new year's no no

never go to the store on

new year's eve day

ever.

lesson learned.

however, now that i am home i am very happy to have guitar hero world tour to play on my wii tonight.

EI8HT

ei8ht

is my favorite number.

it's no surprise that 200EIGHT was a great year.

8 has always been my favorite number.

my lucky number!

you know, pick a number in your head?

i always choose eight.

guess you'll be able to win at that game now!

i

made a quilt

became a mother

had a 9.4lb baby with an epidural

(thank you dr. kyle for the drugs & dr. nielson for a healthy babe)

became a nursing mother

became a stay at home mother

(you should try it, it's fab!!!)

watched my husband become a father

and an amazing one at that

fell in love with my husband in a whole new way

became more honest

took maternity leave

resigned from teaching

(at least the kind i got a paycheck from)
fell in love with a 2nd boy

(hint: name begins with B)

learned every kid song known to man

made up a song for everything in my day

traveled to 4 or 5 states

lost 45 pounds

(thank you breastfeeding)

started swimming again

started sewing

successfully made homemade bread

dyed my hair dark (a feat within itself!)

fell in love with my new dark locks

became a "ehem" blogger

(something i had once rolled my eyes at in the past)

was offered a guest blogger post

(tune in to see where & when!)

rekindled old friendships

tried to make new friends, but ended up mainly sticking with the old

made some new friends through the old

fell in love with nieniedialogues

put my baby on a schedule

took my baby off a schedule

put my baby on a schedule

(thank you baby wise)

taught my baby (with sean & nat) how to sleep

increased my milk supply

(very VERY proud of this!!!)

am still nursing full time

plan to nurse until he is 1

(yes, to join the elite 20% group who actually make it there!)

did a 1/2 way homemade christmas

organized a fundraiser for nie

tried some new recipes

fell in love with homemade wheat pizza

recommitted myself to eating more fish

and avocadoes

appreciated my country

my freedom

and right to vote

joined a book club

read over 20 books

purchased fabric & patterns for retro aprons

(will finish in 2009)

reorganized my closets 3 times

(which need to be done again, d.i. i'm supporting you!)

went to the movies once

got released from a calling

got a new calling

set a 10pm bedtime

threw out the bedtime

renewed my temple recommend

try really hard to stay at church every sunday

we are getting better at staying!

(do you have kids? do you know what i'm talking about?)

went home for christmas

got excited for christmas like a kid

(hoping for the 1 gift i really really really wanted-wii)

started tuesdays with marie

supported a husband through the first 1 1/2 of grad school

nursed a baby through his first real sickness

(this is not completed just yet...)

leanred that there is really a special place in heaven for scout masters

and mothers

learned what "happiness" is truly all about

found my dreams

found courage

found confidence

(and a whole new wardrobe...

or it feels that way at least)

found more love.

cheers to 200EIGHT.

le stomach flu

le stomach flu

is what he has,

but

you

would

never

know

b/c

this kid rocks

and

is

happy

all

of

the

time.

i almost didn't take the little guy to the pediatrician b/c he was in such great spirits, but as dr. ring explained it, the little guy is suffering from

"overactive bowels."
poor little dude.

symptoms: won't eat, won't nurse, and "overactive bowels"

dr.'s orders: BRATs diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) & fluids, fluids, fluids

stitch flounce?

i love this little apron.

sandie gave it to me over christmas. she had bought it from an almish community when we went to iowa as kids. dad would go with sandie for an entire day to almish country for no other reason than love b/c all of you men know he was not loving that trip to shop for homemade arts and crafts. what a guy! anyhoo, this little number was handmade, and i think it's adorable. i'm currently making three aprons for myself. i bought the cutest little black with pink polka dot fabric and retro pattern. so cute, but seeing that i don't sew, this has been quite the endeavour. i've learned that sewing is like learning a forgein language.

press,

edgestitch,

pin contrast,

stitch flounce,

staystitch,

slipstitch.

what was i thinking? i literally thought i would just go buy the fabric, read the pattern, and vwallah! seriously, i graduated college at the top of my class and these things mean absolutely nothing to me. all of you "sewers" out there, try not to laugh.

i will conquer!

wait, mom, can you help me?

thank goodness for mothers!

lunes

our christmas card wall has grown!

are you here?

p.s. heather yours got eaten by the pork loin, so sorry, and all family members, yours are already filed into the family history folder

brennan got a rockin' walker

and many other things, but we opened this today

(you know, since crawling is

"out of style"

we're onto walk training, lol)

big thanks to aunt nat, uncle shawn, & cousins em & addie

and i'm almost done with all of this.
although, i really don't mind laundry.
i didn't used to like it, but about 1 1/2 after sean and i got married we got the whirlpool duet front loaders, and let me tell you, washing has been fun ever since! call me crazy, but it's just so true.
do you think so too?
(brennan likes it as well, fun to watch at any age!)

"goin' goin' back back to cali cali"

it was so much fun to blog without pictures this past week, but oh do i have a scrapbook for you today! out of all of the pictures we took of our christmas trip to cali, the first 3 of the plane ride home were my absolute favorites...

but...

there is a story to go with them...

everything had been going smoothly.

we were dropped off in plenty of time.

our curbside check gentleman bumped us ahead of all of the inside lines to get brennan's birth certificate checked and cleared for travel (we gave him a pretty tip too, he rocked! and santa had been good to us this year).

5 minutes before boarding brennan "ehemed."

no big deal (although because he had "ehemed" twice prior we were definitely surprised that he "ehemed" again).

i was nervous that we didn't have much time, but grabbed the diaper caddy and played it cool (you know, being the expert mom i am).

there was a line for the diaper changing station in the bathroom, so i decided to lay my babe down in a corner for a quick change.

to my surprise, "ehem" had exploded.

(this is where sandie says "i told you so")

no extra outfit was packed in my carry on.

all other outfits were checked.

so, i calmly (remember, expert mom, you know, the ones that always have an extra outfit in their bag) dressed my babe without a shirt and walked back.

sean and i laughed on sight b/c without words he knew what happened.

but honestly, would these pictures have been as cute with a dressed baby!?

i think not.

grandma max's famous christmas stockings. these babies are hand made with love (and yarn). we've noticed that sean and brennan's (the newest family additions) are longer than the rest of ours. more santa stuffing for them. lucky dogs.

this was the best picture i got on christmas day of us. i'm hoping someone else can send me some from their camera?

pre-christmas eve mafia party. "grandie" (grandma sandie) hooked B up with this cute little christmas outfit number.

when i got pregnant with brennan, all dad could talk about was taking his grandbaby to the pond with a remote control boat. grandie got dad his dreamboat for christmas. it was lots of fun. dad was like a little kid. so cute.

don't you just love boys? me too. right after this shot they decided they needed a remote control helicopter for next year.

precious. i think i caught the dream on camera!

it was so funny walking through the airport like this...people couldn't stop laughing at us.

the christmas feast. prime rib is always our main event.

this little pony is famous in our family

you know you have a dedicated blog reader when they buy you the willow tree nativity scene you mentioned you wanted but couldn't afford. sandie, you rock!

we took brennan to see santa at hilsdale a few days before christmas. i need to post the picture sandie took of all of us taking pictures and videos of brennan on santa's lap...i'll work on getting that...

feeding the ducks

the boots. remember, "uggg, ugggg, uggg, ugggg, uggggggssssssssss"...i don't care what you think, they are the most comfy shoes ever to grace my pretty feet!

and now i'll spend the next year recovering.

also, brennan is still not crawling

(for those who have been asking.)

photo mishap

i just realized i did not get one frame worthy picture of brennan on the actual christmas day. how did this happen?

hopefully i will be able to fit the one taken the day before with B on santa's lap in the "baby's first christmas" frame...you know, the one that has been sitting with some model baby in it all month...

ugg ugg uggsssssssssss

ugg ugg ugg ugg uuuuuugggggggggssss!

have you worn these fabulous shoes!?!

i am now the proud owner.

i think i might sleep in them tonight.

feet paradise.

really.

partridge & a pear tree

7 kinds of seafood,

6 presents needing wrapping,

1 mafia party,

5 people who didn't recognize me,

tired sleepy baby,

lots of wind a'blowin,

and me full of holiday bliss.

you better watch out, you better not pout

we took brennan to see santa today.

after waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours (which i actually didn't mind...i was partly excited to see the man myself), we finally got our turn.

i stood there with a video camera in one hand, saying brennan's name in a high pitched voice, you know "brrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaannnnnn,"

while sean, dad, and sandie each held cameras in their hands (and kels manned the stroller, bless her).

i think sandie got a picture of what must have been a ridiculous scene.

as for me, i'm letting your imaginations do the painting this week, so think really hard about...

santa

two photographers with bells and a brown stuffed animal something

sandie with a disposable camera (b/c she doesn't want to learn how to use the expensive digital one dad bought her)

dad with my camera doing video and pictures

me with our video camera saying brennan's name (remember in the high pitched voice)

sean clapping his hands and making a "tsk tsk tsk" sound to get B to smile

and all of this with about 100 people in line behind us.

it was awesome.

really.

enjoy the season!

i am blogging today from an undisclosed location this morning

(that's code for half moon bay!!!!!)

originally we were scheduled to come today, but being the airplane family that we once were, we knew we had to get out of town before the

big kahuna of storms hit.

the reports today are delayed flights out of salt lake city and one white out to blame.

thanks to my lovely mother, we used two companion passes to jet set our way into the bay

late late late

last night.

during our bumpy ride my mother's genius reminded me to

"enjoy the season."

sometimes i get so excited to get to the next christmas event that christmas is over before i know it, in a blink.

go to this party here, do christmas with your parents here, do this on this day, bake on that day, christmas with my parents here, this play, that day, this time, that day, this time, that day...

well, you get the idea.

i cherish time with my family more than ever these days, so it's one day at a time for me this year b/c if i get myself looking forward to christmas too much my trip will be over and we'll be back at home again.

i declare christmas fun every day this week!

and you should too!

well, we should probably make it every day all year.

brooke's treat

what did she win?

a batch of these lovelies;-)

oh, and for our valued readers who are loyal to the T, our really really really exciting news from last weekend was that we went to rexburg, idaho!!!

(we know, this was probably only really really really exciting for us)

have a holly jolly

christmas cards are one of my favorite things about christmas time.

i just love getting mail.

i still get excited seeing a hand addressed letter in my mailbox.

email is great, but there's nothing like that envelope

especially addressed

to me.

a few months back i decided to "economically" forgo our christmas card this year

(you know, with the blog and all),

and oh how i am regretting it!

thank goodness others have not made the same mistake.

i vow to send a hand addressed christmas card out next year.

until then,

merry christmas!

love,

emily, sean, and brennan

our card would have had a super cute picture of the three of us matching in christmas colors outdoors in the snow.

we would have talked about roley poley brennan who is still NOT crawling, but prefers to roll around from place to place.

we would have mentioned how glorious our life is with little B and how we can't wait for lots more!!!

we would have said sean is doing fantastic in PT school and as serving as scout master.

we might have said how amazing this year has been, but you know, we don't want to rub it in;-)

we definitely would have said how grateful we are for having wonderful people like all of you in our life!

merry merry happy christmas!

christmas tootsies

do you have a naughty baby/kid when your husband is home?

i do.

my perfect little angel who takes two long naps and never whines all day is now refusing to take naps and has been whining a lot lately.

whenever he sees dad his arms shoot up and the whining begins.

the baby who never misses his morning nap is beginning to defy this lovely morning ritual in the hopes that dad will play with him.

don't get me wrong babe, i LOVE having you home, but maybe we should lock both of you in your rooms for a timeout;-)

how does my 9 1/2 mo. old know that we are on vacation?

smart little devil.

omaha lime sublime

as previously mentioned this week there are 2 things making you an

"adult"

in my family.

receiving "pella letter" pastries

is 1 and these steaks are the 2.
omaha steaks

1/2 dad's family attended

Creighton Univ. in omaha, nebraska.

our dinner plates have never been the same.

there's just no way to do these steaks justice without letting yourself bite into the silky red meat. it melts in your mouth. there is no extra fat anywhere on the beautiful red delights. many may say you need extra fat for flavoring, but not with omaha's. they require no seasoning whatsoever. all they need is a grill (preferably a charcoal weber) and a chef to properly prepare the salivating medium rare juicy steak.

grilled asparagus to accompany, of course.

thank you grandma max for stocking our freezer full!

we will think of you all year round as we feast on these beauties from above.

although, it appears that this week brennan prefers

limes only please.

also, congrats

Mrs. brooke N.

for guessing correctly the 2 things we are counting down for.

i will post brooke's prize by saturday for all of you to see!!!!

back up!

my fingers are burning to write tonight!!!

all morning i was on the phone with the lovely sarah from india (hp tech support) trying to fix my brand new computer. apparently it has a "bad mother board," whatever that means. basically it went like this:

sarah: you have a mother board that is bad.

emily: fabulous, what does that mean?

sarah: no problem, we will just send you a FedEx box to send it back to be fixed.

emily: does that mean you will backup my files?

sarah: we will have to wipe your files completely and do not support a backup (privacy)

emily: (while starting to tear up) can't i give someone my permission to backup my pictures before you erase my hard drive? (starting to panic inside, may hyperventilate)

sarah: no mam, it's against our privacy policy (she really was very lovely and understanding while saying all of this)

emily: (very calmly) i see, but i just had this beautiful little baby and EVERY picture i have of him is on this hard drive (trying not to let sarah know i really am crying now, while sean hands me a box of tissues).

sarah: i am so sorry. i understand, but we are unable to back up anything. you might try a local company before sending it back to us.

emily: (having worked on "the phones" for a company & understanding it's not sarah's fault i say...) okay, are you sure there's nothing we can do?

sarah: no mam, how would you like to proceed?

emily: (silence: because i am still trying to not let sarah know i am crying now)

sarah: are you there mam?

emily: yes (choked out one word, but i think she caught on that i was crying)

sarah: how would you like to proceed?

emily: i guess...(pause, again, still trying to not give myself away)...we'll go with sending it back to be fixed (pause, no way she doesn't know i'm crying now).

sarah: one moment while i put you on hold to get things in order.

emily: (looking at sean with big tears and a runny nose i say...) i should have backed up my files.

now here comes the happy ending...

...i plug the four cards back into the mother board that sarah from hp told me to take out and restart my computer one last time (just for kicks)....

and...

it starts.

hallelujah!!!!

so all day, from

10am-9:30pm

we've been backing up our computer.

it feels better than spring cleaning!

oh, and with all of our extra time away from our computer we made this amazingly beautiful & ultra sugary gingerbread house.

...and cut brennan's hair, which is still laying on the carpet ...

(but i figure it's sort of blonde and so is the carpet, so we'll just rub it in until tomorrow...and maybe i'll vacuum then.)

5 & 9 divine

5 & 9

so divine!

we are counting down to 2 things in our house!
can you guess what they are!?!
come on, i dare you to post a comment!
p.s. anyone can post a comment, yes, that means you too dad;-)

we are supposed to get snow for the next 3 days!!!!

i am the happiest person alive!

holiday pants & socks

i wore my holiday pants and socks yesterday.

they are good luck for snow.

how do i know this?

b/c

when i woke up this morning there were inches and inches of snow on the ground and big huge white flakes falling from the sky.

today is a good day.

thank you lucky holiday pants and socks.

what good luck charms do you have?

or holiday clothes for that matter.

also, please don't hate me, but i think my christmas shopping is done...i think.

adults in a box

christmas time means one thing.

"pella letters"

jaarsma bakery in pella, iowa was a staple story in our home growing up. my dad would always order a box of the "letters" and have them shipped to us in california from iowa, where he grew up. the flakey apple pasted cinnamon "letter S" shaped delights are part of my breakfast routine all throughout december. you know you've become an adult in my family if you have your own box shipped to your very own home.

we've been "adults" 4 years in a row now;-)

thanks aunt sue w.

tune in later for part 2: omaha steaks

frigid cold never felt so good

if you know me well, you know

i

ADORE

rexburg, idaho.

so, i dedicate my post today to you, rexburg!

thanks for having us;-)

first of all, i understood adulthood/parenthood in an entirely new way.

brennan was a bit cranky about an hour into our drive, so we popped in "alvin & the chipmunk's" christmas cd (thank you mucho keri) and sung our little hearts out. brennan loved it. at one moment sean and i looked at each other and just laughed. it's amazing what you'll do for your kids.

welcome to idaho, eeek!!!

i'm so excited, i can't stand it!

we stayed with our "couple friend besties" lyn & erin in idaho falls the night before shawn ray's wedding (we went to idaho for shawn ray's wedding in the rexburg temple). their son is a year older than brennan...yeeeeeeaaaaaaah, brennan outweighs him by a 1/2 a pound. again, we state, we have a

pork loin.

a BIG thank you to katie and levi for watching B so we could go to the sealing

(i took this pic right before we left rexburg b/c it looks so pretty all lit up at night!)

the luncheon after the sealing:

sean, me, shawn ray, tenille ray (awww, happy couple!)

bishop, sis. wilcock, B

can we just say thank you for the wonderful people in our life,

seriously,

thank you!

i begged sean to take this picture with me. it was 9 degrees outside and the snow was

"a blowin'."

bein' the fabulous hub he is, finally gave in for a "this is rexburg" photo for all of you to see!

thanks hun, you rock.

"this is rexburg" picture #2

notice how you can't see what the signs say b/c the snow is caked on, don't you LOVE this place!!??!!

me too:-)

this is the largest church building (other than a temple) ever built. i'm pretty sure it has its own zip code. the picture just doesn't do it justice.

we bundled B up so many times visiting friends. this was after zero naps and three visits. he was fine until we "velcro-ed" the hat under his chin.

HA!

i love this about rexburg in christmas. they make main street light up. my camera was on the wrong setting so it's all blurry, but don't you think it looks so magical!?

did i mention i LOVE rexburg?

we drove home saturday night so we could sleep in our own beds and wake up at home, despite the snow storm. it took an extra 45 min. to do it, with the weather and the lunatics in the salt lake valley on I-15

(it's a long story, but basically we almost got killed twice by the homeboys who didn't know how to drive in the snow. seriously, 85mph does not work when there's 2 in. of wet snow on the freeway!!!).


the snow plows go up and down I-15 all night long when it snows. this was somewhere around Inkom, Idaho.

other than our near death experience coming into salt lake city, we have a super fab time.

we love you rexburg!

a big thank you to...

lyn & erin, katie & levi, bishop & wendy, bro. & sis. allen, sid & lynette pierce

moprah, pick me!!!

Seriously So Blessed is giving away some great prizes! Check it out. I hope I win!!!

baby it's cold outside...or inside?

it snowed yesterday in our house.

and it was absolute bliss!
who needs toys when you can have styrofoam peanuts?

i am simply busting with excitement!!!

no, really, i'm so excited i can barely sit my little toosh in this cozy metal chair!

want to know why?

well, you'll have to wait to see until monday;-)

okay, maybe only until sunday...

also, thank you keri reading for hooking me up with the "it's cold outside" song from ELF (and all of the other great tunes). bless your cute self!