Emma the Diva

I took Emma to Kiddie Kandids today for her 4-year shots. As I helped her get her dress on in the bathroom at the mall, she asked me "Mom? Will people tell me how pretty I am in my dress?" I said probably not, but I bet everyone will be thinking it. That seemed to satisfy her and as we were walking to Kiddie Kandids a grandma pointed to Emma and told her two young granddaughters to "look at the pretty girl." Emma looked up at me with the biggest smile on her face. It made her day. Yesterday we went to Burlington Coat Factory and there are these mirrors at the end of each aisle. Emma was walking ahead of me and didn't realize I was watching her. At each mirror she would stop, stare at herself, blow herself a kiss, and then move on to the next mirror. Oh my! Jake and I are in for trouble with this one... I'm sure of it. I bought her a pink headband at The Children's Place today. Tonight she came running out of her room in her pink pajamas and new headband and said "Mom, I LOVE my new headband because it's pink and it matches my pajamas. I just looked in the mirror and I look SO pretty." She's definitely a girl, a very confident one. ;)

Feel the Stevie Love!

Last night Stevie Wonder made a guest appearance on American Idol. He performed a Motown medley of his songs (My Cherie Amour, Superstition, Overjoyed, and All About the Love). I forgot just how much I love Stevie Wonder. He's a musical genius. I was clapping and singing to his songs. It was awesome! (Too bad AI doesn't have more guests like THAT!) The great thing about Stevie Wonder is he's still just as good as he was 30 years ago! You can't say that about too many artists. Just listen to these songs and feel the Stevie love!

Why Oh, Why?!

Last Friday we had our good friends over, Jon and Lynette Bowers and Jarred and Ashley Henline. We all became friends when we lived up at the University and only had one child. (Ashley had her first when they lived there.) It's hard to believe now that we all have 3 kids (Ellie, the Henline's youngest, isn't in the picture.) We had a great time outside, throwing the frisbee around, the kids playing on the swings (notice the kids wearing short-sleeve shirts and shorts!) It was a beautiful day. We had a great time with them, reminiscing about the good ol' days, watching Jarred and Jon leg wrestle, and the women arm wrestle (yes, Lynette's muscles are HUGE, much bigger than mine!) The next day I ran 11 miles with my friend, Amber. I wore long spandex and a long sleeved shirt and about 5 miles into our run I was HOT. It was in the 70's Saturday! I LOVED it. After our run, I came home and showered, and had a few minutes to myself so went outside in the backyard barefoot, and basked in the sun for awhile. I'm such a happier person when it's warm and sunny. Last week was the first week in months that I could honestly say our family was 100% healthy. Well... all good things must come to an end, right?! Check out the last picture. Yes, this is what we woke up to this morning. It's cold. I'm sitting here bundled up, wearing my coat as I type this. Of course along with cold weather comes the sicknesses. I had to take Josh to the dr a few days ago because he had over a 103 temp and was miserable. He still has his double ear infections, which is a whole different post, Emma woke up with pink eye this morning, and my throat is swollen. When I picked Ben's friend up to take him to school this morning his mom told me they are going on a cruise tomorrow and I'm not going to lie... a streak of jealousy ran through me. I want the snow to melt now. I want to wear shorts and flip flops. I'm ready to bask in the sun, barefoot, in my backyard. My friend, Iliana, is feeling the same way I am. What sane person isn't?!! As I sat in my freezing van this morning with the seat warmer turned on and the heater cranked, I noticed the sleds in the garage and thought, maybe I should make the best of this miserable situation and take the kids out sledding... NAH. Not today, my friend... not today. Instead, I'll go cook some oatmeal, bundle up in a couple layers, and surf the internet for warm, sunny places and pretend I'm there instead of here.

30 and Hotter Than Ever!

When I woke up this morning and rolled over to look at Jake, I realized he is even hotter now, being 30, than he was yesterday at 29. Amazing. He said when he turned 20 on his mission it was very traumatic to leave his teenage years behind. He is embracing this new decade though and welcoming his thirties. He told our friends last night that he's basically "been 30 for 7 years now." We have 3 kids, a mortgage, a career so it feels like we're a lot older than we are sometimes. I have to say, though, that even with 3 kids, a mortgage and a career, I still see him as my young, sexy babe. I remember the first time I met him he had these huge chops, so laid back and carefree. He rode his long board around campus and really loved his punk music. Well, he still loves his punk music. The long board has been retired, but maybe we can convince him to pull it out for old times' sake. He keeps me laughing. He's so smart and witty. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty; whether it's cleaning a toilet, changing a poopy diaper, or washing dishes. I love to watch him play games with Ben and Emma and read a book to Josh, and read another one, and another one, and another one. He has a great smile. That was the first of his many great physical features I fell in love with. I like that he is a frugal spender (although it can get a little frustrating at times when you want to buy him a nice present and he loudly protests.) I appreciate how hard he works for our family, providing us with everything we need and even quite a few wants. I love that he heads family prayer and encourages and participates in FHE. I love how Jake races the kids to their beds at night, which usually involves a lot of wrestling and tickling. I love that he gives me massages when I ask, even though I know he doesn't like to do it. I love when he plays guitar and works really hard learning a new song. I love when he grabs me as I'm walking out of the room and pulls me towards him just so he can hold me and kiss me. Of course I could go on and on but my point is, I love you, Jake. I couldn't imagine my life without you. Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father. I'm definitely the lucky one. Happy 30th... and many more to come!
The first picture is of Jake with the kids this morning, right after he opened his present from us... new Nike running shoes. The second picture was taken last night. We went out to Benihana's with our friends, Shawn and Amei. It was our first time eating there and it was really yummy!

Need some help

This morning I was running at the gym, cranking my iPod and realized I'm getting sick of my playlist. I haven't added anything new since last summer (besides a couple Me First And The Gimme Gimmes songs from Jake's iPod.) I need some new tunes to get my blood pumping. So, let's hear em'! What are your favorite workout songs? I'm up for anything.

Tender Mercies

A week ago Sunday I found out I was going to be singing in Sacrament Meeting on the 8th (two days ago.) This would be my first time performing in our ward and so I really wanted to do a good job. I chose a beautiful arrangement of "I Stand All Amazed" and was excited to play and sing it. I just hoped all week I wouldn't get sick because that would be the worst thing possible for my voice. Plus, I've already had 4 colds and bronchitis twice in 4 months so what were the odds that I would get sick again this past week?! Well, Tuesday Emma gets sick with a 103 temp. Josh gets a bad runny nose on Wednesday. Thursday Emma throws up. Friday Ben gets sick and stays home from school. Of course, Friday night I get sick. My nose was dripping but I didn't feel too bad so hoped it would be a 24-hour thing and be gone. Saturday night I was so congested, kleenex shoved up my nose, couldn't breathe, it was horrible. I had already decided I would be calling the music coordinator in the morning to cancel my musical number. As I lay in bed that night I prayed that I would be well enough to sing for those 5 minutes, and then I told Heavenly Father after that He could give me the worst cold I've ever had. Well, I think He has quite the sense of humor because magically Sunday morning my cold was nearly gone. I was able to sing and felt it went pretty well. It seemed right after I sang my last note my cold started coming back. Now, here it is two days later and my cold is even worse than it was Saturday. I'm very grateful for a Heavenly Father who answers my prayers and makes miracles happen. I'm also thankful for Mucinex-D, which has put me into a drug-filled state and has temporarily made my congestion go away, and for Kleenex Ultra Soft Tissues which have not rubbed my nose raw or bloody yet, even though I've used practically a whole box in the past 4 days. Tender mercies.

Happy 4th Birthday, Emma!

It's hard to believe my little girl turned 4 yesterday. Jake and I are amazed at how big she is getting and how much she has changed this past year. For starters, she grew three inches! She can write her name well, do simple math problems, clean her room by herself (when she's in the mood... can't wait until she's a teenager!), and she's a great big sister to Josh, always giving him loves, helping him into his seat at dinner time, playing hide-and-go-seek with him and much more. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday a couple weeks ago and she said "Highsical Musical". (Funny thing is, she has only seen the first one once at her cousin's house and seen previews for the third one, but that's all she wanted... High School Musical.) Her cousins, Hannah and Isabelle, bought her a HSM shirt and she adores it and I don't think will be taking it off for a very long time. Emma is my little drama queen. I've caught her multiple times talking to herself in the mirror, acting sad or excited and watching her different expressions. She loves to dance around the house, constantly twirling, doing handstands and cartwheels. She makes up her own songs and will sing to herself or her stuffed animals. She has tons of creativity and imagination. Jake and I love listening to her pray because we never know what will come out of her mouth. Just now she told me that she needs to be careful with the body paint she got from her cousins because "if she swallows it she will die. Then Jesus will say "WOW Emma! I LOVE your Highsical Musical shirt." Mom, Jesus LOVES Highsical Musical and Hannah Montana!" Yes, Emma. I bet He does. She cracks us up and we are so glad she's in our family. Happy Birthday, Emma! We love you.