Cute Quotes

Emma has been saying things that are too cute to pass up. Here are a few:

"Daddy, you have a choice. You can leave, or you can stay with me!"

"See, the steam's all gone. Now I can eat my grits."

"Okay, Grandpa, I have some good news and I have some bad news."

Predictions

No, I'm not talking about the outcome of the game, I mean my baby boy. I'm due in 13 days, and 25 days ago, the ultrasound I had measured him to weigh 5 1/2 pounds. So, any guesses at when he'll come? What he'll weigh? Eye color, hair color, amount of hair, length? My prediction is that he will be here in eight days, weight 7 pounds 5 ounces, have blue eyes, dark, patchy hair, and be about 20 inches long. What do you think?

Rise and Shout

(Halloween 2009)

To remind myself where my true loyalties lie, I sang the Cougar fight song this morning. It's game day for BYU vs. Utah, and I sure hope the cougs win!!!

Submitted!!

September 1st, 2011. A day we've been anticipating for a very, very long time. The day to submit Andrew's application for residency. It has been the topic of, let's see: every dinner conversation, every bed-time discussion, every every discussion!!! Well, September 1st was yesterday, and we did it!

Here are some pics to capture the big moment:
Hold your breath, here we go:

One last look at everything:

There were several prompts to finalize the application, and this was the last one:

Submitted!!!

With all Andrew's focus on the application, we haven't had much time to think about the baby we're expecting. That might explain why we still don't have a name picked out for our baby. When people ask me, I look at them and think, "You mean, we're actually having a baby?!" Andrew has told me a handful of times in the past few weeks to rest up and take care that the baby doesn't come for a little while longer. The night before submission, I had several braxton hicks contractions, I guess this little guy is going to be a tease! Also, this week, we finally set up the crib, and Andrew looked at it and said: "Gosh! We're really going to have a baby, huh?" Now that we've submitted the application, I think we can remember that there will be a baby here in no time. :)

I'm so grateful that Andrew has worked so hard preparing for a great career that will bless our family. I'm also grateful to the many people who have helped us along the road, giving information on locations, programs, writing edits, etc. We are very blessed. Now cross your fingers and pray that we get some invitations to interview!

Summer of Fun Part 1:Backyard Campout

It has been a super loaded summer, with many fun vacations and activities. After the stress of third-year rotations, it was a blessing for our family to have some time together. (However, I'm learning that as a mom, vacations are no longer all play and no work; thank you, Mom for all you did to provide me with great vacations!)

When Andrew finished his surgery rotation, he spent a week painting Emma's cute headboard for her big girl bed. After that, we decided to have some fun. First, we really wanted to get some quick camping into our busy schedule, so we went camping in my parent's back yard. It may sound silly, but it was a lot of fun. My brother Robby joined us, which made it even better. My parents live along a creek and it was so nice to sleep to the sound of rushing water (it was just around flooding time, so it was really high). Also, they have a great fire pit, which the guys got a lot of use out of. Nothing like a can of bug spray to get a fire going!

It was a success:

Mmmm, hot dogs!

I think this girl is the sweetest thing in all the world:



I'm so grateful we've been able to have so much fun together this summer before the baby comes. Now we're looking forward to new adventures with Baby Boy!

Book Worm

One thing I love about Emma is her love for books. Since she was little, she has loved them so much. When she was a baby, we kept a basket on the floor for her with all the board books from the library:

Well, the other week when we had family staying with us, she moved into our room for a few nights. The last night, I heard her moving around when she should be sleeping. I went in to check and see if she was being naughty and getting into things. No, she said "I just want to look at Jesus," and she had her Gospel Art Book in her lap. Later, when I went in, I found her sleeping like this:


(She's hugging a finger rhymes book; the Gospel Art Book is at the bottom right)

The next night, back in her own bed, I also heard her playing in there. I went to check on her and she said: "No, Mommy! I don't want to go to bed, I just want to read my books." Who can argue with that? She fell asleep like this:

(Books pictured are "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the BIG HUNGRY BEAR," Nursery Rhymes, "The Poky Little Puppy," "Rainbow Fish," and "I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean.")

I adore my little book worm, and I'm so grateful my parents passed a love of reading on to me. The "BIG HUNGRY BEAR" book is one given to my by my parents for Christmas when I was only four years old, and the finger rhymes is one I did with them as a small child. Thank goodness for children's literature.

Time for an Update

Wow! It certainly has been a long time. Just about every Friday (the day I plan to blog), I dream up a post, but somehow never get to it. Well, not today!! Here's the beginning of what will hopefully be many successive posts.

The last post announced the coming of "Baby Boy" as we so affectionately call him, and I had been holding out for that ultrasound forever because I was waiting to decide if I should paint the kids' room pink or yellow. Yellow it was:


Thanks to my AMAZING friends, Patrick and Patricia, I got the job done, the very first walls I've ever painted. It has been so fun for me to learn the tricks of the trade and to feel like the room is officially becoming a kid's room.

It has, however, been through the "transition phase" for nearly the entire summer. First we painted, then we took down the crib (which sat against the wall for weeks) and put up Emma's big girl bed (also a major painting project, and then some). The bed started with old bedding I used to sleep in when I was about four, but has since transitioned to have a nice blue quilt (pictured below). Now, if we can just get through applying to residency, then hopefully we'll get a dresser painted to move Emma's clothes into to make room for Baby Boy's stuff under the changing table, and, set up the crib again, now with the blue bedding, I think I'll finally feel settled. (Does it sound like I'm nesting???)

Here you can see Emma in her "big girl bed" with the blue quilt, yellow walls, and cream headboard, custom built by Daddy:

It is so exciting to have all these changes going on. Our little apartment hardly resembles the place we moved into over three years ago. I'm getting very nostalgic about this place, having lived here longer than any other residence excluding my parents' home. We love it here!