I'm really not mad at you, honey! Promise! :)

18 months

2011-06-19T22:25:00.007-07:00

Our little Emmy Mae turned 18 months this weekend.

We are so in love with this little girl (we can't wait to be equally in love with our little boy in September!).

She just gets more fun everyday.

The more her personality comes out, the more we're realizing how much she is

like her dad.

And in case you're wondering,

that's a good thing. :)

She has so much energy (although, I guess what 18 month old doesn't, right?),

loves

entertaining, socializing, exploring,

laughing, running, playing in the water, reading (yes!),

cleaning (double yes!), making animal sounds, watching Yo Gabba Gabba!, dancing,

looking at/playing with herself in the mirror,

watching videos/seeing pics of herself,

playing the piano, and much more.

And she's finally beginning to talk.

Let me rephrase that.

We're finally beginning to understand her -- somewhat.

This little girl has been gabbing for months. She has all the confidence

in the world when it comes to talking. She goes on and on and on, whether

anyone understands her or not.

And I love it.

But it has certainly been nice to finally begin to understand some of what she's saying.

She's even beginning to learn to say "Si!" for yes!

Hopefully her Spanish will get better as well.

We can't wait to see what a wonderful big sister she'll be.

We love you Emmy Mae,

more than you'll ever know.

a proud moment

2011-05-05T16:14:00.003-07:00

Last night as we were finishing up our nighttime routine, Emmy and I were sitting on the bed waiting for Bryant. Before settling down for the night, Bryant had to check one more thing in the house. As he headed for the bedroom door, Emmy decided she would follow her dad. She got off the bed and hurried after him.

-- A little interjection here: Bryant tends to leave drawers, cupboards, doors, etc. open after he uses them. Thankfully, he's been getting better with my nagging. But he's still working on it. --

As she approached the bedroom door, Emmy passed in front of Bryant's chest of drawers. Not surprisingly, the bottom one was open a couple of inches. Emmy was almost past the drawers,

when she stopped,

turned her head to face them,

and pushed the bottom drawer closed before continuing her chase after her dad.

Need it be said that it was a proud moment in my life?

aching back and throbbing feet

2011-05-04T20:15:00.002-07:00

I had an absolutely wonderful day -- a nice change from yesterday.

What was so great about it?

I cleaned. ALL. day.

Pathetic?

Maybe to some. But I've been needing a day like this for awhile.

I woke up somewhat early (which can be a challenge when pregnant), had a meaningful scripture study in a quiet house (it makes such a huge difference to start the day off right) and then finally decided to get a start on my spring cleaning. I know, a little late. But it was still enjoyable. I can't remember the last time that I cleaned out my closet and shoe collection. I've honestly had some of those items for more than 10 years. Yikes!

Emmy is turning out to be such a wonderful little helper. She likes to help unload the dishwasher, put the clean, folded clothes away, put trash in the trash can and even wipe up spills. She's such a sweetie. I hope her appreciation for cleaning continues through the years. What a help that would be!

I am finally showered and resting my aching back with my throbbing feet propped up on a cushioned ottoman.

What a satisfying feeling at the end of a productive day.

blowout

2011-05-03T20:33:00.003-07:00

I usually head out to Bakersfield or Tulare/Visalia every week to do some shopping: grocery stores, Target, Joann's, etc.

Today was my day to do some shopping.

After getting a few things done this morning around the house, Emmy and I packed into the car and headed out to Bako. As usual, within about 10-15 minutes, Emmy was asleep and I was enjoying a quiet ride and reflection.

A few miles outside of Bakersfield, my tire pressure light came on and then immediately I started to notice instability in the car's movements. Remembering my dad's advice on driving that he so regularly gave (and for which I will always be grateful), I took my foot off the gas and refrained from stepping on the brake. I moved out of the fast lane, but continued on my way. After another couple of miles, I had a complete blowout.

My car was jerked to my right hand side, and I had to swerve back to the left to avoid being thrown into a semi. I looked in my left side mirror and saw my tire rolling off the freeway.

I continued to slow down without braking and continued for another mile to the first exit that I could take. I really didn't want to just pull off on the side of the freeway with Emmy in the car and be stuck there on a hot day, pregnant, not knowing what to do.

Once I got off the freeway, I called Bryant (with no luck -- he was in a meeting), then my dad (once again, no luck -- he was likely working on a patient) and then my mom who thankfully answered. You can always depend on your mom.

She was able to calm my nerves and I pulled into a toyota dealership that was, thankfully just a mile down the road from the exit that I had taken.

What a blessing.

I wish I had taken a picture of my wheel, but this is pretty close to what it looked like.

After an hour in the toyota dealership and then another hour at the tire shop, we weren't able to get much shopping done.

But I am so grateful that we were okay.

the coast for my birthday

2011-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

After mentioning to Bryant a few things that I wanted for my birthday (they all seemed to be quite expensive: a new bed, a dyson vacuum, new eyeglasses, etc) I finally just told him that I just wanted to get a break from our lives in Delano and go somewhere.

He planned a quick trip to the coast -- just what I wanted. It was a little bit colder and windier than I expected/hoped for, but it was a beautiful afternoon on Saturday (April 30th).

Here are some pics of our weekend:

Morro Rock in the background

We went to a kite festival on Morro Beach. I was hoping to enjoy a few hours relaxing on the beach, but it was WAY too windy for that. I guess we should have realized that since there was a kite festival going on there. But Emmy had a BLAST! She loved the flags that were in the ground, flapping ferociously in the wind.

Pointing out some of the kites to Emmy. They were pretty impressive.

After having lunch in Cambria, we drove up north a little further to see the elephant seals. Emmy's favorite animal noise to make is the elephant (although the dog is inching it's way into first place) so it was really confusing for her to hear us say ELEPHANT seal yet for the seals to not sound anything like her elephants.

There were around 4500 elephant seals on the beach -- visible from the road. Quite impressive! We were disappointed that none of the adult males were there. They weigh around 5000lbs and measure 15ft long compared to their female counterparts that are about 1800lbs, measuring around 8ft.

We got pretty excited to be able to catch a few glimpses of a gray whale off in the distance -- maybe 500ft or so off shore.

On top of our fun weekend, Bryant still managed to get me a gift that I asked for:

tinted car windows.

He's such a sweet husband.

Thanks babe!

easter weekend

2011-04-24T21:51:00.008-07:00

Friday:

Clothes shopping in Tulare for baby boy. I had Bryant pick out all of the clothes for a couple of reasons:

1. Bryant is pretty opinionated when it comes to dressing our kids... especially our boy. I knew he would have fun doing this.

2. I thought it would be nice for him to see how much it actually costs to dress a kid. This way, he'll think twice next time before questioning the amount of money I spend on an outfit for our kids. :)

Saturday:

An early start to our morning.

Bryant got up extra early, made muffins and got a few items together and took Emmy and me (without telling me beforehand what was going on) to a nearby lake for breakfast and an Easter message. It was a beautiful morning and a lovely way to start off our Easter celebration.

Easter Egg Hunt at our friend, Melissa's house with two other families and their kids. Melissa's house is out in the country so she has a large, beautiful, quiet lot. It was perfect for an Easter egg hunt. Emmy LOVED playing outdoors with all of the kids.

Before Saturday, we thought we'd do a trial run Easter egg hunt. We didn't want her to show up to the hunt and be totally confused as to what she was supposed to be doing. However, once she learned that there was candy in the eggs, there was not much hunting. She would simply shake the egg, open it up, sit down on the grass and stuff her mouth full of the egg's contents. Once she was finished, she'd get up and go find another egg and repeat the process. While the rest of the kids were running around, grabbing their eggs and meeting back up together to show off their loot, here's what Emmy was doing:

more pictures from Saturday:

After we got back home, we decided to work on the yard some. I even started planting flowers! We have SO much more to do so maybe in a few months I'll post some pics on our progress.

Sunday:

Church.

Then dinner with our wonderful Bishop and his family, along with the four missionaries serving here in Delano. Bishop Casey's daughter, her husband and their 3 kids were there as well so the grandparents put on an Easter egg hunt for the grandkids plus Emmy.

Emmy did not depart from her one egg shake/open/eat routine. She only got about 8 eggs while the other kids got over 20. As long as she's happy, I guess.

I'm just glad she's asleep now and not crying at me for more candy. Hopefully by morning she won't remember all of the easter eggs that were lying around the house when she went to bed and will have mysteriously disappeared by the time she wakes up in the morning.

"it's definitely a boy"

2011-04-20T21:53:00.004-07:00

Does anyone else find it entertaining the amount of information that women confidently share with expectant mothers?

Not that some of it isn't very helpful.

Because I can think of many women who have shared things with me that have helped me as an expectant and now-mother.

But sometimes the information you get is purely entertaining.

Take this current pregnancy for example.

The women at church have been quite forthright in sharing their opinions on what gender this baby would be. Most actually felt as we did -- it would be a boy. About 99% of the women who shared their thoughts on this subject were the Spanish-speaking women of our church. They all said the same thing which was interesting, though the end result wasn't always the same.

During the last hour of church, when all the women are together in one class,

Emmy tends to be pretty fussy.

Why?

Because it's her nap time.

It's at this time that these women come up to me and say, in Spanish, "I think you're going to be having a boy. Yes, it will definitely be a boy, because Emmy is crying so much. She wouldn't be whining this much if you were going to be having a girl."

But then another Spanish-speaking woman came up to me just 30 minutes later after just finding out that I was expecting and confidently said, "You're definitely going to be having a girl because Emmy is crying so much. She'd only be whining that much if she was having a little sister."

Hmmm....

I can't help but think that most of those women were just lucky in their guess.

Either way, it's true.

It's definitely a boy.

And we are so excited.

When we saw the proof in the ultrasound and told Emmy that she'd be having a baby brother, she looked somewhat terrified. In those instances, she always looks to her mom for assurance that everything is okay.

I nodded my head and told her that having a baby brother was a good thing. She slowly nodded back in response, appearing to still not be sure if she liked the idea of the whole thing.

Hopefully soon enough she'll be convinced otherwise.

growing up

2011-04-16T10:44:00.003-07:00

I took this picture yesterday and couldn't help but comment to myself,

"Where did my little girl go?"

family craft time

2011-04-11T09:57:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was such a refreshing day. Sundays usually are since we get a break from our busy daily schedules and are spiritually uplifted, but yesterday was especially nice. Bryant has been extra busy the last week, including being in New Orleans for a conference, so Sunday afternoon we finally got a chance for some family time.

We decided to make it meaningful. We wanted to do an activity in which Emmy could play a big part in as well. So we decided on making a craft for our little girl.

We had the best of intentions to include Emmy in all of it. We laid cardboard out over our floor because pens, markers and paint would be involved and we wanted to protect our very expensive concrete floors. :) Emmy helped Bryant tape pieces of cardboard together and doodled, or maybe just scribbled, on the cardboard in front of where she sat. Bryant and I set to work on cutting out bunny shapes of cardboard scraps. Then came the paint. First chance Emmy got she stuck her hand in the paint and brought it straight back to her mouth. Luckily the paint was non-toxic, but Bryant quickly stirred up a mixture of cool whip and red food coloring for her to paint with. After about 30 minutes of painting her body, Emmy proceeded to eat her "paint" mixture, followed by licking the bowl, markers that she had dipped into her paint, and any body part she could get her mouth on. She certainly savored every drop of her special paint.

The craft took much longer than we had anticipated -- 3 hours if I'm not mistaken -- but Emmy appreciated the end result. And that's what matters.

** I got this craft idea from a blog that I came across awhile back: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2010/10/apple-sensory-matching.html

at the park

2011-04-09T17:56:00.003-07:00

loving the slide.... the first time she went down, she yelled out, "wee!!!" she didn't learn that from me or any other kid for that matter. she just came about it naturally.

as soon as she came down the slide and her feet hit the ground, she would turn back around to the slide, try to climb up it and say, "wee?"

although her face doesn't show it, she loves playing in the sand.

not a huge fan of the swing....

except when random kids come over and swing with her.

yet not a fan of random kids wanting to take pictures with her.

an outing without daddy

2011-04-08T09:35:00.003-07:00

What a nice surprise it was to find a blog post from Bryant! A rare, although very much welcomed, occurence.

While Bryant was enjoying his "thunder gumbo" experience in New Orleans, Emmy and I were trying to keep ourselves entertained so as not to drive each other crazy with zero time away from each other for 3 days.

The following is part of an e-mail I wrote to Bryant yesterday updating him on our activities:

emmy and i just got home from an eventful day. we walked around the mall quite a bit, but were disappointed to not find any play areas -- at least not any free ones or ones that she was big enough to ride. we left the mall through target (remember that target opens up into the mall? -- love it!) and emmy was ready to get out of the stroller and push it herself. her favorite part of target was grabbing rolls of wrapping paper -- holding 5 at once -- and walking up and down aisles.

after target, we headed to baja fresh for lunch. besides running back into the kitchen and cash register area, she did quite well. nearly everyone there couldn't keep their eyes off of her and had to walk up to our table and tell me how adorable she is. people really are so sweet to her. she didn't eat much of her lunch -- surprise, surprise. i couldn't finish mine either for some reason.

while finishing up, the rain began to fall harder, but we decided to brave the weather and head back to the car. we drove a small distance and parked a little closer to the theatre and then headed back out in the rain. emmy didn't mind the raindrops at all -- in fact, i think she quite liked them. we checked out the movies and times. turns out we were 30 minutes late for rango, and the next showing was 3 hours later. that was the only movie that i thought would be fun for the two of us to see so i decided against the movies. i think that was for the best because, as i told you, she quite enjoyed walking around on the wet ground outside, admiring the fountain.

she was mesmerized by the yellow dots/speed bumps on the sidewalk. do you know which ones i'm talking about? anyway, she walked back and forth over those dots numerous times before i took her hand and drug her to the bookstore. she was somewhat of a terror in there, but a cute terror, of course. :) we went back to the children's section and she took book after book off the shelf and opened and "read" a page of two before throwing it on the ground and grabbing for the next one. every once in a while she would get extra excited about a random book and run around the store with it babbling in a loud, excited voice. people there didn't seem to think she was nearly as cute as they did at lunch. perhaps because they go to the bookstore in hopes of finding peace and quiet while they peruse through their favorite books/magazines. after awhile, emmy started working on a diaper and stinking up the place so i drug her out of there, kicking and screaming, to change her stinky diaper and head back home. once we were out of the store, she somehow convinced me with her unintelligible babbling that if i put her down she would be a good girl and walk nicely with me to the car. but once i gave in and put her down, she bolted back inside the bookstore. you can imagine how fun the walk back to the car was. :) and can i just say that her diaper was once gooey, stinky mess! and i only had 3 wipes. somehow i managed, but i couldn't help but wonder what you would have done in that situation, with the number of wipes you use whenever you change her diapers.... :)

she fell asleep on the drive back home, but woke up when i took her out of the car to bring her in the house so it looks like that means on nap for me. dang it.

thunder gumbo

2011-04-07T22:30:00.003-07:00

NOTE: Don't look at the picture below until you first read the post. It should make for a better effect.... Bryant here. I know, you were probably hoping to hear from Taryn. She's definitely better at this blog thing. But I'm away from home right now, and writing here is a way for me to miss my family. Plus I have a fun story to share. Let me start with this question: who would have thought that deciding on a place to eat seafood gumbo in New Orleans (aka NOLA or Nawlins) would be such a difficult, time-consuming task? Well, after about 40 minutes or so of walking downtown enjoying the echo of live jazz off the buildings and learning (the unfortunate way) to avoid Bourbon Street at all costs, I still didn't find a restaurant that looked inviting enough for me. Some were too crowded, others not crowded enough. Some too dark, and others just too expensive. So I wound up back at the hotel, still hungry. I asked the concierge, "where can I get some affordable seafood gumbo close by?" Without hesitation she replied, "head up St. Charles, turn left at Poydras, walk three blocks and you'll see Mother's on your left". That quick of a recommendation from a local, not too mention the hunger rumbling in my belly, was motivation enough for me. Mother's wasn't at all fancy, just like I like it. A guy at the door in a t-shirt and jeans points you to the menus and where to order, at a cashier register. Plenty of lighting, a friendly atmosphere, a busy kitchen, and--best of all--no beads; Mother's was my kind of place. After ordering a bowl of seafood gumbo, a dinner salad, and a glass of lemonade I found a seat near the door when guess who walks in? I'll give you a hint: "Shazam, Whataburguer sends fifty dollars to Suns charities!" If that doesn't do it for you, go ahead now and take a peek now at the photo below. That's right, Dan Majerle! Aka "Thunder Dan", he was with a bunch of other dudes all about a foot shorter than him. Quickly I texted Taryn to tell her. She texted back, "go talk to him!" I waited for him to order. I know, very polite of me. With a beer in hand, he slowly walked in my direction while waiting for his friends to finish ordering. I made eye contact, darted up, put out my hand and said, "Thunder Dan!" (at this point he kindly shook my hand but appeared a bit startled). I continued, "I'm from Phoenix and grew up watching you play!" He smiled and nodded (at this point a tad less startled, I think) and said "cool". "You mind if we take a quick picture?" I asked. "Sure man let's do it" he answered with a bit more enthusiasm (maybe because he was thinking, "maybe this guy will leave me alone after the pic"). We didn't say much after the picture. I didn't really know what to say :) But he was very nice. And I had fun texting the picture to Taryn and to my brothers. If there were a Whataburger nearby, I might have even gone there to celebrate afterward. Meet a childhood sports hero in an unlikely place. Check. One less "to do" on life's list for me....

(yes he's that much taller than me)

a friend for emmy

2011-03-16T21:19:00.008-07:00

The morning sickness has finally passed (crossing my fingers that I' not saying this too soon). I just wish the breakouts would stop now. (I feel like I'm in my teenage years again.) And hopefully my energy levels will pick up again.

I'm in the second trimester now, but this pregnancy seems to be quite different than my pregnancy with Emmy. I've comfortably let most know that, in my opinion, this baby will be a boy. We'll know in another month if that's true. We'll be happy with either a boy or a girl. We just hope Emmy will be excited. She craves friendship. Anytime anyone is within earshot and eyesight, Emmy is screaming at them, trying to get their attention. She loves spending time with people. She's such a sweet girl. Not always sweet to little kids though, we're finding.

Hopefully having a little sibling will help her in that way.

Springtime is fast approaching and I am so excited! Now that I'm feeling better I think we'll start planting flowers! Can't wait!

monk

2011-03-10T11:33:00.008-07:00

Bryant and I have been watching episodes of Monk for the last few months. Emmy has taken a liking to the show -- mainly to the music. Every time that music comes on at the beginning of the show and the end, she does a special dance, consisting mostly of bobbing her head forward and back. It's adorable.

Monday was our first attempt at weaning Emmy of her pacifier. It hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but naps are certainly harder to achieve without it. Yesterday Emmy was fighting her nap. Luckily she fell asleep on our mid-morning walk so she wasn't completely miserable. By the time 8:30 rolled around, she was out. I got home from a meeting at the church at 9:00, spent about 30 minutes chatting with Bryant before Emmy woke up crying. We brought her out into the front room and she soon fell back asleep in Mom's arms. We decided we'd turn on an episode of Monk.

Bryant pulled it up on the laptop and started the episode. The show always plays for a few minutes before the song comes on. The second the song started, Bryant began imitating Emmy's regular Monk dance. We both giggled, thinking of her cuteness. And then, within seconds of the song starting, Emmy awoke from her deep sleep. dancing.

Her face was first confused as she started bobbing her head back and forth, trying to assess what was going on, rising from her sleeping position. But then as the sleeping dust began to clear from her head, a big smile began to form on her sleepy face and the head bobbing got more sure and sharp. She was awake and happy to be dancing to Monk in a matter of a few seconds.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Maybe you had to be there.

the last month

2011-02-27T19:40:00.005-07:00

I have been in a blogging funk, if you haven't noticed. And it's not for lack of things to write about. Mainly just a lack of desire to sit down and do it. So here goes... time to bite the bullet.

A month ago, Bryant's good friend and old roommate, Aaron got married in Las Vegas. So the three of us packed into the car and made the trip to Sin City. The wedding was beautiful and the bride gorgeous. Bryant was the mc and dj which made for some fun. And it was so much fun seeing friends from our ASU days. The only down side was that it was all in Vegas. I don't mean to offend any of you Vegas fans, but as I said to Bryant as we were leaving the outskirts of the city, "I would be perfectly happy if we never made another trip to Vegas again." Bryant tried to convince me that had we stayed somewhere other than Circus Circus that I would probably feel different. Let's just say that if you've never stayed at Circus Circus, count yourself lucky. Blah.

(pics taken at the Las Vegas Temple, waiting for the bride and groom to come out. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of the newlyweds.)

Then just a few weeks ago, my parents came out to visit for a weekend! It was lovely! They even brought out some furniture that my sister (thanks Chantel!) was needing to get rid of and my parents also threw in a couch of their own to give us. Our somewhat empty house filled up quickly over the weekend, although I still need Bryant to move everything into its proper place.

It was so nice having my parents come out. Whenever we go to Arizona, Emmy is just a different baby. She's out of her element and around way more people every day than she's used to. So this time, it only took Emmy a few minutes to warm up and she was head over heals for both Grandma and Papa Platt while they were here. One of the many things that I love about my parents is that they never make you feel like you have to entertain them. That helped us out a lot since there's not a ton to do out here. They are perfectly content with just hanging out and visiting. I love that. So that's what we did for most of the weekend. We made a quick trip to Visalia for lunch and a stroll through downtown and then they headed home on Sunday after church. It was too short of a trip and hopefully they'll come back soon! I'm still so mad at myself for not having taken a single picture while they were here. I know I'll continue to regret that. Dang it Taryn!

And then the following weekend, Bryant had a presentation at Stanford with a colleague so we headed to the bay area for a few days. We rented a car since it was a business trip and so we wouldn't have to put the wear and tear on our car. We ended up renting a minivan. And let me tell you -- I LOVED it! We only have one kid, but I can definitely see the benefits of such a car.

I aspire to one day be a minivan mom. Judge me if you want. But it's the truth.

Back to our trip.... It rained the entire time which we weren't prepared for -- another not so smart move on my part... I guess on Bryant's too. :) -- so we stayed indoors for most of the trip. After Palo Alto, we headed to San Francisco where the rain continued. We stayed right down town and were able to enjoy some lovely food. Bryant finally got his Asian fill (I'm rarely willing to eat Thai, Chinese, etc.) so I got my fill of clam chowder in a bread bowl. Yum! On our last day there, we decided to go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We were lucky enough to only have to pay half price since there were parts that were under renovation. But we had to miss out on a big portion of the museum as well which was a bummer.

Usually at the end of trips I'm looking forward to getting back home. But this trip was so short and so enjoyable that I could have spent a couple of more days in San Francisco. I would love to live in a city like San Francisco at some point in our lives -- preferrably sooner than later.

Maybe someday. It doesn't hurt to dream, right?

Looks like I've been in a picture-taking-funk as well. These were the only pictures we took on our trip to the bay area. :(

I'll most likely continue in this blogging funk for another while, but I'll certainly work on getting better at taking pictures.

just because

2011-01-20T09:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of Emmy,

just because I think she's cute.

the 3 best things that have happened in my life

2011-01-14T16:51:00.001-07:00

1. Getting married to the love of my life.

2. Having the cutest and sweetest baby girl.

3. Having a dishwasher installed after having to hand wash dishes for the last 7 months.

** The fact that we got this dishwasher on clearance for only $69 may or may not be the 4th best thing.

one hard day

2011-01-12T21:32:00.003-07:00

Today has been rough to say the least. Both Bryant and I woke up in the middle of the night sick to our stomachs. A little later in the morning, our bodies began aching and our skin hurting.

Emmy had an appointment with her pediatrician today in Visalia -- a 45 minute drive for us.

About 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave to take her, I decided that I just couldn't do it. Thankfully, Bryant was willing to step up.

Turns out that Emmy has an ear infection.

Her doctor said that we can't give her any bottles because it will make the infection worse.

We figured that a pacifier wasn't good either so decided today was the day to break her of both.

That lasted about 3 hours.

I have never heard or seen Emmy scream like that.

She was in pain (ear infection, molars trying to pop through, and probably a stomachache as well). She was tired.

I gave in and popped the pacifier in her screaming mouth. She is now sleeping soundly in our bed.

How do you parents do this? When both parents are so sick and in so much pain that they want and need to stay in bed all day, how do you manage to take care of your kid/s still?

We are praying that tomorrow we feel better.

And that Emmy does too.

a random act of kindness

2011-01-09T21:39:00.002-07:00

Last night we finally arrived back home in Delano after spending just over 3 weeks in Arizona for Christmas. Though we had a lot of fun seeing everyone and eating yummy food, we decided that 3 weeks is just too long of a vacation. I never thought I would say that. We're glad to be back home and are ready to get back into our routine.

The best thing about coming home was when we pulled into our driveway at 7:30pm and found that someone (or some people rather) had, unknowingly to us, spent their Saturday working on our yard.

To really appreciate what had been done, you need to have seen the way our front yard has looked for the last three months. Three months ago Bryant and a few others spent a Saturday yanking out all of the nasty juniper bushes that had taken over the front yard. What was left was a hideously uneven dirt lot full of thick, 40-year-old noxious roots. It would have taken Bryant at least an entire Saturday to do (probably more).

Instead, when we pulled up we found that all of the roots had been removed, stones had been sifted out of the mess and our dirt yard had been raked flat. I don't know if you can imagine our gratitude we felt for these uncommonly kind helpers. Thanks to them, our yard is just about ready for grass!

Even though we didn't know who had done this kindness for us, we knew it was someone from our church. We asked everyone we could think of, but their only response was, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

We love our ward family here in Delano.

hours before 2011

2010-12-31T19:14:00.002-07:00

I've never been that into New Year's Eve. I can't remember ever having a fun one. And I've never been into the whole resolution thing. Last year I got a little more excited about the resolutions that I made, but my plan wasn't very clear and by February I had already failed.

But this year is different (fingers crossed). I'm very excited about my resolutions. I have really been feeling a need to improve in so many areas in my life. I know it all has to come little by little and I think my goals are achievable. I'll spend some of tomorrow morning making my plan final. In sum, I am quite excited for 2011.

As for Bryant, I just asked him if he has any resolutions in mind. He looked at me with a blank stare, shook his head and immediately turned his mind back to what he was doing before I asked.

I think Emmy is probably pretty excited for 2011 as well. This is the year that she'll learn to talk! And she'll also start sleeping in her crib all by herself! There will be many other things that she'll learn as well, but I think I'm most excited about those two things.

our christmases of 2010

2010-12-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

We're so grateful that Bryant has a job that allows him to take a few weeks off for Christmas so that we can come back to Arizona to spend the holidays with our wonderful families and be with friends as well.

That said, it sure can be tiring having 4 Christmases. Good thing our families make it enjoyable.

Christmas Eve with the Platts

To keep tradition, some of us made our family santa cookies on Christmas Eve Day. This year I helped with the eyes. That was it. These cookies are a lot of work so I was grateful that my sisters were willing to do more work than I was. The kids enjoyed helping out as well.

This year we also decided to give my mom a break for once and each of the girls took on assignments for our turkey/ham dinner. Everything turned out so yummy! But I think the best part was seeing how much my mom enjoyed and appreciated the break from having most of the responsibility for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Following dinner the grandkids were in for a treat! Santa made a visit to our house and had each of the kids sit on his lap, snap a picture and leave with a gift. Even though Emmy was not very nice to Santa, he was quite nice to her.

After Santa left, we began our annual white elephant gift exchange. But rather than silly gifts, these are all awesome gifts. No one walks away disappointed and it's always so much fun and full of laughter.

Then the kids were off to bed so Santa could come fill the house with wonderful gifts.

(Emmy sitting in her cousin Ryan's gift from Santa)

Christmas morning was spent watching the grandkids open gifts from Santa. Eating breakfast. Then Bryant and I enjoyed our own little gift exchange in our bedroom while Emmy napped.

2 Christmases down. 2 more to go.

By 2pm we'd packed up the car and were headed to the valley.

Christmas Night with the Jensens

Christmas night is always spent with all of Bryant's siblings and his mom. This year some of the grandkids participated in the Nativity while Bryant read from Luke and the rest of us sang some hymns.

Following Grandma Jensen gave all of the grandkids wonderful presents and then the adults had a white elephant gift exchange while eating yummy cinnamon rolls and drinking hot chocolate.

(P.S. Thanks Jenn for letting me steal a few pics from your blog. I knew you'd be okay with it so I didn't even ask. :) )

Boxing Day (Day After Christmas) with the Jensens

On this day we got together once again with all of Bryant's siblings and his dad and his dad's wife, Jackie (who is from England, hence the Boxing Day celebration). We had another yummy dinner, along with singing Christmas songs and watching the grandkids open up more gifts from Papa Jensen and Jackie.

emmy learning "soft"

2010-12-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

This video shows how Emmy first started learning the concept of "soft".

happy 1st birthday emmy mae!!!

2010-12-17T22:34:00.007-07:00

I can't believe that our little Emmy Mae is 1! When I checked my e-mail this morning it was hard for me to read the subject line from my weekly babycenter.com emails. Instead of the usual "Your baby is 11 months and 3 weeks", it read, "Your toddler is one." No matter what an official baby website tells me, this girl is still our little baby.

Because we haven't done any of our Christmas shopping, neither had we done any of Emmy's birthday shopping until this morning. We woke up, made a trip to Target to get some cupcake mixes and a gift for the birthday girl.

We spent most of the afternoon baking and decorating cupcakes.

And then at 7:00pm tonight, both of our families got together at my sister Christy's home to celebrate Emmy's milestone with cupcakes and presents. A huge thanks to all of our family for taking the time at this busy time of year to celebrate with us. Emmy sure loved having everyone there who was able to come and missed those who weren't.

She loved having her very own cupcake although she decided it would be more fun to try to eat it without hands.

I hope this next year doesn't go by so fast. But I think I can at least say that we enjoyed every moment with this angel this past year.

Some fun facts about Emmy at one year:

* her first word, besides mama and dada, (at least that we've deciphered) is "soft". she does this really cute motion with her hand and acts like she's touching your face and says 'sah sah'.

* she receives regular comments on her wide array of facial expressions. she is so expressive and changes from one mood to the next very quickly.

* when emmy was in the womb, bryant would often ask me if i felt like i knew what her personality would be like. i would always say that she would be curious, an explorer and very sweet. i don't know how i knew that, but i really felt she would be that way. and at one year, she really is. she is such a curious little girl and is so determined. once she has something in her mind, it's nearly impossible to distract her from it. and yet she is the sweetest little thing!

* she loves to cuddle. :)

* as of right now, it appears that she definitely got her hair from her dad. i love those curls!!!

* sit down for this next one. at one year, emmy still sleeps with us. despite what some might think, we've loved having emmy in our bed with us. she's such a morning baby. the second she wakes up she has a huge smile on her face and is chattering about - what we must assume to be - the most wonderful dream she had the night before. however, i think it's about time for her to transition to her own bed. in the morning we wake up on the edge of our bed with emmy sprawled sideways, her head in her dad's ribs and feet in her mom's or vice versa.

* one of her favorite activities is to switch items from one drawer to the other. right now she favors dad's sock drawer and mom's jeans drawer. every night i find multiple pairs of bryant's socks stuffed in my bottom drawer and the sock drawer replaced with multiple random items. brings a smile to my face every time.

* her favorite room is dad's office -- full of books with tasty pages.

* her favorite song is the itsy bitsy spider.

* her favorite book is goodnight moon.

* she LOVES going outside. although her love for running out in the street is a little concerning for mom.

* her mom and dad can't imagine life without her.

emmy's blanket

2010-12-15T18:59:00.004-07:00

Awhile back, when my mother-in-law first loaned me her sewing machine, I decided that I was going to make a blanket for Emmy. I didn't know how long it would take me, but I decided that I would have one made, at the latest, by her first birthday. My first attempt was horrid. I only got a few steps into it before I realized that I was far too under-qualified to make the type of blanket that I wanted to. My second attempt was better, but I didn't get much further. I gave up mainly because of time constraints. But I decided yesterday was the day. Why? Because Emmy's 1st birthday is in two days.

I am happy to say that I completed my goal and sewed my first ever baby blanket BEFORE Emmy Mae turned one.

Perhaps most would rate their success by how nicely the blanket turned out. I'm afraid if that were the case, I may not be as pleased with the turnout as I am right now. Luckily for me, I'm measuring my success by how much Emmy likes it.

And as you can see, it was a huge success. :)

christmas parties

2010-12-11T23:12:00.004-07:00

The highlight of our weekend of Christmas parties:

Emmy pulling over the Christmas tree at Bryant's work party.

(Luckily Bryant is superman and jumped out of his seat and caught the tree before it came down on top of her.) Ornaments were flung everywhere and an uncomfortable silence followed. Luckily, Emmy started crying and that snapped everyone back into the "aww. poor girl. she is such a sweetheart. let's help her out." mode.

I'm always amazed at how kind people are when it comes to Emmy. It being Christmas time helps as well. Maybe most of the people having had a few drinks by that point was also essential. Needless to say, I was glad Emmy was okay and that with everyones help, the tree was back up in no time with all of the ornaments unbroken.

We'll just have to see if Emmy is invited back next year.

the goods and bads of lately

2010-12-07T23:20:00.006-07:00

good: emmy is finally getting over being sick again. she had some kind of respiratory infection. people from church were so incredibly sweet when they noticed that emmy and i weren't there sunday before last and bryant informed them of emmy's sickness. starting that day and continuing into the week, we got house visits, concerned phone calls, e-mails, offers to bring certain things by to help our little girl out. i learned a great lesson about love.

bad: the bakersfield area (which includes delano) has "the worst air in the nation" and may very well be playing a part in emmy's sickness. our little girl better not end up with asthma because we lived here! otherwise bryant will never hear the end of it. ;)

good: christmas is in just 2 1/2 weeks! soon we'll be on our way to see family! can't wait!!!

bad: we haven't done ANY christmas shopping which will no doubt lead to last-minute and regretful buys.

good: we made christmas cards this year!

bad: they've been ready to be sent out for a few days now, but i have to wait for a reimbursement check to buy the stamps to send them. hopefully it comes soon so they get to people before christmas -- i don't want the cards to be a waste.

good: i finally made time to make some laptop cases for both bryant and myself. AND i'm noticing some improvement in my sewing skills.

bad: my sewing skills are still pretty terrible.

good: i realized last week that i still had a joann's gift card that i bought for a girl as a gift (but ended up getting her something else) and could get some items i've been waiting to purchase to start in on some others crafts.

bad: after being rung up at the register and swiping my gift card, two employees, a manager and some man from india on the phone told me that no money had ever registered to the card. wasted money. i ended up leaving the store empty handed. :(

good: i've been thoroughly enjoying baking to christmas music in the kitchen.

bad: i think i've gained 10 pounds in the last two weeks.

good: the new year is approaching and so are some serious goals (eg, starting a regular workout routine).

bad: i've never been good at sticking to my new year resolutions. here's to hoping 2011 will produce a better me. :)

thanksgiving day

2010-11-25T22:34:00.005-07:00

We woke up extra early this morning to take some family pictures. We finally invested in a tripod so we could get some pictures of the three of us. We found some beautiful walnut groves and headed out there just after sunrise. Poor Emmy. She was so tired and it turned out to be much colder than we were expecting. We kept the photo shoot short as a result. But Emmy was still shivering with all of her layers on. Poor thing.

We had our Thanksgiving meal this year with the Bliss family in Bakersfield. As Bryant would so cleverly put it, "Our Thanksgiving was 'blissful'". :) I hope yours was too.

pre-thanksgiving

2010-11-24T20:58:00.007-07:00

Once again, I've let a few weeks pass without posting. I know I've been busy... but what with? It's hard to remember.

A couple of weeks ago, Bryant flew to Virginia for a training. I was not looking forward at all to staying home with just Emmy and me so thankfully it worked out to where we were able to go to Arizona for a week. And then just two days before we were to leave, my mom's dad was in a terrible car accident so I was able to get there at a good time. I got to see my grandad in the hospital and see my grandma and most of my mom's siblings. Family sure is wonderful. I didn't get to spend as much time with my mom as we had planned because she was at the hospital most of the time, but it was wonderful to spend time with all of the family that I could, in-laws included. :) Thankfully Grandad Day is getting stronger and doing better.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We couldn't hold out until then so we decided to have a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I spent most of the late morning and afternoon preparing. The Christmas music was playing and the festive holiday spirit was tangible in our home. It was lovely. Emmy was getting a little frustrated that I was in the kitchen for so long so we decided to take a quick break and head to the park (or the school playground by our house). Bryant had a late lunch there while Emmy and I tried out the swings. Turns out she hates them. The second we start swinging, she starts screaming. I'm sure as she gets a little older her fears will fade. Let's hope anyway. She'll have a rough time in elementary and middle school if they don't.

Instead, she had fun playing in the grass and kicking the ball with Mom and Dad.

Our dinner was so yummy! We've decided that we need to have this meal much more than just once a year. I even made pumpkin roll for the first time and it was a success! Something I was not expecting at all!

I love this time of year!

rewind please

2010-11-02T23:30:00.002-07:00

Today was a breath of much needed fresh air.

After casting our votes and turning in our ballots, we headed to the park to enjoy the lovely weather and a yummy lunch. Bryant and I sat at a picnic table to eat our sandwiches while Emmy played on the grass and enjoyed stuffing her mouth full of tasty leaves. Yum.

I couldn't get over how lovely the weather was. It made me wish that I lived in a place where I could take Emmy to the park every day. It just started cooling down here so we've been enjoying the outdoors a bit more. And it's been wonderful.

At the end of lunch, we danced to the music blaring from a house across the street and got some cute videos of Emmy. Do you ever stop thinking that your kid is the cutest thing ever?

Bryant went back to work and Emmy and I went back home to a kitchen full of dirty dishes that awaited me. But even the loads of dirty dishes with no dishwasher couldn't ruin my day because in just a few more hours, I would be going on a date -- the first in 7 months -- with the Mr. Thanks to a wonderful couple we know from church and Bryant's work ,who live in Bakersfield, we were able to leave Emmy in trusted hands and have some fun!

As soon as Bryant got off work, we headed out. I wanted to stop at Costco to buy movie tickets since they're cheaper there, but we were short on time. So we dropped Emmy off -- which ended up being much harder for all 3 of us than we had anticipated -- and then headed to the movies. With a few extra minutes, we ran into Baja Fresh and ordered dinner, stuffed it into my purse and headed to buy our tickets.

Lucky for us, $5 Tuesdays started at the theater today! Good thing we didn't make it to Costco otherwise we would have been ripped off. I love when thing work out like that!

When we got into our theater, I felt a little guilty that we snuck food in to eat. I wanted to explain to the few others who were in there that we just didn't have time to eat anywhere else. The more we got into our meal, the worse I felt. Bryant ordered fish tacos and they were making the entire theater smell like fish! Poor people. No one yelled at us though so I guess it wasn't a big deal.

We loved the movie! If anyone is looking for a good movie to see, we recommend Hereafter. Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood. And Matt Damon is in it. Can't go wrong there.

I definitely wouldn't mind rewinding today and doing it all over again.

I would just make sure to take pictures second time around.

halloween in delano

2010-10-31T23:57:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween we decided to dress up as a family. When it comes to this family, Emmy is always the center of attention and we decided to keep it that way.

(Emmy being the center of attention at our ward Harvest Festival -- mainly because she is the only baby at our church.

These little girls are the closest to her in age.)

(I love how short she looks here. The little ballerina is Natalie.

Natalie adores Emmy.

Her mom says that every morning she wakes up she asks if this is

the day that she gets to see Baby Emmy. So sweet!)

Since she was Foofa, we were her back ups -- Muno and Toodee. I couldn't decide what we should go as, but then decided to make quick shirts the night before. They turned out well enough, except for the fact that I ironed them on crooked. Oh well.

she's walking

2010-10-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since she started walking, but we're still so excited for her! It's so fun seeing how much she improves daily. She's done amazingly well on our concrete floors -- I was SO worried about that. She hasn't had any really bad falls yet (fingers crossed)!

But just to be safe, we're looking into getting some rugs.

emmy's halloween costume

2010-10-26T07:18:00.003-07:00

My name is Foofa! Fuh Foofa! Fuh fuh fuh fuh fuh fuh fuh fuh fuh Foofa! Fuh Foofa!

Emmy LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba!

She wasn't such a fan of wearing this costume that I made, but once she saw herself in the mirror

she was sold!

The smiling pictures were after she looked in the mirror.

The crying ones were after she forgot about the mirror and just remembered being inside a costume.

the den

2010-10-24T20:28:00.004-07:00

More before and after pictures. This time of our den.

I remembered to take a picture of this room a little after we started scraping the floors. The house had 60s linoleum floors, so we tore that up and were left with some cement covered in black adhesive.

Also, in my attempt to clear this room of unpacked moving boxes, I resorted to piling as many things on the shelves as possible.

In essence, this was one ugly room for the first 3 months of our habitation.

I painted the walls, Bryant painted the floor and all that was left was the wood paneling and brick fireplace....

The lighting doesn't do it justice, but here you have it.

This room needed something light to open it up some and this color did the trick. I've added a few things on the shelves and walls since which makes it look even better. It still needs more work, but we're happy with how much better it looks.

I'm actually kind of liking the space I have to work on my crafts. So for now, our den is our craft room. Emmy especially enjoys her time in this room. We blocked her off from it from the day we moved in until just recently when we finished the floor in there. It was the last room that she was refused access to and so she is living it up now. I think she must love the echo in there because as soon as she gets in the room it's nearly non-stop screaming.

this little girl

2010-10-17T18:23:00.003-07:00

Emmy has become pretty picky when it comes to what she eats these days. No more baby food for her. She liked certain foods for a few days, but soon turned her nose up at them. Lately, the only thing she'll really eat is a bean and cheese burrito.

She is definitely my daughter.

Although she also likes to eat toilet paper (unused, thankfully).

I don't know where she gets that.... Bryant?

On Thursday our friend Rusty came to visit us for the weekend, bringing Bryant's bike with him.

In preparation for his visit, I put myself to work starting Monday.

I worked my little tush off -- from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed.

I was beat.

As always, Emmy made it more of a challenge, and at times, a little more amusing.

By the time Thursday rolled around, I had one last project -- the bathroom.

I set to painting it mid-morning.

Three different times Emmy snuck her way into the bathroom and rubbed her little hands all over the freshly painted wall. Each time I swooped her up, washed her off in the kitchen sink and then set back to finishing off the job. After the third time I thought I had smartened up and closed the door, keeping her curious hands away from my paint job.

I had been painting for a few minutes when I noticed the silence.

Uh oh.

Out of habit, I turned my eyes to the doorway. I was more than surprised to see the door cracked open and Emmy's little hand smoothly running up and down the wet paint on the wall once again.

Exasperated, I yelled, "Emmy!", got down off my chair and headed her way. Hearing me coming, she hurriedly put her other hand on the wall and quickly covered both hands in paint.

Stinker.

Although it was a little frustrating, I finished painting with a smile on my face thinking of her persistence.

It was so fun having Rusty come visit for a few days. We sure miss spending time with our friends. Family too.

Anyone up for a move to Delano, California?

a quick thought on being kind

2010-10-13T20:23:00.005-07:00

Henry B. Eyring once shared:

When I was a young man, I served as counselor to a wise district president in the Church. He tried to teach me. One of the things I remember wondering about was this advice he gave: "When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half the time."

I thought then that he was pessimistic. Now, more than 40 years later, I can see how well he understood the world and life.

This came to mind last week when I was preparing to speak in church on charity.

And then I had an experience this week that reaffirmed the truth of this statement.

I hope we can all remember this in our daily interactions with people. I know I need to work on it.

another birthday for bryant

2010-10-06T21:44:00.003-07:00

I love birthdays. I think what I love the most is trying to make them special.

Emmy and I spent the day getting a birthday meal together for the birthday boy:

a super yummy salad (thank you miss Amber Stone for the recipe)

a thin crust margherita pizza (thank you grocery store)

and

some yummy brownies (thank you mama Jensen for this delicious recipe).

I have been so anxious for Bryant's birthday to actually get here so that he could open his gifts -- one gift in particular.

Bryant has been asking for a bicycle for a couple of years now. I swore up and down that I would never buy him a bike, for one reason mainly: I didn't want to pick the wrong one. He can be pretty picky at times.

But thankfully Bryant has a wonderful friend, Rusty, who knows everything about bikes. He can even build his own bike. He's pretty talented.

So while Bryant wasn't looking, I got Rusty's number out of Bryant's phone and started texting him. Rusty did everything.

He searched it out. Found an awesome bike for a great deal. Fixed it up. And then sent me a picture of himself with the bike (per my request).

I printed out the picture today, framed it, wrapped it up with two other little gifts that Emmy and I got for him and waited anxiously for him to get home to open them!

He LOVED them. He even got teary eyed when he opened the framed picture of his new bike. I sure love my Bryant.

Happy Birthday Sweetie.

(candlelight dinner)

(wrapped presents with brownies)

(sporting his new sweater)

(thanking Emmy for the gift she gave him)

(just opened his favorite gift... thanks rusty!)

it's october?

2010-10-02T17:21:00.005-07:00

That snuck up on me. The weather sure didn't help me remember that Fall was here. I have always been a fan of the sunshine and heat, but come on. Enough of the 100 degree weather. Cool down already! There is one positive to having it still warm: I haven't had to go buy winter clothing yet for Emmy.

An update on us:

Bryant continues to keep busy with work. He enjoys what he does and is quite good at it. I love that he is so driven. And when he comes home after a long day, he still has energy to play with Emmy and help me out around the house. Love that guy.

My time is still occupied working on the house. Emmy is demanding more of my time, which is pretty cute, so progress has slowed even more. I'm getting my feet wet in this whole couponing thing, though I would love it if I knew someone out here who was familiar with the territory. It seems easy enough, but then I get to the store with my coupons and I just end up frustrated. This was my second week trying to figure this out, so hopefully success isn't too far ahead. Can't get discouraged yet.

Emmy has been teething for the last while now. She has four so far (two on top and two on the bottom) and it's SO cute! Two more on the top are coming in. She's starting to take steps. Loves to wave and say bye-bye. Play pat-a-cake, etc. etc. etc. What this all means is that she is growing faster than I care to admit.

I read somewhere that a baby's fat is at its peak at 9 months.

We are kissing and nibbling on these chubby cheeks every chance we get!

And can I just say that I LOVE these curls?!

sick baby

2010-09-19T19:39:00.002-07:00

We had a bit of a scare with Emmy. She got sick.

What can I say? We're first time parents.

Having a sick baby is the worst! I don't like seeing her in pain!

I feel helpless and lost and I just want my mom to tell me what to do.

But luckily we made it through. Emmy's getting better each day.

Wednesday she started coughing. Of course, I started thinking of the worst case scenario: she's got whooping cough. There's been a widespread outbreak here in CA with 7 deaths (all babies). First things first. I call my mom. She calms me down with her motherly knowledge and tells me she'll be okay. Emmy's doctor appointment is the next day so the doctor will be able to assess her soon.

As night time approaches, the cough gets worse. It's a deep cough and it's starting to affect her breathing. It didn't take me long to realize that it was more than likely croup. So I plug in the humidifier, we go to bed and hope for the best.

4:10am Emmy wakes up, trying to cough then trying to breathe and not doing very well at either. She has such a painful look on her face too.

4:25am we head to the hospital. It's less than a mile from our house which was much appreciated that morning.

4:30am we're called back into the ER and wait for the doctor/nurses to check Emmy out. During the next 7 hours, we wait in the ER while Emmy gets a couple of breathing treatments (which she absolutely despised) and a dose of oral steroids. I think the meds tasted yummy because she handled that part pretty well. She also got tested for whooping cough by getting a long, skinny Q-tip stuck up her nose which she also did not appreciate. The results supposedly came in yesterday, but we haven't heard anything. Should I take that as a good sign? Either way, I'm pretty sure she doesn't have that anyway.

8:30am I call Emmy's doctor in Visalia to see if we should still come in today. The girl says she'll talk to the doctor and call me back.

10am Girl calls me back and says the doctor wants me to reschedule to come in a couple of weeks. They like the babies to come in when they're actually well. hmmm... Aren't doctors supposed to treat sick people? I guess she's just trying to protect her other patients. I guess I know what to do next time Emmy's sick: don't call the doctor. Got it.

11:15am They send her home with a croup diagnosis.

The next two nights were much better. I wanted to make sure the humidifier was reaching her that I ended up soaking part of the bed. Oops. It seemed to help though.

I'm just glad that this little girl is feeling better. Even if the picture doesn't show it.

history

2010-09-11T21:56:00.006-07:00

I spent most of the day today watching the all day 9/11 special on the History Channel. Did anyone else watch it? I found myself glued to the tv, watching the horror of that day, the tragedies, the heroes, etc.

It's been a sobering day to say the least.

when dad's in charge

2010-09-06T13:36:00.002-07:00

I left the house for 20 minutes this morning

and this is what I found

when I walked through the door....

(no clothes on except for swim bottoms on her head)

two teeth

2010-09-02T15:34:00.003-07:00

She's got two teeth now.

Aren't they cute?

But don't be fooled -- this little mouth can be deadly.

A medium sized bug could tell you that if he were still alive....

If she hadn't eaten him.

I know.

I was sick when I figured out what had happened.

The remnants of the body on her mouth (and a little inside that I was able to get out)

made it easy. She nearly bit my finger off though.

Here's my next work in progress:

The dining area.

Pictures are still needed in the frames.

And I've still got to repaint the other three chairs that aren't in this picture.

Have I said before how tired I am of painting?

We're getting there though.

progress is being made

2010-08-22T18:40:00.003-07:00

Slowly,

ever so slowly,

we are making progress on our house.

The kitchen has been my main focus.

It's not yet finished,

but here's what we have to

show for now.

(before)

(after)

As you can see, the space between the floor and the cupboards (it's not really baseboard, so what do I call it?) still needs to be painted. We painted our concrete floor yesterday, but we are seriously considering painting squares in the kitchen, and perhaps the adjoining dining room. The walls need to be painted and the window treatments need updating. The list goes on. But we are pleased with the progress we're making little by little.

It's pretty rewarding.

Hopefully the next home update won't take so long to post.

This was Emmy yesterday while we worked on our floor.

Poor girl.

She was crying at us and just as I was putting my brush down to go get her, she fell asleep

in her jumper.

It didn't look too comfortable though.

I left her in there for a few minutes, but then couldn't take it anymore

and took her out and let her sleep on a blanket on the ground.

the reason i've been MIA

2010-08-01T18:05:00.005-07:00

It's hard to make time to blog when you're working on your newly acquired home (that really isn't very new at all -- but that's okay, those are the kind I like) and traveling to visit family and friends.

I've been working so hard on our home without much to show for it yet. I had a goal of finishing our kitchen before heading to AZ. I knew it was a lofty goal, but I really wanted to get it done. I didn't quite finish it -- I just need to hang the cupboard doors now. As they say in Brazil -- tudo bem. They'll be waiting for me when I get home.

So yes, we came to AZ to visit and let Emmy get reacquainted with her family. She's pretty shy it turns out. It's probably just a stage. At least we hope so. Everyone has been wanting to hold her and it's a struggle for her to leave Mom's and Dad's arms. On another note, Emmy started crawling a couple of weeks ago. Seven months to the day actually (June 17). It was a bittersweet day -- we're excited for her progress, but a little sad to see her growing up so fast. My house projects are only going to take that much longer now that I'll be having to drop everything every few minutes to get her out of the mess that she's crawled into.

Bryant had to return to Cali early to teach his classes. It's so cute to see how Emmy lights up when I put her dad on speakerphone. She misses him. So do I.

Here are a few of the pics we've taken over the last week.

Enjoy!

(The famous Abe float in the 24th of July Parade in St. Johns. "Stand up for the Constitution" -- and Abraham Lincoln actually stood up as you can see. Pretty awesome.)

(You can imagine how much fun the grandkids had in this all weekend long at my parents -- they were in HEAVEN!!!)

(Have I said before how much Emmy LOVES water?!)

(adorable story: Emmy and Ryan were a little rough on each other whenever they got the chance. In this scene, Emmy loves sitting on the grass while Ryan can't stand it - hence, the blanket. Ryan kept wanting to lunge at Emmy, but couldn't reach her without putting her hands on the grass first. She would touch the grass and then bring her hands up shaking, disgusted at the feeling of it on her fingertips. Emmy enjoyed sitting a safe distance away, watching her little cousin/future-best-friend's frustrating predicament. Classic.)

(Four generations of mothers and daughters)