jump to navigation

Chasing Super Boy March 18, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Parenthood, Photography , 1 comment so far

Hello.

I’m still here.

Barely.

I miss David.

I wish he was working in a hospital closer to us.  We only see him Friday night, Saturday and Sunday every week.  It’s hard.

My days are spent chasing super-boy, who has a knack for pulling hair, pinching, and pushing.  He thinks he is so funny.

He is cute though.  That’s for sure.

My nights are spent studying, (I have mid-term projects due this week!) and I’ve been working on some other projects that have kept me up way past my bedtime.

Look for a new photography tutorial in a few days!

Milestone for the Whole Family February 23, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Little Man Dallin, Parenthood, Photography, Thoughts , 3comments

C-sections are not easy.

Planned.  Not planned.  I’ve done both.

It’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s not the best.

The most painful time of the c-section does not happen when you are getting your spinal.  It does not happen when you are being gutted like a deer either.

No.

That part is actually great because you don’t feel a dang thing, and if you’ve never experienced labor pains that accompany a vaginal birth, you might wonder what all the “pain” hype is about.

The most painful part of a c-section comes 24 hours after surgery.

You are well enough to get up and walk around the hospital like a little old lady with your new boyfriend, the IV, but IT DOES NOT FEEL GOOD.  And you keep having to get up out of your bed using abdominal muscles that don’t work because they have been pried apart.  Laughing, taking deep breaths, and sneezing are THE WORST.

You ban anyone funny from visiting you.  I had to ban Brian.

I met Emily on day two of my c-section.

Why do I remember this patient care tech so well?

She was helping clean me up after some serious blood loss (not good, Dr’s and nurses came in and I was all, “Am I going to die?  How much blood is too much to loose?) and in making small talk (I’m sure to distract me from the severity of the situation) Emily told me she understood how much pain I was in.  She had two c-sections, and it was her opinion that day two was the worst.

I asked her how old her kids were, and she told me they would be two and one, but both of them had passed away.

GULP.

What?

I was no longer concerned about my minor medical issues of losing lots of blood (nurses and Dr’s still scurrying around the room) and I was sick to my stomach that a young mother had lost TWO babies.

She had TWO c-sections to boot.

Both of her babies had heart defects and did not live longer than five weeks.

Six moths after my chance meeting with her, she and her husband adopted this little guy:

And I got to photograph him for his birthday.  He just turned one a couple of days ago.

This is a HUGE milestone for their little family.  She never knew if they’d ever get to see one of their kids turn one.

And he is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.

And a ham for the camera.  :)

Emily has such an inspiring story.  Congratulations to all of them!

OUCH! February 10, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Parenthood , 1 comment so far

This little charmer has us all wrapped around his little fat fingers.

He’s adding about one word a day to his vocabulary:

He’s so dang cute, it almost makes his little pinches worth it to hear him yell “OUCH!”  in our behalf.  :)

Two is Better Than One February 4, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Family, Little Man Dallin, Parenthood, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 4comments

When planning a family, just know that if you want a baby, you must commit to at least TWO.

Why?

Kids are like potato chips.  You can’t have JUST ONE.

Even in my fertility stricken days, I was a believer in the zero-kids-or-at-least-two-kids theory.

There are certain things kids can only learn from having siblings, and vice versa, there are certain things parents can only learn from having more than one child.

Remember how I thought parenthood was the easiest thing ever and how badly behaved kids were a direct reflection of their parents?

Well . . .

Pardon me while I get my judgmental self in check.

OK, I’m in check now.

Yes, those were the days when I had only ONE child who, by the way, was possibly the easiest, most laid back, happy child ever to be born.   Honestly, Hannah never cried and when she was awake, she was so easy to take care of.  She was like watching grass grow, but in a  fun exciting sort of way that grass grows.

Now, enter child number two who is 100% different from Hannah.  I won’t get into all the specifics, but those of you who have been reading my blog since Dallin was born,  know that I almost lost all my marbles.  And really, I’m not kidding.

I’m a mom because of Hannah and a better mom because of Dallin.

Top reasons to give your child a sibling:

Whenever Dallin is asleep, Hannah gets bored and tells me that she really needs a friend and could I be her friend?  It’s darling, but sometimes, I’m getting into the shower, and it’s just not super convenient.  :)

This is what I love . . .

Dallin was sitting on the couch first and Hannah had the pick of the room for a place to sit.  There is a recliner, a love seat, several small chairs for children, the floor, and the couch.  Where does she sit?  Oh yeah, on the same couch cushion as Dallin.  Smooshed up next to him.

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E  I tell you!

They also hold hands during the scary parts of Nemo, Monsters, and The Barbie movies.  :)

Someone who thinks they can’t love the second child as much as the first hasn’t had a second child.

*Note:  I know some of you would love to have more than one child, but one reason or another you cannot.  Trust me when I say I understand!  I spent many infertility stricken years (eight to be exact) wondering if we would ever have a family, and after Hannah was born, I wondered (though for not very long) if I could have more.  This post is only intended to show how great it is for kids to have siblings.

Oh How I Love Thee February 2, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Parenthood, Princess Hannah, Trips , 5comments

We are back from our little getaway from this weekend.

It was so nice to have a weekend away.

I’ll post about our trip later, but for now, I thought I’d mention how much I missed my little kidlets.

I mean, I really missed them.

Hannah missed me a lot too.

Dallin on the other hand . . .

Was so busy and important playing with his toys, he didn’t have time to miss me!

Look at Dallin’s cheeks!  Do you blame me for missing them?

I also missed kissing his fat little toes!

And LOOK AT THIS FACE!

I can’t help it.  I missed him.  LOTS.

And you know what?  The second I walked in the door he realized I’d been gone and suddenly it hit him, “Oh, that’s what was missing over the last few days . . . MY MOMMY!”

At the Bottom of the List January 25, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Parenthood , 6comments

Dallin’s all-inclusive vocabualry at 18 months old:

Do you see something missing from this list?  Anything?  Does one particular word come to mind that should me on there?

Like the word, MOMMY? HELLO?

I guess there is no need to learn how to call out for me when he is always attached to my hip or within my sight.

However . . .

I’m very happy to report that he just learned to say “Mama.”

Big deal if “Daddy” was his first word and “Mama” was his 27th word.

It’s no big deal, right?  I shouldn’t be sore about this?  RIGHT?

It’s totally normal for a baby to say every member’s name in the family before they say “Mama!” right?

HELP ME OUT HERE!

Favs January 20, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Parenthood , 4comments

I have three kid favs that I must share.

First, my kids and I love this book.  It doesn’t matter how many times I read it, I still cry at the end.

I'll Love You Forever

What can I say?  I’m a mess.

I also love this book.

I Promise I'll Find You

It also makes me cry every time I read it.  If you have kids, it will make you cry. PROMISE.  It’s such a great message.

Third, my kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the website www.starfall.com We call it “letters.”  Hannah will sit at the computer for as long as we will allow her, and navigate around this site.  That’s right my friends, this is a website you can let your kids experience on their own (or with you) and they’re learning!  Dallin loves this site so much to, that if he sees anyone at the computer, he will climb up into their lap and expect you to do letters with him.

You must visit this site.

With your kids on auto pilot, navigating around the site, you won’t know what to do with all your new free time!

Cutest. Thing. Ever. January 7, 2010

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

To say that Hannah is obsessed with ballet would be an understatement.

She has already worn out (as in, almost beyond repair) her first pair of ballet shoes.  WORN THEM OUT.  How do you do that when you’ve never taken a lesson?

You wear them day in, day out and then you beg to wear them to bed.  Sometimes you’ll get your way and then before you know it, your entire wardrobe consists of tights, and leotards and various other dress up clothes and your mom seriously wonders WHY she bought you regular clothes.  Because all they do is collect dust and warm the wooden shelves on which they are stored.

Some of you may remember this video I posted last year.  I took her to observe a ballet class (which happens to be the exact class she’s taking now) when she was only two (because she was obsessed back then too) and when we left ballet class, she cried like I had just cut off her arm.  Seriously, you must watch this short 60 second video clip before moving on  . . .

(The video was taken 18 months ago when Hannah had just turned two.  She had two good naps the day I shot this video.  What you see is not a tired baby, but a ticked off kid!)

We have all been bursting with anticipation this week waiting for Hannah’s first ballet class!  I’m not sure who was more excited: Hannah, me, or David!

I’ll let the pictures tell the story . . .

A bunch of little people, all the same age and dressed alike.  Hannah instantly awarded each of them “best friend” status.  (She’s not too picky.  Do you like to dance?  Is pink your favorite color?  Are you dressed like her?  YOU COULD BE HER BEST FRIEND TOO!)

All the little people were asked to do stretches that made me hurt just by observing them!  Look how close those feet are to the ground!  OUCH!  Right?!

Then, they did more stretches.  Look at Hannah’s toe touch!

Oops!  My little monkey got a fast rundown on the rules: NO HANGING ON THE BAR.

NO biggie.  She enjoyed jumping just as much!

Look at her legs!  (She’s the second from the left.)  Oh my heck!  Could they be any cuter?  Daylight cannot peak through them!

Hannah LOVED her teacher.  She thought she had hit the big time when I told her that her teacher was the Sugarplum fairy in the Nutcracker production we attended.

Hello.  I want to kiss this little face off.

Honestly, the top moments of motherhood for me have been (aside from birth, which was quite painful as I remember) seeing my kids’ faces on Christmas morning, and this:  Finally making one of Hannah’s dreams come true.

Heck, I know she’s only three, but to her, she has waited her whole life to take ballet and I’m so happy she finally can!

I’ve Been Waiting For a Christmas Eve Like This December 24, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Christmas, Parenthood, Princess Hannah, Utah , 1 comment so far

I’ve waited 13 years for a Christmas like this one.

It’s white.

We’re with family.

Hannah is three.  (As in, old enough to really “get” the Santa thing.)

_DSC9791-EDITED-1

She knows ALL about Santa, and the excitement popping out of her little body just might make the house explode.

Merry Christmas Eve!

A Little of This and a Little of That December 8, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Family, Friends, My Handsome Husband, Parenthood, Photography, Princess Hannah , 1 comment so far

This weekend I spent time with these guys:

_DSC9346-edited-1

My oldest brother Brad (who is knocking on the door of turning 50 but Hannah still tell him he’s cute) and his family.  We froze our buns off together up American Fork canyon taking family pics.  (More images from this shoot later.)

Remember my friend Sheri who just had a baby?

_DSC9438-edited-1

This weekend I photographed her little family and little fella as well.  Look for newborn pictures soon!

When I wasn’t running around like a crazy woman, David and I found time to attend the “Messiah Sing-In” at the American Fork Tabernacle.  Fortunately, David didn’t give me too many stares as I rotated back and forth singing between Soprano and Alto.  (Just for the record, David can sight read music perfectly and I don’t exactly have this gift.  Let’s just say sight reading the score for the first time in over five years was a little rough for me.  Where are you Lydia?  You know I can’t sight read music and I desperately depend on you to find my notes!)

We also spent time decorating this gingerbread house for Hannah.  This was supposed to be Hannah’s project, but you know what? After five minutes, Hannah mysteriously disappeared.  The novelty of watching a candy house come together was no longer exciting and David and I were like, “What the heck?  Where is Hannah?  Why are we the only ones sitting at this table making her gingerbread house?”

_DSC9482-edited-1

Child projects are so deceiving.  They’re advertised to kids but seriously, we know who ends up doing them.

THE PARENTS.

You’ll be happy to know that shortly after this picture was taken, we started eating it.

We wasted no time in letting it get stale and nasty.

Hope you all had a fun weekend!