A Break-Through with Emma and Fun Activities

 

Emma is a very good toddler. However, there was a period of time where she started acting out a lot and it became too much. Just "normal" toddler things....acting out or doing things she's not supposed to do. In a conversation with Sarah, one of my good friends, she asked me, "remember the parenting class we went to at Education Week? We learned that each of our kids feel loved in different ways and need attention and love in different ways." We discussed the 5 love languages (physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and acts of kindness) and she asked me which one Emma is. She is a little of most but the main way she feels loved is through quality time. Sarah said, "are you giving her the QUALITY time she needs?" I knew I wasn't and was getting caught up in cleaning the house, doing laundry, crafts, other things I needed/wanted to get done, etc. while Emma followed me around the house and helped me sometimes do those things.

After that conversation I knew I needed to change things and make sure Emma is feeling completely loved. Ever since then (about a month and half ago) I have been trying my hardest to give her lots of attention and make sure she feels loved. And guess what?? She does not act out anymore. Amazing how that works ;). Really it's not science, but I just had that ah-ha! moment and I'm grateful for the time we get to spend together!

We have lots of fun creating things, baking food, playing games. Here are some pictures of some things we enjoy together:

We went swimming together at an indoor pool and she had a BLAST!

We like making snowflakes or hearts to decorate the house with depending on the holiday :). 

 

Emma has discovered her love for cooking and baking. The first thing she made were coconut, white chocolate cookies. We delivered them to Daddy's work and they were a big hit! She also liked cooking them as you can see :)...

She also has made muffins a few times and sugar cookies twice. She LOVES being in the kitchen and making things with me! Even though when we made sugar cookies, she dropped a whole egg into the mixer as it was going and dropped a couple others on the floor. It's funny now that I think about it. I have to remember not to get frustrated in the moment and remember she's a toddler :). She's just enjoying it all!

Emma also LOVES being an artist and making crafts. We learned about autumn by making jello jigglers in leaf shapes and coloring pictures of fall time. We also had fun making cotton ball snowmen (even though she hated having glue on her fingers!) and painting hearts for Valentine's Day.

We like to visit Grandma Hope next door. Emma dresses up and shows her sassy side :). She also LOVES playing with friends. We don't have too many girls our age except for Berkley. They're becoming good friends.

Emma is really good at games. Some of her favorites are "Spot it", "Break the Ice", and Candy Land. She is really good at Spot it and loves finding the spiders and spider webs first. 

First Dentist Appt

Emma was very excited for her first dentist appointment. She didn't really know what was going to happen but I made it sound as good as Disneyland ;). I was a little worried that she'd be scared, but she was a trooper!! She was calm and excited through the c-rays, the cleaning, flossing, etc. she even got to watch Barbie Fairies on the ceiling and pick out a Cinderella ring after it was all done. She had a great time and I'm proud of her for being so brave!

Daddy-Daughter Dates

Cade has been wanting to work on having a closer relationship with Emma. And let me say, he is the most amazing father. He desperately wants to gain a wonderful relationship with each of his children over the years and is constantly wanting to be a better father. He reads books on parenting, articles from our church leaders and really practices it with our girls.

He likes to take Emma on dates to have some one-on-one time. Emma loves going on dates with daddy. Sometimes it's getting lunch at McDonalds, climbing the rock walls at Trafalga, seeing plays like Cinderella or going to Home Depot to build and paint things together (thank you Grandma Close and Tara for telling us about that gem!).

Emma loves her daddy so much.

Emma Funnies!

There are a lot of funny/cute things kids say and Emma is no exception. However, I'm not the best about always writing them down. So here are some things I remember (now I keep track of things in my phone so I can add them to the blog).

These were when she was closer to 2 1/2 years old:

Slams the door in Reese's face on purpose and Reese starts crying. Emma opens the door and says, "OH, Reese!!! What's Wrong??!" She acted completely innocent....like she always does :). 

She used to LOVE doing Pat-a-cake with me and one time she took my hands and started singing pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake until she said, "mark it with a B....." (then she paused for a long time). She started at the beginning again and said, "pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake…until mark it with a M..." She's been learning her letters and thought through that one. Very smart!

Just within the last few weeks:

Daddy: If you eat a piece of chicken, you can have a gummy…

Emma:  How about I hang from the light?

(What kind of negotiation is that??)

Emma: Mommy, How about you’re the witch and I’ll be Snow White.

Mom: You’re poopy though. We can’t have a poopy Snow White.

(Paused for a long time)

Emma: Mom, you be Snow White and I’ll be the witch poops!

(It’s as if she thought “well, if Snow White can’t be poopy, I’m sure the witch can!)

During Sacrament meeting at church I was explaining that the bread being passed around represents Christ’s body. So when they were passing around the water, I whispered, “What do you think the water represents?” To which Emma replied, “Grandma’s body!” I tried hard to keep it together. Cade looked at me and wondered what was so funny. 

What a silly, silly girl :). I love her!

2013 Goals and Happy New Year

Happy New Year? I just posted about Valentine's....

Yes, I just wanted to post a lovely picture of Boose-Boose and I on New Year's Eve. I toasted with her because my wonderful other-half had to go home early to take care of Penny. Life changes when you add a new family member :).

My goals for 2013:

1. Keep a budget for the family and stay on top of it all year long!
2. Record a CD for the wonderful women in my life.
3. Learn 20 hymns on the piano that I can accompany with
4. Have learning time at least once a week with Emma (teach her a new concept/lesson)
5. Only touch things once! (Gene that we lived with used to say this. Don't put something down unless that is the place it belongs. I haven't been good about this with two toddlers around- and life is only going to get more busy!)
6. Earn my personal progress award (again)
7. Establish a family mission statement
8. Add at least one new meal a month to our regular menu

I put them on here so I can have people to account to and make sure I'm accomplishing what I want this year :). I love making goals and I try my hardest not to break them within a couple months :).

Love a Day to Remember I'm loved!

 Valentines day is a great time to reflect on how much we have been given and how much love we can share with others. Well, on this valentines I feel so extremely blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. Family is where all happiness can stem from and I. Am. Happy.

My husband is just so giving of his time and serving me and the girls every day. He works so hard at work, comes home and asks what he can do to help me. He watches the girls, gets them in baths and ready for bed, does dishes- all because he loves me. He knows HOW I feel loved and shows me all the time.

Then there's Emma. She is so kind and excited about life. She brightens up my day and wants to spend time doing EVERYTHING together ;). I love spending time with her and feeling her love for me.

Reese. So dang cute and at such a fun stage! She smiles all the time- at me and at strangers. Blows kisses, giggles, and knows how to entertain herself (Which I love:)). I love seeing how much she loves following Emma and trying to do all the things she does. Her smile and happiness definitely makes me happy!

I feel so blessed to have them in my life!

Today was definitely fun. Cade and I have a tradition to get a couples massage and go out to dinner. It's been really fun to spend time together. But I am finding SO much joy in showing my love and not focusing on who showed it to me. I loved seeing how excited Emma was to give valentines to all her friends. I loved seeing Reese's face when she got to eat her very own sucker (first one) and I loved making sugar cookies with Emma because all she ever wants in life is to spend time with me. I love spending time with Cade too and being able to talk one on one. I love my family. I am truly happy.

Emma and Reese loved their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Bleak. Especially the dancing animals that looked like the way Reese dances :).

 

They also got a package from the Close/Young side. Emma LOVED the little carrot garden and her new cute shirts.

An Arizona Christmas

Christmas in Arizona! Always busy and filled with lots of people! It was of course a good time filled with lots of time to spend with each other- except not as much time as we would have liked with Grandpa Close who had to work quite a bit...but we're happy he has a job and it's going well!!

We got there Saturday and had fun chasing the toddler and babies around for a couple days before we spent time with the extended family. Monday night, Christmas Eve, we spent with the Jones side. We ate dinner, then enjoyed a nativity scene of the grand babies (which was so dang cute) and opening gifts together. It's never enough time to catch up but at least we can count on seeing each other at least at that time. Christmas Eve I also got to skype with my family for a little bit and made me miss them :). They played a song for us on their chimes and brought a smile on our faces :).

 

Christmas morning always starts early with the Close side! Everyone knows how I am not a morning person! Cade is usually the one to get up first (before 6:00) and start getting other people up...he still gets just as excited as he did when he was 8 years old. So we were all up around 6:00 a.m. and started unwrapping gifts. It is getting more and more exciting the older Emma gets! I love seeing her eyes light up and the excitement she has with each gift. She got a Leappad computer from Grandma and Grandpa Close, some books, puzzles, and Santa brought her a Bell and Sleeping Beauty dress. I wonder if she'll grow out of loving princesses sometime :).

Cade had two surprises for me. The first I opened was a gift from the girls. They painted a plate for me at Color Me Mine. It had a hand print from Emma and foot print from Reese. It was so darling. He went through a lot of work with them at that place!

The next thing I opened was a HUGE surprise. A brand new Cannon Rebel T3i camera. As I opened it, I could not believe what I saw. I immediately started crying. Cade knows that I would love to get more into photography and be able to have fun taking pictures of our family growing up. I already take 1000's of pictures on my phone, but this is a hobby I've wanted to get in to. I love how Cade always encourages me to enjoy life and work on hobbies and talents and I LOVE him for it!

After opening presents and making a big mess...we got ready and headed to the Close family Christmas morning breakfast. I love seeing this family! We drove 2 hours to Phoenix, stayed for 2 hours and drove 2 hours back. Definitely not enough time, but it's all we can do with 4 kiddos who get cranky after a while. We got to catch up a little with family members and see cousin Tamara pregnant :). She is due with her first baby in May. So happy for her and Eric! Emma and Reese especially loved the HUGE dogs they had in the backyard. They love animals in general ;).

We went back to Prescott and ate a Christmas dinner with Great Grandma and Grandpa and it was of course delicious. That was our wonderful, busy Christmas Eve and Day.

The rest of the week was a lot more low-key...mainly chasing the two toddlers around who get into mischief when they are together :). When their quiet, that's the time to be worried! Cade and I got to go on a date to Les Miserables which is always so fun to spend time with just the two of us.

We came back the following Sunday and always love seeing the Close side. It was a wonderful Christmas and Grandma and Grandpa Close are always way too generous in their gifts, time, service and making us feel loved all the time! We love them.

I love this picture. Reese is saying a lot just by her expression. Taft wanted so badly to give Reese hugs the and chase her around but she didn't like it because he weighs a lot more than she does :).