Emily’s Musings

I’m not exactly known as a “super thoughty person” who always plans really cool stuff for birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events. (People like me for other reasons, like for shopping and fashion advice and every once in a while, someone actually appreciates my knowledge of useless celebrity facts). So this shouldn’t be a surprise to many of you, but two milestones worth mentioning went unmentioned.

The first was our 11th anniversary. It’s not that we didn’t celebrate, because we totally did by power shopping (which is my least favorite kind of shopping for the record) and getting a yummy shake at Iceburg. Fun, huh? It’s not that we didn’t want to celebrate, and it’s not that the 11th anniversary is lame, it’s more like WE’RE LAME. Dallin was home sick, (we had three doctor appointments that day, NOT KIDDING) and I just didn’t feel like leaving my 10 day old newborn for an entire evening. Especially since he was sick! Next year, I promise to celebrate better. Hear that David? Mark your calendar, because our 12th anniversary is going to be AWESOME!

One detail worth noting: I got my original wedding ring sized to fit me (it was like eight sizes too small). I haven’t worn it in about seven years (I’m embarrassed to admit this) and I’m glad to have it back on my finger.

Also, David had a birthday last week. Not a significant one (you know like, entering a new decade) but a birthday none the less. Too bad for David, his birthday was completely overshadowed by Hannah’s birthday party. He better get used to it right?

On his birthday, David gave me a hug and said, “I want to grow old with you.” And I was all, um, that already happened.

David bought himself a golf club (one he really wanted, or needed, or whatever) and told me it was his birthday present from me.

THANK YOU FOR GETTING ME OFF THE HOOK.

I know he loves this specific golf club, because he thanks me for it every time he comes home from playing golf. I just smile and and give him the look that says, I’m an awesome wife. I let you buy your own presents, and then allow  you to thank me for it. It’s kind of like saying, hey, I’M TOTALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR NEEDS.

I’m pathetic. I’ll try harder next year.

Happy birthday Hannah! You are two years old today! We celebrated your birthday on Saturday (July 19th, which happens to be your daddy’s birthday) and we all had a wonderful time! You are such and angel, we love you so much!

As we were setting up for the party, you got VERY excited when you saw the balloons. You kept saying, “Happy birt-day party for Hannah?” And then you would squeal, “PARTY! FOR HANNAH!” You have never been to to a birthday party, so I’m not sure how you knew what all the fuss was about.

We set up an event tent and filled up your swimming pool and you went nuts. When Malaya arrived, you were both ready to hop into the pool with your clothes on.

You LOVE Nemo and marshmallows, so your birthday cake consisted of the two. YOU LOVED IT. It turned out to be a great “kid cake.” The adults ate your dad’s cake which was a rich silky chocolate cake.

Dallin was at your party as well. He is not much of a partier. He LOVES to sleep, and since he wasn’t feeling well (he caught a cold) he slept in his bouncer chair while you and your cousins partied.

You recieved several nice gifts from family and friends. You weren’t that excited about opening presents, and it was almost a chore to get you to focus on opening your gifts. You wanted to join your cousins, Malaya and Savannah, in the pool where they were playing. They weren’t interested in watching you open your gifts, and they started swimming instead. In this photo you are actually watching them swim and saying over and over again, “Go swimming? PEAS?”

After the exhausting task of opening all your gifts, you joined your cousins in the warm pool. (Thanks to your dad for making the water warm) On your left is Malaya, (AKA as “Alpha Toddler #1) and on your right is your cousin Savannah (You used to refer to her as FADANNAH! and she is AKA Alpha Toddler #2) The three of you had a wonderful time playing in the water. You were all so cute to watch!

Happy birthday Hannah! We love you!

The last time David and I went to a parade we took our dogs. We didn’t realize that dogs don’t really like parades until after it started. For some reason, the firing guns, loud cars and motorcycles, and all the people that come out in droves to see the parade, scared the crap out of them. We should have seen it coming, and left our dogs at home. But, before we had Hannah, our dogs were our kids, and they had no choice but to go to fun family activities with us. Because it was their job as our dog children.

Having a real-human-child-that-belonged-to-us was a TRILLION TIMES funner to have at the parade than our dogs. I now understand why parents camp out the night before the parade to secure great seats. NOT THAT I WOULD EVER DO THAT . . . but I get it now.

Parades are everything Hannah loves: airplanes overhead, candy, kids, horses, people singing, people dancing, cars, motorcycles . . . she absolutely enjoyed the parade. And get this, she talked her grandma and grandpa Lesher into attending the event, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PRACTICALLY THE LAST THING ON THE PLANET THEY WANTED TO DO THAT DAY. Way to go Hannah!

This was Hannah’s face for over two hours . . . she also danced her little heart away when bands came by.

We all had a great time . . . even I did with my huge belly which you can’t see in the empty chair. (Well, someone has to take photos!)

It was one hot day, and I wished we were on the other side of the street where there was more shade, but we were lucky enough to get such good seats.

We have just finished our marathon week of fun activities, (the zoo, water park, hot air balloon race, grandpa Probst’s birthday party, the parade, visiting family and friends . . . phew!) and in 24 hours, our new baby will have joined our family. We are all excited for the arrival of this little baby. Tonight is the last night of quiet, peaceful, sleep!

Stats and pictures will be posted as soon as we can get them up tomorrow. Check back to see our new little guy, (and what we named him)!

Did I mention where we plan to move after we party hard in Texas with our friends? UTAH! Yeah! Strangely enough, we are both very excited. Six years ago, we were itching to move away from that state, and now we can’t wait to return! After being away for so long, we are anxious to spend some time with family before David starts clinical rotations. Over the past several years, I have been back to Utah to visit several times, (like probably more than 100 ) but David has only been back a handful of times. As a couple (and not once as an entire family with Hannah) we have been to visit twice. TWICE, PEOPLE.

It is crazy. All we can think about are all the things we love about Utah: the warm/dry summers, fresh corn on the cob, great water parks, hiking in the mountains, THE FREEDOM FESTIVAL IN PROVO, oh yeah, and family. We are so DANG excited to be in Utah for the Fourth of July, it is basically all we talk about. Because it is that fun. When we moved to Texas, I really had high hopes that the Fourth of July would be an amazing event, but it TOTALLY fell short. VERY SHORT. Not everything is bigger and better in Texas, and I can say that because I am a citizen. I have the license to prove it.

Living out of the country for two years has really made us long to be around other Americans, who are PROUD to be American. Especially on the Fourth. Can I just say that it is TOTALLY LAME to have this holiday overlooked? BECAUSE IT IS. Holland doesn’t celebrate our Nation’s birth (go figure) and David has had to go to school on the FOURTH OF JULY the PAST TWO YEARS. That’s worse than having to work retail that day, and not getting Holiday pay.

July is a big month for our family. Every July, we celebrate David’s birthday (on the 19th), our anniversary (on the 17th), and Hannah’s birthday (on the 22nd). Obviously, we can only have big fun events during that month, so it was no surprise to us when we found out this little guy baking in my belly was due in July. Can I just say I am SO GLAD this kid isn’t due until after the fourth? Because I am! I may be “large and in charge” or “large and lovely” or just EXTREMELY PREGNANT during all the festivities, but I’ll be there. Swollen feet and all.

Oh, and in case you were wondering (because I know some of you are out there wondering about this very thing) I DO PLAN to enter Hannah into the Freedom Festival Baby Contest. We are hoping her good looks and charming personality will land her the grand prize. Because the grand prize is tickets to the SOLD OUT STADIUM OF FIRE SHOW. And I’m just going to be honest here, those tickets could not go to a nicer, more deserving family than ours.  :)  I can imagine it now: Hannah in bed at 6:15 (which is her usual time, even when there is party going on) dreaming sweet dreams about scoring her parents SWEET TICKETS to the sold out show. And, of course, David and I would enjoy one last night out as a couple before my belly BURSTS open and life returns to “around the clock” eating, feeding, and changing poopie diapers.

I’m officially a mom. Not like giving birth didn’t verify this moment for me, but yesterday, I did a “very mom thing.” I took Hannah to an Easter Egg Hunt. That’s what moms do, right? They take their kids to events, to do stuff with other kids. Hannah was VERY excited to see all the people there, because obviously, they were there for her.

The weather was rainy and misty and we were a little chilly. Notice Hannah’s jacket? Yeah, that’s because it’s like 75 degrees outside. We’re pathetic, I know. After the rainfall, all the kids stormed out onto the field to collect eggs. All except Hannah’s group which was age three and under. They had NO IDEA what ALL THE FUSS was about colored eggs.

It took Hannah a few demonstrations of picking up the egg, and putting it in her bag to get the concept. Since Hannah is fastidious about cleaning things and putting things away, she was pretty good at this collect-colored-eggs-business.

It’s just like Caribbean weather to clear up in an instant. It’s hard to believe all these photos were taken within a matter of minutes. We had a wonderful time until Hannah got a bloody lip when her legs decided to run faster than her feet could take her. We had a great time and I’m sure next year she will be a competitive pro!