So Much to Be Thankful For

I am so richly blessed in my life. I hope that I cannot be guilty of being ungrateful. This month, we have been working on counting our blessings in our home, be they big things or small. To help us with this, we collected beautiful leaves all around town on our walks to parks, to the library, and up the canyons. Then, after drying and laminating them, we have been putting them on our "thankful tree," one each day, as a kind of advent for Thanksgiving. Take a look:

Things included are:
our car
our home
nursery
puzzles
Mommy & Daddy
Emma
James
grandmas and grandpas
NPR
cereal
play-doh
prayer
service
music
sleep
opportunities
library
letters (of the alphabet)
good health
New Testament
dishwasher
friends
good health care
Jesus
education
bread
prophets & apostles
heat
the park

These are so very few of the many, many blessings we have been given. I am grateful for this holiday week where we have the opportunity to count our many blessings and see what God has done.

Also, here's a beautiful song on the Josh Groban album "NOEL." I always pull the CD out for Christmas, but this song is truly a Thanksgiving song. Finally this year, I remembered to listen to it for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

How about you? What are you most thankful for?

Six Weeks

Has it really been that long? Well, life as certainly been happening these past six weeks, and we're enjoying the ride:

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Recently, Emma has been saying the cutest things so much so, that I've decided it's time to starting writing them down (or typing them up, for that matter). Take a look:

ME: "Emma, do you want cereal or oatmeal for breakfast?"

EMMA: "Cereal."

ME: "Come on James, Emma and I are going to have some cereal."

EMMA: "But not you, buddy!"

While wrapping Emma in her towel and holding her after a bath,

ME: "Whoa, you're getting so big."

EMMA: "Yeah, I'm going to grow right out of this towel!"

This morning, I was thumbing through a pamphlet that came in the mail (essentially junk mail that was destined for the recycle bin after I was done with it). I had folded it along the stapled biding:

EMMA: "Don't bend it, Mommy. If you bend it again, I'll TAKE IT AWAY from you!"

Two Weeks

Thank you, Anne, for the adorable outfit! :)

Transitioning

(photo taken the day before James was born)

Over the past two weeks, I've been navigating my way through this transition from pregnancy to postpartum. There are plenty of things I could list that are challenging/not so fun etc. about this time, but I'd rather focus on the positive. Here are the GREAT things about this time:

• First and foremost,having a beautiful baby boy that I can hold, cuddle, and adore!
• seeing my husband cuddle our sweet baby, and falling more in love with him for it
• seeing my husband reach out to our two-year old and help her through this time
• enjoying the oh-s0 coveted pleasure of sleeping flat on my back (it has taken me awhile to relax and let go of the urge to roll onto my side)
• being able to sleep without a plethora of pillows to make sleep somewhat manageable
• losing 15 pounds in one week (I feel like a contestant who just weighed in on The Biggest Loser week one!)
• being able to sleep on my stomach
  
• receiving excellent medical care
• the swaddle!! Oh! how I love it! :)
• hearing Emma ask "Can I hold his hand" as she sits next to Baby James in the car
  
• having a very legitimate reason to NOT vacuum my carpet
• getting up once or twice a night to hold and feed my little baby, as opposed to getting up oh, about five times to go to the bathroom
• dinners, hot and ready, and not prepared by me
• enjoying the love shared by so many dear friends and family members
• being a recipient of great service

Have I missed anything?

Sunday Best

Although we didn't go, James got all dressed up for church today. He looks like a great future missionary! :)

Baby James!

Baby James Andrew was born Thursday, October 6 at 12:10am. He weighs 8lb 1oz. Megan is doing great. Thanks to everyone who has sent good wishes!

Summer of Fun Part 3: Yellowstone and Montana

Our awesome friends Tyler and Michelle came up with a great plan for some fun this summer. They found an amazing cabin in Big Sky, Montana, and invited three other families to go with them to stay for a week and visit Yellowstone. Way back when (the end of June) we packed up our little car, and made the drive. (It was actually the day after we got back from the sand dunes, crazy!)

I filled a crate with books, Cars-themed Pez dispensers, a Cars coloring book, a giant magna doodle, and other items I supposed would serve as awesome secret weapons to keep Emma entertained for the six plus hours of the drive. She discovered just about every one within the first hour and a half, but luckily, she was still a stellar kid during the drive (phew!).

Just before 10am, we pulled off the freeway in Virginia, ID, and sure enough, there was a church meeting about to start, so we attended church there. I think I counted under 40 people total in the congregation. It was a fun small-town stop.


I should have taken more pictures of our awesome cabin, it had a hot tub, deck, upstairs common room, down stairs common room, and granite counter tops in the kitchen:


Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone:








All four families in the cabin found a great hiking trail (you may notice, that we all have matching tye dye shirts, that was a fun activity we did months prior)




I think this photo pretty much sums up how we felt at the end of the vacation; happy, but exhausted!!

Summer of Fun Part 2: Little Sahara Sand Dunes

Since we were dating, Andrew has wanted to take me to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes. We finally made it happen this summer! Our friends Patricia and Alex (Patrick was in Mongolia for work) joined us for a fun camp out. I think the photos pretty much show what we did:








Gorgeous sunset:




The stars were so beautiful and bright, the best I've ever seen. Andrew was so clever and brought along glow sticks that we wore/tossed/played with in the dark.

Thanks Patricia and Alex for helping us have fun in all that sand!!

Ready

Two weeks ago, I felt super stressed to get ready for this baby. I made a list of a few things to do (nearly two dozen), such as,

• pack my hospital bag
• sew burp cloths
• borrow my sister's bassinet
• wash all baby clothes, blankets, etc. in baby detergent
• pack a suitcase for Emma while I'm away
• paint (and repaint) dresser for Emma
  
• rearrange the kids' room
• vacuum and wash the car
• install car seats at Primary Children's Hospital
• register with the hospital.

Well, I've done those few things. I've been to a few stores, such as Ikea, Walmart, Home Depot, Ross, DI, (and half a dozen others).

Now that those few things are accomplished, I am ready to have this baby!! Take a look:

This is our countdown chain for Baby Boy:


The kids' room:
Here's the dresser before (I found it on ksl classifieds):

And after much ado:


Changing table for Baby Boy:

Baby Boy's crib with the amazing quilt my mother made:


Emma's bed with my old college bed quilt (blue) and amazing quilt my mother made for her (pink):

It's so interesting to be worried about being ready for something that could have realistically happen by now, contrasted with the fact that it hasn't happened by now. Now I just need a Baby!! Any ideas of what I can do with my time while I wait (ever so patiently)?