Sleeping Beauty

Emma has been fighting naps lately. She hasn't had too many problems with sleeping since she was born, but now that she is two and a bit, she doesn't so much like the afternoon nap thing. The frustrating thing for me is that I can tell she is tired every time. And I am proven in my observations when I leave her to play for a few minutes and I come to check on her and find her like this:

Or this:

I have to say that I find it absolutely adorable despite my frustration.

Sarah

Gymnastics

Emma has been taking gymnastics at Lil' Flippers Gym for the last two months or so and I finally got around to taking my camera for some pictures. She was the example for class today so the picture above shows her with the coach demonstrating a somersault on the little balance beam thing (I don't know technical lingo). She has gotten really good at doing somersaults on her own at home.

This is Aspen, Emma's little friend. Aspen and Emma became friends because they were born on the same day in the same hospital! They play really cute together. Aspen is a very outgoing little girl and makes friends with almost anyone! We enjoy having her as a playmate!

Emma loves parachute time! In this picture she is running around trying to "Pop the Bubbles." After bubble popping, the kids are supposed to lay down in front of their parent so they can do the "Slide" where we pull the parachute so all the kids slide down into the middle. Emma gets so excited to slide that she lays down wherever she is and I have to go retrieve her so she can actually slide with the rest of the kids. It makes me laugh every time.

Sarah

Our Song Bird, Part Two

Emma loves to sing while Dad plays the piano. This is just one of those adorable moments I had to capture. For more on Emma's singing habits, see the post below.

Our Song Bird

(Sorry, I took the video sideways without realizing that you couldn't turn it!)

Emma has taken to singing. I mean really taken to singing. It is non-stop. We think it is pretty dang adorable. Her first song was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and she has just moved up from there. As shown in the video, she used to just sing the last word of each sentence. She has now mastered every word of "I am a Child of God," "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," "I Love to See the Temple" and "I Hope they Call me on a Mission." She will even create her own versions of "Rock a Bye, Don't You Cry." Her newest addiction is singing while Matt plays the piano (See post above!) Anyway, I just thought I would share a little of her talent with you!

Our News....

It's official! It's a Girl!!! I am hoping to be able to put in some images from our ultrasound today, but I am so exhausted from the day that I thought I would just post the news for now! Matt was sure it was a boy, so it came as a little bit of a shock - but he couldn't be more excited to have another little girl! We are both excited that Emma will get a little sister and that I actually ge to use the girly booties I bought a couple of weeks ago! We are also excited that she was perfect in every way and looks to be very healthy!

Hopefully I will be able to posts some pics soon! Thank you all for your love and support and for sharing this moment with us!

Sarah

True Friends Tell You When There is a Booger Hanging Out of Your Nose

So, I have been browsing blogs lately and realize how boring my blog is. Sheesh. Why didn't any body tell me? Problem is, I am not exactly sure how to change the fact. I was, even now, just trying to put our new family photos into our header and it turned out He-UGE! I am going to need some help! For now I will post some of our family pics, of our little family as well as pics of the nephews and neice, below:

That's it for now. That took a long time!

Sarah

Motherhood Moments

It has been exactly one month since I last posted...so it has been far far too long. Life has been pretty crazy. In the weeks following my last blog, I have been slowly seperating myself from work and beginning to be a stay at home mom. I did have one week in there where I spent a lot LOT of time at work because I was helping with the Miss Farmington Pageant. Now don't scoff...there is actually a lot of work behind the production and you would be amazed at the politics. My eyes have definitely been opened. Now that the pageant is over, the intensity of work is beginning to slow and I actually think they are beginning to realize that they can continue on without me. I have been slowly getting into the life of being a stay at home mom. The first week or two was scary, but since we have signed Emma up for gymnastics, I have found a mommy and me group to hang out with, and we will soon have more playdates with other stay at home moms, I am beginning to realize the blessing it is to have this opportunity. And, I think it is really good for Matt and of course for Emma at this stage. So...overall things are going well.

I neglected to post anything for mother's day, but I am pretty sure - at least I hope - that my mom knows how grateful I am for her, how much I depend on her, how I don't know how I would survive without her...etc. etc. etc. And Marilyn has been such an example to me in Africa and of course Matt and I appreciate her generosity and faith in us to allow us to live in their home while they are away. I did take at least one thing away from my mother's day experiences...in sacrament the talks were given by young inspiring moms, one of which inspired me to start a journal of cute things that Emma does. It has been a blessing for me because I have found a new appreciation for the person that she is and for who she is becoming. She is getting too big. A couple of cute stories from the journal and from today:

-I was fixing her hair and tied it up into two pigtails on the top of her head. As she looked into the mirror, she realized that she looked a lot like a very familiar cartoon character. Upon this realization she turned to me and said "Mommy, I Mickey Mouse!" and so...I added some bows and corrected her: "No, you're Minnie Mouse!"
-She busted out Baa Baa Black Sheep today, a song which I have sung to her randomly here and there but never repetatively. She knew every word. She has great retention skills!
-We were hanging out with her friend Jack today and she was actually playing very nicely, taking turns and sharing. Jack's very favorite movie is "Enchanted" and she has watched it a couple of times with him, but tonight she was really into it until the wicked witch pushes the princess into the well - upon this event she jumped sky high, looked at me with a terrified look on her face, and crawled into my arms crying. "Mommy I scared." Despite this moment of fear, she was still glued to the screen and when Sarah turned it off, she proclaimed "It not working."

She is our pride and joy and I feel blessed to be able to have more time to learn about her, from her and to share in these little moments, of which you will now probably hear a lot of and may or may not get tired of. Either way at least maybe I will post before another month is out!

As for the other about to be child, I felt him/her for the first time last Monday and have been constantly prodded from the inside any time I sit down to rest. At least it is light f0r now. It has been fun to feel it so soon and to actually realize what I am feeling so soon! Today I had a freak out moment when I felt the baby in a whole new spot and thought maybe its new location meant not that it had moved but that there were TWO! Oh man. Matt then reminded me that we have been to the doctor and only heard one heartbeat more than one time. I guess it will all be made clear on June 3rd when we have the ultrasound. We will know for sure then if there are one or two and if it is a boy or a girl.

Well, I am hoping to get Matt to post to tell you all about his mind boggling Canyoneering trip. But, I will still post if the attempt is unsuccessful. So, even though you may be sick of me after this monster blog, it may be me again...and again...and again!

Sarah