Swimming and Dr. Pepper

Emma had her first weekend of swimming! Kristen and I took Emma and Wills swimming at the clubhouse where they live. It was a lot of fun and Emma really enjoyed it. We need to get her a sun hat so we can keep the fun off her head. However, Steph let us borrow a cool swim tube thing with a roof to keep the sun away. Emma LOVED watching people and the sun reflecting in the water. She was having a great time until it was nap time.

I was sad. Emma got a really cute watermelon swimsuit from Grandma Close and she's too long already! We still got to use the cute coverup that goes with it though. She looked so cute :).





So you're probably wondering: What do swimming and Dr. Pepper have to do with each other? The answer is....they don't. I just decided to put both posts in one :).
Cade helped someone at work with a sale and the guy wrote an email saying as a thank you he'd like to take Cade to get a drink sometime. Cade replied, "the hardest thing I drink is Dr. Pepper." The guy thought that was funny and sent this for Emma....it was pretty awesome.

Miss Emma, growing up

Emma has been growing fast lately and it's so fun to see. She now army crawls around and so I definitely have to baby proof the house. Everyday she gets faster and faster. Sometimes she'll get her legs underneath her, but sits there for a second, until she decides she can move faster the other way! Emma also LOVES to have attention from Mommy all day long...really all day. I'll put her in the family room with a toy (that keeps her attention for about 3 minutes), then she'll crawl to the stairs to the kitchen, lift herself up on the first step and say, "ah! ah! ah! ah! ah! ah!"...I think you get the point...until I come rescue her from the boredom of her toys. She would rather be in my arms to watch dinner being made, or sweeping, or whatever I'm doing...it's much more fun than her bumble bee that just says "buzz, buzz" over and over, or her telephone that can't even sing on tune. So needless to say, it's harder to get stuff done during the day, but she's still wonderful and amazing and I love seeing her grow!



I also finished her room!!! The only room that is completely done...and very, very girly :). But hey...she's a girl and my first. I think I deserve to have fun being extremely girly.


We've been having a lot of fun together this summer. Cade and I are trying to get in a work out routine...well, I say "try"...Cade is succeeding...I am still "trying". This was one morning that was still chilly. But we got a really cool jogging stroller on KSL that we LOVE. It's fun to be able to all go together sometimes.

Emma likes to help me with the laundry sometimes...

but really any box she can sit in is fun for her :)

Another thing about Emma: she loves her feet!!! She loves playing with toys with her feet, sucking on her feet, grabing things with her toes, and helping hold her bottle with her feet. It's pretty dang cute :).

Her peach fuzz is sure working hard lately. Cade likes to try to do a mohawk after bath time...he calls it a mo-puff though. Hey, she's workin on it!


OH, every stage is so fun. It's fun to see how much she is growing all the time. We love our Emma!

Baby Henry!!!

This post is really late, but I still wanted to blog about my adorable new little nephew...Henry Gordon Thomas Bleak. He was born June 10th at 6:43 p.m. Weighed 7 lbs 2 oz, 20 in long. Steph and Nathan went to the hospital after 4:00 p.m. They texted everyone just after 6 and said, "come quick! She already dialated to a 10. The baby's coming!" The only person that was able to get there for the delivery was Amanda, Steph's sister. I ran in just as the doctor's were cleaning stuff up and they put cute little Henry in Steph's arms. It was great to be there....especially for a non-NICU baby!!! That was the remarkable part. We haven't seen, until now, how a normal delivery and welcome home should go for a baby! We are so happy that everything went great, fast, and that Henry is very healthy! Such a blessing! Here are some great pictures of that day...

Doesn't Steph look beautiful after just going through all that? Nathan, I guess you look pretty good too...good job.


A good set of lungs! That's what we like to hear!!


Here are some pictures that were taken while in the hospital...He's soooo cute!!!




Congrats Nathan, Steph, and Wills! We're so happy for you!

Arizona Amazingness :)

Since Cade can work remotely with his job, we decided to take 2 weeks and spend some time with Cade's family in Arizona. They were very excited to spend some time with Emma...and maybe Cade and I too? We had tons of fun there! We went to a Suns playoff game, had fun girls nights out, Cade and I got to go on lots of dates! Good thing Emma was a good girl most of the time so Grandma and Grandpa Close didn't mind watching her a lot. Here are some great pictures from the trip...

Emma and Ashur meeting for the first time. They were both 3 lbs 6 oz at birth and are steadily growing. Ashur is doing a lot better. Ever since Tara has gone down to Arizona, he has been coming alive now and developing so much faster (now that he isn't as colicky anymore).

Grandpa Close has been a saint...helping with the grandkids whenever he can. He has stayed up with Ashur every night for weeks so Tara can recover. He is a lifesaver to all!

Aunt Tara bought Emma some cute cowgirl boots as well as this ADORABLE sailor outfit! I love them! Now Emma will be ready for the Boot race in July...it's a big thing in Prescott :).

We went down to Phoenix to visit Cade's Dad's side of the family and were able to go to a Suns Playoff game. It was a great game!!! We always enjoy seeing the extented family...hopefully we'll be able to more often!




Emma and Ashur in their matching outfits from Grandma..."Ashur, I just want to eat your hand, okay?!"


Cade and I met up with some fun friends...


And the trip wouldn't be complete without Grandpa accidentally flushing his teeth down the toilet....one of those moments you can laugh about after it's over :)!



One of the last things we got to do was see Cade's Mom's side of the family. We got together for dinner and pictures and it was great to see so much family!


The trip overall was a blast! Now that Cade's done with school, we can go down and visit more often.

Finding her voice

Emma has been such a blast lately!!! She is turning into such a fun, happy, loving, easy baby (except maybe battling naps). Happy baby=happy mommy :). These videos I tried getting after she had just woken up. She woke me up by her babbling, but I had to try to get videos of her without her seeing the camera. She is being so adorable lately and is growing up so fast!

Three happy grads...

Happy day! Cade, Kristen and I all graduated this semester! Well, I technically already graduated in December, but I got to walk with Cade. And Kristen gradutated the week after us from UVU, but she dressed up and took picutres with us. I cannot explain how proud I am of both Cade and Kristen. Both have had quite the journey and I am so happy for them and their accomplishments. Cade had to do a master's degree while working full-time and having me in the hospital, and then our first baby being born but in the NICU- all last semester...it was quite a lot (that is an understatement!). Kristen finished her student teaching as a health teacher and came to absolutely LOVE it! She is currently interviewing for teaching jobs and really, really wants to teach. I know she would be an AMAZING teacher! Here are some fun pictures from the happy day :).


Our friend Laurel. She has been one of my very best friends and it was fun that she could share that fun day with us! I love her!



This was at Kristen's graduation.
Me and Boose listening intently to the speakers...

Way to go, Kristen!!!

"If you couldn't tell...I'm happy!"