Hamblen Family

2011-07-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Our vacation with the Wessel Clan was a blast! The last week of June we all packed up and traveled 8 hours up to Yosemite National Park for a week of camping in the great outdoors. We had 12 people including 5 kiddos camping in the Yosemite Valley right next to the river with Half Dome and El Capitan Mountain looming over our heads.
Yosemite Falls were gorgeous and we hiked right up to the base of the falls. David got pretty soaked as he climbed over rocks for a closer look. Sadly I don't have any pictures, but David had all the kids trying to follow him as he broke free of the trail to get up higher.

The view here is from Olmsted Point looking over the backside of Half Dome. It took us about 1-1/2 hours to drive up here, but the view was gorgeous.We loved climbing over the rocks to see the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Tenaya Lake is where we stopped one day for a picnic lunch. There wasn't much of the lake to see since the snow pack around it was pretty thick. But that didn't stop the kids from jumping up and throwing a few snowballs.Tuolumne Meadows was a pretty site and we saw a number of deer walking through the huge meadow. Although we were able to get a lot closer to a few deer walking through the middle of the valley. They didn't seem to mind humans a bit as people got within 10 feet of the deer. The girls enjoyed pointing them out as we explored the Yosemite valley.
It did rain on us one night (flooded Christy's tent and half of Sarah's tent) and so some plans got cancelled and the temperature was a bit cooler than I planned, but it was wonderful anyway. Overall it was a wonderful vacation!

Family Pictures 2010

2011-02-15T11:23:00.002-08:00

In December we enlisted Christy's help to take some family pictures. We headed over to the Mission Trails area and found a perfect spot. Emily loved climbing over rocks to reach each new location and loved being in the spotlight. Whereas Megan had to be bribed for every photo with chocolate. The kiddo wouldn't smile. Luckily we got a few great shots!

Backyard Playground

2010-11-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

We finally got our backyard playground built! Grandpa and Christy came over to help us finish it today. As we were nearly done we got some visitors - Kendel and Evan loved playing with the girls. We'll be having lots of play days at our house in the near future!Megan can climb onto the swing herself and has already learned to call her sister to come over and swing them high.This is one of the fastest slides I've seen in quite a long time. Each kid slid straight to their butt the first time down. Megan has gotten some air off the end of it, landing over a foot away!
Emily has said this is the best backyard ever!

Best Friends

2010-11-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

Emily and Megan love to play together. All you hear are giggles and squeals at our house. (ok they also drive each other crazy and scream and fight over toys, but we don't photograph that)

Silly Emmy

2010-11-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

Emily is always a nut. You ask her to pose for a picture and you never know what you'll get. From silly faces to model poses.

Nothing like dressing up on a Saturday morning to play.

Cutie Meg

2010-11-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Such a cutie pie! She loves the camera and begs her sister to take her picture. My camera is full of close-ups of Meg's face.

2010-09-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Going to the park is our favorite activity. These little girls are obsessed with the swings and could play for hours.

HIGHER DADDY!Ready, Set, GO!Watch me climb!

Making New Friends

2010-09-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

Megan was excited to meet our favorite friends from Sesame Street. She loves watching Elmo on tv and loved pointing them out to me while at Sea World.

Funny Bunny

2010-07-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Little Megan is obsessed with her bunny ears from Easter. Months after the egg hunt where she refused to where them, she now grabs them at all moments of the day. It doesn't matter if it is early in the morning or right before we leave for church or if we say dinner time, Megan will grab her ears and run over to us. She makes the cutest bunny!

Emily has been keeping busy

2010-05-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

I made a "spring hat" for Kindergarten covered in butterflies

I love running in the backyard

Mommy is teaching me to ride without training wheels

I don't like it very much

I can make cool things with my Magnetix

Fun Times With Megan

2010-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Toys don't go in here, heads do

I found Daddy's Shoes

Hey, I've got a belly button

Book Time

My big sister is teaching me how to growl

Innocent till proven guilty

Mothers Day

2010-05-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just us girls in our spring dresses on Mothers Day.

Lost Lost Lost

2010-05-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I pulled Emily's tooth out. It has been loose for months (since around Christmas time) and it was starting to point straight out of her mouth with just a push of her tongue. When I picked her up from School last week I noticed it was even hanging lower in her mouth and she looked like some crazy kid with a snaggletooth. And yet she still begged me to wait on pulling it out. She screamed bloody murder the entire time and was a complete drama queen. Of course now she is so happy to have it out and is proud to show EVERYONE her missing tooth (including every person at every store we've been to in the last 4 days).

Play Time

2010-04-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Megan is growing up so fast and loving every minute of it. This is another trip to Sea World where she got to play in the toddler area after we watched Shamu. She was stealing blocks from all the other kids. When she stacked them by daddy she decided it was time to escape and ran as fast as she could straight for the exit. She is one fast kiddo.

Superheroes

2010-04-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

My girls were having fun on a lazy Saturday morning. Emily gave Megan a towel to run around with and then found her own cape. They chased each other like this for about 15 minutes without stopping. Megan will do anything to be like big sister.

Emily's Award

2010-03-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Recently Emily earned an award at school for being Responsible. Her teachers say that she is a delight to have in class and loves to help them out. Whenever her classmates ignore the directions Emily is there to say "Teacher said to do this now". Sounds a little bossy, but her teachers say it is a big help to them. She is doing great in school and her report card shows her progress. David and I were able to attend the assembly for her award and cheer her on. We are so proud of our little girl!

Megan's babies

2010-03-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

Megan got a baby for her birthday and loves carrying her around the house. She also drags Emily's bigger dolly along. She feeds the babies, pushes them in the stroller, and gives them kisses. It is so sweet.

Sushi

2010-03-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

David has been loving making sushi lately. He had tried it before but got frustrated by its difficulty until he talked to a couple professional sushi chefs at a Japanese Restaurant. Now his rolls actually come together and taste great (according to David & Emily....I'm not crazy enough to try them yet).

Gymnastics Week 3

2010-03-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Emily got to practice walking on the balance beam in her Gymnastics class. She walked forward, backward, side-to-side, and even got to practice small hops and standing on one leg. She thought falling off the beam was pretty funny too.

Reading

2010-02-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Emily is doing great at reading. She loves to practice reading -- including her baby sister's books. Megan loves the attention and treasures these moments with her favorite person.

Let them eat cake

2010-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Our little BUG turned 1 and we had a ladybug party. Aunt Mandy helped me decorate cupcakes for everyone to enjoy, and a larger cake for Megan to sink her teeth into.

Landscaping

2010-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last week we had someone come to our house to discuss upgrades to the home and landscaping options. They took photos and were able to come up with the following concept for our front yard. Adding a sidewalk next to the road, widening the driveway, a garden of flowers, a step-stone pathway in the 'garden' leading to the door, a mailbox, window shutters, real grass, etc. It makes our house more of a cottage and we love it. Although the cost is high, we hope to start some of it next month and will continue slowly all year.

Gymnastics Week 2

2010-02-20T09:56:00.001-08:00

This week in gymnastics class they focused on the Vault. They practiced different ways of jumping, like the tuck jump, the straddle jump, and a spin jump. Then they got to run and jump up over the vault. Emily really enjoyed all the hopping and bouncing and hasn't stopped all week, despite our protests.

My little gymnast

2010-02-09T13:33:00.001-08:00

Emily started taking Gymnastics classes again. In addition to the cartwheels and somersaults that they practice, every Monday she will get to try out a different apparatus. This week was her first week and she learned about the Uneven Bars. She got to swing from both the low and high bars and also practice a flip on it. She had a blast!

Sunday Fun

2010-01-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here is what we do on Sunday afternoons to have fun. We push each other in the computer chair. Each one of us got a turn being pushed and spun. And Megan really enjoyed pushing her sister.

Forts

2010-01-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

We built a giant fort in the living room and covered the ends with blankets. We found that both Emily and Megan love to crawl through tunnels and peek out at us. The girls spent hours playing peek-a-boo and chasing each other through the fort.

Walking

2010-01-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Megan has learned how to walk, but that doesn't stop Emily from being her helper. Some days Megan is still wobbly...especially when she was sick. So Emily had fun keeping her balanced.

Sea World

2010-01-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

We bought Sea World passes for Christmas. We didn't go at all during 2009 and missed the fun. So on Saturday we spent 2 hours looking at sharks and dolphins and playing in the Kids Area. The nice thing about having passes means that next time we can see the shows and we didn't have to cram everything in to one trip.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was very enjoyable in our house. Santa brought a car for Megan, a special coloring book for Emily, and games for the family. Megan loves pushing small cars all around the house and Emily is enjoying the special Daddy attention when playing her Princess game on the Wii. And aren't their matching jammies cute!

Emily's Dance

2009-12-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

At our church Christmas Party on December 4th Emily got to participate in a small ballet with the other young girls in our ward. They danced to Toyland and were adorable.

It was very stressful convincing Emily that she would enjoy the performance and then to remember to actually try (she kept doing half leaps and having a pout on her face). But in the end she was a beautiful ballerina.....clumsy, but gorgeous!

Lost Teeth

2009-12-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

On November 28th Emily lost her very first tooth! Such a big day for our big girl.

Christmas Decorations

2009-12-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

David decided our house needed to be festive for the holidays. While Emily and I made a gingerbread house, David bought decorations and lit up the house. We had to buy a baby gate to keep Megan away from the tree ornaments. She likes all the shiny balls and candy canes.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-22T18:53:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving we packed up the girls and headed to Idaho to visit David's family. It wasn't the easiest trip with a 5-year old and a 9-month old, but we survived the 2 hour flight and 3 hour drive. Some of the highlights from our trip included:

Emily & David shoveling the snow off the driveway (yes....for Emily that was an exciting day)

Eating Turkey
Having Megan meet her Grandpa Wayne for the first time
And of course playing with Grandma V's kitty cats (Emily LOVES Vinny)

Christmas Dresses

2009-12-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Grandma Wessel made two very special dresses for our girls. She took Emily shopping to pick out the fabric and the pattern and then created a masterpiece! The dresses look adorable on the girls and they loved them. Megan kept playing peekaboo with it while Emily twirled in circles.

Playtime

2009-12-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

Megan loves to play....especially with her big sister's toys. She has claimed Emily's baby doll as her own and loves to suck on its hands and bang its head on the floor!

The Pilgrims & The Indians

2009-11-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Emily had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. All 100 kindergartners in her school dressed up as Pilgrims & Indians and they had a huge feast of pumpkin pie, breads, popcorn, fruits, veggies, and juice. Emily loved it and had a blast. Even Megan enjoyed watching and all the kids in Emily's class ran up and tried to hold Megan's hand and give her a hug. Emily enjoyed showing off her sister during her big day.

Indian Emily with her papoose.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

Before Halloween we took Emily to a pumpkin patch inside a dairy farm. Emily enjoyed running through the hay maze, racing daddy to the top of the hay tower, sliding down the hayseed on sleds, taking a hayride around the farm to see the cows, learning how to milk a cow, throwing a lasso around a "sheep", and of course picking out her own pumpkin. Sadly, we did not get pictures of the pumpkins. (crazy I know)

Halloween

2009-11-02T15:58:00.001-08:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We all got to dress up and have fun.

Family

2009-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak preview of 2 of our family photos that Christy took for us in September. Thank you Christy once again! And thank you Mandy for the cute shirts the girls were wearing!

Emily's Birthday Cake

2009-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the fabulous cake that Mandy made for Emily's birthday. It was AWESOME! Even though it melted and was tilting by the time it got to our house, Mandy was able to fix it and we absolutely loved it! Thanks again Mandy!

Hula Hoop

2009-10-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

Emily got a hula hoop for her birthday from Aunt Christy.

Even Megan really enjoy it!

Ballerina

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Megan was given a tutu at her baby shower. So I dolled her up and let her play.

Reading

2009-10-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

I guess Megan is jealous that Emily is learning to read. So David gave Megan her own book and sat her in Emily's chair.

She thinks reading is tasty!

Sewer Problems

2009-10-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

In August we experienced our first HUGE problem as homeowners. Granted, we've had plumbing problems a few other times this year, but none of the other problems have cost this much. Our plumbing pipes were completely filled by roots. We're not sure if it was from our neighbor's tree or the one from our property that was removed a few years ago, but the roots wiggled their way in and started taking control and destroying our old cast iron pipes. We had to have about 40 feet of pipe replaced - from our house to under the street where it connects to the city. It took the plumbing company 14 hours to dig up the yard and replace the pipes. But it is now done and we don't have to worry about the sewer backing up into our bathtub any more.

More Pool Fun

2009-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

We kept the pool slide a couple extra days after Emily's party before we could return it. And what better to do while it was at our house than to invite Mandy, Jake & Zach back over for some more fun that the grown-ups could enjoy!

Emily enjoyed bouncing down the slide.

Check out David's launch!

Megan even had a blast inside the baby pool with Grandma V and Cassie.

Emily's 5th Birthday

2009-09-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Emily chose to have a pool party this year. Since we don't have much of a pool ourselves (just the small one shown in the picture), we were able to borrow the large pool slide from Emily's friend from Preschool. It was a huge success!

The backyard was full of screaming and laughing children for over 2 hours. I had originally planned games in addition to the pool fun, but there was no time for it. The kids just kept jumping in and out of the pools and sliding down while throwing water balloons at each other.

We were able to invite a few of Emily's favorite friends from Preschool and their families.

(Kendel, Heidi, Jaime, Bailey, Lori, Evan, Gabby, Emily, Maia, Addison)

Emily's favorite gift was her bicycle. David timed presenting it perfectly. All the presents were opened, including a bike bell and a helmet, and Emily was just starting to run away with her friends when David opened the garage and there it was. Emily screamed and ran to it. The only thing that got her off was the cake a minute later. (pics of the amazing cake coming soon)

Megan's Pig Tails

2009-09-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Megan got kidnapped by Mandy during Emily's birthday party. When she came back she looked like this:

Isn't she ADORABLE!

Ugh

2009-09-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

I swear I'm going to post more soon. Our computer has been in the shop for over 2 weeks now and it was broken for a couple weeks before that. It is really annoying me to only have David's laptop (thank goodness for at least that) and I miss my computer. Once they ship it back to me from Utah I promise to post more photos of my cute girls. They are piling up on my camera and I need to clear them out!

Kindergarten

2009-08-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Emily had her first day of Kindergarten on Monday. She starts school before 8am so it was a challenge getting everything ready that early, but we all got to walk together to her brand new school. Emily was so excited about school starting. She has been talking about it for weeks and just about bounced the entire walk to school. She was given a brand new backpack from her Grandma Wessel and got to go with Daddy to buy a new lunchpail. She wants to use these for everything.....carrying toys, wearing as a hat, swinging in circles. She loves her school supplies!

Emily has 2 teachers for Kindergarten - they trade off days of the week to teach. It is both of their first years at teaching Kindergarten, but they seem very excited at the task ahead of them. Emily says that she loves them both and that she likes how they say "Good Morning Smarties" each day. She feels special to be called smart!

When she came home that first day we discovered that she made a new friend.....a boy named Daniel who she was hugging and KISSING! Yes, our little Emily proves once again that she is older than her years. David thought we could wait until the teen years to have talks about boys and kissing, but she jumped the gun on that one! But Emily is enjoying making new friends. She gets to see a couple kids from church out on the playground who are in different classes than her, but she enjoys that friendly connection.

Week one is almost done now for Kindergarten and Emily is loving every minute of it. Just seeing all the leopards painted around school is enough to keep her wanting to go back every day, since she loves tigers and leopards and cheetahs -- any of the big cats!

David and I have held up pretty well. We are so proud of Emily and excited (although somewhat nervous) for this new step in her life. The only one having problems with Emily in school seems to be little Megan. She doesn't have as much excitement in her days without her big sister. Luckily they get to spend the afternoon laughing and playing away!

First Foods

2009-08-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Megan had her first taste of food (other than rice cereal). She got to eat Sweet Potatoes and she absolutely loved them. At least she did on the first night. The second night eating sweet potatoes didn't go as smoothly....she made faces and spit it all out. What a funny fickle girl! She has been so desperate to get her hands on all of our food for the past few weeks and now she gets her own dinner. Hopefully she'll enjoy her meals more as time goes on.

Megan got to wash the meal down with a little water aided by Emily.

Our Pool

2009-07-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

We bought Emily a pool for the backyard. On the 4th of July we had a blast swimming and splashing in it. Megan takes after her big sister and is a complete water baby! She kicked and splashed as much as Emily did.

Hooray for the pool!

Say Cheese!Kick and splash!The 3 girlsMegan tried to get Emily back for dumping water on her.....

but sadly she wasn't strong enough to lift the cup!

Comparing the Girls

2009-07-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

I recently put Megan in Emily's very first Christmas dress. Emily was 4 months old in her picture, whereas Megan is 5 months. But aside from the age.....check out the differences. Emily was skinny and sweet whereas Megan is chubby and a fireball! And that HAIR!

Emily loves her sister and is so excited to see Megan wear all of her old clothes.

5 Months Old

2009-07-28T21:52:00.001-07:00

I see her every day and I still can't get over her hair and her toothless grin!

She is such a happy baby!

Megan and Daddy

2009-06-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Little Megan dancing on Daddy's lap It takes a lot of work to get Megan to sleep. It really wears you out!

First Vacation Alone

2009-06-30T15:25:00.001-07:00

Emily got the opportunity to travel to Grandma V's house for a vacation without the rest of us. She had the best time and never missed us once. It is over 2 weeks later and she still wishes that she was in Idaho with those kitty cats.

Emily was excited to have her very own plane ticket

Visiting Grandpa Wayne

Meeting ditto

She visited the falls and fed ducks by the river

Wagon rides and playing with cats were her favorite things about Idaho

This horse was just her size

Emily's Preschool Graduation

2009-06-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

Emily graduated from Preschool on June 5, 2009. The ceremony was held at Hilton Head Park and Emily enjoyed herself a lot. We have had a great 2 years in Mrs. Greene's preschool class. It was a parent participation preschool, so I went to school most days with Emily and got to help in class. Emily learned so much in preschool. She has learned all her basic preschool things like letters and numbers but then there was so much more. Emily is reading and writing! She writes notes to people all the time and can read a few of her books all by herself. It is amazing!

Emily ran when they called her name!

She loves posing for the camera

Mrs. Greene & Emily

Receiving her diploma

2009 Graduating Preschool Class

Bike Parade

2009-06-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

During the final week at preschool Emily's class got to bring their bikes to school for a bike parade. They decorated their bikes with anything that they wanted and then rode them around the entire elementary school for all the older kids to see. What a great day of fun!

Emily wanted balloons, bows and streamers.

Kendel had a monkey bike! Kids on parade!

Preschool

2009-06-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

Emily loved her preschool class this past year. She made a lot of friends and loved her teacher Mrs. Greene.

She spied me during circle time.

Sharing Time....Emily shared a picture that she made of the ocean. Recess with friends

Run Run Run

Swim Lessons

2009-06-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

In April and May Emily took swim lessons. She loves the water and could stay in it for hours! Mostly it was playing and learning the basics (kick your feet and move your arms), but by the end of her 6 weeks she was actually swimming underwater! The pool was only 2-3 feet deep, but she was swimming!

Little Doll

2009-06-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here is little Megan at 3 months old. She loves to smile, coo, squeal and laugh! Her hair refuses to stay flat so now I just comb it up all the time. She is just like a little doll.....so much fun to play with!

Backyard Cookout

2009-05-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

We decided to buy a small fire pit to have some fun this summer. So when Cassie came to visit over Memorial Day weekend we knew it was the perfect time to pull it out and find another way to enjoy our new house.

We cooked up hotdogs and had a picnic on the grass. Afterwards we cooked our marshmallows and made smores. Absoultely delicious! We can't wait to do it again next week when Vivian is in town for Emily's preschool graduation.

Hot Dogs!
Even Megan got to enjoy the picnic
(as long as the smoke didn't blow our direction)
Golden Brown.....just right!
Smores are delicious!

Zoo

2009-05-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Megan, Emily and I were invited to a zoo trip with Mandy, Jake, Zach, Sarah, Kendel, Evan and Christy. (it was a Tuesday so David had to work) Megan behaved nicely for her first zoo trip and of course Emily enjoyed all the animals, with Tigers still being her favorite.

Riding a Hippo!

Hiding in a Polar Bear cave!

JUMP

2009-05-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Emily got to run through her sprinkler in our backyard. She was running and jumping and having a blast. She absolutely loves playing in the water!

Easter Beauties

2009-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

The girls in their Easter dresses. They look so sweet together. (although in reality Megan was still sleeping when we put her in Emily's lap and less than a minute later she woke up screaming)

Grandma V got to come and visit for Easter. Emily had the best time playing with Grandma and is counting down the days until she gets to fly up to Idaho to spend a whole week alone with Grandma V and the kitties.

Easter Treats

2009-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a super special Easter treat this year. Emily and I saw someone make Chocolate-covered Rice Krispy Eggs on tv about a week before Easter and we decided to recreate them. I formed the eggs and drizzled melted chocolate and then Emily shook (and dumped) the colored sprinkles to finish them off.

This is just about as creative as I get.

Egg Hunt

2009-04-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday April 11 the cousins had an Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Wessel's house. The kids had a blast running through the grass and flowers hunting for eggs. It brought back memories of my sisters and cousins doing the same thing years ago. We used to hide over a hundred eggs and every year lose at least one. These kids had it a bit easier with only 70+ eggs. And luckily they found every single one. I think that the hunt even beat out the enjoyment of the candy inside!

Emily was so proud that she found the most - 34 eggs!

Kendel was the fastest at running whenever a grown-up spied another egg that was missed.

Little Evan was so excited to participate in his very first egg hunt.

Playtime

2009-04-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Megan loves to kick and play. It is so much fun to lay her down and watch her smile as she learns how to kick and hit the toys.

Emily finds the most enjoyment during Megan's playtime.

I believe she is remembering the hours she used to spend on the playmat 4-1/2 years ago.

(It is seriously hard to get her to scoot over for Megan!)

Say Cheese!

2009-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

Megan starting smiling last week and we finally caught it on camera. All it takes is a little tickle or a funny face for Megan to give us this adorable grin or her full smile.

Sisters

2009-03-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Emily absolutely adores her baby sister. We were trying to capture Megan's little smile and Emily insisted on sharing the spotlight. And the next day she wanted to wear their matching shirts so that everyone could see that they were sisters.

Crazy Hair

2009-03-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Megan right after a bath. Emily enjoys spiking her hair up while it is still wet. When dry it is just pure fluff!

Megan's baby blessing

2009-03-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

On March 1st we had Megan's baby blessing at church. She was 2 weeks old and looked adorable in her blessing dress, which was the same one that Grandma had made for Emily. Daddy gave her a sweet blessing and we all went out to Grandma & Grandpa's house for lunch afterwards. What a fun day to celebrate this beautiful baby!

Megan's first bath

2009-03-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

Megan does NOT like baths. Once clean, however, her long hair puffs out and won't lay flat again. I love her hair!

My teenage daughter

2009-03-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

I have been saying the last couple years that Emily is older than her age...that she acts more like a 16 year old than a preschooler. She slams doors when angry, yells for us to leave her alone, and acts like she owns the world. Here is more proof that she is a teenager at heart:

David & I caught Emily "talking" on her toy cell phone today. She had been laying down on her bed chatting away for a few minutes before we snapped that photo. It was mainly her cousin Kendel that she claims to have been talking to, but also a few other friends from school. Emily then insisted on bringing the phone outside with her "in case she got more calls".

First Photo Shoot

2009-02-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

Megan finally was awake and happy long enough to take pictures. So we dolled her up and gathered around. We are blown away by her long dark hair. We've had a lot of discussions about her hair with Emily over the last few months, wondering if we would have another bald baby and what we would do with another red head. But she is absolutely gorgeous and we are loving her!

Emily is so proud to have a baby sister. Megan is only 5 days old and Emily has already worn her "Big Sister" shirt 3 times. I can't get it off her!

Emily likes to point out that Daddy is outnumbered by girls in our house. He'll never win an argument again!

Megan Meets Zach

2009-02-17T11:40:00.001-08:00

Mandy & Jake came down over the weekend to see Megan. We decided to let little Zach meet his new cousin and the results were too cute!

Megan's first moments

2009-02-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

This cutie pie came 4 days late and we evicted her (induced) just like we did to her big sister 4-1/2 years ago. This pregnancy seemed to last an eternity for us. With all the extra doctors visits and fertility treatments, we have been planning Megan's birth for over a year. Plus the month of January dragged on for us with counting contractions. There were a few times that my braxton hicks contractions seemed like the real thing and were coming every 10 minutes. It also didn't help speed things up to have all the family calling every single day in January for status updates. But she is out and I breathed a huge sigh of relief and joy when they placed her in my arms!

David was so happy to have his newest tax deduction arrive. When she started crying in his arms he sang Megan her very first song ... "oh there's nothing quite as wonderful as money" from Monty Python. He is crazy!!

Emily was already asleep when Megan was born and then she had preschool the next morning. So it wasn't until 1:00pm the next day that our proud "big sister" got to meet Miss Megan.

Megan Nicole

2009-02-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

Megan has finally arrived! On Thursday, February 12, 2009, at 9:01pm, we welcomed baby Megan with open arms. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured in at 20 inches long.

Too tired

2009-01-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas and the New Year were such busy times for Emily that she was falling asleep all over the place. She took naps on the couch and on the bed with her daddy, she fell asleep in the car, and she would grab her blanket and find any spot on the ground to get comfortable. This picture was taken about 3 days after Christmas. I told her I needed 5 minutes to finish up a project and when I turned around, she was out cold. I guess all the toys that Santa and the family gave her were a little overwhelming!

Christmas Morning 2008

2008-12-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures from our wonderful Christmas morning. Emily was so excited to see everything that Santa brought her. He even ate all the cookies & milk. Emily ended up with her new drawing Easel, a pop-up fort, new paints and coloring pages, a robe of her own, a couple games, some clothes and lots of candy. David and I kept our gifts to each other small since we bought a new laptop, which works perfectly. Later Christmas morning we headed over to Grandma & Papa Wessel's home for even more presents. It really was a great day!

Christmas Dress

2008-12-23T10:51:00.001-08:00

Emily got to go to the store with us this year to pick out her Christmas dress. She was very picky and had to try on multiple dresses before allowing me to buy this one. Even then, she complained that she wanted all the dresses, not just one. For such a tom-boy who hates dressing up and looking pretty, she sure is a pain to shop with. In fact, after putting on her dress on Sunday, she insisted that we tell her how terrible she looked because she did NOT want to be beautiful. But the bottom line is that she is completely adorable whether she likes it or not.

Getting Bigger

2008-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

We remembered to take another picture of me. I am now at 33 weeks along and my belly is growing nicely. It is absoultely tiny when you compare me to Mandy, but Emily is amazed every time she looks at me. She insists on hugging and kissing the baby each night before bed and also enjoys tickling and poking my belly to feel the baby kick. Emily's favorite thing to do is to lay her head on the baby so she can get kicked in the head. It is hilarious.

Our new home

2008-12-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

We finally got around to posting these pictures of our new house. Since this time, all boxes have been cleared from all rooms (except the baby's room since it is a 'catch all' room). Also we have a few more decorations up for the holidays. But you can get the general idea of how our brand new home looks.

Haircut

2008-12-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today I took Emily to get her hair cut at a children's salon. I've been toying with the idea of cutting her hair for a couple months and I decided that today was the day. She got very nervous and had a hard time getting up into the barber chair. But once we told her she could play with a toy while she sat and that she would get a special treat when we finished, she was perfect.

Her hair was cut to about shoulder-length and they curled it and added glitter & a bow. (Emily wasn't very happy about the curling, glitter or bow---she is such a tom-boy---but I encouraged it)

Gingerbread House

2008-12-11T13:58:00.001-08:00

We had our annual gingerbread house decorating party at Grandma's house on Monday. Instead of baking the house herself, Grandma had us use pre-made kits from Costco. The houses turned out great, and the decorating process went right as predicted. Both Kendel and Emily got bored after 20 minutes and started wiggling around until finally Sarah & I had to finish the houses ourselves. Actually, I'm not sure if Sarah ever went back and finished after all the frustration with the icing.

But it is at our new house now.......our first decoration of the season in the new home. Emily can't wait to eat it all up now.

Moving

2008-12-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

Moving is completely exhausting. And when you are pregnant it seems to become an emotional time as well. And when you are a 4-year old, moving is traumatic.
Everything in the apartment is in chaos and poor Emily is having a hard time adjusting. There are boxes everywhere and she isn't allowed to climb in them, on them, or watch them tip over. All of her favorite pictures have been taken off the walls and she has to help decide what to keep and what to throw away. All of her toys are in boxes and she is running out of things to occupy herself. Mommy is ready to pull her hair out and every time Emily wants attention Mommy is on the phone, signing paperwork, packing boxes, or ready to collapse.
But today we went to our new house for our final walk-through. Aside from being very dirty (which will be taken care of by a maid service Friday morning) the house is great. Emily enjoyed running through the empty rooms and she tried to claim the biggest bedroom as her own. The backyard will be perfect for her. We will need to remove a dead lemon tree and fig tree, but we have already tasted an orange from our own tree and it was delicious. Emily can't wait to bring her bike over and to find her sidewalk chalk and ball so she can play outdoors. She was already jumping up and down in every room----which has been prohibited in our apartment for the last year. It will be nice not having to tell her to stop her gymnastic talents and to talk quietly. She will have freedom at last!
We get the keys to the house tomorrow and then the chaos of the official move begins Friday. Will will pack up the apartment and clean it top to bottom Friday night. Then Saturday morning, bright and early, we unpack the truck into the house and start arranging furniture.
Stressful, exhausting, traumatic. But very satisfying.

Becoming Homeowners

2008-11-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it took 6 offers on homes, with 2 being accepted and 1 being an inspection nightmare that we ran away from, but we have finally found a home! Last night we had our inspection on our latest house and it seemed to pass our requirements. Any repairs needed were pretty minor and it looks like this will be our first home. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a large backyard. We are set to close on December 4th and we'll have a moving party on Friday evening, December 5th. So much to do between now and then. I guess I have to start packing.

Pregnant and Showing

2008-11-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

I finally remembered to take a picture of my now expanding stomach. This was taken last week so I was 25 weeks along. It took forever for me to show, but now I've popped (including my bellybutton)!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-05T14:39:00.001-08:00

It took a while to find the perfect Tiger costume for Emily (since none are sold in her size), but she absoultely loved dressing up. She wants to wear the costume every day now and is constantly growling!

We got to go to a Halloween Carnival on October 25th at her school and she enjoyed playing games and seeing her friends all dressed up. Then on Halloween night we joined Kendel and Evan at the Granite Hills' ward Trunk-or-Treat. It may not have been the best organized event, but Emily was thrilled to get candy.