Baby William and Baby Jonathan

Holding daddy's hand

(Aaron's mom took this picture of Aaron holding baby A's hand. I love how she got the measuring tape in the background of the picture.)

Here is our baby formerly known as baby A, now and forever known as William Aaron. He was the smaller of the two at birth, and continues to do well. Aaron got to feed him his first bottle last night and William did a good job of drinking it. It is kind of hard to see in this picture, but he is off oxygen all together! I got the word this morning that they will both be taken off their precautionary antibiotic today, which is also great news!

This is the former baby B, now known as Jonathan Aaron. He was the larger of the two at birth and has progressed so well since birth. He is completely off oxygen as well, and takes a bottle really well. Aaron got to feed him a bottle yesterday and I got to feed him some last night as well. When I fed him, he drank as little as possible and then just fell asleep with his head in my hand. The nurses told me this morning that he ate well again last night. At this point, it looks like eating is really the only thing keeping them in the NICU. Once they get the hang of that and can eat a little more at a time, then they will go home. I am here until at least Monday anyway. My platelet counts are on the rise but I still can't have Motrin or anything like unto it. I don't mind.

I have been known to disappear from my recovery room for hours at a time to be with the babies. I find that some nurses don't like it if you aren't around to have your vitals checked...who knew?!?

I just wanted to give a quick update this morning. Love to you all and thanks for all your messages, emails and phone calls! (And we are especially grateful to everyone who has been helping out with Emma. She has been having a lot of fun with her Grandma JoLayne, BB and all of her Higley and Graves cousins. She doesn't even want to come to the hospital to see any of us!)

Surprise! They're here!

Let me just say that few things could have preparedme to hear the words: "We are going to have to deliver your babies today. And by today I mean in the next half hour. And your platelet counts are low enough that we are going to have to put you out. And your husband can't be with you."

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling pretty rough. "No more pepperoni pizza this late in pregnancy," I thought. My ribs and lungs hurt so bad. I did what anyone would do-I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast. Thinking I would feel better after whichever baby was in my lungs got out, I laid down on the couch and watched "Dora" with Emma. A few hours later, I threw up. I was still hurting pretty bad and feeling quite nauseous, decided not to eat anything, but drink as much water as I could. Fast forward several hours-I ate some saltines, drank more water, and Aaron got home from work. I explained to him how bad I was feeling and that no matter how I laid, I couldn't get the one baby off my rib cage and I just couldn't breathe. So I took a bath. No better. In fact, that was when contractions started. Regular contractions.

So we started the phone calls. It was 11 pm and there are ward members all in our neighborhood that told us to call them in the middle of the night if we needed to. None of them answered their phones. So we called my cousin, Bonnie, to see if she could possibly come sit with Emma, who was asleep, until Aaron's mom could come down from Chattanooga, an hour and a half away. (My family was all in Utah, dropping off my younger brother at the MTC.) So anyway, Bonnie's husband wasn't home from work yet, so Bonnie sent one of her friends over who happens to live nearby. (I met this girl once, on a playdate with all of our kids-she is so awesome!)

At midnight we got to the hospital and got checked in. Sure enough, I was having contractions every 2 minutes. However, there was no dilation or effacement. I should not have been in labor. I was scolded a bit by the doctor on call for not having called into the office for something for nausea (but I only threw up twice!). I was told that they were going to put me on medication to stop the contractions, send me home, and go on bed rest.

A few minutes later the same doctor came in with a stack of papers-my labwork. Apparently I had a very observant nurse who decided to check a few things-like my liver. Although I had no other signs or symptoms, I was suffering the ill effects of toxemia. My counts of whatever in my liver were in the multiple hundreds. They are supposed to be under 100. My platelet count was low. The only signs of me being sick were the sore ribs/lungs and trouble breathing and the vomiting.

The doctor decided we would all be safer to just go ahead with it and deliver. I was told all of this at 3 am and Baby A was born at 3:27am (4 lbs 11 ounces) and Baby B was born at 3:29am (5 lbs 5 ounces). I didn't get to see or hold them until 4 pm yesterday. I was put totally out for the taking of the babies and slept off the anesthesia most of the day.

I can honestly say that those early morning moments were some of the scariest of my life. I knew the possibility of a c-section was there, but I didn't even think about having to be completely out for the delivery of my babies-or completely without my husband for one of the scariest moments of my life.

Aaron gave me several priesthood blessings over the course of the evening and night. I was so scared once I found out what was going to happen. I was so scared for my little guys that could've used a few more weeks to grow. But each time Aaron gave me a blessing, deep down I was calm, and I knew that we would be okay...I am so thankful.

So, here are some good pictures of the boys. I tried to find some that showed mostly them. They are off the big oxygen masks and just using the nasal oxygen (they have me on the same thing off and on) and they are being fed formula through a tube in their mouth. They are doing better all the time and will hopefully continue to improve! We are (obviously) still thinking of names. I thought I had a least another week or two! This is me and baby A. His legs are just folded up underneath him (they look a little funny but I like this picture of me and him). This is the first time I got to actually touch him.

This is me and baby B. I got to hold him (I guess because he weighed a little more?). However, I was still so out of it here, that I had to put him back because I kept falling asleep. So, I only got to hold him for a few minutes.

Here they are! Hope you like the pictures and we will get more up sometime soon. Right now, I am going to see if I can stand up again (maybe this time I can go longer than 2 minutes!).

A little scared...

Okay, so lately I have been having some issues. I had my first emotional breakdowns for this pregnancy the other night (aside from the emotional breakdown I suffered when I found out I was having twins).

I am so scared that Emma is going to have to "grow up" too much when new babies come into the house. I am afraid that I won't get to give her all the attention that I want to give her. I am scared that she will feel like she is less important for some reason. This may seem incredibly ridiculous to some of you. Did anyone else feel like this when you had your second (and third) kids? This is really weighing heavy on my mind, and making me quite sad. It has been the source of quite a bit of emotion lately. Anyway, I thought that maybe I would feel a little better about it if I got it out. I figured my blog was safer than actually having to say the words...Let me know if you have any advice.

Easter Dinner

Yesterday I hosted an Easter dinner at our house. It was our first Easter being away from all the family in Utah. It was my first Easter out of that state since we were married. It was a little sad for me. There was no weekend at Grandma Hale's-stuffing my face with all sorts of delicious food and candy, playing games with Grandma and Grandpa (and winning!). There was no Jones family feast with all the Jones family, homemade wheat rolls, and a table that sat 60-family and misplaced students. I mourned the loss of a Utah Easter a little.

While mourning this loss, Aaron and I came up with a plan to host an Easter dinner at our house. We invited my two cousins and their families, along with one of my cousins' brother-in-law and his wife to come have dinner with us. I wanted to do something big and fun before I can't do anything. We made a delicious honey ham, hashbrown casserole (also known as funeral potatoes), my cousins brought lima beans, salad, homemade rolls, caramel pie, and I made a lemon icebox pie.

We had a lot of fun, and I realized how much I love entertaining. And that I have a great kitchen to entertain in. Here are a few pictures:Emma and me in front of the table. (Yes, I forgot napkins.) My decorated easter table. I took a page out of Aaron's Aunt Sandra's "Holiday Table Decorating" book and decided to have a table strewn with jellybeans and other decorative Easter egg decorations. (If you have ever had the pleasure of eating a meal at Sandra's, you know that she has everything decorated for that season or holiday-not to mention a delicious meal, too!)

So, to any of our Utah family that reads our blog, we missed you yesterday! We hope that you missed us just a little, too. And to our family and friends around here, this was the beginning of what I hope will be many more fun dinners and days here at our house! Just don't count on coming until at least July.

Happy Easter!

When I was growing up, it was kind of a family tradition to get all dressed up for church and then take family pictures. This has resulted in some hilarious family pictures over the years. My mom always went to great lengths to have us all in a matching color. One of my brothers always hated this and would never smile in the pictures, and was even crying in some of them.

Today I tried to match us up. I started with my own outfit since I have, like, 3 things I can still wear. Then, Emma's pink dress wouldn't fit over her head. (I am a little upset about this since she has never worn it before, I bought it last year, and it is absolutely adorable. If I had known it was made for toddlers with shrunken heads, I never would have bought it.) So I told Aaron to wear whatever he wanted to.Emma had to go ahead and wear her yellow dress. It was also FREEZING outside. (Okay, it was really about 40 degrees, but it was 70 the day before!)

On Saturday, I bought Emma some new white shoes, since Easter is the official start of white shoe season (does anybody still go by that rule anymore? I have heard that it no longer applies, but I don't want to be in danger of being fashionably wrong). She loves the shoes and thinks that she is so grown up in them! And here is the family picture. I put it last so that everytime I go to my blog I don't have to see myself. I think that I will put on a little tinted lip gloss next time I let someone take my picture! Oh, and I am never wearing my white shoes again while I am pregnant. I should have gone with some more sensible shoes. Hello, swollen ankles (or at least they were last time I was able to see them)!

Since you asked so nicely....

I have had several requests for pictures of myself lately. I decided that I would give in and post a couple. I will be 33 weeks this week which means I have 5 weeks left at the most. Everything is going good!

Aaron took these pictures of me before our ward party on Friday night (the same night the tornadoes trashed downtown Atlanta). We took the first one so that you could see how the house looks with our stuff in it. I got a new recliner and a new dining table. Other than that (and the rug) the rest of the furniture we brought out here with us. Hope you enjoy! Here is a side view. I didn't realize how big I really am until I saw this picture. It was kind of a shock. Now I understand why I have been getting some strange looks lately, especially when I tell people that I still have over a month to go! Oh, Emma wanted to be in the pictures, too!

Babies Update

I have a few minutes to update while Emma is asleep.

I had a doctor's appointment today and the babies are weighing in at 3 pounds 11 ounces and 4 pounds 1 ounce. Their combined weight is already more than Emma weighed at birth. I know that individually that isn't that big of a deal, but for my body, it is a HUGE deal. I am definitely feeling the effects of more baby and all that comes along with them! The doctor said that everything looks great, and he was really impressed with their weight gain. I think it has something to do with all the Easter candy I have been eating.

I have had a few picture requests, and really there isn't anything to see. Aaron has been working late and by the time he gets home, I usually look pretty spent, so maybe I will get him to take a picture of me on Sunday when I actually take time to put on something other than pajama pants. Don't laugh, nothing else fits very well. So anyway, I promise to put up a picture of my preggo self very soon.

I also have some pictures of Emma...and will post pictures of the house with our stuff in it...when I can find the camera. For now, I am taking a nap while I have the chance!

All is well...

No pictures again. Lame, I know. Just wanted to give a quick pregnancy update. I went to the perinatologist yesterday, and got the super thorough ultrasound again. (I love being considered "high risk" and having to go to the perinatologist. I get an extremely thorough ultrasound every few weeks. I only got one with Emma.)

I don't guess I mentioned it in any of my previous posts, but when I went to the perinatologist in Utah, I was told that 24-28 weeks is a pretty crucial point in a multiples pregnancy. Something like 90% of all preterm labor occurs during those weeks. I was cautioned to take it easy, to the point that I was to eliminate any optional physical activity during that time. That hasn't been so bad. ( I consider grocery shopping as optional physical activity-but the rest of my little family does not. Oh well, I guess I have to do something while Aaron is busy unpacking boxes.) Well, as of yesterday I am 28 weeks, and according to the perinatologist, everything looks great. No danger of preterm labor!

And on an even better note, after measuring the babies' heads and abdomens, they determined that they weigh 2 pounds 10 ounces, and 2 pounds 13 ounces. They are right on track-for a single pregnancy, let along twins! (That is what a single baby would weigh at this point of the pregnancy.) Add it up, that is over five pounds of baby in there, and I still have 8 to 10 weeks left to go!

We are still unpacking things, so when we get a little more situated, I will post house pictures. Just wanted to give the pregnancy update for anyone who might be wondering!

A Few of Emma's Tennessee/Georgia Adventures

Since we got to Tennessee, Emma and I have been staying with my parents while Aaron works in Georgia. He comes up here on the weekends and then leaves to go back to Atlanta on Sunday nights. Today is a momentous occasion, because it is the last weekend that he will drive up here. We are supposed to close on our house next Friday, and then we will all be together again! We have tried to take advantage of some of the things that Tennessee and Georgia have to give Emma some fun stuff to do. Here are some of the things that she has been doing: These start at Christmas, I guess. I have gotten a little behind. This is Emma and her cousin Julie Rae eating the centerpiece at our family Christmas party. I think they pretty much destroyed this thing before the party was over! This is Emma with her Aunt Kat-Kat at one of our family's favorite local Mexican restaurants. A few weekends ago, Aaron and I took Emma to a neighboring farm to see their baby calves. The calves are still bottle fed (the one in this picture is only about 2 weeks old). Emma thought it was really neat to watch them drink their bottle, but she wouldn't really touch it. She also got to see chickens and brought home 2 brown eggs that the chickens laid that day. We also took Emma to the Georgia Aquarium. It is a newer aquarium (it was built a couple years ago). It is a really neat place, so we went ahead and got year passes for Aaron and I (Emma can go for free until she is 3!). It is cheaper to buy year passes than it is to go twice, so we figured that was a pretty good deal. My sister wanted to go swimming and one of the nearby towns has a nice indoor pool. Emma loved getting to play in the water with her Uncle Russell. Aaron was in Atlanta on this swimming trip, and I think that he was a little sad to have missed out. I did not swim. There is not a swimsuit that I would even think of putting on at this point. I was happy to watch and take pictures from the side of the pool! This is Emma trying to push the water back into the water fountain in the kiddie pool. My pictures aren't very clear from the pool because it was too dark in there to get any good ones.

By the way, lately Emma has red eye in a lot of the pictures that I take of her. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Erin Summerill, that one is directed at you!

I'm a what?!?

I haven't posted in a while, and I have no pictures to go with this post, but a funny thing happened to me over the weekend.

I took Emma down to Atlanta so we could see Aaron, take care of some house paperwork, and have a family weekend together. Aaron has been staying with the sweetest couple who are friends with his grandparents. (He actually lived in their home while he did his internship a couple of summers ago.) Well, while we were visiting, their son came in and started talking to us. The son asked where I was from, and I replied that I am from Middle Tennessee. And then it happened. His response: "Oh, you're a Yankee!" Totally taken back, I said "But I am from Tennessee. That is south of the Mason-Dixon line, which means that I am not a Yankee!" He went on to explain that he was from a small town in southern Georgia, and that there, anything north was considered "Yankee."

In my lifetime I have been called a hick. I have been called a redneck. I have even been called a haole. But I can honestly say until that moment, I have never been called a Yankee.

Now, I have to explain something. I like where I am from. I don't really call people "Yankees" or "Southerners" or any other geographical slur for that matter. I have also lived in Utah for the last five years, and out there, I could turn heads or generate conversation with my slightly Southern/Utah accent. A lot of my friends in Utah would even try to imitate my Southern accent. So in my entire life (or at least when I learned that there were "Southerners" and "Yankees") I have never considered myself to be anything other than "Southern." It was just very funny to me...and a little strange.

Look! I have pictures!

We have been searching for a home in Atlanta and after a marathon weekend of home searching we found one! We drove around Atlanta for three days looking and walking through house after house after house. I was getting so discouraged thinking that we would just go back to Tennessee and Emma (my mom babysat for us) and try again another time. This was one of the last neighborhoods we drove through and saw this house that was for sale by owner. We walked through the house, typed up and delivered an offer, and the home owners accepted it within an hour and a half. We close at the end of January and I spent all day there yesterday having all the inspections done. While I was there I took some pictures of the home.

This is the front of the house. The lot is 9/10 of an acre and has been beautifully landscaped. The trees are huge hardwood trees!

This is the back of the house. The home owner said that in the summer when all the leaves are on the trees, the house is completely shaded and their electric bill is minimal. They are leaving the little turtle sandbox for Emma.

This is the kitchen. It was remodeled in 2005 and had custom cabinets installed and the counter tops are granite. I fell in love with this kitchen the second I walked in the door. Oh and they are leaving the chairs for me!

Here are more of the cabinets and the built in china cabinet. The appliances stay as well! (Notice the solid surface cook top at this end of the counter.)

This is the living room. I don't know if it is obvious or not, but the kitchen and living room are all one big open room. We are excited about that so I won't feel like I am trapped in the kitchen, away from all the action. Plus, we spend most of our time as a family in the kitchen and living room.

Here is another view of the living room. The homeowners are leaving all the window treatments, matching throw pillows, and the lamps (they kind of match the design on the drawer hardware in the kitchen). Ironically enough, the homeowners couches are the same color as mine, so I could easily picture my own furniture in the home!

And we have the hall bath. I am not crazy about the pink tile in there, but the way the lady has decorated it makes it so cute! She is also leaving the custom shower curtain and window curtain for me. I don't think that I could have ever found anything to match as well and even if I did, it wouldn't look this good!

This is the master bedroom. There is a small bath off this room with a shower (no tub). The picture that I have isn't great so I am not posting it.

This will be Emma's room. All the upstairs rooms have hardwood under the carpet, but this is the only room that doesn't have carpet. Emma was at the house with me yesterday and she was so excited about her room! My mom bought her a really cute bedding set for her new big girl bed. (She will get our full size bed and Aaron and I will move up to a queen size. Yay bigger bed!)

This will be the boys' room. (Or baby brudders room as Emma calls it.) I want to pull the carpet up in here as soon as I can and have hardwood in here, too. Any ideas for paint colors in here?

There is also a partial basement under the house which has a laundry room, work bench for Aaron and a bonus room that I have designated as my craft room. It has a long built in bench/counter type thing. I am having visions of setting my sewing machine up in there, laying out multiple scrapbook pages at a time, and becoming craftier just because I will have a place to be crafty. The craft night girls will understand.

We are so excited about this house. It is making me crazy that we have to wait almost a month to move in and make it our own, but I guess that is part of buying a home (waiting to close, etc.). I feel so lucky to have stumbled on such a home. The home owners had just put the sign in their yard a few days before, so I really feel like this is a blessing.

The home owners have been so kind to us through all of this as well. They were there yesterday during all the inspections, had a little gingerbread house making kit for Emma, and the husband walked all around the yard with me talking to me about the trees, things they had done in the yard, etc. They are only the second owners of the home and have lived there for twenty years. It feels good to be purchasing a home from someone who has lived there and loved it and put so much of their time and effort into making it beautiful and keeping it that way. I am so excited!

Got any good Boy names? I could use two!

If you didn't already guess from the title of my post, we found out what the babies are! Twin boys! The doctor that checked it all out at Utah Valley thinks that they are identical, too! Some wild and crazy times ahead, I would guess! We have a few ultrasound pictures, but I don't have access to a scanner right now, so I can't post them. If I remember and find a scanner, I will get them on here.
In case you are keeping up with us via this blog, we arrived in Tennessee on Saturday afternoon last week. It took us two and a half days to get here. We drove through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and half of the state of Tennessee to get here in order to avoid bad weather in Colorado and Wyoming. It made the trip a little longer, as did my need to get out and walk around every couple of hours. Emma did really well on the trip, rarely ever complaining about having to sit in her car seat for so long. She is such a trooper!
Anyway, I promise to put up more pictures soon. I am still trying to recover from the car ride, and I am also too lazy to get up from the couch and find the camera right now. So to all of you we left behind in Utah, we miss you and love you all and will get some new pictures up soon. Hope you all had a great Christmas!

I've been tagged!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B. Each player answers the questions about themselves. C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. 5 Things I was doing 10 years ago: 1. Finishing up my first semester of college at Middle Tennessee State University. 2. Wishing for a new car. 3. Waitressing at a restaurant called Toot's.

4. Trying to figure out life on my own

5. Listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and riding backroads (is that a Southern thing?).

5 Things on my to-do list today

1. Take on at least one "Packing Task."

2. Order some maternity clothes online for my Christmas presents.

3. Hope and pray that we are having craft night tonight!

4. Catching up on the billing

5. Get a nap.

5 Snacks I enjoy

1. ORANGES

2. Toasted tomato and cheese

3. Jolly Ranchers (the peach and raspberry ones)

4. Lucky Charms (I blame it on the pregnancy)

5. Pizza

5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire

1. Buy a home and a vacation house on the North Shore in Hawaii.

2. Pay off Aaron's school loans.

3. Buy a Honda Odyssey

4. Invest in retirement funds and the stock market

5. Go to Colombia with Aaron.

3 of my bad habits:

1. Procrastinating

2. Keeping clutter

3. Eating junk food

5 places I have lived

1. Rock Island, Tennessee

2. Murfreesboro, Tennessee

3. Salt Lake City, Utah

4. Pleasant Grove, Utah

5. Provo, Utah

5 Jobs I’ve had

1. I worked in the child care in a fitness club

2. I was a waitress at a sports restaurant called Toot's. So much fun!

3. Go! The Game Store (I am not a fan of retail sales jobs)

4. A preschool in Salt Lake... that was the only time I have ever had the flu in my entire life (and they still made me come in to work!)

5. Day Lily Nursery-I love working for the family business. Plus, I get to work from home!

5 Things people probably don’t know about me

1. I am a little OCD about my handwriting. If I write something and don't like the way it looks (even the grocery list) I write it all over again.

2. I am very sentimental (that is why I have such a hard time getting rid of things).

3. I throw up easily.

4. I have a toe that won't bend.

5. I really love to cook!

I now tag Erin Summerill, Wendy, Lindsey, Marjorie, and Heather to do this task. It's actually very fun and reflective. Pass it on!

Finally Sinking In...

I don't really have any news or new pictures to post, but I cringe a little everytime I see my twins news post. I have to say, that was a very emotional/overwhelming day for me. With a few weeks to digest all the information, I must say, I am feeling a lot more positive about things. It helps that my morning sickness has almost completely gone away, I have a good reason to already be showing as much as I feel like I am, and honestly, I am really happy. I know that the road ahead won't be an easy one (I will be getting oh-so-large), but I am sure that it will be wonderful when it all happens. Emma is excited about being a big sister, and she "pets" and talks to the babies on a daily basis. I think she still doesn't really understand what is going on, though. Anyway, just wanted to throw an update out for anyone who may be wondering how I am feeling about all this now.

Two Times the Fun!

Yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment. During the appointment, he asked how far along I was. Here is how the conversation went: Dr. C: How far did you say you were again? Me: 13 weeks. Dr. C: You are feeling big for 13 weeks. Either you are further along than you think, or there is more than one baby in there. Me: I was thinking that I was already kind of big, too. Please tell me I am just further along than I thought.....(voice trailing off into a hopeful whisper) Dr. C: Well, let's do an ultrasound to find out what is going on! So, Aaron and I head over to the room with the ultrasound machine. We get in there, and Dr. C. starts the ultrasound. Dr. C: Well, I just see one head......oh, oh! There's another one! There are two of them in there! Congratulations! Me: What? What? What am I going to do?!? Aaron: Don't worry, you can do it! You will be great! Me: You've never given birth! Dr. C.: (laughing) Isn't this exciting?!? Me: Yeah, sure....I think I am going to cry. And I did. Aaron and I spent the evening calling family to share the news, which everyone was delighted to hear. It was beginning to get a little overwhelming and then late last night, after watching a movie, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. This means two carseats, two strollers (or a double stroller), two of everything! (Good thing we already have at least one of most things we will need.) We will probably have to get a minivan. Everyone keeps reassuring me that I can do this. Now, I just need to convince myself!

Happy Halloween!

Emma was a BYU Cheerleader for Halloween this year. She looked so cute in her mini cheerleading dress! The top picture is before we went to our church Halloween Playgroup. I had Emma pose next to our jack-o-lanterns. Let me explain them: the bottom one is mine. I always make a "happy" pumpkin as Emma calls it. Her pumpkin is the one in the middle. It is a pawprint, or a "clue." We have been watching a lot of Blue's Clues lately, if you didn't already guess! The top one is Aaron's "scary" pumpkin. Emma is a little afraid of it, especially at night when it is all lit up. Her new favorite past time is to go out and look at the pumpkins. We have gone out several nights, lit the pumpkins, wrapped the kid up in a blanket and sat outside and watched our pumpkins. Emma loves to blow out the candles in them before we go to bed.

This is our family Halloween picture from our ward party. I borrowed some of Brittany's BYU basketball stuff and dressed as a basketball player, and Emma was my cheerleader. Aaron borrowed his get up from Ammon. Like his mullet? He couldn't even sit down (very easily) in those pants! They were so tight!

Pumpkin Girl

For our FHE activity on Monday night, we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our Halloween pumpkins. We let Emma choose hers, and Aaron and I each got one. We came home, ate dinner, cleaned and gutted the pumpkins and then carved them. I forgot to take my camera to pick out the pumpkins, so I just had Emma pose on them when we got home. She was making the funniest faces for the pictures!

What happens when allowing your siblings to babysit...

A couple of weeks ago, Sampson and his wife, Brittany, came by during the morning. We visited for a while, and then I had to run up the street to visit teach a girl in my ward. I asked Sampson if he and Brittany would care to watch Emma for 20 or 30 minutes while I did that. They agreed, and asked if they could take her with them to run some errands. I agreed, threw them my car keys (to avoid all the car seat switchover confusion), told them where her clothes were (she was still in her pajamas) and left. When I got home, they were still gone, which gave me some time to get ready for the day, eat some lunch (which I threw up a few minutes later-yes, I am still sick) and rest a bit before they came back. When they did come back, this is how Emma was dressed. Still in her pajamas, her heavy winter coat from last year, and Sampson's old Quiksilver hat. Horrified, I asked where all they went, praying that no one I knew saw my kid out in public dressed that way, to which they replied, "Oh, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart."

I tried to remain calm (didn't I tell him where her real CLOTHES were?), chatted for a minute, and then they left. After a few minutes, Emma looked up at me and said, "Mommy, mine feets hurts." I looked down and realized that she was wearing her old tennis shoes, which are 3 sizes too small! Poor kid! She looks cute, though!

Emma and her Daddy

This is one of the family pictures that my friend, Erin, took last week. I love this picture of Aaron and Emma. Lately he has become her favorite. If you ask Emma who her best friend is, she will say, "Daddy" (most of the time; sometimes I win). Today Emma and I were sitting on my bed and I looked at her and said, "I love you!" She looked at me as if she were thinking about it, turned her head to the side, looked at me and let out a sigh and said, "I love daddy." I wanted to be sad that she didn't say it back, but I couldn't! I am so glad that she loves her daddy so much-and I am so glad that he loves her so much! He is such a good dad and so much fun. This picture really captures the fun and playful relationship they have. What a great guy!

Family Pictures

I know that this is a really long post with lots of pictures, but I can explain. Every fall, Aaron, Emma and I go up into the mountains to take a family picture in all the pretty fall leaves and we usually stick the best picture in our Christmas card for that year. We went up last week, and our pictures that we took didn't turn out all that great. Enter my dear friend, Erin Summerill. I met her when we lived in Pleasant Grove, and we have stayed good friends since we moved from there. When Erin and her family moved to Hawaii, we had to go visit. In August, they moved back to Pleasant Grove and Erin had taken up photography. Here is where this can benefit you. Erin wants to build up a photography business, and she is always looking for new "subjects." If you haven't had family pictures taken in a while, or would like some beautiful pictures done, at a low cost to you, let me know and I can give you her contact information. You can also click on her blog's link on my page. (It is the one that says Mark and Erin) Here are some of the pictures that she took of us yesterday. Oh yeah, Erin also has 3 young kids of her own, and she handles squirmy, rascaly, sassy blonde headed two year old girls quite well (know who I am talking about?!?) Just in case you were wondering!