Happy Birthday Emery!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my second born, sweet, gorgeous daughter. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday, because it feels like just yesterday! You sure were in a hurry to get here. Four hours from my first contraction you came out kicking and screaming. 8lbs. 10 oz. of beauty and spunk. You gave us a scare when you went into the NICU with a heart murmur and low oxygen sats but everything ended up perfect. Hali was so excited to see you! Right after you were born she came in with Daddy and knew you immediately! You were destined to be sisters and best friends. You were the best baby and always patient with Hali. Now that you are a big 2 year old your personality has really come out! You love to sing, talk, and read to yourself when you think no one is looking. And you play all day long with your sister. You talk all the time and you love watching movies and shows. You are also very dramatic, more than Hali was, for sure! Your beautiful blue eyes are wide with wonder and we can't wait to see what life has in store for you! We love you so much sweetheart!!! Happy Birthday!
Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Hali

Kisses

I could kiss my girls cheeks all day long..... and I do. Especially Emery's. Not only because she has the chubby baby cheeks still, but because she is usually the one that lets me. But when Hali does, I take advantage! Like today. I have been kissing and hugging them all morning. Grabbing their little faces and smothering them with love. I can't get enough. Today, I am happy. I am grateful. I am healthy and able to care for my children and live my life. Heavenly Father must have known that I needed an extra boost today. :) He loves me. And He loves you too.

See what I mean? Look at those cheeks! And lips! :)
Love it

Cute Headbands

My cousin Nicole in SLC, Utah is a very cute, crafty, photographer and mom. She makes these adorable vintage-y headbands. Here is the LINK. Check her out!

Summer is here...

Happy Monday, everyone.

Pinkalicious!

The girls and I went to see Pinkalicious. It's a children's book about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink that they turned into a play. The girls were excited and into it at first but the novelty wore off after a bit of sitting down. The ended up running up and down the isles of the mezzanine. Oh well. I tried. Hali kept asking the whole time if she could go up on stage and have a turn singing and dancing. She is too smart. She knows it's just people acting and not a real story. She is so funny! Afterward they played outside in the puddles and the play area outside of the theater. They then of course conked out in the car after about 5 minutes. We went with Susie Barlow, Jessica Wille, Maria Payne, and Rachel Blum. It was fun girls!
Mommy and the girls


Jessica and her cute girl Eliza

Hali with Pinkalicious!

Hali and Emery outside the theater.

It is their first.....

...visit to the dentist! My girls are so big. We would have taken them earlier but we didn't have dental insurance until a few months ago. Cory and I tried to prepare them by getting them excited to tell the dentist how well they brush their teeth and bribing them with a new toothbrush and toothpaste from the office. We get there and Hali is starting to get a little weary of the office because it probably looks too similar to a pediatricians office. We get to the back and I ask Hali if she wants to go first or if Emery should go first. She chose sissy to go. Emery did so well! She sat in the chair and the sweet dentist looks at her teeth and was very impressed. Emery has all of her teeth including her 2 year molars and she is only 22 months! The only negative was we need to take per binky away at nights because of a forming under-bite. We mustn't have that! She did start to get annoyed/ fussy when the cleaned and applied fluoride but other than that she was great! Hali took a lot longer to convince. I had to brib her, yet again, with smoothies afterward. She eventually got in the chair, only if I was holding her, and whimpered the whole time. No major tears though! All in all, it was a success! They were very excited to call Daddy afterward and tell them what big girls they were! Love them so much!Hali and Emery watching Shrek in the waiting room.

I spoke too soon.

Of course the morning after I sing Hali's praises she shows me her " dark side". :) I am putting the girls up to the table for french toast and I notice Emery's hair has a blunt cut on the top. I automatically knew it had been cut. For a split second I considered the fact that Emery might have done it herself. Not likely. Then I ask Hali what happened and she says, "I cut sissy's hair!" Oh dear. What is a mother to do? I think I will go get an overall trim so it doesn't look too obvious! My friend Heather said at least she was smart enough not to cut her own hair! Now that would have been bad. It has taken Hali forever to grow her hair out! The more that I look at it, the more it seems like an "alternative" punk kind of style. Very asymmetrical. I'm creating a new style. This is one for the books......

I love...

I love Hali's questions. The mind of a three year old is an amazing and wondrous thing. A few of the questions that she has asked in the past few days are; "Mommy, why do doggies pee outside?" or, "Mommy, do froggies have babies?" or my favorite, "Mommy, is Emery my best friend?" She is too cute for words with her little high pitched girly voice and Wells-Fargo-Wagon-Music-Man-kid lisp. She also likes to grab my camera and say "Mommy, take a picture of me!" And then goes on to do a pose or funny face of some sort. I love her so much and I feel blessed to witness her learning, kindness, thoughtfulness, and intelligence. She is so special, my precious little Hali. I can't wait for you to grow up and be a beautiful woman and mother one day. She will be so strong, intelligent, and valiant. But for now, I love you just the way you are!

Fun times

The girls love going to the park. It is their favorite place! And I love taking them. This day I decided to get some more practice with my camera. It's so easy when they are so cute! Hali was fearless trying to go down the fireman's pole and Emery is still a little scared of standing alone on heights so it took her a while to get used to walking on the play set by herself because she could see all the way down to the sand below. It probably scared her a little. Both girls wanted to do the monkey bars about 5 times each! Dang I have cute kids...... :)

I'm so proud!!

My big girl is growing up! Last Sunday, Hali, who is a very big Sunbeam in Primary, said the prayer. Now if you know my child, you would know that she can be very outgoing, talkative, and social. But sometimes, she can be very shy and do the whole burrowing-in-mommy's-or-daddy's-chest-thing. It's very cute and I like that she has some coyness to her, but I was a little worried about her saying the prayer in front of her whole junior primary. So, throughout the week every time we said prayers we would ask Hali what she was going to pray about in Primary. She would say thank you for things like "Mommy", "Sissy", "Daddy", and such. Then we would remind her to say thank you for the prophet, missionaries, bishop, and friends in Primary. Well, all of the practice paid off because Sunday came around and she was ready! It was the cutest thing!! She, of course, wanted help and she chose daddy to help her say the prayer. I was so proud! Hali is becoming such a sweet and caring girl! I love her so much! I love how she is kind, loving, and a peacemaker with Emery and her friends. What can I say? Being a mom is the best job in the world!

Woooh!

Life is tiring. And I only have two kids! (Two crazy kids....). I don't know how you mom's of 3, 4, or 5 do it! (Char and Kelly) Working every weekend at Papa John's Pizza, being a mom all day every day, school, and church callings. It just seems like a lot lately. Luckily, as crazy as my girls are, they are the funniest, sweetest, happiest, most dramatic, and beautiful things I have ever seen! It's nice to look back on pictures of when they were first born and remember the stillness or the helplessness. But I am not one of those moms that get sad at seeing how big they are. I love everyday that they wake up another day older and another day bigger. I love watching Emery learn to talk, interact, and recognize things in the world. And I love seeing Hali be a proud big sister, learning patience with her baby sister, being creative and making up her own games and dialogues. I can't wait to see them grow and learn even more and it gives me the greatest joy I have ever known to be their mother. I am so lucky to have them.

I'm trying.....

to start a new thing. I have always LOVED photography but I never had the confidence (or the camera :)) to start it. Cory got me a Canon rebel for Christmas and I have really enjoyed playing with it. I have taken a few pictures of my friends' new babies. Heather's Hudson(and Morgan), Denae's Brinley, and Myghty's Landon. I just don't know how I am going to get enough practice in with my school, my kids, my job(s) and my house always calling me to come pay attention to them. I MUST find a way because I love it and it makes me so happy! I really hope to be professional one day but it seems that everyone and their mother are photographers now. I'll find a way to stand out! :) Here are some of my first pictures. Please don't laugh (especially you Tyan. She's amazing!)


P.S. If anyone wants me to practice on their family, dogs, kids, engagements, just cute Mom and Dad couple, etc. please let me know. It will be free of course!!
(If you want a C.D. of all the images I will charge about $2 for the C.D.)
Call me or facebook me!

Why...

am I so depressed lately? It's like I get down over the most trivial things. I don't know why. I feel bad about my dirty house, I wish I had friends to do fun things with, I want to go to the beach, I need to finish school, I wish I was more scheduled/ a better housekeeper/ better mom/ better spouse. It probably explains why it's been forever since I have posted anything. I feel like I don't ever do anything fun.
The only thing that keeps me going is my 2 cute girls. (Even if they make me want to pull my hair out on a regular basis.)

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Limoncello Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Limoncello Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is a gorgeous dress that I would love to wear. I can't think of anything else that lifts a stay at home mom's spirits than a fabulous, feminine, flirty dress! It makes me want to be a better seamstress. I mean baby blankets and crafts are one thing, but I would love to create something like this! I hope I win ;)

To remember......

I want to remember all of the cute, funny, naughty, sweet, and crazy things my kids do. And since I am a mom now, I have no memory. Short or long term. So, I must write them down for myself and for posterity. For instance a couple of weeks ago.....

It was a leisurely Saturday morning and nothing of consequence was happening. We woke up and all went downstairs for breakfast (that I was making of course. No leisure there!). I made french toast for myself, Mr. Metcalf, Hali and Emery. When we were through, I took off their jam covered night shirts and wiped them down. Then, Hali asked if she could go outside to play in her rock box in the back yard. I thought, "Okay, It not deathly hot yet so why not?", and "It's okay that they are half naked. It is my backyard". She took off outside like she had a plan but I though nothing of it. And of course, Emery followed like a little sister would. I opened the blinds so I could supervise from the comfort of my air conditioning. I exchanged some words with Cory and then, a pause in the conversation. I don't know if I felt inspired to look out the window or if my mom radar went off when things were too quiet for comfort. I looked out the window nonetheless and saw one empty rock box and two missing girls. Needless to say my heart went to my throat, my stomach to my toes and I had enough adrenaline in myself to lift a bus. I fly out the back door and around to the side gate and yelled Hali's name. No response. More panic. I take a short cut through the house to the front door and yell for Hali again. Before I know it I myself am outside on my front lawn yelling.......half naked. Well, in my underwear. Which, in my opinion, is halfway to being naked. But that darn adrenaline focuses me so much that I don't seem to care that I am in public in my undies. So make a quick choice to run inside and grab a robe and a bolt down the street not knowing where to start looking for my babies. Just then I see a BUTT NAKED Hali running toward me and a toddling Emery not far behind. Maybe she took off her panties because she couldn't run fast enough. Does it really matter? I was mortified. I'm sure we were a sight to see.
I wish I could say that these kind f things don't happen very often but I think they do. That's my Hali. Always ready for what's next...... or chasing it. I love them!