The Bills Family

Prayer

2012-01-29T16:16:00.000-08:00

Last week Emerson came home with a paper that said that he gets to say the prayer in primary next week. He was so excited to get to be one of the kids that get to sit up front and talk in the microphone. Jason and I decided that we wanted him to be able to go up and say it all by himself and taught him how to say a prayer for church. He completely came up with the prayer that he wanted to give and practiced it many times through out the week.

We went into the Primary room today to have a final practice up at the potium (that is when I got the picture). He did a great job. It was such a sweet prayer. Then primary started. First off the microphone didn't work. Then, they sang their opening song, and Emerson went up to the potium and the leader went up and whispered the prayer in his ear! (She didn't know, and given that he his a sunbeam, I probably would have helped too.) I was so sad. He practiced his prayer many times, and he was ready. I made sure that I didn't go up because he needed to do it himself. I was very proud of him for being prepared but very sad that he didn't get to give it.

But he is sure cute up at the potium...right?

Here is the prayer that he was prepared to give:

"Dear Heavenly Father.

Thank you for church.

Thank you for Primary.

Thank you for our teachers.

Help us to be good.

I love you.

In the name of Jesus Christ,, Amen."

Christmas

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Pictures

2011-12-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

I wanted pictures in front of the Christmas tree for Emerson's Christmas picture this year. So I moved the couch and brought in a little table for Emerson to sit on and had some fun. Emerson is hilarious when taking pictures now. He doesn't know how to be serious. I am always happy when I end up getting a good picture because I never know how they are going to turn out.

Here are a bunch of my favorite that I got this year. (the thumbs up is his new favorite thing to do in pictures)

The Little Tree

2011-12-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Emerson gets a little tree in his room during the Christmas season, so today we made some decorations to go on it. For the decorations we made a paper chain and some paper snowflakes. He had such a fun time making the decorations.

He wasn't really able to cut the snowflakes, so after attempting himself, he just told me where to cut.

Here he is in front of his tree with his many silly faces. He just cracks me up!

Fall Leaves

2011-11-15T15:10:00.001-08:00

I was driving down the road today and looked over and the sidewalk was covered with leaves that had recently fallen from the trees. So I asked Em if he would be good for pictures in the leaves and he agreed. So, I just pulled off to the side of the road and took these cute pictures. I love how cooperative he is sometimes. He is such a fun kid to have around. I am completely in love with this sweet boy.

Apparently he got cold and this is the only way he could get warm. So he sat there like this until I said that we can go. He is so funny.

Happy FALL!

Keep Calm and Thank On

2011-11-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

I was wanting a Keep Calm sign for Thankgiving that was about thanking. After looking a bit, I decided that I would just make one. I love that it focuses on what I really should be doing during this season.

You can download them too. Just click on the color link below for color you want to download.

Brown

Orange

Yellow

My Test Subject

2011-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have the cutest son. I made him come out with me to test some place to photograph, and he was the best sport. It was freezing and very bright, but he still listened and went along with all my craziness. I am so grateful that he is occationally willing to be the model for me because I absolutely LOVE the moments I am able to capture. I will be able to cherish them forever.

Aren't those big brown eyes to die for?

The Bats

2011-11-01T12:58:00.001-07:00

So today, I started putting away all the Halloween decorations. I told Emerson that he should say "bye bye" to the bats because they were going away until next year. He immediately got the sadest look and started bawling. Then said "I don't want the bats to go. I love them." Then continued bawling for about 5 minutes. I finally convinced him that they are going to have to go no matter what and asked him if he wanted to help them go bye bye. So he sat and took them down one by one and put them away.

I had no idea that he was so attached to these bats. He is such a sweetheart.

Here He Comes to Save the Day...

2011-10-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

Meet Captain Emerson. The silliest super hero of Halloween.

He is always ready for anything...even if he gets in a silly mood.

Oh no...It is time to fight the imaginary bad guys.

First, he sneaks in to the situation.

Then, he fights them off.

Then, he flies away.

Leaving the bad guys all banged up.

That is enough for silly Captain Emerson for one day.

He is the super hero that I would choose to fight off any bad guys for me.

Have a SUPER Halloween!

Fall Subway Art

2011-10-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my new Subway Art for Fall/Thanksgiving time. Feel free to download it for yourself too.

Download Here.

People have asked me about printing. I make these in a 16x20 format. You can print them as an 8x10 too. I print mine at Costco on the luster/matte paper.

Costume Sneek Peak

2011-10-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Emerson's costume this year is finished, and has already made an appearance! However, pictures were not taken, so ya'll are just going to get the sneek peak until next time he puts it on.

I was in love with this costume from this point and just fell more in love once it was finished and on him.

Now you all can just sit and wait at the edge of your seats for the real thing.

Halloween Apples

2011-10-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

I love halloween. It is such a fun holiday to decorate for and to celebrate. I have been making Emerson's lunches "Halloweeny" this week. Today I cut up apples and used halloween shaped cookie cutters to remove the core. Emerson thought that this was great.

Apple Tasting and Food Carts

2011-10-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went on a little adventure to the other side of Portland to go eat apples. Emerson's favorite foods at the moment are green beans and apples. He wants apples for all meals. So when I heard that Portland Nursery has an apple tasting that you can try over 50 differnt types of apples, we decided that we had to go. It was the right choice. We had such a great time.

When we first go there, we got straight in line for the apple tasting.

In the line they had facts about apples. The one that I liked the most was "In ancient Greece, ossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance."

There were so many apples to try. It was interesting trying the apples. They were in alphabetical order. Some were extremely tart and some were super sweet. After eating a few, we started thinking about how the flavors would change by the ones we ate before. Our theory was proven when we got to the Honey Crisps...our FAVORITE apples...and we thought that they were disgusting and if we didn't know what they were would never had wanting a second bite.

After the apple tasting we went to the kid section and Emerson got to paint a baby pumpkin. He thought that this was the best. He is a little OCD and it really showed here. He had all the paints in order and would do a dot from each color. He was having to share the paints so one of the other kids wanted the black and so they took it. It made Emerson sit there and wait for it until he could continue in the order.

On the way our of the Nursery, we got the chance to buy the apples. They had barrels and barrels of the apples to buy for only $0.99/pound. We ended up buying 4 types of apples to try more of without having the other apple flavors.

After going to the nursery, we went to a Food Cart for the first time. I went to a little Mexican place and got some Enchiladas. Jason and Emerson went to a grill and got corn dog and chili fries. It was some delicious food. We might have to start making monthly trips into Portland find some other yummy food carts...I heard there is a Grilled Cheese place that is a must try.

Photoshoot

2011-10-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

In the past couple weeks, Emerson was willing to sit for a couple photoshoots...with major bribes. I adore a few of the pictures I got.

These are from the second shoot this past sunday. Just after he got a haircut...after many many months. Isn't he handsome?

This is first shoot we did two Sundays ago. Look at that hair...I LOVE it! He is showing off the tie that I made him that week. I love that boy. He is the best.

Emerson was wanting to show different emotions as he was taking pictures. This one was anger. I thought that was HILARIOUS.

Gym Class

2011-10-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

For the fall, I put Emerson into a beginning gymnastics class called "Kindergym". It is ultimately a free for all play on the equipment in a safe enviroment.

What does this mean for Emerson?

He gets to do his favorite things...balancing, hanging off of things, and jumping off of things. This class was designed for him.

Do you think that he likes his class?

Peanut Butter and Jelly

2011-10-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Emerson asked to make his own peanut buter sandwich, so I decided that it wouldn't hurt and that it would be fun to see how he did it. He did a great job and make it perfectly.

The best part of making a PB&J is this...

He just did it a bit early with a lot more of the knife.

Halloween Subway Art

2011-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. Probably my favorite nonreligious holiday. It is so much fun to dress up and the decorations are the best. I decided this year to make a subway art to add to my decor. I love how it turned out, so I am sharing it with you. I hope you enjoy it.

Download here.

Super Saturday

2011-09-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

So, I am not "in charge" of our Super Saturday this year, but I am still helping a lot with it. It has been nice not having to stress out about it this year. And the girl who got called to it has really done a great job with the planning of it. I really am loving the crafts that the committee have chosen this year. You can see them here. It should be a fun time.

Emerson's Art Work {Boat Rescue}

2011-08-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Aunt Jessica brought home some art supplies for the kids to paint. I don't think that Emerson has ever painted a picture before, and he LOVED it. Here is the master piece that he came up with.

Later he started telling me about the painting and he has kept the same story which goes:

"This is a boat floating in the water.

It goes splash.

That is a a plane that come to the rescue.

The boat can float again."

He has the best imagination.

Idaho Trip {Bills Family Pictures}

2011-08-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

Since most of the family was together we took advantage to get a family picture. We just set the camera up on the tripod and wished that it would turn out. The kids would only cooperate for two takes, so that made me nervous. But I think that we ended up with a beautiful picture.

All the cute little cousins.

I had Jessica take some of our little family. I think that it turned out pretty cute.

Emerson didn't really want to cooperate, but because of it we got a really sweet shot.

Idaho Trip {Yellowstone}

2011-08-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday, in our Idaho Trip, we all headed up to Yellowstone. We had a great time. We packed our day seeing sights and we still hardly touched the park.

Our first stop was the Paint Pots.

Then we saw our one and only group of animals that we saw all day. It was so cool because they were so close, but it was sad that we didn't see any more animals, except for 2 birds.

We then went to Old Faithful and caught the tale end of a geyser, so we waited around for the next geyser.

While waiting, we all went and got icecream from the General Store. It is delicious.

We then headed over to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and enjoyed that view...even though some were really afriad of those heights.

All the Bills Family cousins. It is the first time Emerson had met the two older girls and the second time for the other two. It has been fun getting to know his cousins.

Emerson has started to "pose" for pictures. He insisted on me taking these next couple of pictures. He stood in the second "pose" for a full minute to have me take pictures of him. He is so hilarious!

Our final stop of the day was at Norris. We took the walk to the Steamboat Geyser.

It was a really enjoyable day in Yellowstone...we just wished that the animals were wanting to put on more of a show.

08.05.2011

Idaho Trip {Tautphaus Zoo}

2011-08-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

On the first full day of our reunion, we took a little trip to Idaho Fall's Tautphaus Zoo. It is a pretty small zoo, but it had a lot of really fun animals in it. Some that I don't think that I have ever seen before...like the camel.

When we first got there Emerson got the map and found all the animals that he for sure wanted to see.

I love peacocks. It was one of the few animals I hoped that they had. I was excited to see that they had a couple resident peacocks.

We had fun talking to the bird and getting to to sqwak back at us.

This zoo is small enough that they allow people to feed some of the animals. Emerson got to feed the ducks and the goats.

After feed the goats, they got to go pet the goats.

I got sick while going through the park, so I hung out with the lions while everyone else went and finished the park.

The Bills' family that went to the Zoo.

Emerson was so exausted by time we left. We had a great time!

08.04.2011

Idaho Trip {Sprinklers}

2011-08-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

While waiting for all the family to come, Emerson was getting really restless, so we decided that it would be fun to go out and play in the sprinklers. We had so much fun going on. The sprinklers were on and Jason was blowing bubbles to chase after. Then Grandma Sue brought out the frisbees. That just turned in to a world of fun. We got in a water fight playing "water plate" (Emerson's term for throwing frisbees full of water at each other). It was a fun way to use up some time while waiting for cousins.

08.03.2011

Idaho Trip {Drive to Sugar}

2011-07-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

On the road to Sugar City, ID for the Bills Family Reunion

For the next week, we are going to be in Sugar City, ID with almost all of Jason's family. It will be the first time in 5 years since all of us have been together. The only person that will be missing is Julie, Jason's older sister. We can't wait to meet all of our family. I have only met Jason's brother and his family once in the six years that we have been married. It should be a week full of fun, trips, and catching up. We are so excited!

Picture Puzzles

2011-06-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I made these cute little pictures puzzles for Emerson out of 1.5 in blocks. I LOVE how they turned out. Emerson actually does a pretty good job with them. I have been inpressed. Here are all the different sides. (I let him choose out the pictures that he wanted on each side.).

I did print out a double of each print for him to have as a reference.

Something that I would have done different: I would have painted each side a different color, so on the very edge you could see what puzzle it belongs to. I would leave the center piece just the picture since usually it is obvious what puzzle that goes to. I think that would make it a little easier for Emerson.

Every Super Hero needs a Sidekick...

2011-06-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

Introducing the new officail side kick of Super Emerson...

Super Bot!

Bot became a super today. He went through Super E training and all. Super E taught him how to fly and fight the bad guys. He received his cape at the end of his course and now he is ready to save the day along side Super E!

(Emerson got to choose out the colors of Bot's cape. I love that it just happened to turn out the opposite of his own cape. They make a great team.)

Bubbles

2011-06-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

We love playiing with bubbles.

Play Time.

2011-06-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Emerson and Daddy have so much fun together. I love when they play together.

My Own Subway Art

2011-04-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Since Christmas, I have had a Christmas Subway art from eighteen25 up in my front room. I had been trying to think of something to put in that place since I have a nail there now. So I got the fun idea of making my own everyday family one. I LOVE how it turned out.

This was my first draft. I think that it turned out pretty cute too.

I thought that since I did the work of making this it would be fun to share it with whoever wants it.

So, you can download the first one (with grey) here and the second one (with red) here.

Enjoy!

Easter

2011-04-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter in the Bills home. We started off the day going to chuch. It was Fast and Testimony meeting since we have Stake Conference next week. I loved hearing all the testimonies focused on Christ and His sacrifice for us. The spirit was there really strong.

After we got home we had a little fun. Emerson got to go on an egg hunt around our house and then he found his basket. It actually worked out perfect that the last egg he found was right next to his basket.

Then we went outside for the dreaded pictures (during the short dry spot in the day).

The winner is...

2011-04-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the final product. I love this picture in the frame.

I Need to Fill the Hole.

2011-04-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

I made this cute sign to put on my front door a couple of weeks ago. I need to put a picture of some bare feet into it, so I took some of the cutest feet in our house. I can't decided which one I like more.

So I need some help,

Which foot picture would you put in it?

Doesn't he have the cutest little toes?

Bare Feet + Juice

2011-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

A fun way to spend a rare sunny spring day.

It Raining. Its Pouring.

2011-04-21T11:53:00.001-07:00

One of our favorite outdoor activities is playing in the rain. Good thing we enjoy this activity since we live in the great North West where is rains a good portion of the year. It isn't common for us to go out with an umbrella, but Emerson loved using it today. He thought that is was so funny.

This is more what we usually look like. Soaked to our core. It is so much fun.

Not a Toddler Anymore.

2011-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

It is so sad watching your baby grow. Emerson has been growing so fast. One day he was a little toddler, just learning to walk and talk. Then all of the sudden he was a big boy that can run faster than most adults and can communicate in full sentences. I am loving this new stage, but I miss my little baby.

(I asked him to make the silliest face he could think of and this is what he did.)

Ward Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

This morning, we had a ward easter egg hunt. This year Emerson understood the concept better and enjoyed it a lot. He dropped his basket and had a bunch a kids come and take his eggs. So, I kept rehiding the eggs that he found after he dropped his basket, so he could have more to find. He got so excited every time he found an egg. I am definiately going to do at least one more egg hunt for him this year seeing how much he loved it this time.

The Emerson Concert in videos.

2011-04-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

This morning, Emerson wanted to take some videos of him singing.

For the first song he will singing Twinkle Twinkle little star.

Now we will here him sing Skinnamirink.

Now this is Emerson's religious song that he made up this morning.

He decided that he wanted to be like Glee and do a Mash up.

For the last two songs, he wanted to sing some random things that as he watches them now he breaks out in laughter and know what is coming next. To only be in his mind.

We hope you enjoyed the performance.

The Encore Performance

2011-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some of Emerson's past performances that I haven't had the chance to share.

Soccer

2011-04-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Emerson just started a new class at the Rec Center. He is now taking a soccer class. He is so cute out there kicking the ball. One of my favorite parts of the class is the coach takes them to the track and has them run a lap first (get them good and tired before class starts). I know that he is going to really enjoy this class.

Snow Day

2011-02-28T23:46:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we had our first real snow fall of the seasn. (Meaning about a half inch that lasted half a day.) We took advantage of it, so we went out and played in the snow. We even built a 5 inch snow man. I wasn't able to get a picture because Emerson wanted to go warm up his hands and by time I was able to get out again it was melted.

Cute Prayer

2011-02-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

One of Emerson's favorite songs is "Skimmerrink Kaddink Kaddink Skimmerrink Ka Doo". I don't know remember where or when I learned the song, but it is a really cute song. In the middle of the song the lyrics go "I love you in the morning and in the afternoon. I love you in the evening and underneath the moon. Oh." Tonight during our family prayer, Emerson was saying his normal prayer. But when he said "I love you", he continued on to saying "in the morning and in the afternoon". It took EVERYTHING for Jason and I to hold in the laughter. Emerson is the sweetest little guy.

Emerson's Birthday: Part 2

2011-02-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

Since Jason was in Taiwan for Emerson's birthday, we had a second little birthday with Emerson tonight.

Emerson opened thr rest of his presents and then played with all the fun toys he got.

Then he got more birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Emerson! We love you!

Emerson's Three!

2011-02-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Emerson had a great birthday! He woke up to a sea of balloons.

Then he opened some of his presents.

When he saw the tissue paper, he decided that he had to blow his nose in it. So every present that had the tissue paper he pretended to blow his nose.

In the afternoon, he had a little birthday party with a couple of his friends.

At the party, they had fruit, played games like car racing, musical chairs, pin the tail of the donkey, and played all sort of fun games.

Baby Shower

2011-02-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

I threw a shower for my friends Jenny today. She just adopted an adorable baby girl. I am so excited for her. The shower turned out great. Here are pictures of the spread. It was fun throwing a girl shower at this time of year...easy to find fun things.

One Month Down

2011-01-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

I have done one month on my 365 project. All the pictures aren't perfect, but there are definately some treasures this month. I can't wait to see the pictures I get in the next 11 months.

Outside

2011-01-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

We went outside to play for a little while. So, I decided to take some pictures while we were out there. Emerson was cracking me up. He just has the best little personality that I love.

I have no idea what he was doing in this last one, but I think that it is HILARIOUS! He is just so fun.

To see my Photo-a-Day blog click on the camera in the right column.

Let it begin again.

2011-01-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

(Click on the banner to see my 365 blog.)

This year I am attempting Project 365 again. I am so sad at the lack of photos that I have from 2010 that I should be encouraged to stick with it this year.

So get ready to see LOTS and LOTS of photos of Emerson this year. I am excited to have them.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. In the morning Emerson came into our room and said "Santa come. He bring stockings." We had no clue that he would understand that. So we went down to start opening presents.

Indeed Santa had filled our stockings.

I absolutly love the wrapping from this year. I am sad that it isn't so pretty under our tree now.

Here is Emerson's pile of gifts from Santa. He LOVES his kitchen. He makes us "5 dinners" all the time. It is so sweet.

While I have missed spending time with our family this Christmas, it has been enjoyable just relaxing and savoring the season this year. (And not stressing about having to spend the night in the airort like we did last year.)

Christmas Tradition: Revised

2010-12-25T17:58:00.000-08:00

Growing up, we did Gingerbread Houses as one of my family's Christmas traditions. I love this tradition, and I felt that it was important to carry on. However, I don't like Gingerbread, and I always feel like it is a waste of yummy candy. So, this year I decided to change it up a little, and I loved the change...at least for this year while we are home alone. We decided to make sugar cookies and decorate them. Emerson gets to choose one out at night and eat it. He was smart when he was making his because he piled on that candy. Who cares about the design anyway when there is candy to be had, right?

Here is Emerson's finished product.

This is all of our houses. Now, I am excited to get to eat mine...

We also decorated different shapes. Can you tell which ones Emerson did?

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Pie in a Jar

2010-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

For our Christmas RS Party, we decided to give little pies in a jar to each sister. They turned out so cute. I had my sister Emily design the instructions and make cute little labels. I love how they turned out. (We found the idea for these at Our Best Bites...which, by the way, everything that I have made from here has been amazing!)

Here is how we set them out. I think they are all super cute stacked up like a Christmas tree (I did finish it, but it looked like it was going to fall, so just a Christmas tree with it's top cut off.)

I also had Emily make this cute recipe card with the instructions on how to make your own pie in a jar.

Thanks Emily for all your designing on this. You are the best!

Prayer Works

2010-12-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

The other night, Emerson had his first ear infection. He was also running a high fever. We decided that we should get him some medicine. So, we went to get it and it wasn't there. We preceded to look every where for it. Then I had Emerson say a little sweet prayer asking to find the medicine and to get better. About a minute later, Jason came down with the medicine. We had been looking for red on the container, but forgot that the last one we bought was a generic brand that was just white. I actually looked at the bottle a couple of times while looking, but it just didn't look like what I was looking for. This was one of those tender moments that just make me believe that prayer works.

Christmas Stockings

2010-12-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard on some new stockings for us this year. I decided that it was about time that Emerson had one. I loved how they turned out. I just made up my own pattern and I love that they actually worked and turned out cute (that is after a couple of failed trail runs).

All about the E.Roy.

2010-12-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

Emerson is changing all the time. I can't believe how fast he learns, grows, and changes. I am LOVING all the little things that he is doing right now. Yes, he does have his hard moments, but for now here are some of the moments that make me love him more and more everyday.

Starting to say Absolutely "As-a-lup-lee"
At some point during every meal he says "MMMM....delicious! Thats yummy."
Loves to read his letters...EVERYWHERE! He has mastered his uppercase. Now he is starting to learn lower case and sounds.
Every time we go under an underpass, he yells out "Time Tunnel" (from the show Dinosaur Train.)
Starting to say his own prayers. And he loves to emphasize "AMEN".
All of the sudden he loves taking pictures.
During dinner, he will take the knife and pretent to cut with it and when he is finished he exclaims "I cook mommy!"
Shouts “I did it” whenever he finishes as task.
Sings “Ring around the Rosies”, “Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and “Row, Row, Row, your Boat” all by himself.
Makes up songs. And loves to sing at the top of his lungs.
Wakes Mommy up by saying “Hi mommy. It's Reson (Emerson). Wake Up. Open you eyes.”
When we lock our door, he knocks on the door and yells “Open the door Daddy. IT'S RESON!”
Loves seeing fire trucks and mail trucks.
It getting an awesome imagination. He loves to feed us pretend food all day long.
Loves reading books. He will sit and “read” them to himself. His favorite one at the moment is a random one that Jason grabbed from the library called “Crunch Munch”.
Is really good at cleaning up his toys (after making a terrible mess).
LOVES money. We bought him a piggy bank, and now he will do anything for “moneys” to put in it.
He has replaced “evermore” with “After later”.
While sitting in the same room as us, he says “1-2-3. Here I come. Boo! I scared you.”
Loves to play “I've got your nose”, but with every body part.
Loves water slides. (I think that he dreams about them because it is frequently the first thing he talks about when he wakes up.)
When playing hide and go seek, he counts and then says, “Here goes nothing!”

Remember.

2010-12-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

Remember back in February when I won a giveaway for The Vintage Pearl? I finally got around to ordering them. I was wanting to wait in case I got pregnant this year, but since that isn't happening yet, I decided to just collect my winnings. I was able to get two necklaces (I did have to pay some), and I couldn't be happier with them. I just love them!

I guess I could have been slightly happier with Emerson's if it could have fit his whole name in the font I like. But I still love it just the same.

Take Pictures...PLEASE!

2010-11-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Emerson is discovering that pictures can be fun. He has started to ask for me to take pictures of him. They start of all sweet and cute.

Then they most definately turn into a funny face session. I love how he poses for pictures and will hold a funny face until I tell him I have a good one.

(I LOVELOVELOVE this next one. I love that smile even though it is one of his "funny faces".)

Then he turns it into a take pictures of my toy session and that is when I am about done.

How, you ask, that I am able to get good pictures of this sweet boy and why he wants to have pictures taken of him? It might be something about this hippo that I made this week to put on my lens. My sister found someone that makes them and told me about it. But I wanted to see if I can make my own. So when I was recovering from surgery, I decided to try it out. Out of the two that I made, one is really cute and one is horrible terrible, and they are definately not as cute as the girls that I am copying. However, no matter how ugly, it still keeps attention at the camera for more than a second and with that I am happy. I am going to make more, so we can switch them up and keep his attention longer.

Surgery

2010-11-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

Jason and I have been trying to have a baby for over two years. After doing all the clomid and IUI's that my doctor would allow for the time being we had to make a decision on what to do next. Our options were: adoption, surgeries, wait, or IVF. I didn't want to give up trying just yet, but we didn't feel right about IVF, so we decided to do the surgeries.

Jason's surgery was a Varicocelectimy. It was done in September and he is still healing from it. We won't know if it worked until the middle of December or later.

My surgery was last Friday (November 12th). I actually had two separate surgeries that day. They were a Laparoscopy and a Histeroscopy.

During the Laparoscopy, they will cut me open and look at my uterus's outside. This was to see if there were any problems, such as endometriosis or scar tissues that can be preventing me from getting pregnant. It turned out that I didn't have any of those problems. They also drilled little holes into my ovaries to help drain the many cysts that are there.

In the Histeroscopy, they looked inside my uterus to see if there were any problems in there and fix them. There was not. They also put dye through my tubes and that was successful. Both open!

I am recovering very nicely. I am in very little pain and have little soreness now. So things are good. I should be fully recovered soon. Hopefully between both of these surgeries, we will have a little more hope of having another baby near in the future.

Great Wall of China

2010-11-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

While Jason was in China last month, he had a couple of extra days to get to do some sight seeing. So he took advantage of it to get to do some cool things that he probably will never be able to do again. The first thing that he did was go and see the Terracotta Warriors. Then when he went to Beijing, he took the trip out to the Great Wall of China. He was the only one in his group that went the whole distance that was open.

Out of this World Halloween

2010-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

from our little Rocket Ship.

3-2-1-Blast off!!!

Off we go trick or treating!

Outside=Pictures

2010-10-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Emerson wanted me to go outside with him, and when he asked he just looked so sweet that I told him I would if he would let me take pictures. So, out came the camera and the funny faces.

When I ask Emerson how old he is he says two, but this is how he puts his hands. He just can't make his hands into a two.

Toward the end, Emerson wanted me to take a picture of his bum, so I did. Just for him.

I had my camera out again taking some pictures and Emerson just had to have his spotlight in the camera. I just LOVE these pictures. Especially the last one. Classic Emerson.

We have been throught two phases of pictures lately: the all behind and the no smile all funny faces. I think I like the funny faces more, it is showing his personality with is pretty hilarious.

Super Saturday

2010-10-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

For the past month and a half, I have been working hard getting Super Saturday ready for our ward. If you want to see the fun crafts that our ward is doing this year go to our Ward Relief Society Blog.

Evermore.

2010-09-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Last week Emerson started saying a new word that has become his standard word to end a phrase about something he doesn't want to do. This word is evermore. Meaning forever and ever.

He uses this word in sentences that sound like "No _______ evermore. OKAY mommy?"

Here is a list of things that Emerson has said to fill in the blank:

Dinner
Lunch
Breakfast
Chocolate milk
water
nap
bed time
kisses
pooh pooh on potty
diaper changes
go bye bye
bathtime
playing with toys
read books
clothes on

This list continues, but you get the point. Apparently Emerson wants to live a completely unsanitary, starving, and bored to death life. Luckily when he says "okay Mommy?", I say "No Emerson".

Game

2010-09-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

I love this game. Such an awesome computer game!

A Day at the Fair

2010-09-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

In lieu of a vacation this year, we are doing some fun things around our home. So we went to the Oregon State Fair as one of our adventures around town. We had a lot of fun. We went to a magic show, a Lets Pretend Circus, and a petting zoo. We at our $5 hot dogs and $6 cotton candy (which is totally worth the money). We played carnival games and rode rides.

We bought tickets all at once because they were half price before 5 and we wanted to do most of the rides and games in the evening. So we bought as many as we thought we would want to use that evening. After we bought the tickets, we found out that you have to be 36 inches to ride most the rides, where online it just said two years old or older. So, there were just a few of the kiddie rides that Emerson could go on. He is like 35.5 inches currently, so just barely too short for the majority of the kiddie rides. Needless to say, we bought way to many tickets, so Emerson just got to ride the rides over and over. Jason did go on a couple of rides himself. The first ride that he rode on he said is the first ride to ever make him remotely sick. It made me sick just watching it go.

Emerson loved all the rides that he was able to ride. He rode each one like 5 times each. I think that the workers knew him by the end...except they have to keep checking his height. They didn't believe that he was tall enought even for the 34 inch tall rides. I think that he was so cute on all the rides.

We had an awesome time at the fair. I think that it is going to be a yearly activity from now on.

Big Boy Room

2010-08-31T00:51:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make Emerson's room into a big boy room for a while now. I have been slowly changing it, and I am finally happy with the result. There are a couple of things that I still want to do/change, but this is pretty much the end result. I love how BOY it is.

I got the vinyl alphabet from Tasty Suite Esty Store.

I cut all the other vinyl with my Silhouette Digital Cutter.

I love these guys.

2010-07-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

10 Year Reunion

2010-07-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

We went out to Rexburg for Jason's 10 Year Reunion. It was fun seeing all of Jason's friends from High School. They had a water fountain right next to the pavillion we were in and of course it was Emerson's favorite part. He just sat there and played with it most of the time. I don't think that the other parents liked it because their kids wanted to run through the puddles as well. At this park they have a big splash park too, so I took him to that after about an hour and he loved it. I am glad we went out to Rexburg to go to this. We all had a bunch of fun.

Fourth of July in Sugar

2010-07-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

The fourth of July was so fun. We went out and played balls and frisbees all morning. Then we had a delicious dutch oven dinner that Bruce made. We played some Dungeon Lords. Then we went to a park to watch the Rexburg fireworks. It was a lot of fun.

Water at the Park

2010-07-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

On our way to Jason's parent's house, we stopped at a park in Rexburg to see my mom. Emerson found the water fountain there. All he wanted to do the whole time we were there was turn on and off the the water. He created such a big puddle. He loved it.

Helping with Grandpa's Yard.

2010-07-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

The first night in Sugar City, Emerson went out with Jason and Grandpa Bills to help moving rocks off the grass. Emerson loved being out there. He found a stick that he called a kite and was flying it up in the sky. Too cute! Later they turned the sprinklers on and Emerson ran through them. He loved having a place to go out and play.

New Bedtime Routine

2010-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

We have this picture hanging just as you walk out of our bedroom just above the light switch. Every night Jason lifts Emerson up to have him turn off the light. Usually he points out this picture and says "Mommy, Daddy" while pointing at us.
The other day, I was over by them for some reason and he said "Mommy kiss", so I kissed him. Then he said "Daddy kiss", so Jason kissed him. Then he said "Mommy Daddy kiss", so we kissed each other. Then he said "no no, Daddy kiss face" and pointed at the picture. So we realized that he wanted us to reinact the picture. It was too cute.

I love being a Mom.

2010-05-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Being a mom is the best job in the world. There are days that it is very frustrating and hard, but all the joys of motherhood completely outweigh the downs.

I love being Emerson's mom.
I love watching him grow and learn.
I love his kisses.
I love his dancing.
I love his sweet little voice.
I love that he runs every where...even though I can't keep up with him.
I love that he get so excited about Daddy coming home.
I love that he loves dogs and cats, but hasn't asked me for one yet (that is going to be a sad day for him when he asks).
I love that he wants to help. He brings up all the cans every week after grocery shopping.
I love that he is obsessed with "Crappers" (Clifford the Big Red Dog).
I love that he will give me hugs to get things.
I love that he says "please" and "thank you".
I love that he loves "Ma's water".
I love that every night he wants chocolate milk, not just milk.
I love that he calls everything soup. For example, pudding is dessert soup. And cereal is cereal soup.
I love that he says cheese when the camera comes out...even if he refuses to look at it.
I love that every morning you can count on him yelling at the birds as he sees them through the window.
I love when he jumps.
I love that he hides under the covers and says "water" (a.k.a. Where are you?)
I love that he wants to lay down when reading books.
I love that he says I'm sorry.
I love that he know most of his letters and numbers.
I love that he can find every train track we cross and hear every train in the distance.
I love that he loves to find planes and helicopters.
I love that he loves and needs me.
I love that this list is just the start of what I love about Emerson and being a mom.

I love being a MOM!

I'm sorry

2010-05-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry.

Those are two words that we are hearing frequently from Emerson's mouth for the past couple of days. It is so sweet.

On Saturday at breakfast, Emerson was eating rolls with Nutella on it. At one point he accidentally dropped one of them onto the floor. It was like it was the worst thing that he had ever done in his mind. He said "I sorry" and then just bursted out in tears. It was so sad but so sweet. I had to go give him a big hug to get him to be able to calm down and want to eat again.

I love how sweet of a kid Emerson is.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

To:Grandma Bush and Grandma Bills.
Love, Emerson

ENJOY!

Happy Mother's Day!

(Please excuse the slight break where I accidently recorded over. It is of Emerson figuring out how to reach the light switch.)

Family Pictures

2010-04-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the promised family pictures. I think that they actually turned out alright considering I took all the pictures with a tripod and a remote. I framed them all up and then went to where I told Jason not to move from and snapped the pictures. Though, I think that Jason took a step pretty much every time or the wind blow and moved my tripod because almost every set up was off by a little. So the majority of the poses were not usable because someone was cut off. But I do still think that we still got some cute pictures anyway.

Duck Pond

2010-04-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

At the Library we go to, there is a pond behind it that we love going to. Emerson loves to run around it and look at the ducks. The ducks actually flock toward you as you walk by...I am assuming because they thing that you are going to feed them. We decided that we were going to take our family pictures there this time. This is were I we took my maternity pictures when I was pregnant with Emerson as well and it is just so pretty there. I will post the family pictures later. But here are some other shots we got while we were there.

A bag and a duck.

2010-04-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Last week, I finally sat down and sewed this bag. I love it. It is the perfect size and I think that it is super cute.

Isn't the duck so cute in the picture. It insisted in being in picture...it even looks like it is posing in this next one. To funny!

I started on another bag, so I will get some pictures of it as soon as it is done. Maybe we will go back and get the pictures with the duck.

Dancing Boy

2010-04-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Today, Emerson was just sitting there when he saw this hat. So he went and grabbed it and put it on. Then, he started dancing. It was so cute. He is so silly.

New Lens!

2010-04-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I went to an Estate Sale that my friends were in charge of. They offered some of their friends a chance at a presale, but I didn't take advantage of it. I went to the sale for one thing specifically. The Canon 100mm macro lens. I just had to have it. There was a chance that it was already gone, but I just had to go see. When I got there I search for and just couldn't find it anywhere. I asked about it and someone told me that some guy was looking at the lenses and he must have bought it. I was so sad.

The next day, I got a call from my friend telling me that they had found it!!!! I immediately went and bought it.
Here are some of the pictures that I have taken with it in my first time playing with it. I did these all indoor, so they are pretty close up because it is such a narrow lens. But I still love them.

(He still had to get the cheeser in at some point.)

I just LOVE my new lens! And the model isn't too bad himself.

I LOVE BARGAINS!

2010-04-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I love finding good buys. The other day I was walking through Ross, just browsing. When I turned the glanced down one of the isles, I saw this beauty for only $25. I was so excited. I have been wanting one of these irons for sewing for so long. I just haven't been able to justify the $75-$125 price tag.

I pulled it out and used if the first time yesterday. I couldn't believe how much better is maked my fabrics look. I even decided to try to iron some of Jason's shirts (which is almost unheard of in this house) that my old iron just couldn't get the wrinkles out of ever, and they turned out nice and crisp. I love this new iron!

Easter Time

2010-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny made it to our house this year. Emerson loved it.At first he had no idea what he was getting into, but then he found is basket and then was in heaven the rest of the day.

In my family, the Easter Bunny "hides" the baskets. So I told the Easter Bunny that I wanted to carry that tradition on in my little family. Emerson is still a little to young to hid it in the dryer with clothes over it, so his was pretty simple. I think he only found it because he was curious why the pillows were around his table.

The first thing he did when he found his basket was reached to the bottom to find the fruit snacks and smarties. Smart boy. He know where to find the good stuff.

While we watched General Conference, we died some eggs. Emerson liked it for a few minutes until he wasn't allowed to wander around with the cups. This caused a huge melt down. That is when he colored, and Jason and I died the eggs.

*Easter outfit pictures are still to come. We are having our Easter church program this Sunday, so I decided to wait on the outfit until then.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Zoo

2010-04-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

We took Emerson to the Oregon Zoo today in all the rainy wet weather to go on a Easter Egg Hunt. He loved being out in the rain. I was quite surprised how well he did at the hunt. Right before it started we told him it is time to clean up, so when it was time he just said "clean up clean up" while picking up all the fun prizes on the floor. It was super cute.

Here is the fruit of his labors.

RS Birthday Dinner

2010-03-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we had our RS Birthday Dinner. It turned out being a lot of fun. We had Hawaiian Haystacks and then played a game with questions about Relief Society. It turned out pretty good.

However as always my favorite part about the activities is the days before planning and preparing the decorations. Then the morning when the committee all gets together to put it all together. I think that this turned out really fun looking.
Above all the tables we had a balloon topiary hanging. We had to blow up 120 balloons for these.

These are the centerpiece. I think that they turned out really fun.

"Say Cheese"

2010-03-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Why is it when a camera comes out and you say "say cheese" this is the face you get?

or...

But occasionally you get a really cute picture like this.

I just think that this boy is a stud...even with his cheese face. (By the way...that second picture is the same as the one he gets when we say prayer. Too cute.)

Thank You Em.

2010-03-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

You really made my day!

They are beautiful.

Travel Car Mat

2010-03-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the little travel mat that I wanted to make for Emerson. I think that he is going to love it. I love it. I added little pockets for his cars, so we will make sure that we have some while we are out.

Here is the full view of the mat.

Now here is to hoping that it can keep him entertained during times that we usually can not control him.

Train Tracks and Table

2010-02-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

When you see a train track, you expect to see train cars, right? Well, not in the world of Emerson. In his world, it is hot wheels that go onto train tracks. It is rare that you see the actual train on these tracks.

Here is the rare occation with the train on the tracks!

Isn't those chairs and table adoreable? I got them from IKEA. The table is just one of the $7.99 side tables! What a deal! It is the perfect height for E. He loves having his own place to play. I think that it has been a much needed purchase.

Car Mat

2010-02-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

For Emerson's birthday, I made him a play mat that he could drive his cars on. He loves it. I love when some idea that I have (that I have to put some work into) is a big hit. I thought that he would like the side with all the drawings more, but he usually asks for the side with the straight line roads to be up. He is getting to be such a big boy...he is already able to push cars on little roads!

Now that I see how he like this, I am definitely going to make him a little one that he can take to church and on outtings when I know he is going to be bored. I will post that as soon as it is made!

Sunglasses

2010-02-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

Jason cleaned out the car because he was taking a bunch of guys to see Avatar, so he brought in some of the things that I usually keep in there. I leave Emerson's sunglasses in the car, but I haven't tried to give them to him in about year because he just always tried to break them in half when I would before. Then I just forgot about them. Emerson found them in the pile of stuff and he loved them. He played with them on and watched TV with them on. He kept on taking them slightly off them back on, I think that he was seeing the difference in the light. It was so cute.

Jump!

2010-02-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Emerson LOVES to jump. He sometimes can go 10-15 minutes straight of jumping while saying "jump, jump, jump" during each jump. I think that it is so cute!

Emerson's Birthday

2010-02-17T15:23:00.001-08:00

Emerson had a great second birthday! He woke up to about 40 balloons to play with.
After a little while of throwing and running through balloons, he decided that it was car time. He played with them until breakfast time.

For breakfast he got special Chocolate Chip pancakes with peanut butter. When I was a kid my dad made little tiny pancakes and our initials, soI thought that would be fun for him. I also had to include the favorite...a plane.

After breakfast, we built towers. This is the one that he was most invested in. He was really sad when it fell.

After tower building, we went up and watched some olympics and then Emerson took a nap. After his nap, we had dinner and opened presents. Then we had CAKE! He couldn't really blow out the candles, and then he wouldn't touch the cake...maybe he remembers last years experience of too much cake.

It was a great birthday!

I Won!

2010-02-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

I love winning things...especially things that I wouldn't normally buy but really want. This time I won a necklace from TheVintagePearl.com. I can't wait to choose out which one I want! I will take a picture of the one I get as soon as it is here!

Picture in North Carolina

2010-02-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

I was just going through all my pictures from North Carolina and saw this one. I think that it is so cute. Don't you just love that little hat on Emerson?

Cookies with Grandma

2010-02-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Emerson loved doing things with Grandma Bills while we were in North Carolina. One of the fun activities they did together was "making" cookies...Sprague style. It was really cute how much he wanted to help.

They were yummy Emerson!

"The Destroyer" a.k.a. Emerson

2010-02-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

While visiting Utah for my Gramdpa's baptism, we had my Aunt Jessi and her two kids over for dinner. Emerson ended up loving having some older boys to play with. He had what I would think was the best night of his life. Jayden and Grant just let him play rough with them. He loved tackling them down to the floor and then pull on their legs and sit on them. It was so funny watching this little boy tackle down these bigger boys. At some point during the night, Jayden nicknamed Emerson "the destroyer". I think that it fits him well...not just this night.

First E.R. Visit

2010-01-31T11:49:00.000-08:00

Early in the morning on the 2nd of January, I woke up to me sister in law saying "He stopped breathing". I had no clue who she was talking about. I could just hear some conversation going on down stairs. So, I hurry up and get downstairs to come to find out that Emerson had been running and slipped and hit his head pretty hard. He immediately started crying but then seconds later went to get some air and stopped breathing and started to go blue. That is when we called the doctor's office and then 9-1-1. They sent an ambulance up the mountain to take a look. The whole time that they were on their way Emerson was super groggy and cuddly. He was having cold sweats and his lips were blue for a while. It was really a scary moment in our lives.

Once the paramedics got there, he was starting to liven up and be happy. They did a quick check and recommended that we go to the hospital. They assured us that it is probably nothing, but since we were 30 minutes from the hospital on freshly snow cover mountain roads, it was safer to just be sure that everthing was alright. So, we decided to go down. Emerson and Jason rode in the back on the ambulance, since I would get motion sick going down.

Once we were at the hospital, Emerson was back to his normal self. He was happy as can be and wanting ro run and visit all the other paticents there. He got his check up and they said he looks good. They just wanted us to keep an eye on him and if he did something out of the normal we needed to come back. So we went home. The rest of the day we just took it easy and watched Emerson. He never did anything else to make us think something was wrong, but it sure was a scary day!

Books

2010-01-28T16:34:00.001-08:00

A couple of years ago, I bought a bunch of Shutterfly Books from Target. They were about to expire, so I hurried and made a few books. I think that they turned out really cute.

(They are in the next four posts.)

Numbers Book

2010-01-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Sweet Baby Book

2010-01-28T16:32:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Faces Book

2010-01-28T16:31:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger