Our 11 Month Old Little Princess!

On Sunday, November 29th, Emily turned 11 months old! It truly amazes me that we are already thinking about Emily turning ONE! I can't believe how fast these past 11 months have gone. They have been amazing and definitely all that I had ever dreamed of as a Mommy and more! Emily brings us so much joy and it seems like each day when she wakes up that her little personality blossoms a little bit more! It is so fun to watch her grow into being her own little person.

Emily is a little girl that is definitely full of love and tenderness for those around her. She enjoys giving hugs and kisses and snuggling with pillows. Since she is on the move now, it is pretty fun to watch her crawl across the floor and any time that she sees a pillow nearby she will crawl over to it, lay her head down and suck her thumb for about 5 seconds and then continue on to her next destination. What a sweetheart!!

Along with her love for her thumb and pillows she has learned a few more tricks in her 11th month:

~ She has learned to clap her hands. One of our favorite games is to ask her to wave and then ask her to clap her hands! She has gotten really good and switching back and forth between the two!

~ And Dooders has done an EXCELLENT job at teaching her her very first word, HOT!! And anytime you spend any time with Emily you are bound to hear it!! She LOVES to warn everyone about everything that is hot!!

~ She has always had a love for music, any kind it really doesn't matter she just loves to listen to it! The other day we found out she also LOVES Christmas Music....must come from Mommy....that is all we listen to at our house (along with church music) from Thanksgiving to Christmas. At breakfast a few days ago we had her in her booster seat and she was facing the fridge and the music was playing and she was just gently swaying back and forth and staring at the pictures on the fridge! She is just so precious! She melts our hearts quite often!!

~ She LOVES to pull herself up on EVERYTHING! Which also means she has gotten a few more bumps and bruises this month, but that is to be expected at this time in her life! And just recently she has also started cruising around the kitchen using her kitchen chair. The other day Micah was trying to help her out by switching her to his chair to walk with because it doesn't have a big booster seat attached to it so he thought she could see better ~ but apparently she likes HER chair, because she quickly scooted over to the other chair and switched back again!

Emily is a little bundle of joyful energy and definitely keeps us on our toes! She keeps us moving and thinking all the time! We are excited to celebrate her first Christmas Season with her too! Tonight we are going into town to pick out a Christmas Tree, so it will be fun to see how she reacts when that tree comes home and inside with us!! We will keep you "posted"!

But for now, here are some pictures from her 11 Month Photo Shoot!!!

Look How Tall She is Getting and Notice that she is propped up there all by herself!! What a big Girl!!

She loves to inspect small pieces of paper!! Look at that Serious Face!

Here she is with her favorite bear!! They have really grown quite fond of each other in the past 11 months!

She had to tell her bear all about her day!!

And since her day included a few tumbles, her bear was there for support!

Sunday was a beautiful day, but we got out just a little too late for our pictures to cooperate with us! But we did it anyway, because that is just who we are!

By the time we got around to taking Daddy and Emily's picture the light was really starting to fade.

Luckily we were still able to capture this tender moment!! Emily enjoyed telling Daddy all about her leaf!!

Family Shot!!

Emily Doing a Little Dance with the Cowboy Santa at Mema's House on Thankgiving!! Check Out Her Hip Action!!

Our First Thanksgiving as a Family of 3!!!

We all woke up pretty early, around 7:30am on Thanksgiving Morning, I guess we were all excited for the fun that this Thanksgiving Day would have in store for us!

Micah fixed us a yummy breakfast, we had eggs, bacon and toast. It was okay to eat such a heavy breakfast because we knew that since it was still so early we would all be starved by Noon! And we were definitely right in our thinking!

After we got breakfast all cleaned up, Emily played around in the kitchen while I made a yummy Apple Crisp to take to Mommers and Dooders for dessert and Daddy was surveying the scene for his upcoming weekend project.....more to come on that in a later post:)

We all had a fairly relaxing morning and then we headed out around 11am, so that we would make it in to Mommers and Dooders on time!! We were all looking forward to a fun day of family, food and photos!! And we were not disappointed! I am not sure how many people exactly were at Thanksgiving Lunch, but I know it was quite a lot. We all enjoyed good conversation, good bonding times and some fun pictures...thanks to Ellie, one of my amazing sisters-in-law!!

Also as I sit here and reflect on the Thanksgiving Holiday and the Christmas Season that is now upon us, I have much to be grateful for. Here is my list that continues to grow:

*I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has His eye on me always, and helps me up when I fall down. I am grateful to be sealed to my best friend for time and all eternity and for the priesthood that makes those eternal bonds a reality.

* I am thankful for 2 beautiful, healthy daughters. And again, for a Father in Heaven who knows exactly what we need in our lives and the moment that we need them most!

* I am thankful for a wonderful family who loves and supports us on all sides!! I know between Micah and I our family is larger than most, but that makes life all the more interesting and fun and I am thankful to be placed in the family that I am.

* I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes life possible. I am thankful to have an older brother who was willing to live, suffer, die and be resurrected for me! And for the knowledge that I have that even if I was the only person on earth He still would have gone through everything that He did. I am grateful that He loves each of us that much!

* I am also grateful for this holiday season that gives me an extra measure of time to reflect on all of these blessings and the many more that I have. I am thankful for each of our family and friends who help us be the people that we are! I want to thank each of you for being YOU and for holding a special place in our hearts!!

Now without further delay, here are some fun pictures that we took during our Thanksgiving afternoon at Mommers and Dooders' House!

Cute Little Emily playing with a magnet and beginning to notice the sticker on her nose!
"Mom, that wasn't very sneaky, you know?"


Emily loves to help in the kitchen any way she can. Today she was helping by keeping a watchful eye and mouth on our garlic holder!

Enjoying a Thanksgiving Day, Morning Snack!

We finally arrived at Mommers and Dooders, and Micah was ready with the camera, once again! Here I am spending a few precious minutes with my little nephew, Colton!

Emily and Eliza sharing their favorite toy with their cousins, Luke and Emma!

A Classic Look!

Emily and Eliza sharing a few secrets in their chair!!

Yay!! These two Girls LOVE to clap!!

Outside before Lunch, I saw Emily sharing a precious moment of conversation with her Uncle Josh!

And then Cousin Phoebe joined them!

Outside with Mommers and Dooders and ALL 8 of their Grandchildren!!

These next few are some shots that Ellie took of us before Thanksgiving Dinner began. We are looking for a nice family picture to hang up in our living room and I think we have several to choose from now!! Thanks again Ellie!

Daddy and I just love those kissable little cheeks!!

Another family shot....also showcasing Miss Haley Elizabeth!

I love these close-ups!

Another fun family shot!!

So many to choose from, it's hard to pick the BEST one!! If you have any favorites please let us know!!

23 Weeks and Growing More in Love with Miss Haley Elizabeth!

We are a little behind on our posts these days, but I did want to document my 23rd week photos from my pregnancy with our little Haley! I can definitely tell she is growing and stretching, and not just because I am doing both of those things myself, but also I can feel her moving a lot more these days! She definitely takes long naps....which are nice:) But when she is up, she is definitely up! It is so fun to feel her wiggling and moving all around!

I love being a mommy! Other than being a wife and being married to my best friend in the world, there is seriously no greater blessing! And for as long as we tried to start our family, to be in this moment right now pregnant with our second daughter, is a total blessing and I am so grateful for it!

Lately I have been going into Emily's room a lot and trying to envision all the changes that are soon going to be taking place in there! Sometimes I get really excited and other times I get nervous!! But I know that Heavenly Father will be there to help me and Micah out as their Mommy and Daddy every step of the way.....we just need to be ready to listen and Do what we need to Do!

For now, we are just getting ready for Emily's first Thanksgiving and Christmas, particularly at this time, I am overwhelmed with how blessed we are! Hope everyone enjoys a good Thanksgiving this week with Family and Friends!

Here I am with the fall foliage as a backdrop at 23 weeks!!

Here I am with both of my girls!!

I Love to See the Temple, and Family too!

We do our best to get up to NOVA to visit with Micah's family about once a month. This month was extra special because we got to be there for 2 of our nieces' birthday celebrations. Hannah turned 6 about a week ago and Abigail will be 4 the day after Thanksgiving! So Nathan and Sarah had a combined birthday breakfast for them! The food was delicious and, as always, the company was Great! We had so much fun catching up with everyone there and talking and Emily had a blast playing with her cousins too!

Here is Emily with her youngest cousin, Priscilla. They are just having a bonding moment on the floor together, how precious!!

Emily is reminiscing about the days when she used to lay under her gym and stare up at the toys!!

Hannah, Abigail and Lydia dancing and prancing around the living room!!

From Left To Right: Hannah, Joseph, Lydia, and Abigail all ran to the couch to be in a picture!!!

And here is little Miss Priscilla, all wide-eyed and beautiful!!

Now the excitement REALLY begins....time to open presents!! Hannah loved opening her cards!

And Abigail really enjoyed her doll that Mummis got for her! You can see her "serious" look as she checks her out!

The birthday girls posing with some of their gifts!!

Here I am tired, but enjoying being all snugly with the two youngest girls in the family!

Nathan and Sarah were kind enough to take care of Emily after the birthday breakfast so that Micah could go to the temple! It was such a beautiful November day that we had to take a few pictures. Plus we wanted to capture the moment for Haley to remember one day. I love being pregnant and am so excited to be getting ready to welcome Haley Elizabeth into our family! I hope that she will want to come to the temple often as she learns and grows throughout her life and I pray that Micah and I will be good examples for both her and Emily and they will have the desire to remain worthy to enter into the temple one day too! I know that is a desire that I hope and pray and dream for all the time, especially when I am at the temple!

We were fortunate to run into some of our friends outside the temple too! And they were more than willing to take our picture for us!! Since it is sometimes hard for us to get pictures together!!! Thanks Tennille and Courtney!!

We also were able to visit with Ruth, Micah's youngest sister, while we were up too! It was a nice visit and we are looking forward to heading back up on the day after Christmas and getting to see everyone again!!

Emily Is Getting to Be Such a Big Girl!!

I think each day gets more and more fun and exciting with our little Emily Marie! She is so active and so verbal now (even though her main word is definitely "HOT") she has lots more adorable babbling that goes on constantly!!
It has become a morning routine for me to wake her up and almost immediately bring her out to sit on her little potty chair on top of the toilet! She LOVES it! I think she would sit there all day if I would let her. And she loves to read her books or magazines while she is waiting too! She has already been successful on the potty 3 times in the last week! She is amazing, and it is so much fun to watch her grow and progress!

Here she is on her "throne" turning the pages in her magazine!! This girl cracks me up!!

Here she is studying her magazine and trying to figure out why all the words are backwards and the pictures are upside down!!

Ahh, Now she has found the right page and is really getting into a nice article in the Reader's Digest!

Another thing Emily LOVES to do these days is to pull up on EVERYTHING! Doesn't matter what it is, she will try to pull up on it! She has had quite a few falls and is learning pretty quickly not to pull up on things like her little play chairs and the toilet paper holder!! She is definitely a mobile little girl now! And Micah and I are enjoying every minute as we watch her grow into a beautiful and fun loving little girl!! And we are so thankful that she is ours!!

I just snapped this picture during snack time this morning. This is her "glazed over" look after she has a full tummy!! And of course that includes the thumb going straight for the mouth!! Nothing like being full, comfortable and loved!
Here's a Cute little Video of Micah teaching Emily her newest Trick!! He's a Good Teacher and She's a Good Learner!! Love them both SO MUCH!!

Family Dinner for Haley Elizabeth!!

On Wednesday, November 11th 2009, after our ultrasound, Mommers and Dooders hosted a dinner for us. We invited my Dad and Jeannie and all of our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews....however since some live farther away they weren't able to come down for the dinner.

After the dinner we wanted to find a special way to let everyone know the gender of our second baby. It was something we had thought about for several weeks. And finally we came up with THE IDEA on the Internet. So this is what we did.....we had everyone in our family wear something either PINK or BLUE (whichever color they felt represented the gender of our next baby!) and then those in our family who are farther away sent pictures to represent their guesses and then we gathered the two groups together at the party to represent their guesses! It was really fun to get pictures of everyone in their PINK or BLUE.

Then after the pictures were taken we passed out cupcakes to everyone at the dinner and counted to three and then everyone got to bite into their cupcake at the same time. And inside each cupcake there was a jelly bean. And since we were having a little girl.....there was one Pink jelly bean in the batch, but NO blues! So, everyone ate until they found their jelly bean! And Finally the one with the SECRET jelly bean spoke up and announced that we would be having a little GIRL! It turned out to be a really fun idea and one I think everyone enjoyed being able to participate in!

And even though we didn't take too many pictures that night, as our minds were on other things, we did snap a few pictures to capture some of the main moments.....

First here are the pictures that we got from our brothers, sisters, nieces and nephew that live far way.......

Ellie and Emma sporting the PINK look!

Jacob posing in BLUE!

Nathan and Sarah and their family with a good mixture!! We thought this was an adorable family picture too!

Ruth and Matt even had a blue tint in the background!

Rachel stylin' in her blue!!

Here is the BOY group from the Family Dinner!!

(From Left to Right: Jacob, Sandi, Jessie and Avery, Dad, Dooders and Eliza)

And Here is the GIRL Group!

(From Left to Right on Top Row: Mommers, Tiffany, Emily, Jeannie, Colton, Danielle

From Left to Right on the Bottom Row: Eliza, Jessie, and Mark!)

And here is Sandi, both excited and surprised to find the PINK Jelly Bean!

These last two shots are just a couple of cute pictures that we snapped of Emily with Pop and her new personalized sippy cup that they got for her!

Emily was so mesmerized by all of the activity that was taking place!! We sure love our little Sweet "P" and are excited to welcome a second little princess into our family in March!