Our Family

Emma is now 4 months old! I took her to the Dr. today for her check-up, etc. Her stats are: 12 lbs. 10 oz. (25th percentile) 25 1/4 in. (90th percentile). Her weight is still in the 25th percentile like it was at 2 months. She has grown 2 1/2 inches in 2 months! She was in the 75th percentile for height and is now in the 90th percentile. Maybe she will be a basketball player? : )

Thursday we took her swimming for the first time. She didn't know where we were going, but after we got her in her swimsuit and into the carseat, she was so excited that her legs and arms are blurry in all the pictures we took. We weren't sure how she would react to the pool, but there were so many new sounds and things to see that I'm not sure she even realized she was in a huge pool! She did start splashing, but then the lifeguard saw lightning so we had to get out of the pool. It was probably about the perfect amount of time for her to spend in the pool for her first time, though.
We have also started to feed her some foods. She doesn't seem to mind rice cereal, but she doesn't gobble it up like she loves it, either. She does like to exfoliate by rubbing the cereal into her face as much as possible, though. Today we gave her some green beans. She doesn't react much to them in this video, but by the time she was done eating, she was attacking the spoon. The funniest part of this video is when Jared sneezes at the end. Emma has been really jumpy lately, so her reactions to his sneezes are funny.

And the end result- not too messy!
Not too happy, either! (I think she was done with pictures)
Emma has been giggling a lot lately. Sometimes she gets her crying and laughing mixed up and she will be looking up at me with tears in her eyes- laughing her head off! It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen!

A friend of mine e-mailed me this video because "it reminded her of Emma." I have had many people in stores, church, etc. make similar comments about her. If she gets in the right mood, there is no stopping her. She may not be quite as enthusiastic as the girl in this video, but she is headed in that direction!

So a friend of mine posted a blog that has motivated me to try this challenge as well... although I have read the Book of Mormon many times- especially 1 Nephi, chapter 1! :), I have always wanted to read it in a short time. I want to read it more like a novel, and completely lose myself in it like I was reading it and hearing all the stories for the first time. I will admit, I am nervous because it will be taking on a lot, but I can do it! If any of you want to jump on board with me to help keep me motivated, that would be awesome! Let me know if you do! I will start July 1st and end July 31st. Here is the schedule (I based it off the one on http://nabomoremo.org/).

JULY
1: 1 Nephi 1 - 1 Nephi 10
2: 1 Nephi 11 - 1 Nephi 16
3: 1 Nephi 17 - 2 Nephi 1
4: 2 Nephi 2 - 2 Nephi 8
5: 2 Nephi 9 - 2 Nephi 19
6: 2 Nephi 20 - 2 Nephi 28
7: 2 Nephi 29 - Jacob 4
8: Jacob 5 - Words of Mormon
9: Mosiah 1 - Mosiah 7
10: Mosiah 8 - Mosiah 17
11: Mosiah 18 - Mosiah 26
12: Mosiah 27 - Alma 4
13: Alma 5 - Alma 10
14: Alma 11 - Alma 17
15: Alma 18 - Alma 24
16: Alma 25 - Alma 31
17: Alma 32 - Alma 39
18: Alma 40 - Alma 46
19: Alma 47 - Alma 52
20: Alma 53 - Alma 60
21: Alma 61 - Helaman 4
22: Helaman 5 - Helaman 12
23: Helaman 13 - 3 Nehpi 3
24: 3 Nephi 4 - 3 Nephi 10
25: 3 Nephi 11 - 3 Nephi 18
26: 3 Nephi 19 - 3 Nephi 27
27: 3 Nephi 28 - Mormon 3
28: Mormon 4 - Ether 1
29: Ether 2 - Ether 9
30: Ether 10 - Ether 15
31: Moroni 1 - Moroni 10

I'll let you know how it goes!

I don't know if this is just a phase or what, but I have suddenly had the urge to be all domestic. Last week I made strawberry jam- this is just one row of the jars in my freezer. I LOVE my mom's strawberry jam, and this was my first attempt at making it. I think it turned out really well! The other thing I have been wanting to do is sew, but I don't have a sewing machine so I haven't been able to. Yesterday my Grandma gave me my Great-Grandma's old sewing machine. I'm so excited to have something of hers and to have a sewing machine! I probably won't be making anything as great as she could for a while, but hopefully someday! Don't you think it is cool? I LOVE the color! (This picture isn't very good, but it is a dark turquoise color) Thanks for letting me have it, Grandma! Oh, and no post would be complete without some mention of Emma, so here is a picture of Emma in her jumper (another great gift from my awesome boss and his family). This was her first time in it and she wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but she really likes it now. I seriously have no idea how she got big enough to stand on her own and jump and hold her head up!! It's crazy! Here is a short video clip! (For Derek and Connie's kids because they think the videos are cool)


Also, Emma LOVES it when we hold her way up above our heads, so I had to get a picture of Jared doing that for her. I should have done a video, though, because she was squealing like crazy! It is very entertaining to watch.

After several weeks of being fascinated by her wiggling toes, Emma began attempting to reach them. She first started grabbing her legs at her thighs, worked down to her knees, found her ankles, and yesterday(June 10), she FINALLY got her toes! What did she do to celebrate this victory? She promptly placed almost an entire foot in her mouth. :)

This last weekend we attended services for Jonathan "Bryce" Millward. Jared went to High School with him and they were roommates after their missions for about a year until Bryce started flight school. He was a helicopter pilot for the Army and was in an accident on May 27th while doing a maintenance flight. Friday we were able to be at the airport when they brought him home. As part of the procession from the airport to the funeral home, we were able to see complete strangers stand out in the cold weather holding flags with their hands over their hearts in support of Bryce and his family. It was overwhelming. We attended the viewing Sunday night and were amazed by the strength of his family, especially his mom. She took a moment to comfort us. What an amazing woman. All of the services were really special, and we were really glad we could be there to honor such a great man. The Idaho State Journal took some pictures at the airport that are really touching- this is the link: http://journalnet.com/galleries/millward/.

Experiences like this really make you stop and think about where you are headed in your life and make you want to be a better person. I can only hope to touch half as many lives by the time I am 90 that Bryce did in 27 years. He was one of those people who seemed to find his way into people's lives when they needed him the most. I just wanted to take a minute to thank Bryce for being there for Jared when he really needed him.

I am really behind on blogging, but I think this is the last one of the day! For Memorial Weekend, we went with Jared's family to Yellowstone/Island Park. We all loaded up in his grandparents' motorhome. It was fun because all 15 of us were able to be in one vehicle together and could talk, eat and play games. A friend of the family has an amazing cabin in Island Park that they let us borrow. It was beautiful, and included a couple of big screen TVs, a jacuzzi, places for 24 people to sleep, a fully-stocked, gorgeous kitchen complete with stainless steel appliances, and much more. So our weekend of "camping" was pretty rough. We spent the weekend driving the park, seeing the animals and the sights. We also went on a hike to Fairy Falls that was a little over 5 miles up and back. The kids were troopers on this hike, I was very impressed. We had a couple of close encounters with some buffalo that were on the trail to Fairy Falls and narrowly escaped with our lives.;) We saw 3 bears and stopped to see a fourth but it was hidden in the trees so we didn't ever get a good look at it. There were a ton of buffalo, baby buffalo and elk. The weather was perfect for this trip, and I think that was why we saw so many animals, especially the bears. Here are a couple of pictures that Connie took on the trip that she let me steal from her! Thanks, Connie!

Paige and Emma

Emma and Grandma

Bear #1

Bear #2

Bear #3

Jared and I had our 2 year anniversary on the 19th. He didn't have meetings that night (he normally does on Tuesday nights), so we went golfing. We left Emma with her first real baby-sitter. I was kind of nervous about leaving her, but our next door neighbors watched her and had so much fun doing it. In fact, when I tried to pay them they said, "Are you kidding? We should be paying you!" Jared and I had a great time and I am getting so much better! It is crazy how quickly 2 years has gone! Last year I wrote down my favorite memories from our first year of marriage for Jared, so here is year #2!



1. Telling you I was pregnant for your "Father's Day gift"
2. Rafting. Watching you float off down the river and almost getting to cash in your life insurance policy. : ) (I 'm glad I didn't get rich that trip, honestly)
3. Falling asleep at the drive-in
4. Golfing. Going to the driving range and the "cute" clubs I had to have.
5. Running. To the temple and back, around the track, all around town, when you made us do sprints, leaps, box jumps, cones, etc., going to the gym to run so we could watch the NBA playoffs since we didn't have cable. The marathon we almost ran.
6. Taking the TV and surround sound outside to watch movies in the yard at night. (that way it was less embarassing if we fell asleep- no one had to come wake us up)
7. Swimming. Our cool goggles we had to have and the 10 year olds lapping us. ;)
8. Emma. The first time we saw her and heard her heartbeat, when we found out what we were having and you almost missing it because they took me back early and you didn't know I was there yet. The first time you held her.
9. Last year's anniverary- the pinata, alarm clock and Moscow.
10. How you were freezing without the horse blanket.

This list could go on and on. I just want to thank you for being the good man that you are. I love watching you with Emma, it melts my heart. You are such a good dad! Thanks for loving me so unconditionally, being so supportive of me, and for being such a hard worker when it comes to the many responsibilities you have- I admire your strength and your love for others. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend... and the smartest man I know. ;) Can't wait for another great year with you!

Yes, I am really behind because Emma's check-up was over a month ago! She is doing really well and growing like she should be. She doesn't have too much chubbiness yet, but she has started to get a few rolls now. At the appointment she was in the 10th percentile for weight but the 75th percentile for height. The Dr. just thinks she is going to be tall so her weight is dispersed lengthwise first. She had her first shots that day, and I got pretty nervous for them. They also gave her one immunization orally. The nurse said they shouldn't even bother giving the 2 month olds that one because they always just spit it up, and she was very surprised when Emma gobbled the stuff up like it was candy. I thought I would be holding her for the shots, but they always lay them on the examining table, so when she was upset I got to play the hero and pick her up and calm her down. I still felt bad, though. She had stopped crying by the time I had her loaded into her carseat and out of the examining room, and she even smiled at me when I was putting her in the car. She was a little fussy that day, but slept it off and was back to herself the next day! It definitely went much better than expected!

Right now Emma is just under 24 inches long and around 11.5 pounds. Those are just our measurements so I don't know how accurate they are, but it is nice to have a general idea of where she is. Here are a few of the things about her right now that I don't want to forget:
-She is a talker! It will be interesting once they are actual words, and I don't expect our house to be quiet for the next 18 years. : )
-She wiggles a lot. One of the things people often comment on is how much she moves for a 3 month old. Because of this, sometimes it is hard to hold her and she will just topple out of your arms if you aren't watching her closely!
-She is already teething, and has been working on a couple of teeth for about 2 weeks. I really didn't expect to be worrying about teething yet, but Baby Orajel is my new best friend. We don't have to use it a lot, but when it gets to the point that we do need it, it works in 30 seconds. Good stuff! Also, because she is teething, I can't keep up with the amount of drool she manages to produce. She is also chewing on anything she can grab- my hands, her hands, blankets, and her clothes. She especially likes to eat her dresses because they are so cute and easy to grab, too!
-She still sleeps with her hands above her head, but she also sleeps with her legs pulled up, knees pointing out, so her feet are facing each other below her diaper. She loves pulling her legs up like that or putting her feet straight up in the air when she is awake, too. It makes changing her diaper easier because she lifts her legs up by herself!



-Last week, we put the bassinet away and started putting Emma in her crib in her own room. It was a lot less difficult then I expected, and she now gets fed and goes to bed in her crib between 10-10:30 and sleeps until 6 every morning. I go running every morning at 6:30, so this is perfect! Yay for sleep! :)
-She LOVES people! She occasionally gets overwhelmed by too much attention for too long a time period, but she normally eats it up. She will smile and talk to any kids that notice her and most adults that make eye contact with her and smile.
-She is wearing 3-6 month clothes, but never outgrew the newborn or 0-3 month stuff width-wise. She never filled them out, but just got too long for them. Her onesies started to unsnap when she stretched.
-She likes to be held facing away from you, especially when there are people around and stuff going on. She wants to see it all.
-She loves being outside. Usually if she is fussy I just step outside and she stops. The bad thing is that after a walk or just being outside with me, she will fuss for a little bit when I take her back in the house.
-Ceiling fans are her new favorite thing. She won't look at much else if there is a fan going in the room.
-She doesn't like stuff on her feet and kicks off all socks and blankets.
-She wants so badly to roll over. She is really good at spinning herself in circles by kicking her feet around, and she can roll over until she gets stuck on her arm. It makes her so mad that she gets stuck.

Well, I'm a little obsessed with this girl and could probably go on about her forever, but I just wanted to get this stuff written down!