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Happy New Year! December 31, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Exercise, Family, Holidays, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Photography , add a comment

I look forward to the following things in 2009:

We plan to ring in the new year sitting in our warm house, drinking hot chocolate and Martinelli’s.  We may or may not stay up until midnight watching New Year’s Rockin Eve . . . but I’m sure our little man Dallin will give us a wake up call sometime early 2009 and David and I will kiss and ring in the new year then.

We’ve Been Very Good This Year December 30, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Christmas, Family, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Princess Hannah , 5comments

We’ve been good this year.

Very good.

David and I didn’t care that we opened up a whole lotta nothin’ on Christmas morning . . . we knew our Christmas gift was coming soon . . .

(BTW, it’s really nice when you and your spouse want the EXACT SAME thing for Christmas.  Especially when you can share the gift.  It’s like your budget just doubled!)

After much research, discussion, and deliberation, we decided on the Nikon D90.

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I’ve talked about my obsession with this sexy camera here, here, here , here, here, here, and here. We love that it’s 12.3 megapixels and has a high def video feature.  There are many, many, reasons why we chose this SLR, but we came very close to buying the  Cannon EOS XSi.  Now, I can take another snotty nosed picture of Hannah (she is still producing enough snot for a small village) and have it blown up life size and not loose one detail.  Just for fun.nikon-back

I would now like to thank our sponsors: my parents, David’s parents, and our AMEX Reward Points for this gift. Without you, we would still be dreaming about this camera.  It’s a good thing we still believe in Santa.  :)

Merry Christmas! December 23, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Holidays, Utah , 2comments

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Carol of the Bells – 2008 Holdman Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

(These are our very festive neighbors.  The show is very exciting in person!)

Why We Miss Living in a Warm Climate December 21, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Islands, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba, Thoughts , 5comments

We’re all sick around here.

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One of the reasons David and I want to settle in a warm climate is to avoid the chronic sickness that comes along with cold weather.

David starts a Pediatric rotation in a couple weeks.  When I complained to him about doing a Pediatric rotation during the winter months, and ALL THE SICK KIDS he would see all day, everyday, who would be coughing, sneezing and sharing their nasty germs with him, he smiled.

Because if he sees a thousand sick kids over the next six weeks, he’s going to learn something about how to treat and care for most child related illnesses.  Won’t that be great for us when our kids get sick?  He’ll know how to treat them!  What better time to do a pediatric rotation?

This is honestly what he said to me.  This man must be the most optimistic person that ever lived.  (The benefits of seeing so many sick kids during the peak winter months never crossed my mind . . . but I must admit, I LOVE this quality about my husband.)

All I’m saying, is that when we lived here:

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Hannah and I never got sick.  Not once.  From time to time, I may have thought I was going to die from heat stroke, or drown from breathing such humid air, but we never got colds.

Here’s to hoping there’s a warm climate in our future . . .

Justifying My Addiction December 20, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Thoughts , 1 comment so far

I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that I’m a People Magazine junkie.  (What?  Isn’t that where you get your reliable news?)  This week, People’s website posted some inspirational nuggets from celebrities that I thought were worth repeating.

All that matters is people. You’ll spend your life paying or profiting from how you treat ‘em.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.

See, not everything in a trash magazine is trash.

For Parents of Verbally Skilled Children December 19, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Thoughts , 4comments

I came across this article and I couldn’t stop laughing!  This story is so cute and funny, I had to share it.  For those of you who have verbally skilled children, this story is for you.  If your articulate talker hasn’t embarrassed you yet, your time is coming.

A 3-year-old Tells All From his Mother’s Restroom Stall” By Shannon Popkin

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we’re in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window.

People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It’s always fully cranked. There have been several embarrassing times that I’ve wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco.

Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you’d been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall: ”Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?”

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full .. 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued: ”Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren’t you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh . Mommy! I’m trying to see In dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!”

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time
before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, ”Why don’t you look in Mommy’s purse and see if you can find some candy. We’ll both have some!”

”No, I’m trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!” He started to gag at this point.

”Uh – oh, Mommy. I fink I’m gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!” As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

”Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!” He grunted as he tried to pull meoff. Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet
outside my door.

”Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at? Mommy? You wooking at the wady’s feet?”

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

”Mommy, it’s time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.” He started pounding on the door. ”Mommy, don’t you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!”

I saw that my wait’em out plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, where’s the fine print on the ‘motherhood contract’ where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy? But as my little boy gave me a big,
cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I’d sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms.)

Things I want for Christmas that are ABSOLUTELY FREE. December 18, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Christmas, Little Man Dallin, Photography, Princess Hannah , 4comments

A solid eight hours of sleep.  No nursing.  No bathroom breaks.  No interruptions.

Someone to sleep train Dallin for me.

Someone to potty train Hannah.

I would love it if someone turned my blog into a book from Blurb.  Just thinking about tracking down the photos I have posted gives me a migraine.  I would love a book, (I’ll pay for that part) but I do not want the mundane task of putting it together.

If you volunteer to do any one of these things, I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.

Loving Our Main Man December 17, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Family, Little Man Dallin, Medical School, My Former Dog Children, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah , 6comments

Did I mention my husband came home?  Because he did!

Hannah is pleasantly surprised every morning when she sees her daddy.  She often greets him with the phrase, “My daddy came home!” or “I LOVE MY DADDY!” which happens to be David’s favorite sentence.

Dallin was positive he had never seen David in his life and all the lovin’ David tried to give him was received with a quivering lip from a very loyal-to-his-mother-five-month-old.  They’re friends now, but I’m still Dallin’s favorite person and best friend. :)   (That’s what happens when you are your child’s food source, comforter, and sleeping buddy.)

We’ve wasted no time since his return.  Yesterday, we started potty training Hannah (she’s been running around the house in Dora the “Explore Her” panties) and sleep training Dallin (because I need my life back).  Ambitious?  Probably.  But we truly know our lives will be a thousand percent easier when these things happen.  David also found time to make a sweet potato pie, attend a Christmas party, set up a pediatric rotation, and buy fleece for our dog Paris.  (Paris desperately needs a coat and because of the way Whippets are shaped, all coats have to be custom made.  When I was looking at a site to order her a coat, David saw the design and decided he would rather save the money and make it himself.  David has mad sewing and pattern making skills which I am NOT allowed to talk about.  Just know that Paris will be stylin’ and warm in her new coat.)

David noted some changes since his return:

Hannah talks in paragraphs.  She will say any word you give her (including medical terminology like Pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium) and says very funny phrases.

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Dallin no longer cries like he used to.  He is big, tough, and strong.  The kid starts out every morning with 50 push ups.  He gives smiles away for free, giggles, and CRAWLS.  Yes, you read that right.  David was very surprised to see his five months and five day old son, CRAWL away from him.  He moves at a tortoise pace, but he moves.

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David noticed my jeans fitting a little looser and commented on my minor weight loss.  The diet plan I used was called “very-stressed-out-single-parenting-of-two-very-sick-kids.”  Paris is also a little thinner.  Since Kyaha died, she doesn’t have another food bowl to sneak food from.  Before we know it, Paris might look like an actual race Whippet again!

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The one thing that hasn’t changed is how much we love our main man.  He swore he would never leave again for that long.  I’m holding him to it.

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Fess Up! December 12, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Photography , 4comments

Why hasn’t anyone introduced me to Canvas Photos? I saw a beautiful painting in my friend’s house, and when I commented on it, she shared a sassy little secret.

It wasn’t painted.  It was printed.

Now, I think I’m a pretty up with the times woman, but HOW COULD I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?

I am now envisioning my house filled with wonderful paintings of the ocean, flowers, and palm trees from pictures I took while living in the Caribbean.

So now I would like to know, what sassy little secrets are you keeping to yourself that you should be sharing with me?!

(Um, no confessionals please) :)

Two Days and Counting December 11, 2008

Posted by Emily in : Christmas, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Utah , 3comments

David is in for a lovely surprise when he returns from his eight week trip this weekend.

This little guy:

Is full of smiles and giggles.  It’s hard to believe so much noise could come out of this angelic little face.

Daily, Hannah very hopefully asks me, “Do I get to see my daddy today?”  She is more than ready for his return, (so am I) and we have lots of fun things planned to do together as a family.

We’re going to go Thanksgiving Point’s display of a million lights:

(doesn’t it look fun?)

We need to see Santa

We plan to see the lights on Temple Square:

(all 100 million of them)

And we certainly plan to stop by our very festive neighbor’s house.  You may have heard about the Holdman Christmas Light Show.

Can’t wait!