Good for a Laugh

There's nothing like hearing a baby laugh to brighten your day. When we were home at Christmas time, Caleb was throwing dog food to my parent's dog Carly. Emily loves Carly and thought it was hilarious. I love her deep belly laugh. She was laughing for about 5 minutes before I finally brought out the camera, but luckily I was still able to capture some of it on a video. I love it when babies laugh. It just makes me happy.

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Houston & Becca's Reception

Houston & Becca had their wedding reception on December 18th. It was fun to have everyone together again for the event. Friday and Saturday were busy getting everything finished up and decorated, but there were lots of helpers too. I loved the way everything turned out, it really was beautiful with all the trees and lights.

Mom had 4 of her 6 sisters there- Terri, Tami & Kyle, Robyn & Will, and Kathy & Alan even drove up from Arizona to help with food again. Dad also had his parents, Kenni & Mari, Sher & Lance, and Jolynne & Chris, plus many of our cousins too. Many of them really sacrificed and traveled a long way to be there and it sure meant a lot. We also had the privilage of having Becca's parents come and stay with us for a couple days. They're such neat people, and it was fun to get to know them better.

It was so fun to be with everyone that evening. There was a pretty good turnout of guests despite the snowstorm, and it was sure fun to see people we haven't seen in years. I'm pretty sure the boys had a blast, they had lots of people to play with and lots of yummy food to eat. By the end of the night, both Matthew & Emily were asleep. Emily was asleep in Jeff's arms, and Matthew was with Grandma Stevens. It was a late night, but a great one. I'm sure grateful for family and love being able to spend time with them.

9 Months Old

Emily turned 9 months old on November 19th

17.1 Pounds (15th percentile)

27 Inches (23rd percentile)

- Emily is now getting her top two teeth. She got her bottom two last month. That makes a total of four! It's so cute to see her new little toothy smile.

-She absolutely loves to play with the dishwasher and dishes. Everytime I open it to load or unload, she's right there with me.

-I love to see her standing all by herself. She just looks so cute.

-She loves to go up the stairs to the playroom. If I turn my back for a second, that's where she heads. She probably likes it because that's where both the toys and her brothers are found.

- Emily is pretty much done with baby food. She doesn't want it at all, she only wants people food. She loves broccoli, carrots, and believe it or not, lima beans.

-She loves oatmeal and cream of wheat. She usually has one of the two for breakfast every morning.

-She's become quite the chatterbox. I love to hear her sit and chant, "ma ma" and "da da." I love her sweet little voice.

-She's also started to 'dance' to music. Her style of dancing consists of bouncing up and down.

-I love it when Emily wakes up in the morning or from her naps. I usually go in to find her talking to herself, sucking on her fingers, or just sitting up sweetly waiting for me to come and get her. She does wake up crying sometimes, but she's usually just sweet and happy.
-This little girl loves her soft blankets. She loves to come and snuggle up on them, especially when she's tired. When she sleeps, she loves to be wrapped up. She has two that are her favorites and gets excited when she sees them.

-Emily loves to chew on and rip up paper. I can't leave anything out that she might get a hold of!

-She is BUSY during church! It makes it tough when she just wants to crawl around everywhere. I'm glad she still has 9 months till nursery, because I'm not ready for her to be that grown up yet, but the next few months should be interesting.

-She loves the outdoors and always wants to be outside playing, especially when her brothers are outside. It makes it hard when it's winter time and just too cold for a baby. She loves walking with me to the mailbox to get the mail.
- I'm already starting to notice some differences between girls and boys even as babies. Emily loves to cuddle little toys. She has a little dolly that she loves, and a little teddy bear. She's definitely got some 'mothering' nature in her, even at a young age.
- Emily loves dogs. She loves to watch them go by and gets so excited. She loves to play with Carly at my parent's house, and loves to try and catch Bell at the Stevens.
- It's crazy to think that she's now been alive about as long as I was pregnant with her!

December Projects

Just a few of the fun projects I've done over the past month.

I made over 100 of these "Snowman Soup" treats. They had a packet of hot chocolate, a peppermint stick, Hershey kiss, and marshmallows along with a cute little poem about how to make snowman soup. The kids and I had a nice little assembly line going and had fun putting them together for the kids' friends, classmates, and craft fair.

I didn't get any pictures, but I ended up making 4 dozen sugar cookies for a ward party, 2 dozen for Caleb's preschool party, and 3 dozen hand-sized sugar cookies for Jacob's class party. I think I'll take a break from making sugar cookies for a while! The kids loved it and were great little helpers too.

Not a real great picture, I didn't get a shot of the final products, but we did chocolate dipped oreo 'lollipops' as well.
I put together a few more ornament wreaths for the craft bazaar. It was fun to try out some new color combinations. I wanted to keep them all!
Another project for the craft bazaar, fabric, sewn, cup warmers. It was fun and people seemed to like the idea of having cute, unique cup warmers.

For friends, neighbors, and co-workers, we kept up the tradition of caramel-dipped, chocolate covered pretzel sticks. The kids were happy to see these again.

We packaged them up with some other things for teachers and co-workers.

Over the past year I've enjoyed making baby/child bracelets for friends and family. (and Emily:) In November, I received a business offer to sell my bracelets at a fancy child boutique store here in town. They've also been sold at some craft fairs. Now I'm just working on getting my own site up as well. It's fun to have an excuse to make them!

Random December

Jacob was the Student of the Week during the third week of December. It was fun to put together his poster with pictures and fun facts. During the week he shared his favorite toy (camera), his favorite book (Fairy Tales for 6-year olds), favorite stuffed animal (Zebra from Grandma Forman), and favorite outfit- ("How to Train Your Dragon" t-shirt).

We did have some nice days in December before the snow finally came. The kids enjoyed playing outside in the leaves.

They wanted to get a good running start to jump in the huge pile of leaves.

One night we stopped by the local mall to visit Santa. It's always fun to see how the kids react. Emily of course wanted nothing to do with the big guy in the red suit, but the boys had fun.

Caleb had his preschool Christmas program and party on the 16th. It was so fun to watch him perform all the songs he's been working on, he was so proud!

Matthew kept himself entertained with his makeshift action figures (formerly my decorative Christmas picture holders), and Emily was pretty good most of the time; especially when I kept the cheerios coming.

There was even a surprise appearance at the party from Santa. The mistake came when I decided one more time to just get a picture with Emily in the group.

She still doesn't like the guy...

Happy Thanksgiving

We were so excited to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the Tanners this year. We've only had two Thanksgivings at home with family during our married life, we're usually across the country enjoying the holiday with friends- whom we love- but it was really fun to be at home this year. Even though a few people weren't feeling good at times during the week, we still had a lot of fun together. We spent a lot of time playing games, reading books, playing outside in the snow, watching movies, going on walks, playing at the frozen lake, and just enjoying the time together.

The boys especially loved reading books with Grandma and Grandpa.

Apparently it did a pretty good job of putting Grandpa to sleep too. :) I loved how Caleb fell asleep too, and Matthew is giving him a hug.

Kristie and I did get the chance to go for a run together one morning. It was freezing! I've forgotten how much I enjoy going with someone else though- it's been a long time since I've had a running partner and it makes it so much more fun. We just missed Amanda! It would have been that much more fun with a trio.

The boys got the chance to slip away one afternoon to catch a movie, which they all enjoyed. And of course it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without lots of football games. I think Jacob was especially in heaven. That boys loves football! Some games were great, others were a little disappointing, but in all, it was still fun.

Another night, Mom, Kristie and I slipped away for a little bit to pick up a couple things at the store and stop by a wedding reception. Originally we had wanted to do the Black Friday sale, but when it came down to it, no one really wanted to get up that early. Plus, Emily had some pretty rough nights- she wasn't feeling well most of the week and some nights was up every single hour.

Grandpa playing with his granddaughters. It was nice that Emily finally felt better at the end of the week- I kept her away from Lilah all week, so it was fun to finally let them play together on the last day. They're so cute to watch together and I think they're going to be great little friends.

We had a fun surprise on Friday night. Houston & Becca were coming home from their honeymoon (more on their wedding later) and they were just going to go back home/school, but they decided to surprise everyone and show up at Mom & Dad's. They scared Lacey and Mom pretty bad when they jumped up in the widows late that night. We were all excited to see them and happy they joined us for the weekend.

It was a great weekend, and so fun to spend the time together. I love Thanksgiving, havign the gospel and a wonderful family really are the best blessings we have.

Arizona Wedding Trip

On November 20th, Houston & Becca were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple. It was a beautiful Saturday- really how can you complain with a 70 degree day in November- and such a wonderful day. (I only took a couple pictures at the luncheon, I'll put up wedding pictures once we get the cd from Houston)

We drove down to Mom & Dad Stevens on Friday night- who were sweet enough to take the boys for us while we went. Mom even had a fabulous dinner all ready when we arrived. The boys were so excited to spend the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa and the days were jam packed with all sorts of fun activities like fishing, swimming, discovery centers, playing with cousins etc. They had a blast, now I just need to get some pictures to document all the fun!
Jeff and I then flew with Emily to AZ on Friday night. Man, even though an 8-month old baby is busy, it's so much easier to fly with one baby versus all the kids! By the time we got our rental car & everything, we didn't get to Kathy's place until 1:30am. We were up early the next morning to head for the temple by 8:45am. Lacey & Cole played outside with Lilah & Emily while the rest of us enjoyed a beautiful temple sealing.
It was a beautiful sealing and so wonderful to have so much family there with us. It was also so fun to meet Becca's family for the first time. Our family included: Us, Mom & Dad, Tom, Kristie, Lilah, Houston, Becca, Lacey, Cole, Grandma & Grandpa Tanner, Sheralin, Jonny Steele, Grandma & Grandpa Haworth, Kathy & Alan, Robert & Kourtney, Karl & Debbie, Jon & Heidi and girls, and hopefully I"m not missing anyone else. Jonny also drove down with a bunch of friends- it was fun to see him too.
After the ceremony, we had some time to visit with everyone before pictures, then we headed off to the wedding luncheon which Kathy & Alan catered. As always, the food, decorating, and everything was amazing.
The only sad part about the whole thing was that Jeff, Emily and I had to leave right after the luncheon. Jeff had a business trip so we were only able to stay in Arizona for about 15 hours. It was short, but still so much fun to be there with everyone.

Emily & Ryan were cute little friends! They had a lot of fun crawling around and playing together.

Grandma & Grandpa Haworth

Grandma & Grandpa Tanner, I'm just sad I missed Sher in this one!

Grandpa Haworth & Becca's sweet Grandpa. He was such a neat man. He came from Costa Rica, and works on the temple there. He kept telling us that we had such a beautiful, picture-perfect Mormon family, just the type he hoped his granddaughter would find. I felt the same way about him, I would have loved to adopt him as another grandpa!

Emily and Grandpa Tanner

Dad and the Girls (Cole sneaking in behind)

Mom and the Girls (Cole being Cole...:)

8 Months Old

Emily turned 8 months on November 19th

16.3 pounds (15th percentile)

26.5 inches (24th percentile)

-At 7.5 months, Emily took a step by herself and walks along furniture. I have a feeling it won't be long before she's full on walking. Slow down little girl!

- She loves baths and she'd probably take a couple a day if I'd let her.

- Sweeping the floor has become a bit of a challenge because Emily loves to chase and try to play in the pile. I can't just leave it in one spot or she'll get it, so I have to quickly sweep it up and move it around with me.

- Emily's very favorite toys consist of cars, trucks, balls, and blocks. She also absolutely loves to chew on Nerf arrows- much to her brothers dismay. Can you tell this little girl is surrounded by boys? Good thing Christmas is coming soon so I can get her some girly things!

-The playroom is one of her favorite places to be. Since it's upstairs, she's always trying to climb up the stairs to get there. She's a quick one and I have to watch her!

- She's not enjoying baby food as much- she wants real people food! She loves fruit, sweet potatoes, and especially goldfish.

- She likes to play with and pull on hair. A good excuse to put mine up in a pony tail.

- Emily definitely has a little personality and can show a bit of her stubborn side when she doesn't like something, or when something is taken away. She's not afraid to throw a little tantrum if she's upset- especially if I take something away. :)

-She loves to give kisses. I love those sweet, slobbery, baby kisses.

-Matthew thinks he's big enough to carry Emily around. Emily doesn't appreciate it. (And I don't let him. :)
- Emily loves to play with clothes and shoes. She's already discovered the excitement of pulling clothes out of drawers, hampers, etc. When I'm folding laundry, she loves to come over, sit by the clothes and play with them. She'll grab the clothes one at a time and move them from her left side to her right side, and then back again. This can keep her amused for a long time and I think it's so funny to watch.

-On the day she turned 8 months old, she also got her very first tooth! It was the bottom, left side and the other is right behind.

-Emily loves standing up to chairs, windows, doors, etc. She's started to push little toys and things around the house and seems to like being able to walk around while she pushes them. The last little picture I just thought was funny. I pulled out a box of Christmas decorations and pretty soon Emily thought it was fun to get into the box and try to pull things out- those little leg warmers just crack me up!