Two video clips from our trip to Sun Mountain

So much to catch up on...

Okay, so I have not had a chance to update the blog in several weeks. So much has happened in the month of December; I am just going to post a lot to get you up to speed.

We had our first snow the first couple days of December. Emily was able to make a snowman and was very pleased with it. We went on our annual trip to Seattle to visit Santa and then had lunch at the Georgian Room. This year it was nice to have Aunt Ashley as a new addition. (Pictures to come) We also decided to take a mini family vacation to the Sun Mountain Lodge. This was so much fun!!! We have definitely found our new local family vacation spot. It was spectacular! Last but not least, Christmas. Emily was SO excited and loved every minute of it. I think Christmas gets better and better each year as she gets older. It is so much fun to experience these things through your child's eyes. Being a parent is the best!

Sun Mountain Lodge

***For those of you who know, Emily has had a cough now since the end of September that won't go away. We have been to the doctor several times to follow up and are doing an inhaler, vaporizer etc. to help clear it up, but we haven't had any luck. (At this time it seems to be getting a lot better.)

Well, 2 weeks ago I took Emily to the doctor again to have things checked out and when the doctor was listening to her heart she thought she detected a slight heart murmur (which means "noise"). She wanted us to get an EKG just as a follow-up to make sure things were okay. To make a very long story short, about 2 days/9 hours later we finally gave up fighting with Emily to cooperate! (The lab techs wouldn't let us force her to take the test because they wanted a regular heart rhythm.) What a nightmare! She is the epitome of strong-willed child! So, we had to be referred to a pediatric cardiologist.

So, we went to the cardiologist yesterday and everything checks out just fine. We were able to get the EKG and the echo done (against Emily's will) and she is just fine. It is funny how the heart doctor had no problem with us forcing her to take the test. We should have just gone to them first and saved us all the stress and time. Emily's heart structures and valves are perfect and there are no blockages which the doctor thought might be causing her cough. Needless to say, we let out a huge sigh of relief. My nerves are about shot from all that has happened in the last 3 months! Yikes! Praise the Lord for a very healthy child!

No More Crib, Mommy!

Okay, so tonight we went through the normal bedtime routine and on our way to bed Emily and Mommy had a little discussion. It went something like this...

Mommy: (wraps Emily up in her "night night" and sets her in her bed)

Emily: (Standing up in bed, proclaims) No Mommy! I don't want to sleep in a crib anymore!

Mommy: Oh, it will be okay. You will be in a big bed soon. Don't worry.

Emily: No! I don't want to sleep here anymore.

Mommy: (Sort of brushes issue aside, says prayers, sings songs and says good night.)

A short time passes and Mommy hears thumping on what she thinks is the side of the bed. Mommy goes up to see what is going on and Emily is on the floor in front of the door!!! What?She has NEVER climbed out of her bed! What in the world!?!?

Mommy: Emily, what is going on?

Emily: (crying most dramatically) I don't want to sleep in my bed.

Mommy: Then where are you going to sleep?

Emily: On the floor.

So here you will see that Emily is sleeping on the floor. So I guess it is really time to switch to a big bed. I am a little sad that this day has come. I guess I should just be glad that she has allowed us to keep her in her crib for this long.

Christmas 2007 Kick Off

Today we kicked off the 2007 Christmas Season!!! Daniel woke up at 4:45am to go do a little Black Friday shopping and then later on we went to the local Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree. We had a nice time. The weather was perfect (clear, very cold and not raining). We went with the whole family and Grandpa stayed near to help Daniel with the tree.

Emily running through the Christmas tree forest.

Emily standing on an old stump.

Grandpa and Emily waiting for the train.

Riding the train.

Woodland Park Zoo and Miscellaneous Things Too...

This past weekend we went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle with Uncle Nathan and Auntie Ashley. It was a lot of fun. I got to see animals I have never seen in real life before (hippos, lions, orangutans). I loved watching the hippos. I can't wait to go back soon because we didn't get to see all of the animals; they were hiding from the rain.

***Sorry Uncle Nathan and Auntie Ashley my mommy forgot to get a picture with all of us together. :o( I guess we will have to just go again soon!

Here are a few other pictures of me. My mommy really likes them.

Talking to my Nonie on the phone.

My Uncle Blake took these pictures when we were at Disneyland in September and enhanced them on his computer. He is really talented. He has done some really cool stuff and I thought I would show some of it off.

Halloween 2007

Emily is very into Disney Princesses so she was Belle this year for Halloween. She was so excited for Halloween to come that she woke up at 6am on Halloween morning and when I came in she said, "Mommy, I want to go Trick-O-Treating." Yikes! She wore her costume ALL day and every few minutes asked me when it was time to go trick-o-treating. She had a very full and eventful day. We made candy ghosts, lit our Jack-O-Lantern, went trick-o-treating at the mall, went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and then went and visited Great Grandma Marion. WHEWW!! What a night. Emily had a blast.

Emily making her candy ghosts.

Emily and her Jack-O-Lantern

And So It Starts...

(Driving to Pre-school)

Emily: Mommy

Mommy: Yes, Emily.

Emily: Miss Wendy says that we are not allowed to kiss at school..

Mommy: (calmly and trying hard not to laugh) Oh yeah, who was kissing at school?

Emily: (very nonchalantly) I was kissing Nathan.

Mommy: Oh, well, hmmm, Miss Wendy is probably right. We shouldn't kiss people at school.

Emily: But Mommy, I love him!

Well I know that it has been a while since I have blogged anything. As you know things have been a little difficult. I am doing well and am in a good place right now. Thank the Lord!

I wanted to update you on the things going on with Emily SO, here we go... Emily is thoroughly enjoying pre-school. She always asks me the night before what she is going to learn. She loves to learn new things.

Emily's newest thing is wearing nightgowns. She puts one on the second we walk in the door from being out and will not wear anything else to bed.

She loves to help in the kitchen. You can't even make instant oatmeal without her helping. She also loves art and making crafts. There is always something going on in our house.

Emily at Disneyland with Daddy and Uncle Blake

Nathan and Ashley's Wedding

September 8, 2007

We had such a lovely time at Nathan and Ashley's wedding. Everything was very beautiful. Emily had a wonderful time running through the courtyard in her dress and pretending that she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She also loved dancing at the reception.

Emily started out great getting her hair done, but after a few minutes, decided that she was done and really needed to go outside to play. We did the best we could but it is really hard curling a moving target. After struggling and struggling we finally finished and about 20 minutes later ALL of her curls had fallen out!!! UGHHH!

Emily was not very cooperative about pictures and had to be bribed with a sucker by the photographer to stand in the photos. She reluctantly agreed, however, she got to stand where she wanted. Figures!

When the ceremony actually arrived, Emily walked down the isle without any problems and was very happy. As she came to the steps on the stage she handed her basket full of petals to Nathan and proceeded up the steps. A few minutes later she rushed back down to me to get her basket realizing that she forgot to actually drop her petals on the way down the isle! Oh Well too late!

All in all, Emily did a fine job. She had a wonderful time and talks very fondly of her depute in Nathan and Ashley's wedding. She is looking very forward to being the flower girl in Dawnel and Ben's wedding in June.

Labor Day Weekend

We have had a very eventful weekend and thought we should share the highlights.

On Saturday morning Daniel took Emily to NW Trek and on their way they encountered a very large cow running up the middle of the highway!!! Now that is something you don't see everyday! Daniel took a little bit of video of the owners lassoing it and trying to catch it. It is so funny I wish we could post video!

Smallwood Farms

Emily on the "cow train"

We decided to take a day trip over to Leavenworth today, which is a Bavarian town in the mountains. It was a lot of fun looking in the shops and walking around in the warm air. However, the highlight of our trip was stopping at an apple farm. All of the trees are laden with apples and the backdrop of the mountains made this trip very picturesque. Smallwood Farm had this great little store with tons of fresh apples and fruits and collectibles. The exciting part was the attractions for the kids. They had "cow train" ride that Emily thought was a lot of fun, an elaborate petting farm, swings, tricycles, wagons etc. We had a fabulous time!

On the move. Even Daniel and I got to ride. I got the front seat, Daniel sat in a cow car.

Feeding the animals

Nose to Nose with a very persistent pony. This pony would start kicking the fence if you didn't feed it a carrot! Once again I wish we could post video!

Baby Update...Baby Update...Baby Update...

Today we had our 10 week appointment and everything went very well. The doctor was pleased with all of my lab results. We talked about all the normal baby stuff ( how I was feeling etc.). At the end of the appointment, she said she thought she would try to pick up the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler so we could hear it, but she warned us that it is very common to not be able to hear the heartbeat this early. Sure enough though baby #2's heartbeat showed right up at 174 beats per minute! :O) I swear that is one of the BEST sounds in the whole world. I was a little euphoric for the rest of the day. 174 beats per minute is on the faster side of normal but the baby was most likely just moving around. BIG surprise, right? We apparently have the most active babies, before and after birth!

Our next appointment is set for October 8th. We should also be setting our ultrasound appointment on that date too. How exciting! So what do you think? Girl or Boy????

Going to the Zoo

In the kids play area at the zoo, Emily spotted this rock and was standing on it and singing the song from "Little Mermaid". She loves to act out all the movies she knows and thought this was a perfect opportinity!

Here is Emily trying to open her mouth as wide as a shark. Pretty close honey, keep trying.

Here are our friend's Jennifer and Gage. This was Gage's first time to the zoo. I think he enjoyed watching the kids more than the animals. He was such a doll and very happy the whole day. What a trooper!

Guess What????

That's right! Emily is going to be a BIG sister! The baby is due April 3rd. Emily is very excited and goes back and forth from wanting a brother or a sister. We will keep you posted on the progress. Right now I am feeling quite tired and sick. This little one is keeping me on my toes already because I never know when I am going to feel sick. Overall I feel the worst in the late afternoon to evening, but I never know!

Little Miss Emily wanted me to take her picture, believe it or not! She isn't exactly an easy one to get pictures of. Recently she likes to pose, but it always comes out a little funny. Oh well...

We also went to the zoo recently with Grandma and Grandpa. Emily loves to go into the education center and look at all of the displays and touch the animals in the touch tanks.

***Emily's newest thing is a new game that she and Daddy made up. Emily has officially named it "Pillow, Pillow." The way the game is played is, first, Emily tunnels herself down in the covers of our bed. Then Daniel takes a pillow and smacks her with it. She thinks it is so much fun. After she gets tired then she makes Daniel lay still as she repeatedly bonks him with a pillow. She just laughs and laughs. Oh the joys of being 3!

I know that it has been a REALLY long time since I have blogged anything new. We haven't had any real picture worthy experiences lately. We also have been busy with lots of miscellaneous things (VBS, swimming lessons, my back was out again etc). My brother, Brad, sent me these adorable pictures from my cousin Clayton and his beautiful new bride, Timari's, reception. We had such a wonderful time seeing everyone and catching up.

Emily and Auntie Sarah

NEW EMILY THINGS: Emily's new thing is that she loves giving God credit for everything. She loves to pray every night before dinner and she prays for the trees and food and her family and church and ....... on and on and on. We were driving in the car a couple weeks ago and we saw a rainbow, so we started talking about it. A minute later she says to me, "Mommy, God made the rainbows. Thank you God for making rainbows." It just melted my heart! I love moments like these.

I got to go cherry picking in Yakima for the first time. I had so much fun. We picked so many cherries. As you can see I ate just about as many as I picked!

My mommy and I picked pie cherries and made a cherry pie.

Here is our finished product and it tasted SO yummy!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our trip. I just thought we would add a few more!

Auntie Dawnel and Ben