.new.

I'm not a flake.  promise.  I just have really bad timing.  As soon as I decided I'm going to devote more time and energy into the blog, J decided it was time to take the computer in for repairs.  nice.  SO, a few weeks later, we have the laptop back...still doesn't work...and I'm going to try to upload as much as possible before he takes it back in.

Coming up later tonight on the blog:
*Love day. 
*New exciting stuff coming up for Emma bean.
*finals. finals. and more finals.
*craft night fun.

That's all I will promise to do tonight cause, let's face it...

i'm a flake.

Another flashback

I can't believe I never updated all these pictures.  I'm looking through album after album of pictures I had every intention of uploading, and never got around to.  So sad, especially since the memories are fading.
But here's one that melts me.  Jamison came home after a long day at school and wanted more than anything to cuddle with Emma bean before bedtime.  So he climbed right on in, and it took some serious maneuvering to get himself out of there!  They are so cute together.  :)

 

Hobo

Around April of last year Emma came down with a really bad rash all over her tummy and back, and it was so bad she was itchy all over and super fussy.  She was about 5 months old.  As a result of her discomfort, we continually gave her oatmeal baths, and dressed her in big baggy shirts courtesy of Uncle Benjamin.

  Seeing her in these baggy shirts gave J an idea...and he got a little creative....

 

 

 
                                         Always keeping it classy over here......  

Dying right now.

Going through old pictures tonight trying to decide which to upload on the blog for my BIG catch up, and I came across this one of her at 10 months.  Cracks. me. up.   I love her. 

I have like 9 posts that have been saved as drafts because I'm slow at uploading pictures....  but the posts are there, and we're finally getting lots of 2012 pictures uploaded so I'll have them up this weekend *hopefully*.  For my memory's sake, here's a list of posts that need uploading.
1. Valentines day 2012
2. Jamison's first Father's day
3. 4th of July
4. Thanksgiving
5. Emma update (months 1 thru 12 pictures up and stats).
6. Christmas
7. New Years
8. Work
9. House craft updates

Whew!  Lots to do.  I'm hoping to knock out 1 through 4 by tonight. And the rest by Monday.  Let's see how much catching up I can do.  I'd better get off the couch and get busy!

-Amy

Emma's 1st Birthday Party!!!

*warning: lots of details here, for my memory's sake.*

I can't believe the day has come and gone.  My Emma's FIRST birthday party/celebration was yesterday.  She had SO much fun.  Everyone could see how thrilled she was at everything that was going on.  Jamison started the day at 7am cleaning up the front yard to make it look nice for our guests.  I focused on cleaning up the kitchen and living room to make the area more welcoming and comfortable.  Afterwards, Amanda Burbidge (one of my MANY life savers yesterday) and I went to Winco to load up on some candy for the festivities and other decoration items.

We came home, and I realized I hadn't bought eggs for the cake and cake balls, so we had to make one more quick run at 1pm to get some eggs.  At this point we were really time crunching here.  The good thing is that as soon as I got home it was time for Emma's nap.  So I laid her down, and while Amanda and I were hard at work in the kitchen, Daddy finished in the yard with Emma's grandpa Kent.

I was SO lucky to have Amanda around, she hung up the banner and helped cook and set up, and by 3:15 Jay and I were dressed and ready to party at 3:30.  I was beyond excited to get Emma up and ready to see all her loved ones that were coming over.  We got her little birthday onesie on, her cute pink tutu and headband...and took her out to the kitchen to see what was going on.  She. was. amazed.  I loved seeing her reaction to all the balloons and decorations...not to mention the people that were already arriving.  Grandma and Grandpa Staheli came, as well as Grandpa and Grandma Fernelius (and the kids).  Mike and Rachel Stoops, and Amanda and Brandon Burbidge came as well to help celebrate.  And Jamison's brother Ben Hoskins and two of his kids, Peter and Isabella came.  

What a FUN time!  We had pizza; yummy salad and fruit; lots of candy in her cute blue, red and pink colors; and cake balls and cake of course.  

We all ate, watched Emma eat her cute little girly cake; the adults enjoyed some cake; and then we watched as she opened a few gifts.  And to end the party: Grandpa Fernelius surprised everyone with glow sticks/necklaces/bracelets  and EVEN foam sticks.  SO. MUCH. FUN.  The kids played with the glow sticks until around 7pm.  They couldn't get enough of it! :) 

I still can't believe everything that everyone did for my sweet baby Emma.  We are SO very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.  And I know Emma felt ALL the love yesterday.  Needless to say when bedtime came she crashed!  And slept WELL! :)  Mommy and Daddy did too. haha

I love my little Emma darling.  So so much.  It brings tears to my eyes to think back to all the events that occurred within these few days a year ago.  On the 4th I was admitted into the hospital to be induced at 9am, and saw my baby for the first time after 36 hours of labor, on the 5th at 9:34 pm.  Those were HARD hours, as any other mother would tell you.  Those were moments that I thought for sure I wouldn't make it through.  Those were moments I wished I could just have her here without going through everything she and I both went through.  And now, one year later... those moments are my most cherished and treasured memories.  I would do it all over again today to have her here.  I would have given my life for her then, and I would give my life for her now.  A mother's love is so deep, and so pure.  I don't know anything quite like it.  

...Here are some precious memories from MY Emma girl's very 1st birthday party.  :)....

Aunt Tiff and Emma

Emma is taking it all in after waking from her nap to a decorated house.

How could I NOT love that little face?

Emma loved Bella. :)

A girly cake for my girly girl.  Made with love by Mommy.

They are my reason for living. 

End result.  :)

Grandma and Emma

Grandpa and Grandma Fernelius

And a video......................................................................................   :) :) :)

I love her. 

Oops..

I'm totally behind on updating this thing. My bad. Well...here's a lame attempt at updating what's been going on...mostly for me...because I forget everything so easily.

Emma is now 5 months. I've been so busy the past month I didn't even get a 4 month picture of her on the couch, like I've done with every other month (I'm terrible)..BUT I have her 5 month picture. She'll actually be 6 months on the 5th of May, so I'm kinda cutting it close.

My 5 month smiley babe. LOVE those big flappy ears! (good thing she's a girl and can hide them underneath her growing hair--another trait she gets from her daddy {the ears...not the hair..}) haha

I am still head over heels for this girl, and the love grows every day. She talks to herself when she wakes up from naps, just waiting for us to go in and get her, and then when I do go to pick her up she starts kicking and giggling from excitement...cutest thing ever! Sometimes I wait by the door and just listen to her jabber on. I've noticed that the longer I wait to go in and get her, the more excited she is when she finally sees me.....so I stall....can't help it. I die with happiness when I see her smile at me. *sigh*

She's been holding her bottle since early 4 months, I just never documented it, which is way cute because if I'm holding it in front of her face while talking to J, she'll reach out for it and pull it towards her mouth, and kind of jams the bottle into her mouth. She reaches for everything now...

exhibit a

She LOVES people food. Oh man! I don't dare eat or drink anything around her sight for fear that she'll stare at it wanting what I have. I usually cave and let her have at least a taste of whatever I'm delighting in. She's tried things like water, apple juice (100% of course..), bananas, carrots and broccoli (pureed), soup, spaghetti; pretty much everything under the sun. And she's hungry ALL. THE. TIME. But, good news! She's a super active baby, so her eating habits do not affect her chunkiness.

My active baby! Always has to be up and about. I'm going to be in such great shape when she's walking! It'll be fun to chase her around....kind of. :/

We're still trying to get back to a good routine with sleeping...we've been out of town a couple of times which really messed her up...so for right now, she wakes up several times during the night...but we're working on it, so that should change soon. *hopefully* A hardworking mama neeeeeeeeeddssss sleep. So, Emma girl..puleaseeee work with mama on the whole sleep-through-the-night-to-make-mama-happy "thing". thanks. Muah!

She really is such a sweetheart...as LONG as she gets a good nap. haha. She's too funny. She's the sweetest girl you'll ever know; she'll smile at everyone and anyone, giggle and play. BUT, if she's in a bad mood lookout! I would avoid her if I could. She's just not so fun when she's unhappy. On the bright side though, she's only fussy/moody when something's wrong; i.e. bad vaccine reactions, stomach problems, tiredness, etc. P.s. Just a word of advice...don't have your baby vaccinated until he/she is at LEAST 10 years of age. Emma had every bad reaction possible, and it killed to watch her in such pain. I'm dicontinuing for as long as humanly possible. It wasn't until after we found out Emma wasn't reacting well to the shots that I found out the vaccines put Matthew in the hospital for weeks due to a bad reaction when he was a baby...and that none of the rest of us had vaccines as babies. Found out a little too late...but I should've looked into it before having my baby poked and prodded. Oh well, lesson learned...and NEVER again.

Anyway, I'm rambling. We're happy. Baby's happy. Life is good. Jamison just started a nursing program at Kaplan College (huge blessing...he'll be done with school in a year instead of 3 years with CSN...yay!). I LOVE being a mama with every day that passes. It's SO worth the pains of pregnancy and labor, the sleepless nights and sore/aching body due to lack of energy/food...etc. Having her was the best decision we ever made in our little family. I'm already looking forward to having all our children together on this earth. I already dream of them playing in the yard together, painting eggs at Easter, taking care of each other at church and school activities. There's such good stuff to look forward to...so I'll happily embrace yucky pregnancies again, and hard times to have all the good and happy times. Bring. It. On.