two men and a little lady. . .

First Tournament of the Season

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:50:56 -0600

After a much needed break over the winter, Grant’s team played in their first tournament of the new year! It was fun to be out watching Grant play again. I am amazed at his growth as a player and an athlete each year. My little boy is definitely becoming a little man!

The hardest part about these tournaments is that they are on both Saturday and Sunday. As a family, because we are Mormon, we don’t play sports on Sunday. Because of this, Grant has had to miss every championship game his team has ever played in a tournament. He is a great sport about it , as is, thankfully, his coach. I am thankful that his team is willing to keep Grant on the team, despite this challenge. I always tell him that he has to play so well that he gets 2 days worth of moves into one day and he rarely disappoints! They had 3 games on Saturday.

Grant was given the chance to take a penalty shot during a game. He passed it to a player on his team, who passed it back, and then Grant made a beautiful shot right into the goal! Yes, I am bragging . . . isn’t that what Moms are supposed to do??!!

Here are some shots that Adam took at a couple of the games . . .

Growin’ Emma

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:11:52 -0600

I can’t handle the swift passage of time as my baby grows up way too quickly. Having two older brothers probably speeds up the process as she attempts to imitate all they say and do. The minute I mention their names every afternoon, she runs to the front door and happily lets me put on her coat and shoes in anticipation of going to get her big brothers from school. Every time I carry her down the stairs, we have to stop at the framed photos of the boys and point to each one, saying their names (Which both sound exactly the same when she says them).

We have been so blessed with Emma in our home. She radiates such joy and love and I can hardly stand to be away from her. I think because the boys are older and I now know how quickly they grow up, out of the baby stage, and then on to Kindergarten, I am cherishing the small moments more. I am very protective of my time with all of my kids and often turn down plans with friends because I know the time is precious and I want to get all of the experiences that I can with my children before they are all grown up and on their way. (I hope my friends who are reading this forgive me.)

Emma continues to say new words (such as milk, down, and shoes), or her variations of those words, and her favorite animal sound to make is that of an elephant. Her favorite toy currently is her baby with high chair and cradle. She spends much time moving the baby from the high chair to the crib and then back. She brings her baby to me to change its’ outfit and carries the baby around, sometimes cuddling it close to her face and other times by the legs and upside-down. What a good Mommy she will be.

One more month and she will be 1 1/2 years. I look forward to the fun stages ahead. I can see her personality (and independence) emerge more each day and it is wonderful. Here are the most recent photos of our sweet Emma . . .

Playing in the Yard

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:01:42 -0600

Nothing makes Emma happier than being outside and freely roaming the yard. Even when she is all dressed up, I can’t help but let her play in the dirt or mud to her heart’s content. I took these the other day when we spent some time in our backyard.

Snazzy Sunday

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:11:32 -0600

I love dressing my kids up for church on Sunday. Actually, the boys have taken over picking out their own outfits, with an occasional inquiry about whether a certain tie matches or not. They seem to enjoy it and have surprised me with the combinations they come up with. For now, I get to make all of the decisions about what Emma wears and love every minute of it. I know that at any point she could decide to have an opinion . . . what a sad day that will be!

Loving my new lens . . .

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 21:05:03 -0600

And this sweet baby!

“Memma”

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 13:57:41 -0600

That is what Emma calls herself! Last week she decided to try to repeat everything we say and it has been fun to hear her try to pronounce new words. Her favorite word is Grandpa, pronounced “Bahpah”. She calls both Grant and Sam “Da”, but I think that in her mind, they are two different words. Among her words we can understand are ball, out, more, all done, baby, thank you, heart, bye-bye and choo-choo. She LOVES dogs and will follow any dog she sees.

She is a busy bee. Today she emptied a shelf full of books and drawer full of video games into a giant basket, carrying each one across the room. She was sweating by the end, and very proud of all her hard work!

Her favorite things to play with are her Little People, Duplos, new magnetic writing board, any book, the condiments from the fridge, spices from the rack, and her new baby doll. Here are some photos to see how she has grown . . .

It didn’t take long . . .

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:31:41 -0600

It didn’t take long for Emma to figure out the whole present unwrapping concept!! We had a wonderful Christmas and despite our best efforts to restrain, we still managed to buy too much for our children, with help from their grandparents, of course. We spent the entire day in our pajamas and loved it! Adam got the entire day off at the last minute and we were thrilled to be together as a family. Emma loved her new tricycle and we love that it has a handle for us so that we no longer have to bend over and push her. She has learned how to ring the little bell and now insists we put on her bike helmet before taking her for a ride.

Christmas Jammies . . .

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:55:26 -0600

It’s been a couple of years since we have had children willing to wear Christmas jammies and it was fun this year to be able to buy some again!! Here’s our little one in her Christmas PJs . . .

Merry Christmas! (Or Belated Happy Hanukkah)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:12:22 -0600

NO MORE “SCRAGGLES”

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:41:51 -0600

Emma’s hair was getting a little scraggly so I had my stylist give her a first hair cut today . . . I’m in love with this new little style and had to share some pictures!!!!