Christmas Morning

I am so mad at myself! I have had problems with losing pictures that I upload to my computer because I need to clear up some C Drive space. I have too many pictures on here I guess. But, yesterday I was in a hurry to clear off my camera to take more pictures. And, I usually double check to make sure it's on the computer before I delete the pictures, but I didn't do that. So, I lost all of Christmas morning and beyond pictures and video. The reason I'm so upset about it is because we were able to get the CUTEST video of Chad carrying Emma down on Christmas morning. And, the reason why I spent so much time making sure the bows and such were so pretty was just for pictures. Otherwise I would have just left the bows off. Chad would have been more happy about that because they had so much glitter on them. He hates that. So, I guess I'll just have to explain how it went before I forget the details.

Well, first of all I should say that we stayed up until about 2:30 Christmas Eve night wrapping presents. Then, at 5:00 I woke up to finish up with the bows. And, I had lost one of the gifts for Chad. I had been looking for it for two weeks. So, when I was finished getting everything ready I didn't worry about waking anyone up because it was time for the to get up anyway. I rummaged through everything. Even Emma didn't wake up. And, I was very loud. Well, I finally found the Bourne Trilogy movies I was looking for. They were right where I thought they were the whole time, and I swear I looked there about twenty times. But, this time they were there so I was happy. We had also been missing a Dora Doll of Emma's, which I found under her crib. And, about a year and a half ago I won a Nano iPod. I haven't really used it much, but about six months ago I lost the cord that goes to the computer. I couldn't charge it, so I really couldn't use it. Well, then I stuck the iPod away because it was useless. But, then I realized that I could just buy a new cord. They're not very expensive. But, I couldn't find the iPod. Well...I found it Christmas morning right before I found the movies I was looking for. I was so excited after being able to find everything that I woke Chad and Emma up.

Then, Chad carried Emma downstairs while I videoed. I had contemplated not worrying about videoing and just enjoying the moment. But, we got such a priceless video it was worth it. Well, then we lost it. Oh well. Ashley got to see the video later that day. Well, Emma got a Tinker Bell pillow that I didn't wrap, I just put a pretty bow around it. There was so many gifts. But, when she saw that she went crazy, jumped down from Chad's arms and crawled right over to the couch and tried to get up on it to get the pillow that was in the far back corner on top of the arm. She was SO excited! It was so cute! Chad grabbed the pillow and put it on the floor so she could see it better. She hugged it and kept laying her head down on it. She loved it! So cute! I'm so glad, too, because it was a last-minute gift that I wasn't planning on. In fact, throughout the whole time of unwrapping presents she had to sit right on top of it the whole time. It could not leave her sight.

Emma was so over-whelmed with all of her presents. Every present she opened she just wanted to play with. She didn't understand why she couldn't. But, we had to keep going. We had to be done with Santa's gifts by 8:00 because we only had from 8-3 to be with family. So, we opened Santa's gifts and saved the rest for later that night.

I am really sad that we lost that video, along with the pictures that were taken of Emma opening her presents. But, Chad keeps reminding me that at least we remember it. That's why I wanted to post about it so that I could remember. Thanks to those of you who read it. I know it was long and probably boring. And, it's not a fair substitute for the video that I would have posted, but it's the best alternative.

Emma

For Halloween, my Dad sent the cutest package. This cute red coat was a part of it. Emma wears it to Church and other special occasions. She looks SO CUTE in it. Thank you! We love it!

Emma's personality surely fits her. She's such a girl and we love it!

Time Flies

Wow. Time sure does fly. Here we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and even Christmas, and I feel like Halloween was just yesterday. I apologize to all of you who have been looking forward to Halloween pictures of our little Bunkas. It seems like during the holiday season we have so much fun, but there's not much extra time to sit down and share our great times.

Emma was a ladybug for Halloween. She helped me pick it out at Costco and had to wear it throughout the store and now and again for the couple weeks before Halloween. She loved playing dress-up.







Next year I want to be a cheerleader!!



All these partying wore Emma out. This was on the way to Chad's parents...where the real party began.



Emma's first boyfriend's name is Jeffrey. He lives next door. They love playing together. On Halloween lions and ladybugs are best friends. We're so happy to have Jeffrey and his family with us here at the mortuary. It's so fun!




We went to the Dollar Store to get a little bag for Trick-Or-Treating. While we were there Emma saw a bunch of balls and got so excited. It was so cute I couldn't resist. To this day it remains one of her favorite toys...and Jeffrey likes it, too :)







Cutest girl ever. Too bad ladybugs don't really make a sound. Emma's new animal sounds are: cow, horsie, doggie, bunny (she wiggles her mouth instead of her nose), fishie (cutest thing ever. That's the first one she got. She kind of picked it up on her own. We can thank Aunt Lisa for that.)



How genius. You take the ladybug vest off and she turns into a cat!



Daddy had to dress up for work. He was a bank robber. We went in to go trick-or-treating.



Cutest little ladybug I've ever seen!

Emma's Big Week

Emma on Jeffrey's Dolph-mobile.

Emma loves to play with Jeffrey's toys. He's our neighbor and is about 18 months old. They're best pals. They even share romantic kisses when they get together late at night. No joke! Well, she's not quite as big as him, but she's learning. She really wanted to play on his little dolphin bike thing. She obviously can't move her feet to make her go, but she sure had fun pretending. She even would twist the little orange handles and say, "v-room, v-room."
























Emma and Daddy couldn't go to the Daddy-Daughter dance that the ward had, but here they are all dressed up on Sunday. The other night they had their own Daddy-Daughter dance out on the porch. Emma loved it!





















Emma has had a pretty big week this week. On Saturday all of her girl cousins were going to High School Musical 3. Chad and I decided that we could take Emma. I was really crossing my fingers just hoping that one of us wouldn't have to leave the theater and come in and go out like we have to at Church sometimes. That's all I wanted...to last without an earth-shattering scream. But...Emma was so good!! She loved the movie. She even watched and danced most of the time. I even caught her singing sometimes. It was only the last 15 minutes that she even got squirmy. Good thing Grandma was there. Of course Emma loved the beginning part of the movie, where the blue Disney castle is there and the rainbow goes over it. She loves that part of every Disney movie. Then, when the movie started I was really nervous because it was so loud. But, she loved it. It was so fun for me to see her so happy and having so much fun. If I could read her mind I would say that she was thinking, "wow, why can't we do this every day?" There was lots of passing back and forth between the two of us. She was reach for one, but then change her mind as soon as she got there. And, we came prepared with lots of her favorite treats. But, really! It was a full-length movie. I was in shock!








Yesterday afternoon Chad and I decided to go to Sizzler for a late lunch/early dinner since he gets off work early on Tuesdays. He was starving. We took Emma, of course, and she was being so cute. We took a couple videos. This one was the shortest. The best part is towards the end, so you have to be patient until it gets to it. There was music playing and she was dancing. Every time we would give her a bite of ice cream she would dance. She started showing off to get more ice cream. The best part is when she has her hands on the table and she does a little shimmy. So cute!! Again, we were so impressed that she was so good at the restaurant. We keep hearing all of these horror stories about how parents can't take their kids anywhere. We have been really blessed to have such a good little girl.









For those of you who don't get to see Emma very often I like to share little moments that just melt my heart. And, this is something that I would never like to forget. This morning was one of those moments. It was one of those mornings where I could tell that she was content with watching cartoons and playing by herself, so I headed off to the shower. For those of you who don't know how this apartment is laid out, the bathroom and two bedrooms are upstairs and the living room and kitchen are downstairs. So, the shower feels so far away from her. There's lots of mischief she can get into during that time. So, I get a little nervous. But, mornings like this one I get brave. When I get out of the shower I always notice whether I can hear her talking or not. If I can't, then I run down to peak and see what she's up to. Of course, she's always just fine, but I just have to check. This morning was a rare occasion where I could tell she was happily playing along. So, I gave myself the luxury of taking my time to get ready. I have a little bug, so it felt extra good. I know that Emma's feeling a little under the weather with probably the same thing as me, too, so I thought I would give her a bath since my shower felt so good. Sometimes that's the best medicine, a nice long, warm shower. I went downstairs to get her and found that she had gotten into the leather ottoman that we store her "downstairs toys" in. She hadn't gotten anything out other than the bunny ears that we got her for Easter. She was clear across the room, looking at books, wearing the bunny ears. So cute!! Well, as soon as she saw me she immediately took off the bunny ears and gave me a shy little giggle. She was embarrassed that I had caught her playing dress-up. Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever heard?

Just some cute pictures of Emma

We just think Emma is the cutest thing ever. People often ask us how we can stand her, she's just too cute. The answer is...We can't! We go crazy over her just as much, actually more, than everyone else does. We are so grateful for her. She's the best little bunkas (as we call her).

Emma's Quilt is Done!

Emma's Blanky is finally finished!

PEEK...

A BOO!!

I finally finished Emma's quilt that was supposed to be for her birthday. It's only three weeks late. I am actually really proud of it. I can't say that I have never sewn before. But, what I can say is that I didn't even know how to thread the sewing machine that I had borrowed. I had to look it up on the internet. It's amazing the things you can learn on the internet. I have to give credit Chad for making the pattern for me. He is very creative and pretty visual, so he was able to draw a picture. Then, I was able to make it work together. And, thanks to a neighbor for helping me figure out how to make the triangles. That really held me up. I couldn't figure out how to get the stripes to face the right way, then she came over and it took her ten minutes. Genius! When I was about to finish. I literally had one inch left to go, and my string ran out. Oh! It was so frustrating. But, what a sense of accomplishment when it was done. In fact, I cuddle with it most of the time. I'm having a hard time giving it up to Emma. It's so warm and cozy.

The other day when it snowed and felt like winter was so fun. We didn't have a winter last year, so it's different. At times we're excited about it and other times we're not so excited about it. The first day was so fun, though. We got to bundle Emma up and she looked SO CUTE!









Emma woke up from her nap the other day and was not very happy. Her hair was a mess from sleeping, she was missing a sock, and just plain grumpy. We tried everything. I even let her put her Halloween costume on. When we bought it she just had to have it on right away. So, we walking around the store with her dressed as a Lady Bug. So, I thought that putting it back on her would make her happy, but I think it just made it worse. I thought it was so cute that I couldn't resist taking some pictures. She cheered up once Daddy came home for lunch.

BYU vs. New Mexico

BYU wins New Mexico University

Our cute neighbors were so nice to give up their free tickets to the BYU game this last Saturday. We went and braved the cold. It was supposed to rain and snow, but not a drop. It was pretty cold, though. It was so fun to be in the cougar stadium. The crowd was huge and the stadium was packed. BYU ended up winning 21-3. It was extra special because it was their Homecoming game. Yay!! The only thing we missed that we were hoping for was for the Cougarettes to dance during half-time. The marching band did great, though. Go Cougars!!

Emma's First Steps!!

Emma started walking on her own on Wednesday. I was trying to get her to stand on her own, but off she went. She can't get enough of it now. And, neither can we, because we think she's so cute. She has never really crawled. She just scoots her way across the floor. She can usually get about anywhere she wants to go. It just takes her a little while. But, now that she think she can walk...and has so much fun doing it...we can't keep her sitting down. She just pulls herself up to the couches. But, then she gets stuck because she's not quite brave enough to move past those first couple steps. We're so proud of her, though. Yay for Emma!!

Cutest Faces

We love Emma's new car seat. Can you tell? I'm so happy to hear that Emma and Alex have the same one...just another thing that those two cousins have in common. It seems like the list keeps adding up. Emma's face is the cutest. Her little facial expressions crack us up.

Just an example of Miss Emma's little attitude that is developing. She can be so sassy sometimes.

Emma's so big!

What a Big Girl!!

Emma really has been growing up so much lately. It seems like ever since her birthday she hasn't been a baby anymore. She's just a little girl now instead of a little baby. It is so fun to watch her grow and become a little woman more and more each day. It makes me so excited to see what is to come. I find myself wondering what she will become. I wonder who she will be and what will make her Emma. Even though she is only a year old I find myself thinking that she is so far ahead of me. She seems so much more advanced than me. I am so proud of her. And, I don't think I have done anything to make her this way. It's just the way she came. She truly is the joy of my life. I don't know what I would do without her. I love her so much. I feel that life would be so boring without her. We have been blessed with Heavenly Father's choicest children, and I am grateful for that.


























Last week Emma and I were at a Young Women's Volleyball game. She was wearing this same outfit as she is in the shopping cart. It's just a shirt, not a onesy. And, it has blue pants. She's such a skinny little thing, but so tall, that she needs longer pants, but that means that it's too big for her around the waist. Well, I was holding both of her hands as she stood in front of my chair at the game. That's one of her favorite things to do. She feels so big. Anyway, about five minutes had gone by. I was just talking and watching the game, not paying much attention to Emma. When I looked down I saw that she had kicked her pants off and they were about two feet away from her on the ground of the stage. I was so shocked I just burst out laughing and I felt myself turn bright red as if I was embarrassed for her because she was just in a shirt and a diaper. It was the funniest thing. Everyone around me was laughing. So, I had to lay her down on the ground to put her pants back on. I was laughing so hard I was crying and my face was all red. Emma just looked at me like something was wrong. She was really worried about me.