Life With My Toddler

I found this quote in a parenting magazine, and it now has a permanant spot on my refrigerator.

Aiva is the most independent, strong-willed, stubborn child you've ever encountered. This quote could have been written about her.

Suffice it to say, I AM SORRY to everyone that happened to be at church yesterday. It was my fault because I helped her put her shoes on out in the parking lot, and I am NOT supposed to help her with anything. I appologize for her screaming out for Mike multiple times in sacrament meeting. Apparantly he's the nice one, and would save her from my evil attempts at helping her.

Anyone care to know what works for time-out during sacrament meeting? I took her outside and strapped her in her carseat and stood outside the door, and let her scream and cry all she wanted. When she was calm, and agreed to be good, I let her out and there were no more problems for the rest of the meeting.

Ooooh, I get lots of mean-mom points.

Thanks to the sweet laurel in my ward that helped with Emma while I was being a mean mom to Aiva, and for entertaining Aiva while I took Emma out to nurse.

Remind me . . . how long does a calling in the bishopric last??? 5 years??? So I'm on my own for 2 1/2 more years . . .

I think I'll be racking up a LOT more mean-mom points.

I'm a mommy, not a servant

Today Aiva and I were outside working on the garden, and I told Aiva that if she wanted to get in the dirt, she had to go inside and get her shoes.

"No, Mommy. You go inside and get them for me."

So I said, "Aiva, you go get them. I'm your mommy, not your servant."

Aiva thought very hard, and then said, "Yeah, you're daddy's servant!"

What the???? I promise, if you asked Mike, he'd say that I am definitely NOT his servant! Where do kids get this stuff???

Testing

Four months old . . .

My, how time flies!! Our sweet baby Emma Noelle turned 4 months old last week. It amazes me how much they change in such a short time. At Emma's well-baby check-up, she weighed 14 lbs, 10 oz and was 23 inches long. That means she is at 72% for her weight, and 22% for her height. Yes, our baby is a little butterball! I often joke that I am a jersey cow. Only rich cream for my babies! Emma is just so sweet. She has such a sweet, precious spirit about her. She is a very happy baby! She loves attention, and she loves to be held. With Aiva, she was always sooooo busy (and still is) that I sometimes felt like she didn't really need me, other than for the basics. Emma is a little bit needier, but I love having a baby that loves to be held and cuddled.

Emma is also a very LOUD little baby. As a newborn, she was always grunting, just to hear herself make noise. Nowadays, she yells. She doesn't cry. She just makes noise at the top of her lungs, sometimes so loudly that we have to yell to have a conversation over her.

We love her so much, and she has brought so much joy into our home.

Emma's Dress

My good friend Stacy custom-made this beautiful blessing dress for Emma! We had so much fun going to Quilted Bear to look at blessing dresses to get ideas for the dress, designing it, and picking out the fabric, ribbons and buttons. Stacy is AMAZING! We've been friends since high school, and I've seen her do some incredible things with fabric. You name it, she can do it. I was so happy with how it turned out, and I am sad that Emma only got to wear it once. But it now has a place of honor hanging in her bedroom, and it will be treasured forever. Thank-you so much, Stacy!

The magic is in the details

Tilt your head to the right. ;)

Emma's blessing day

We blessed Emma in March (yes, I am that late at posting) and it turned out to be a beautiful day, literally and figuratively. The weather was lovely, which meant that Mike's 13 nephews and nieces could play outside, instead of having everyone crammed in our little hosue. It was so much fun to have everyone over to support our family. Mike gave Emma a beautiful blessing, and she looked so pretty in her blessing dress! The entire day was perfect.

Our nieces Jaycee and Jane

My niece Courtney

Sweet Emma in her blessing dress

The girls, in the morning before church

There's that magnum face again

Randomness . . .

Here comes the totally random photos of all we've been up to, and a few just for fun.

The girls in Emma's crib. Aiva always insists on getting in with her. Oh, by the way...Emma still won't sleep in her crib. She sleeps in her carseat. Any suggestions for how to move to the crib??

Not one of my prouder days. I'm sleeping while Aiva watches Dora. Does anyone else have days like this???

My little Aiva playing dress-up

Mike got a bad sprain playing ward basketball. Yuck!

I love Spring rains! The Easter Bunny brought Aiva the umbrella and she's taken advantage of every opportunity to use it.

Splash!! If only we grown-ups could get the same joy out of something so simple.

Ahhh . . . Spring in Utah. Rain one day, sunshine the next, and then snow.

My cute Emma!

I love these crocheted hats with flowers!

Best friends!

Emma was having a rough few days, wanting to be held every second. This is the only way I was able to get anything done! I love this expression on her face.

Emma enjoying the bumbo we borrowed from a friend. Thanks April!!!

Hahaha! I love this face!!!

Sound asleep. LOVE the bumbo!!!