Our Birthday Adventures...

You know those days you can look back at and just laugh at them?? Well, I can't quite laugh about this one yet :). I'm sure this post will make other people laugh, however.

Emma turned 2 years old yesterday! She has grown so much over the past year. She is starting to use sentences and definitely understands now that she has a choice in many things and voices that opinion. She is learning and soaking in so much around her and it's fun to be able to actually communicate with her. I love her so much!!!

Certain parts of her birthday, however, I didn't love so much :).

We woke up in the morning and took a video of her coming down the stairs to discover her new slide! I wanted to get something that we could put in the basement for the winter for her to play on and then take outside next summer. She LOVED it! Here is a video:



After she played on her slide, we opened lots of presents from mom and dad (books and a fake make-up kit- she's already such a girl!). And some presents from Grandma and Grandpa Close- a train set and a princess purse that had many items but her absolute favorite- a pink phone! She was a happy girl!







Then the real fun began...
Emma had been sick the couple days before and of course on her birthday (just like last year. I hope it's not an annual thing!). I had put off shopping the day before because she was sick, but I couldn't put it off any more. And after all Emma just had a cough and runny nose...what's the worse that could happen? So we shopped and after about 20 minutes she started coughing...and she wouldn't stop. I had water for her, but that didn't help. She coughed and coughed and I knew it wasn't going to be good. So I grabbed the little zip-lock baggie of cereal I had in my purse just in time to catch all the throw-up. She coughed so hard she threw up over and over everything she had eaten that morning. The best part is the way everyone looks at you while passing by. And then I didn't have anywhere to throw it away at the moment so I took it with me to checkout :). Shopping time was DEFINITELY finished!

The rest of the day went pretty good. Emma had lots of fun playing with her new slide and toys. And then when I was exhausted from the day (which I am most all the time nowadays) we watched a movie together on the couch. At night, we had pizza and then Cade had to leave. Before he left he asked if I would call back a good friend from Arizona who left birthday wishes for Emma. So I was talking to him in the front room while Emma was playing by herself. Unfortunately the call ended when I walked into the kitchen to discover Emma drawing ALL OVER our white fridge with PERMANENT marker!!! I was SOOO upset! But Mommy and Daddy write on a white board with black marker, so why was this any different? Needless to say, the birthday did not end very good.



Well, the ironic thing (Cade pointed out) is that this happened THE DAY of her 2nd birthday...does this mean the terrible 2's have officially begun?? I sure hope that's not the case :). Emma is a sweet, very happy little girl. I'm sure there will be moments in the future that I will want to pull my hair out and fall asleep crying, but for the most part, life with Emma is SO wonderful and happy and I don't know what I would do without her in my life! And here we are going again...baby girl #2 will be here any day or week now and we're excited to add more children to the Close family!

Happy Birthday Emma! Your dad and I love you very much!

Fun with Daddy!

Emma sure loves her Daddy! She endures the day with Mommy, but when 5:00 rolls around, she is definitely ready to play with her dad. When the garage door goes up, she gets SO excited because that is her time to play with Dad while Mom cooks dinner. Cade is so wonderful too, because he always gives Emma her bath, reads books and gets her ready for bed. She loves having time with him. And we also go visit him usually a couple times every week at work. Here are some great times with Daddy:

One of the things Emma thinks of when she thinks of Dad, is him running. She loves watching him run in races and watches the videos I have over and over and over again.




Emma and her Dad like to snuggle on Sunday's in the recliner after afternoon naps.




Some other things they enjoy together are some outdoor fun, swimming, and football. Okay, maybe Daddy likes the football more, but Emma loves it if there is popcorn involved!

Happy Halloween!!

We've had a lot of fun this Halloween so far! Last Friday, Emma and I dressed up and went to Daddy's work and went trick or treating around the offices. Emma had SO SO much fun! She was so excited to get that much candy! But then it was time to go home and eat dinner instead of candy. Let's just say, that is the sadest I have ever seen her in her life! She cried for probably 20 minutes! We'll see how trick or treating goes tonight :). Emma dressed up as Nemo and it was the cutest costume EVER! When she walked, her little tail wagged in the back. She is obsessed with Nemo right now. The little plush nemo that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Close is the "little Nemo" and her costume is the "BIG nemo" (it's hilarious when she says it).


With cousins William and Henry. They made Batman and Robin look SO cute!


Saturday, Cade and I finally got around to carving our pumpkins and we had tons of fun doing it. The haunted house Cade did took a LONG time because of how hard it was, but it turned out so awesome!



The thing I love about this video the tail wagging when she walks. It is so dang cute...


A couple weekends ago we had a 5 year reunion with all of our friends I served with in Nauvoo. We dressed up for Halloween, ate some yummy fall food (including home-made rootbeer)and had so much fun catching up with everyone! There were some great costumes too! I sure LOVE these people! There's something about sharing 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and one fridge with 10 girls for a whole summer that bonds you together like nothing else! I am so glad we are all still such good friends and that no matter how many years pass, we still love and treasure each other and those amazing memories we've had together!

OH man, I can just see Cade in his 70's already...he's going to be awesome!


This picture is my favorite! Zoom in and look at the old man in the background...oh, hilarious...


Emma also made a VERY cute little kitten!


Tonight we'll have Bryan and Jennie over for dinner and games and we can take Emma around to a few houses and pass out candy. Cade gets really into the giving of candy :). Last year we ran back to the store twice cause he just couldn't bear to turn off our lights and be done with it when we ran out of candy. Our nieghborhood gets 100's and 100's of kids throughout the night. It will be a lot of fun!

Gma and Gpa Close come to visit!

It was such a treat to have Grandma and Grandpa Close drive all the way from Arizona to spend less than 3 days with us. Emma had SUCH a blast with them! She definiely loves attention and she got theirs 24/7. In the morning she'd wake up so happy and call for them to come get her. They even brought her, her first stuffed Nemo! Emma was SO excited...and still is every time she wakes up and sees her very own Nemo! Cade and his dad put together some furniture and Tammy and I ran some errands together all to help get ready for Reese. They are so easy going and fun and it was a blast having them come to our house to play :). Here are some fun pictures of the weekend (there are also some ADORABLE videos that I can't figure out how to download them from picasa- help anyone?). We had a great weekend with them and can't wait to see them again- we will soon if Reese is born the middle of November.

Past 34 weeks...what a blessing!

I feel extremely blessed. I have made it almost to 35 weeks and still no signs of pre-eclamsia! I had my doctor's appointment on Monday and my blood pressure was wonderful, no protien present, my weight was great, and no swelling! I was so happy that everything looks great now! I just feel so blessed that God has allowed me to have enough energy to take care of my little toddler monkey who never stops and needs attention 24/7 and do everything that I need to get done during the day. I had some goals that I wanted to get done before the end of October (since I didn't know how far I'd be able to make it in this pregnancy). I have accomplished most: getting furniture set up and the girls room completed, purchasing diapers and a few other things, getting all of Reese's clothes Newborn- 3 months washed and organized, getting our bookshelves organized, my craft room organized, some Young Women Stuff organized, and a few other things. I still haven't finished a sewing project that is taking SOOO long to do (more details once i finish it!) and I need to continue reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby". I had multiple nurses mention this book to me when Emma was in the NICU and I never got around to it then. I have heard nothing but "this is the absolute best book you could read for your self and your children". Obviously everyone has their opinions...I'll give mine after I read it :).

So I never made it this far or got this big with Emma. I really have started feeling more and more like an old lady. Okay, I've never been one, but I hear this is what they deal with too:
1. I have to go to the bathroom almost every hour and have to go in the middle of the night.
2. Aches and pains in my back, hips, etc that I have never had to deal with before.
3. Any time I move after sitting for a while I hear cracks and think "oh great. What was that?".
4. Emotional and cry just because :).
5. Tired after walking up a few stairs.
6. If I fall....it really isn't easy getting up. ("Ring around the rosies" with Emma just isn't an option to fall down anymore).

The only difference between me and those who are in their older years is that they had years and years and years to get there. I've had a few months to adjust.

It's so great though! Aside from the joking, I really count my blessings. Every day that I wake up and am still pregnant and can tell the baby is really growing this time, I thank my Heavenly Father that I am so blessed. I am getting really excited for Reese to join our family!

Baby Jaxon!

Kristen and Andrew welcomed their first baby, baby Jaxon, into their family on Monday, September 26th. He came out half grown...11 pounds, 2 ounces! Such a big baby! Unfortunately after having a couple hours in the morning together, they discovered Jaxon had hypoglycemia and needed to be in the NICU for a time. His blood sugar was low and his half of his heart was pumping more blood to the body than the other half. However, it was a condition that the doctor's seemed positive about and said if he were going to have a heart defect, this was a good one to have because it would work itself out soon.

Well, today (Wednesday), Jaxon got released from the NICU and gets to be with Kristen and Andrew! They have seen many miracles throughout the last few days. We are just so happy and excited that he is doing well and that Kristen is on her way to recovery.

I am so sad I can't be there in California. It's been hard being away from my wonderful sister. I dreamt last night that I was hugging her in the hospital and got to meet Jaxon...at least a little bit of happiness through a dream :). We are SO happy for them and are grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed them with this chubby, darling baby boy and that He has helped them through these days.

Now for what everyone wants to see....Pictures!







This one's my favorite! I love those chubby cheeks!


We can't wait to meet Jaxon!

Yay! 30 weeks and still healthy!!!

Yep! It was this time 2 years ago that I got admitted into the hospital on bedrest with Emma. I was 30 weeks along and definitely not expecting to be told by the doctors "we may have to take her this weekend". Well, I am very happy to say I went in this morning for my 30 week check-up and my blood pressure was great and no signs of pre-eclamsia! And our baby girl is doing great. I am measuring right (a little big) and she moves like crazy. Much more than I EVER felt Emma. But we were relieved that the same condition has not presented itself and the doctor sounds positive every time I go it that it usually is just first-time moms, so I probably will make it full-term. We couldn't be happier!