A Picture Update

Playing peek-a-boo with mom!

Sunday afternoon popcorn snack while Emry napped

Emry and Mommy

Emry was sick this day but she still managed to smile for me! She is such a sweet little girl!

Doing some shopping with our favorite friends, Aunt Lynnie and BFF Lila!!

Loves to play in her car seat and give mom cheeser grins!!!

I painted her toes to which Ryan responded, "What happened to her toes!" (He thought they were bleeding!)  Boys...

9 Month check-up. Our favorite one since there were no shots!!

Happy Happy Girl!

Playing in the Tupperware cupboard! She just crawled right in! Cutie patootie!!

We were showing off our new shoes when she gave me this look, like, "Mom, enough pictures already!" There can never be enough pictures of this cute girl!

9 Months

Happy 9 Months to my cute little Emry girl!! Nine months seems like a huge milestone to me for some reason. Like she is in between infant and toddler! She is such a big girl and we are loving every minute of it! (Although I also really miss having my tiny little baby around...) She has really started to show her personality and the best way to describe it is HAPPY! People are always commenting on how happy she is and it is really true! She loves to smile and laugh. (Don't get me wrong; when she is mad, she is MAD!) But most of the time she is just a happy little girl! We are so lucky to have such a fun, cute, happy, nice, smiley, etc baby! We love her so much!!

Stats:

Height: 28.7 inches (90%)

Weight: 18 lbs 11 oz (75%)

Head: 17.75 inches (50%)

At 9 Months:

*Crawls everywhere and is in to everything! She pulls herself up on everything and will cruise sometimes. She doesn't do this too often but she has started to do it by herself (without me giving her something to work toward or sitting there encouraging her!) She even climbs the stairs, but can't come down them yet. Thankfully, they are a little out of the way so she only gets on the stairs when we take her there. 

*Has 4 teeth and they are adorable!! She has learned out to bite food. For example, she can bite off a piece of the graham cracker and she kinda chews Cheerios with her front teeth! Smart girl!!

*Eats everything. She doesn't really like peas, green beans, or beans but she will eat them if you are feeding them to her with a spoon (she just won't feed herself them). Her favorite thing lately is cheese. She could eat so much cheese, it's ridiculous. It's like she is never too full for cheese! 

*Babbles all the time. She sometimes will copy you if you say "mamma" or "dadda" and I swear she copied me when I said ball the other day. She is one smart little girl!

*Copies you when you blow raspberries  It's really funny when you do it and then this baby copies you! She cracks me up!

*LOVES bath time. She loves to play with her toy turtle and discovered splashing. So much fun!

*When she is healthy and happy, she sleeps really well, but when she is sick, it's like we have a different baby. She got sick last week and she was up like 4 or 5 times a night. It was kinda ridiculous, but now she is all better and she sleeps 11 hours straight. I am so sick of winter and being sick! It has been a rough winter for us. I feel like Emry gets sick and then she gets better only one week later to get sick again! It's horrible. We are currently healthy and hoping that we stay that way!! 

*She takes 2 naps during the day. She has been doing pretty good with these, so that's a plus!

*Wears size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothes (some 12 month clothes too). 

*Still LOVES other kids. At church it is crazy how much she will laugh and smile at all the kids around us! Today the little boy in front of her actually gave her a kiss! haha! He also gave her his sister's burp cloth and said, "Here Girlfriend". It was classic! First love, I suppose! But then she turned around and flirted it up with the boy sitting behind us, so I wasn't too worried! (Or should I be more worried... hmm..)

*Loves to go outside. Every time I open the door she gets so excited!

*Started getting so excited when Daddy comes home from work. She hears that door open and sees him and gets so excited and almost starts hyperventilating she is so excited and crawls toward him. It of course, makes Ryan's day! She loves her Daddy!

*Waves Hi and Bye all day long!

Nine months has been one of my favorite stages! I just love it! She is so much fun!

Look at that smile! 

 I let her stand on her own for a second. She didn't like it! haha (I'm actually not holding her at all in the picture!) Also, if you look closely, you can see her bottom two teeth!

 Did I mention she is adorable!!

 Standing! This is what we do all day!

St. George, How I Love Your Sunshine!!

Ryan's brother, Brandon, got home from his mission last week, and so we had the funnest time with his family. Scott and Vivian flew down to pick Brandon up from Guatemala and then came to Salt Lake with him on Feb 13th. We all went to the airport to welcome them home. It was fun to see Brandon again and see how much he changed! We had dinner at our house: Brandon's favorite Chicken Fingers!! Hey, it is what he wanted!! :D We all sat around and looked at Brandon's pictures and just hung out that night. The next day, we had a really good breakfast with everyone and then everyone went home. 

On Friday after work Ryan, Emry, and I headed down to St. George to hear Brandon's "homecoming talk" and hang out with the whole family. All the brothers came down and it was really fun to have the whole family together again. 

On Saturday morning, we played hiked up this hill by Ryan's parent's house. It was a good exercise, especially for someone who hasn't exercised in a long time! After that, we played kubb outside in the wonderful sun and then the girls went to Parade of Homes in St George which was amazing!  There were some really awesome homes that made me want to tear down my house and start over! It was pretty fun! (Sidenote: it was amazingly warm in St George!! It was only like 60 degrees but in the sun, it felt like 80! I wore sandals and I think I even got a little tan! It was wonderful and we may have a new address for you in a couple of months! jk) The boys stayed home and watched the babies so we could go, which was way nice of them! That night we had a bunch of people over for a BBQ and heard more mission stories, and saw more pictures. A lot of Ryan's family was there, so that was fun! 

Sunday, we went to Scott and Vivian's ward to hear Brandon speak. He did a really awesome job and told some really good stories from his mission. We went to the rest of church and I put Emry to sleep in the mother's lounge. It was pretty funny because in our mother's lounge in SLC, there are always like 2 or 3 moms in there, but in St George I had an hour completely uninterrupted! It was great!! Anyway, after church we had a fun lunch with all of Ryan's family before all the extended family had to go home. We played games the rest of the day and then took family pictures (which sadly, I don't have any copies of... hopefully soon!). 

On Monday, we spent most of the day just enjoying the sun! It was wonderful!! We went on the same hike again, which was slightly easier this time, and then we just hung around the house for the rest of the morning, getting ready and such. We went and dipped our feet in the Gardner's friend's hot tub, which felt wonderful! Then that afternoon, the boys (Ryan, Nate, and Scott) went golfing while the rest of us went and got frozen custard at Nielsen's. We ate it sitting in the sun and seriously, I was sweating! It was amazing! (Can you tell I'm totally done with being frozen solid!!!) We rushed home and went and saw one more house in the Parade of Homes and it was the BEST one!! Seriously, my dream house! It was so beautiful. Now I want to redo my whole house and make it look just like the one we saw!! :D The boys got home from golfing and we got home from looking at houses so the only thing left to do was to pack up and head home. We left St. George around 6 PM and made it home with no problems. It was a really fun weekend and I just love having Ryan's parents living so much closer and in such a warmer place where I can go defrost during these long winter months! 

Cael and Emry at Grandma and Grandpa Gardner's house!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had such a fun Valentine's Day this year. We normally don't celebrate Valentine's Day because it falls a week after our anniversary, but it is still a fun day to just show extra love to everyone we love! (Including this little lady!) My present to Ryan was to let him sleep in until 8, while I got up with Emry at 6:30. I think that was a pretty good gift! Haha! Ryan got me some really pretty flowers and I made a really good meal for us! It was a really fun day and of course, Emry was adorable in her Valentine's outfit! Love this girl!

 Kisses for Valentine's Day!!

I know there is a weird shadow in this picture but it was the best we got with both Emry and I looking so here it is anyway... 

Emry Updates

Emry has been changing so much lately, that she needed an early post!

*She has been crawling EVERYWHERE! She started crawling at about 7 1/2 months and then about a week later, she started really pulling herself on everything! She crawls over to the couch and then up she stands! It's adorable!
*She even cruises a little bit! If she is on one side of the couch and you put something she wants on the other side, somehow she always finds a way to walk her way over to it. It might take a while but it's adorable! She loves to hold onto the laundry basket and then I push it along and she just walks behind it! It's too cute!
*There have been times when she is holding onto my hands standing and then she just lets go and will just stand there for like half a second before she realizes what is going on and grabs me. Too cute!
*At about 7 1/2 months, she got her first tooth/teeth! Her left middle top one broke through first but the bottom two followed closely afterward! I better start taking tons of pictures of that gummy smile because it is  going to disappear so soon!

Almost every time I get her from her naps she is standing in her crib! Just waiting for me to come get her!

She is in to everything now. Pulls herself up on everything and is in to everything!! Good thing she's cute!

Just a picture of her trying to stand up. Also, since her teeth starting coming in, her tongue is almost always out like this! Funny girl!

Today, we went to play in the snow. She looks so darn cute and was so happy before we went out, but when we went into the snow, she was not happy about it! She must be her mother's daughter hating that snow!

We went bowling and she LOVED to stand and play with the balls. So cute!

Bowling fun!

Another one of her standing up on anything she can! And that smile is too cute!

California

We had so much fun when we were home for Christmas. Emry and I stayed for about a week after Christmas and it was perfect! I really needed that time in the warmth! It was wonderful!

We went to the wetlands at Bolsa Chica and it was the most perfect weather. Here is Emry with Cade!

Emry and me at the Beach

An adorable picture of Cade and her best friend Great Papa

Such cute cousins!

I am in love with how much Emry's cousins love her! They just gather around her and say "Emry, Emry" over and over again. It's the sweetest thing ever! I wish we all lived closer!

Look at that adorable face!!!

All the girlies at the beach!

Taking a walk by the water!

I'm Dreaming of a Warm Christmas

Our Family on Christmas Morning

 Happy on Christmas morning!

 That pile of presents!! Wow!!

Ready to come out to the presents!

Emry opening her presents

Christmas morning

All the Grandkids! This is adorable!!

7 Months

At 7 months:

*The girl can really get around. She just lays on her tummy and scoots ever so slowly. She can roll anywhere, and although she doesn't really make it very far, she is NEVER in the same position I put her in.
*She is all over the place: You are holding her and she wiggles trying to reach anything she sees. You put her down and she tries to get anything she sees and acts like she would rather have you holding her. It's a lose/lose but she is still adorable, so it's okay!
*Loves to say MAMA!! Yes!!! She babbles "Mmmmmmmmmaaa mmmmmaaaaa" all the time! In fact, toward then end of month 6, she has pretty much stopped saying dada, which Ryan is very upset about. I think she'll be back to saying it in no time, though!
*Pulled herself up!! Can you believe it! It was in California when we were home for Christmas and she just held on to this little toy piano and up she went to a standing position! So strong and so cute! She really is growing up!
*Pretty much never eats in the middle of the night anymore. (Unless she is sick and needs it.) She goes to bed around 7:30 PM and gets up around 7 AM. We are still working on consistent long naps, but she normally gets 2/day in. The morning one is shorter lasting only an hour, but the afternoon one is normally closer to 1.5-2 hours. Again, she is mostly all over on the times and such, but oh well, it works for us!
*Size 3 diapers, 6 month or 9 month clothes
*She is SOOO close to actually crawling! It's amazing. She really has the feet motions down, but her hands don't move. Normally its the legs kicking with her face on the ground (can't be comfortable). But the last 2 days she has actually started to move her hands a little more. I wouldn't be surprised if she was crawling within a week or so.
*She has started to chunk up again.
*She will eat anything. She tolerates baby food, but she really likes real people food. She loves eating Cheerios and can even pick some up and get them in her mouth half the time! I would say one of her favorites is soup. She really likes that. I would name the food she has had but it would take too long and I can't remember them all. Basically, if we're eating it, so is she! She still nurses 4-5 times a day.
*LOVES to stand up. She is going through a phase of not wanting to sit down. It's hilarious! You try to put her in her high chair and she does everything she can to keep standing up. She loves to stand up and hold on to things to steady herself.
*Likes to read until her attention goes elsewhere. She will start to fake laugh when you open a book to read it to her, like she is so giddy! It's adorable.
*Loves little kids. She will laugh and laugh when there are other little kids around. It's too cute! She has the time of her life when we are around her cousins. Adorable.

Christmas

 We have been having the most fun Christmas this year! It has been so fun decorating our new house and sharing the joy with Emry! Christmas with kids is just so much fun! Even though she is still really little and won't actually enjoy Christmas this year, it still makes it more fun for us! We are so blessed to have her celebrate with us this year!

Daddy and Emry at the ward Christmas Party

Mommy and Emry at the party!

6 Months!

Really? Half a year old already?!?!? She is getting SO big!! Can't even believe it!!

Height: 27 inches (90%)

Weight: 17.1 Pounds (70%)

Head: 16.9 inches (50%)

*Sits up all by herself. She still topples sometimes but is pretty good at balancing herself (especially if she has a toy or something that she is concentrating on)
*Gets up on her hands and knees and tries to crawl. Sometimes it looks like she is doing yoga how she gets up on her hands and then on her feet and puts her butt in the air! So funny! Then she pulls her knees in and rocks back and forth and sometimes will "leap" forward trying to get something (I swear she is going to crawl in the next couple of weeks!)
*Laughs and Laughs. Some favorites: being tickled, being thrown in the air, kids jumping up and down (she seriously thinks it's soooo funny!), anything kids do (she loves having other kids around), mommy and daddy growling and the "I'm gonna get you!" game!
*Loves to bounce with me on the exercise ball. It's also my favorite because she clinges to me and kinda cuddles for safety! I love it!
*Doing so well at eating. She now sits in her high chair and even opens her mouth to eat (she started doing this just after 5 months). She is finally getting the hang of it. She has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, avacado, and banana. (ok, ok, so she has had ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce from various relatives...)
*Wakes up several times a night talking and crying, but always puts herself back to sleep or a binky does the trick. I don't feed her at night anymore. She goes to bed at 730 and she is up at around 7-730. I'm hoping the night waking will go away soon because it make me tired!
*Takes 2 naps a day (she isn't the greatest napper, but we are working on that!)
*Babbles all the time. She loves to say "da da da da" which makes Ryan elated (although she doesn't actually know what it means yet...)
*Graduated to size 3 diapers and is even wearing some 9 month clothes. She still fits into a lot of her 3-6 month clothes though.

Thanksgiving

We were blessed enough this year to have TWO thanksgiving feasts! (and yet, I didn't take any pictures at either of them... sorry).

The first Thanksgiving was with my family. My mom drove up to Utah with my Grandma and Grandpa and we all ate at my cousin Kristin's house. She made a delicious homemade dinner (seriously impressed with her cooking). We had turkey, homemade stuffing (made from homemade bread!), homemade rolls, jello, salad, creamed corn, homemade cranberry sauce, really good drinks, and I'm sure I'm missing another delicious entree. All in all it was a great meal. But more importantly, we had so much fun with all our family. I love visiting with my Grandma and Grandpa. I am so grateful for grandparents who are so involved in our lives. They LOVE the great grandkids so much and are always wanting to spend time with us. It was really fun to have them here for Thanksgiving. After dinner we had a dessert party at my cousin Jason's house. He just had a cute little boy, CJ! He was born like 2 weeks before Thanksgiving so he was still extra tiny! I forgot what it was like to have such a tiny little thing and it hasn't even been that long for me! Emry is getting so big and while I wish she would just stay my little baby forever, I'm so happy that she is healthy and growing well. We are truly so blessed!

The second Thanksgiving was equally as delicious. Ryan's family came into town on Friday night (because 3 family members had to actually work on Thanksgiving) to have Thanksgiving meal on Saturday. We had some absolutely delicious food and once again, I was stuffed! (Two Thanksgiving meals are delicious but, man, I was full by the end!) We had this meal at my house and it was so much fun to have everyone there enjoying Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for a beautiful home and wonderful in laws! It has been so much fun having another family to be a part of and we really LOVE when they come to visit us.

(Grandpa with the boy Grandkids!)

Ya, we hang out on our knees a lot lately!

Trying to crawl!!

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but above all I am so grateful for my own little family. I feel so lucky to have married Ryan. He is such a good husband and the BEST dad to Emry. He loves her so much and seeing him with her just makes me love him more. When I married Ryan I knew it was probable that I would only have boys (which I was ok with because boys are fun!), but Heavenly Father has blessed me with two beautiful little girls who I love more than I can say. Olivia made me a mom and I will always love her sweet spirit. I miss her terribly and wish that she could be Emry's big sister and I know that one day she will get to be. Next, I was blessed with the sweetest, happiest little girl! Emry really has brought such joy to my life. Having a family is what life is all about, and having to struggle to get my little girl has made me love her even more I think. Sorry this turned into "thankfulmony" but I am truly blessed and am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this wonderful life I have been given. It isn't always easy and I have had some rough times, but I have been given a wonderful life that has brought me so much joy!

I hope we can all take a second to ponder all the blessing God has given us and realize what good lives we have! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

5 Months!

Oh my goodness I can't believe how big my little girl is getting! She is just the smartest little thing and I love watching her grow and learn more and more! No doctor visit this month so we don't know how much she weighs but I swear she has gotten so much bigger than she was at 4 months! At 5 months she is:

*Eating solids. We have only done rice cereal and vegetables (no fruit yet). She seems to not have much interest in eating, although she tolerates it well. She doesn't really open her mouth and I have to almost force it in but she is fine with that and is just as happy as can be! She has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and avacado. We only feed her 1 or 2 times a day just to get her used to eating and for her to learn how. It's been fun (and really messy too)!
*Still wears size 2 diapers (probably could fit into size 3 but I am cheap and am sticking with the cheaper ones while I can!)
*Still wearing size 3-6 month clothes (although she is really tall and so some of the onesies are becoming a little tight!)
*Rolling from back to tummy all the time and can even get back to her back!
*She is such a happy little girl and LOVES to smile and laughs a lot! So cute!!
*Spends a lot of her time in her little jumper toy and loves it!
*Chews on EVERYTHING!
*Sleeps through the night? Ok, she still wakes up sometimes.
*She is still the cutest little girl in the whole world (yes, we are totally biased!) We just love her so much! She is such a blessing to us and she brings so much joy to our world!

Halloween

We had the MOST fun Halloween this year!! Having our own house and passing out candy to all the neighbors made Halloween so fun this year, but not as fun as having our cute Emry to dress up. I will confess we didn't really go all out on her costume, but she was still pretty adorable!! We had her be a cute little leopard (cutest leopard I've ever seen). She was so happy and when we would "growl" at her she would laugh and laugh! It was pretty fun! I was a baseball player and Ryan was a guy who just got home from work. haha.

My mom was in town and so Lynne, Dave, Owen, Lila, (the dinasaurs) and Jeff (the cowboy) came to have worms, eyeballs, and blood (spaghetti and meatballs) for dinner. We passed out candy to all the cute little kids that came to the house and then played games that night. It was such a fun Halloween night!
We hope you had a fun Halloween too!

Just to Make You Smile

That smile will just melt your heart!