Emily's experience at Grandma Graf's house

This was Emily's second time in the state of Utah, and this time, she was much happier about the situation. The first time she was in the NICU at Univ. of Utah hospital for 4 months when she was born and has since made it known to us that she does not much care for Utah. However, going to visit grandma Graf in New Harmony, Utah may have given her second thoughts about her negative opinion of the Beehive state...or maybe not... Emily is not too fond of fire-breathing dragons that growl at her. Or maybe she's doing her own imitation of a dragon.

Some full body shots of Emily in her PJs. Isn't she sweet?

Emily having a good hair day.

Emily having a finger-in-the-light-socket hair day.

(This next dozen pictures of Emily are at our house a month ago)

Emily was crawling around the living room and noticed a bright pink laundry basket laying on it's side. She crawled over to it and began to try to stand up. Instead, the basket flipped over on top of her, capturing her like a venus fly trap. After laughing ourselves silly, we finally released her from her self-imposed prison cell.

Just because I love her face in these pictures.

This is it, folks! There's no turning back now. Time to baby-proof the house again. I particularly like the picture on the lower left. Emily is doing her best Nacho Libre butt tightening moves.


Emily is such a happy baby and is always smiling well, except when she's not... haha. ;) She weights 16 pounds 8 ounces and is turning ONE in exactly THREE weeks. Which is crazy!
Emily had an evalution done to check her progress two months ago. And although she is a little behind by the non-adjusted scores she is measuring above in the adjusted scores. However, we are not concerned in the least. She is growing and learning at her own pace and she will be caught up to where she needs to be in no time...whatever that means really?? (I just thought I would put it on the blog for journal-ing purposes).

Emily loves to stand up and try to be big like her sisters. She loves to eat Gerber's puffs or just about anything really. She does laugh but you have to do something incredibly funny to earn it, she doesn't just give out laughs for free. She's cute beyond all description and we are not bias one bit. ;)

3 Weeks of Crafts = Pure Happiness.

Since being at my mother-in-laws house for three full weeks I had a few extra hands/arms, (more like 8:), to help with the kids which gave me quite a bit more free time than I have had in a long time to do some craft projects! I love doing craft projects, especially with my mom and Ryan's mom.

This is where we spent a lot of our time...

Stunning, huh? Isn't it the most beautiful craft room you have ever laid eyes on?! There are thousands of papers of every color texture and size. Brads, ribbon and embellishments galore! It was like being in my very own craft store with endless supplies! And Ryan's mom was so kind and generous to share it ALL with me. (Thanks MOM!!! I had a blast scraping with you!)

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There is a Roberts-(which is a craft store for those that don't know) in Cedar City Utah (Ryan's grandma works there). Yet it is going out of business in April, (sad day!) so we got 40% and 50% off on everything. Let's just say mom and I both got a bit carried away, but it was worth it. I got a ton of great stuff and I can't wait to use it!

I bought this wood "H" for $3, painted it and decoupaged it and found a cute way to hang it using ribbon and a $3 metal hook! I found these shelves at the DI, which again were only $3(my lucky number), sanded them down and repainted them the same color as my "H".
And WA-LAH!What do you think? I have never been the best at decorating...so I am not sure if everything is balanced and looks right...suggestions? Comments? Oh, and the things on the shelves I just put there for the picture. I want to get maybe a small vase or plant or...or... Something!

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Mom and I made this beautiful window display of flowers. We love how it turned out.

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We did a craft project with the kids as well. We made them each a little bag with their names and hand prints on the back with the date. That was probably more fun for mom and I then the girls. ;0

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Mom bought these cute letters for each of the girls names at Roberts and we printed out the rest of their names in vinyl to go on the wall. It turned out pretty cute I think!

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Another project that I am still working on is a menu board. I have been wanting to do one for quite some time to BE more organized and to help ME plan out family meals, since I am horrible at it. Really I am.

Mom helped me by giving me this extra board she had and I found paper that I liked again, at Roberts! ...We spent a lot of time there as well! I painted my board a deep red, then decoupaged it with the paper I choose. I added little embellishments all over it to make it well, what else but... c-u-t-e! :)

It's really bright and crazy, but I actually loved how it turned out.

I also made a sign to put at the top... and well, it's still a work in progress, but I will take a picture when it's all completed.

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And the time in between all these fun projects I spent making cards! I think I made close to 75 cards! Here are some of my favorites...

"Thank you" cards...



"Thinking of you" cards...


Baby shower cards...



"Today is something to celebrate" cards...



And Birthday cards...

I had a great time and have been inspired to keep it up. Thanks Mom for the great time and the many laughs! Can't wait to do it again soon!

Our time in New Harmony

About three weeks into my rotation in St. George, Utah, Christy and the girls decided to come down and hang with me, Grandma and Grandpa Graf, and Great-Grandma Gilmore. It was great to have them with me again. I never thought I would miss changing diapers and wiping bums so much!

Me studying like a mad man for my board exams coming up in a few short months! I look semi-constipated. Sorry.

Me trying to remember where the "ON" button is on my computer.

Emily is really starting to get into scrapbooking. Here she is with her first gluestick, which she decided would be put to better use in her tummy. Christy scrapbooked a lot while I studied and wasted loads of time playing Civilization 4...

Grandma Graf with two homeless children we picked up off the side of the road.

Grandma took Christy and the girls to lunch and to the park. Here's Avery pounding her 4th pint of chocolate milk.

Christy (with her new hat) and Avery after one too many chocolate milks. What a couple of cuties!

Madi and I playing frisbee in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. What a pretty view of Kolob National Park!

Grandma and Grandpa Graf playing bubbles with Madi and Avery. They never get sick of popping bubbles. They ran everywhere chasing bubbles for about an hour. They crashed hard that night!

The girls and I chilling on the hammock. We were looking for animals in the clouds. What you don't see is about 5 minutes after this picture, Avery hopped off and I was lifting Madi off when the hammock flipped on me and I face-planted into the ground.

Grandma and Avery on that same treacherous hammock, which, of course, did not flip on them...

Avery revving up her engine. She'll have that same look on her face in 13 years when she starts driver's ed.

Madi taking the plunge on Grandma's slide. Isn't it funny that when you're little, even the smallest slides seem big?

Madi waving off the Paparazzi.

Grandpa Graf discovered that the Easter bunny had come a little early to New Harmony and left a bunch of eggs on their front yard. Madi and Avery braved the cold and the wind to collect them.

Grandpa Graf's son Jason and his wife Jessica came to visit. They were super nice!

My mom and I made Peanut butter cups for the people at work so that they would be my friends. I think it worked. At least they stopped making fun of Idaho when I was around.

Yes, they were as good as they look! And yes, I ate most of them.

Madi got a cup with dirt and sunflower seeds in it at church. We watched to see how much they grew every day. Sunflowers grow really fast, apparently.

Awww. They really are best friends. Christy made a collage of pictures because she couldn't decide which one was the cutest. The picture in the middle is the way they usually look.

We wanted to do a four-generation picture with Great-Grandma Gilmore, my mom, me, and the girls, but apparently three weeks wasn't long enough to get all of us together and smiling for a picture on the couch. At least we got Emily smiling, though. Avery looks sort of violent to me. Madi looks possessed. At least Grandma and I look incredible.


As a side note, my dad started having serious chest pain while we were in New Harmony. He was taken to the ER and found to have about 95% blockage of one of the main arteries of his heart. Luckily he hadn't had a heart attack yet, but it was about as close as you can get! He had a stent placed that evening and now is doing great! We love him so much and we're grateful he's doing well. Grandma Trudy took really good care of him. We're so blessed he's doing well!