Emily’s Musings » 2009

Walk Down Memory Lane March 31, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Friends, Memory Lane, My Handsome Husband, Photography , 4comments

Once upon a time, a very. very, long time ago . . .

David received music from a retiring D.J.

For reasons that I don’t understand, he gave David all of his music.

This music has been sitting on CD’s in MP3 format for years.

This format was not very user friendly (finding specific songs was a nightmare) until now . . .

This weekend, David transferred all the music to our hard drive . . .

We now have thousands of songs. Most of which I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard before.

Listening to old favorites such as Sawyer Brown, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson (I’m such a county music lover) and Def Leppard (I am a closet Def Leppard fan. Even David was surprised to hear this yesterday . . .) have brought back so many memories. Why is it that a song can take you back to a specific date in time, and bring back exact feelings?

We had a wonderful weekend walking down memory lane together.

I pulled out my old scrapbooks, we shared stories, laughed at our clothes, hair, and overall style through the years.

It was too much fun to keep this to ourselves, so let me share a few lovely photos with you:

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This is my senior portrait in 1996. I love the lamp behind my head. Every photographer’s dream, right? Halo head?

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This was taken in the summer of 1994. The other two girls int the photo are also named Emily. That cotton candy was good.

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This photo was taken in September 28, 1996. Coincidentally, I had my first date with David on this day. So, obviously, this is exactly how I looked when I went out with my future husband. My hair really is plastered into place, and all that hairspray must have worked because, well, I got my man, right?

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In May of 1997, my sisters, mom, and sister-in-law went to Hawaii on a girls trip. David and I were engaged, and I missed him a lot, but somehow, I managed to have a great time. (I’m on the right end)

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Could I look any more put out having my picture taken at this tree in Key West? David and I had a great time vacationing there. I should have told my face. (June 1999)

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Christmas 1999. It was frigged cold and I have no excuse for these high wasted pants. None.

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These are some of my sisters, my mom, and three nieces, at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I have no idea what year it was . . .maybe 2001, 2002, 2003? All I know is that I still have that outfit. I still wear the red jacket. It’s as warm as it looks.

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May 1999. We were at David’s cousin’s wedding. Again, we should have told our faces we were having fun.

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June 2005. The Girl on the end in blue was my business partner in our Bridal Store. Sometimes, I miss those days. But not very often.

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Hey! Our faces actually match out moods! We were having a great time dancing the night away at David’s brother’s wedding in Chicago. May 2001.

There you have it. A peek into my past. There may be more to come . . .

The Secret to Great Bed Head March 30, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin , 4comments

This little guy just got his first toothbrush.

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His tooth is barely visible.

But it’s there.

And it’s sharp.

Gotta brush off those banana and sweet potato leftovers.

Which, by the way, is the secret ingredient to waking up with a fine hairdo such as this.

If I Was a “Twittering” or a “Tweeting” March 27, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 3comments

The first time I heard about Twitter was a couple years ago. Honestly, I never really thought the concept would catch on.

That should tell you how much I can predict trends.

I’m not a “Twittering” but if you did hear a “Tweet, Tweet” from me every now and again, this is what you’d read: (David is the only person I send status updates to throughout the day. We use good old fashioned email. These are some emails sent to him over the last few weeks.)

Hannah found a small bottle of Victoria’s Secret Love Spell lotion. Go ahead and imagine what the whole house (and probably neighborhood) smells like right now. Including your very masculine son, Dallin. He smells de-lish.

Dallin just woke up from his nap sporting the latest tooth! It is barely peaking through, and he doesn’t really like it when I put my finger on it to feel it’s razor sharp edge, but it’s there!

Our neighbor just came over to inform me that our house is falling apart. The siding that was loose? It fell off and blew on to the grass. It’s now in our garage.

Hannah and Dallin took a bath together this morning. ( I had the NO PEEING IN THE BATH talk with both of them beforehand) CUTEST THING EVER.

Little Dallin boy STOOD, YES STOOD ALL BY HIMSELF for two seconds today.

Your son just woke up with bed head! So stinkin’ cute!

Dinner is ready. FHE (Family Home Evening) is planned. Dallin is talking his last nap, so hopefully he’ll join us for both. Don’t be too impressed. But I did slave away all day long you know.

Hey, We’re all taking a nap. Don’t call us, we’ll call you . . .

I hope you are UNDERwhelmed with medicine today.

Since the only updates I give are regarding my children, I’m pretty sure the only person who would follow me on Twitter is David.

You won’t find me on Twitter anytime soon.

Should This Concern Me? March 26, 2009

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

My neighbor trudged her way through tornado like winds and knocked on my door to tell me my house was falling apart.

Should this concern me?

We weren’t even under a tornado watch when this happened.

I am most certainly in Kansas.

Protected: Welcome to Our House! March 25, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, Medical School, My Former Dog Children, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Princess Hannah, Projects, Thoughts , Enter your password to view comments

Wanting a Little Personal Time March 25, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Daily Life, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 6comments

I’ve been having one of those days. You know the kind. The days when you do a lot of stuff (or so it seems) but you have nothing to show for all your hard work when the day is over?

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My kids are great sleepers. This I can’t complain about. I know many women would LOVE to have their kids take scheduled naps. Or heck, any nap, for any length of time. I only feel a tiny bit guilty requesting one thing of my little Dallin and Hannah . . .

Would it be possible to take your naps at the same time?

Honestly.

I spend all day like this: (after every second item you can insert, wipe snotty noses and change poopie diapers)

Get up.

Dallin is awake.

But only for one hour.

Feed him.

Put him back to bed for an hour.

Then Hannah wakes up.

She starts talking the second her eyes open.

Get her dressed.

Feed her.

Take Paris out.

Feed her too.

Check email.

Dallin is now awake from his first morning nap.

Hannah and Dallin play while I start laundry.

Dallin is tired again.

Listening to Hannah talk all morning is tiring.

He goes down for a second morning nap.

Hannah is still talking.

And playing.

And rearranging the chairs in the kitchen.

Making a fort.

Dallin wakes up again.

They both eat lunch.

Hannah goes down for a long nap.

Dallin is up for the long haul.

He is busy.

VERY BUSY.

Always finding something to get into.

He get’s stuck standing in precarious spots.

I am tired.

Maybe I should get ready for the day.

Or at least brush my teeth.

Maybe I should wash my face too.

Hannah wakes up.

Dallin is ready for nap number three.

Hannah makes more forts.

She plays with all my kitchen utensils.

Dallin wakes up again.

Just in time for dinner.

Dave may or may not be home. (He works a light 70 hours a week at the hospital.)

The kids have one hour together before they both go to bed for the night.

And then the house is silent and I kind of want go into their rooms and kiss them.

Because I miss them.

I’m not making any sense.

But this did make sense when I explained it to my sister. You see, when I have a problem, complaint, exciting news, or nothing to talk about at all, I call my sister Jenn. We actually chat on the phone old school style. (Rarely do we email each other even though email is the preferred way I chat with others.)

We can chat for hours.

David, Hannah, and my mother-in-law can attest to this.

Where was I? Where am I going with this?

Oh yeah, I was, in essence, complaining about not having any personal time. No “Emily time.” No time to think to myself, do something for myself, or heck, enjoy an afternoon nap with the kids. (See, wouldn’t that be nice? All three of us sleeping at once?)

So, as I was describing my daily routine to Jenn, she told me a about a quote she has on her fridge by General Authority N. Eldon Tanner. ( He was from before my time.) She looks at it every day.

A mother has far greater influence on her children than anyone else, and she must realize that every word she speaks, every act, every response, her attitude, even her appearance and manner of dress affect the lives of her children and the whole family. It is while the child is in the home that he gains from his mother the contribution he will make to society.”

The phrases “every response” and “her attitude” have stood out to me loud and clear the last few days. This quote has made me think about my response to my kitchen being a big fort all day, and being happy about it.

That said, would anyone in the Kansas City area like to join me for a girls night out? I still need to get my “personal time” fix.

Hannah Newsletter #11 March 24, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Daily Life, Exercise, Family, Friends, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, Medical School, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah , 3comments

Dear Hannah,

You are now 32 months old. You and your cousin, Malaya, made some big changes this month. You both moved from Utah to different states. Malaya moved to hip happenin’ Las Vegas, Nevada, and you ended up smack dab in the middle of the United States in a state called KANSAS.

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(Malaya and Hannah, both two and a half years old)

People are very friendly here. Why do I know this? Because you introduce yourself to anyone and everyone within earshot of your voice. If they’re not in earshot, you just use your VERY LOUD outside voice to chat with them. You always introduce yourself saying, “Hi, I’m Hannah. This is my mommy, Emily. This is Dallin boy. He’s just a baby. This is Paris. She is my dog. She is a stinker-dog. My daddy is a real doctor for me. What’s your name?” I love how you emphasize that your daddy is a real doctor “for you.” It implies that you understand much more than I think you do. For the record, your dad is a third year medical student. He is “real doctor” in training. He certainly knows a lot, but cannot write out prescriptions yet. He most certainly is a real doctor, even if only for you.

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You are one chatty little girl, and every morning, you wake up announcing very loudly, “THE SUN IS AWAKE! THE SUN IS AWAKE! DID YOU SEE MOMMY! OUT MY WINDOW! DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME NOW?”

That is my cue to come into your room and get you. Notice how I said come into your room and get you? That’s because somehow, you figured out about that invisible fence around your bed and if you get off without our permission, or without us watching you, you’ll get shocked. Just like those invisible dog fences. We haven’t told you otherwise, so for the past six months (since you started sleeping in a big girl bed) you have been calling out to us to retrieve you from your slumber.

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Did I already mention you talk from sun up to sun down? Because you do. You can thank me for your chatty ways and your dad for your very articulate speech. He works with you on every word till you say it just right.

There are just a couple of words that have slipped through your speech lessons, and I love to hear you say them:

Nop: really is the word MOP, but you are convinced that we are up in the night when we correct you.

Ekersize: is the word, EXERCISE. I love this word from you. I hope you always say it.

Some of my favorite phrases are:

“I’m having a little trouble mommy.”
“Is this very cool?”
“Daddy is a real doctor, for me.”
“He doesn’t want to play with my toys!” (More like YOU don’t want Dallin to play with your toys.)
“I’m okay right now.”
“My diaper is bothering me.” (It bothers me too. When do you want to use the potty?!”)
“I don’t want to use the big girl potty. I just want to be a baby still.”
“Mommy! You’re doing an excellent job!” (This compliment was given when I was painting a picture frame white.)
“Drive slower like daddy does!” (This is a personal favorite.)
“Mommy, am I sick?” (You ask this every time you drink Sprite.)
“I yawned. My body is tired. I think I need to take a nap so my body feels better.” (Direct parroting from your dad. He loves to explain everything to you.)

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I have a superpower of being able to lose copious amount of hair daily, and regrow the same amount every day. Instead of just letting hundreds of hair strands drop to the bottom of the shower to clog the drain, (which, from personal experience, only takes one shower with my head of hair) I strategically place the lost strands on the shower wall, which is where they stay until I get out of the shower and dry off. Any time you come it to my bathroom to chit chat it up with me while I get ready you point out and exclaim in shear horror, “MOMMY! IT’S THE HAIRY BEAST! DAD’S NOT GOING TO LIKE IT!” I will admit, it does look like the loch-ness monster has invaded the shower and splat itself on the wall. Way to look out for your dad.

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At church this last Sunday, you were brought to me from nursery because you were, well . . . STINKY. As you entered the room full of women (in the Mormon church, we have three hours of service. The last hour the men and women meet separately. The women’s meeting is called Relief Society,) you announced to me in your very loud voice, “Mommy! I have a stinky! Mommy! Change my poopie! I want to go back to nursery! I don’t want to stay in here with you! I want to get a flower at nursery! Mommy! I don’t want my bum bum to hurt! Can you change my diaper! It’s bothering me!”

Ladies were snickering and quietly giggling. And as we left that room together with you still explaining your dire diaper situation, I’m sure someone in that room was thinking, “Man, why isn’t that kid potty trained?”

Even if that someone was me.

The answer? Because you don’t want to be.

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You are a delight. I love how friendly and welcoming you are to everyone. You love your brother so much. You always want to hold his hand when we sit down and read books together. He doesn’t really like his hand being tied down like that, but that doesn’t stop you.

We have introduced “time-outs” in the last few months. It works for you. And you know what works for me? When you think I’ve done something out of line and you very authoritatively tell me, “Mommy, you need a time out. You need to think about it.”

Gladly.

I’ll take one of those. Maybe two.

Love,

Mommy

Apparently, This is What We Do in Our House March 23, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Photography, Princess Hannah , 5comments

I left Hannah alone in the basement watching “The 12 Dancing Princesses,” for one minute while I ran upstairs to get little Dallin boy out of his crib and what did I find when I returned?

This:

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Apparently, this is what we do in our house.

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We rearrange photos,

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line them up,

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straighten them, (notice the collage wall in the background)

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and look a them. (The newly expanded collage wall. Still adding more pics . . .)

This Sassy Little Boy Loves Kisses March 20, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband , 4comments

Our Little Dallin boy is both smart and sassy.

He got his sassy-ness from me, and his smarts from? Well, that would be me too. (Well, his dad may have given him some smarts, but I’d like to take all the credit right now.)

He preys on this poor little noisy ball all day long: