Following in Aunt Heather's Footsteps!

Emma came into the front room, dumped out her whole bag of Mega Bloks, and pulled Ross off the couch while he and I were chatting, and rather forcefully informed him that he needed to, "Hepp make a tempo (Help make a temple)- NOW!!" After we coaxed a please out of her, Ross submitted, and they made a lovely temple.

I just realized that the love of legos is not the only Heather-esque thing about her! Check out those socks that she picked out herself :) I don't know that I have ever seen my sister with matching socks- I love you Heather!

Emma See, Emma Do

After she finished changing the "stinky yucky poo!" she wrapped him in a blanket, nursed him, layed him on the couch and told Sara and me to "be quiet- baby deer seepee (sleeping)." The whole process kept her happily entertained for about an hour- it was pretty nice, and extremely amusing. I love her!

Easter Weekend!

Easter is one of my very favorite holidays!! I love all of the symbolism and taking time out of my life to think about Christ and his Atonement, and it has been fun (and really difficult) to try and explain to Emma the deeper meaning of things. Sometimes I feel like nothing I am saying to her is making sense, but then I will hear her say something later that lets me know it is all sinking in. It amazes me how much she really can understand at such a young age. I tried all Sunday morning to try and explain to Emma how Jesus died and came to life again so that we could go and live with him. It was really hard to try and put something like that into a simplistic enough form that a 2 year old can understand. I kept trying though because Bruce R. McKonkie said that someone who truly knows the gospel doctrines is someone who can explain them to a small child. I told her that she got to wear her new dress to church so she could think about Jesus and how we can live with him again. All of my seemingly fruitless effort paid off when someone at church told Emma that her dress was pretty and she said, "For Geegee so we live there again." The lady looked a little confused and said, "What?" Emma then said rather matter-of-factly, "Geegee die and came back and we live with him." I don't think Bonnie really understood what she was saying as she walked off, but I was so proud!!

Anyway, I also love Easter for all of the bizarre traditions that go along with it- especially since my family has a knack for making them even more bizarre. Friday night kicked off the weekend well with the Jones family easter egg coloring extravaganza. My sisters and I take the whole easter egg coloring thing quite seriously! We have many different mediums (dye tablets, markers, glitter, acryllic paint, etc.) and a theme. Past themes have included song lyrics personified, movie characters, and crazy story lines provided by Heather and her mind of magical randomness! This year the theme was high school reunion and it turned out some pretty fantastic eggs. Our cousin Spencer joined us, and although I think he was a little surprised at our enthusiasm, he seemed to have a lot of fun. I didn't take any pictures, but we had the prom king and queen, a cheerleader (which was my favorite- good job Spencer!), a goth, a hippee, a wrestler, a football player, a nerd, a band awesome person (NOT geek!), etc.

Saturday started off with an egg hunt at Melissa's. Here is Brook digging right in. She was taught well by her older brothers! Emma was not too into the whole thing until Ross opened one up and showed her what was inside. After that, she was all over it.

Here are all the kids checking out their prizes.

This is Ross and Emma enjoying the bunny cake Melissa made. Melissa assured us that no real bunnies were harmed in the making of her cute creation.

After our cake and ice cream we rushed over the Grandma and Grandpa Wallaces house for their hunt. We were a little late, so it was good that Emma got all her practicing done at Melissa's house. She knew just what to do now.

Aunt Dana and Aunt Caulene were still willing to help her get the eggs she couldn't reach.

As you can see, the Easter Bunny got a little over excited!

Emma kept pointing at that purple egg in the tree, so Caulene finally came to her aid. Mom was a little busy behind the camera.

After church on Sunday, we went to Grandma's house again to have dinner. I tried all day to get a good picture of Emma in her dress, but she was too stubborn to smile for me.

This is her telling me, "NO!!" when I asked her to smile.

So we had to resort to tickling.

Emma actually got her dress from Great Grandma and Grandpa Jones for her birthday, but it was so sweet and spring-timey that I decided to save it for Easter. I think it was darling on her!

I wanted Sara's Easter dress to be the one Emma and I both wore for our blessings, but it was already too small. I am really sad that she never got to wear it.

Emma is good at sharing :)

My doctor did say I no longer have any physical restrictions . . . It is not as easy as it looks!

Sara's First Church-Going Experience

Last Sunday was the first week I felt comfortable enough to take Sara to church for the full three hours. I am a little paranoid about all the germy and disgusting things to be found out there in the real world in general, and that paranoia is even more intense when it comes to exposing my Beautiful Princess to all that filth and disease. I really wanted to wait a couple more weeks- but I really needed a spiritual lift, so I decided to go ahead and risk it, and I just prayed that Heavenly Father would bless me for my efforts to keep my covenants. It seems to have worked- so far everyone is just as healthy as we were before we attended. (knock on wood)

Here are some cute shots of my girls getting ready. Please don't get distracted by the bed that is still not made at noon. . . :)

My Grandma Jones sent this 'dress' in a little care package for us. (OK- so Grandpa was on the card too- but I am assuming that Grandma played a much bigger role in selecting and purchasing it) It is actually a shirt that goes with a cute outfit for when she is 6-9 months old, but it works perfectly as a dress right now.

I could not get her to smile at the camera because she was too busy smiling at Emma.

All this primping can get pretty exhausting! (Of course, so can staying up all hours of the night instead of sleeping!)

She Sleeps!!!!

After a week of very little sleep (I think I got about 15 hours total for 5 days), Sara decided to bless us with two WHOLE nights of sleep. For two nights in a row she has gone down around 12:30 and not woken up until almost 8:00. I don't know if she is growing and needs the sleep or if my not flipping her over to her back once she is on her tummy made the difference. Ross thinks that there have been some important meetings in the Spirit Realm that she had to attend. Whatever it is, we are SOOOOOO grateful for the rest- although it could have been more restful if we both hadn't kept waking up every couple of hours to make sure she was still breathing. We hope that the trend continues- but even if it doesn't, I am grateful to have been able to re-charge my batteries. I think I will be much more pleasant to be around for a little while (poor Ross!). Our house is now clean, the laundry pile is now halfway done, there are freshly baked cookies and Emma hasn't seen a puppy movie all day!! It really is amazing what a little rest can do for the mind and the body. . . and the FAMILY for that matter.

In other news- I had my 6 week check-up yesterday (yes- Sara is 6 weeks old now!) and everything is all fine and dandy and I am now allowed to take part in any physical activity that strikes my fancy! ;) I also went to see the urologist yesterday. In an effort to employ discretion, let me just sum up that awkward experience by saying that I was given a prescription and some instructions, the combination of which should have me feeling exponentially better in a matter of weeks. Yay!!

We are excited for the upcoming weekend which should be full of family, fun and starburst jelly beans! We have been preparing Emma for the first Easter that she might actually remember by reading an article from this month's Ensign (which is AMAZING by the way!) with her every night. We actually read it to each other while Emma plays with her ball, and then try to summarize the lesson for her on her level while she looks at the pictures with us. She really loves to see all the pictures of GeeGee (Jesus). It makes me smile- she is so receptive to the things we tell her.

Let me go ahead and end this post with a funny Emma anecdote. One night we were looking at the picture in the Ensign with a little girl who has Christ's arm on her shoulder. Well, a couple months ago Emma burned her hand when she touched a hot iron. She had taken the iron off the dryer and put it in her room where she had taken the little plastic cover off of the outlet and plugged the iron in. Apparently she was going to iron her coat. She did all of this while Ross and I were talking in the front room. We had left her coloring in her room, and were enjoying some conversation sans-Emma when we heard her screaming. She had a nice blister across her left palm for a few days. Now, whenever she sees the iron she points and says, "Owie! Don't touch it! Owie on my hand! Don't touch it!" Well, when she saw the nail print on Christ's hand she pointed at her own palm and said, "Owie- Geegee touch owie! No, Geegee! Don't touch it!"

Emma was tagged!!

1. At her two year check-up, Emma was 32 inches tall (95th percentile), weighed 25 pounds 12 ounces (38th percentile), was right on track with her physical skills- except for jumping, and was almost a full year ahead in her vocabulary skills- except that she needs some work mastering pro-nouns still. In other words, she is tall and skinny, perfectly healthy, and smart as a whip! The doctor was really impressed with her language skills, especially her sentence construction. He was even more impressed when we told him that we rarely coach her repetetively on words or sentences. He said her use of mimicking is really accurate and advanced- that's my girl!! 2. Emma has two loves in her life, and they usually come together when she gets to visit Grandma Jones's house. Puppies and bubbles. I don't like her to watch too much tv, and we don't let her blow bubbles in the house, because we don't want the sticky soap all over the carpet. This means that when she gets to watch puppy movies and blow bubbles to her little heart's content at Grandma's house, it really is special and exciting- which is how Grandma's house is supposed to be, right?. Whenever Emma sees Grandma Jones, she starts smiling and clapping and yelling, "Puppies!!! Bubbles!!"

3. Emma has been going to nursery willingly and even happily for the last few months, which has been really nice for Ross and me. We have been able to thoroughly enjoy our meetings without her, and the added spiritual boon has been WONDERFUL. As great as this is, we are not very happy with some of the bad habits she is picking up from the other Nursery patrons. She has learned to say, "NO!", and most recently, "But why?" She also learned to throw things when she is mad and to pick her nose, and eat her findings. I think the most frustrating thing for us is that while she is coming home with all of these new habits that we have to try and eradicate, three mothers have thanked me for Emma's good influence on their kids. She has taught them, "Thank you." and "Sorry." NOT a fair trade if you ask me.

4. Emma LOVES the temple. She loves to sing "I Love the See the Temple", and she really enjoys our drives to the temples around here. Ross and I have always enojyed going to the temple grounds to sit around and have meaningful (or not so meaningful sometimes) discussions. This winter, we used to drive there and chat in the car while we waited for Emma to fall asleep. The cutest addition to her temple addiction came when she started calling the little Disney castle icon a temple- so so cute! Whenever we watch a Disney film, she jumps up and down and points at the screen saying, "Tempo! Tempo!" We aren't really sure if we should correct her on this- it does look like a temple- it even has a little flag at the top that looks kind of like Moroni from afar!

5. Emma is a great snuggler! She is a very affectionate child. She loves to cuddle, and gets really jealous if Ross and I are cuddling together without her. It doesn't matter how much fun she is having with her toys- if there is cuddling happening in the house without her- she MUST be a part of it!

6. Lately, Emma and I have been going through a little ritual a few times every day. It goes a little like this. . .
Emma- Mom!
Me- What, Honey?
Emma- Look at Baby, Baby Cue (cute)
Me- Yes, the baby is very cute, and so is my Emma Girl!
Emma- Yeah, Mema (Emma) cue and Baby Sorr (Sara) cue.
Me- That's right- my girls are cute!
Emma- Mom!
Me- Yes?
Emma- Mommy cue!
Me- Yes, Mommy is cute too.
Emma- and Daddy!
Me- Yes, Daddy is VERY cute isn't he!
Emma- Baby and Mema and Mommy and Daddy cue! Cue fammee! (cute family!)
Me- Yes we are a cute family aren't we?
Emma- Yeah!

We do this probably 3 times a day. It is a nice little ego boost for me- my daughter thinks I'm cute!

7. Emma is a Daddy's Girl!! She has that man wrapped around her little finger! They have such a cute relationship- it is really wonderful. Nothing makes Emma happier than when Daddy comes home. He gets lots of loves and kisses, and he really enjoys it! They are so fun together.
8. This last one is a little weird! My mom has given Emma a lot of the little Fisher Price sets that include animals. She has a Nativity, a Little Drummer's Boy Barn, a Noah's Ark, and an ABC Zoo. This means that she has a plethora of little animal figurines. I LOVE this because they are quiet toys that really teach her. Do you know what an Uriel says? Emma does! Anyway, a few months ago, she started this weird thing of lining up little toy armies in random places around the house. We are not sure why- but she loves to do it. We ge really surprised sometimes at the weird places she chooses. Below are some of the toy armies I have caught pictures of.

Sara was tagged!

Sam Anderson tagged my girls a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I just can't teach them to type up their 8 facts on their own. I hope Sam won't mind me stepping in to complete the task for them. ;)

1. Sara was 7 pounds 4 ounces when she was born, 6 pounds 12 ounces when we left the hospital, and 8 pounds even when we took her in for her 2 week check-up. That girl has quite an appetite! The nurse was very impressed that she had already surpassed her birth weight, and so was I! Emma didn't hit 8 pounds until she was almost 3 months old.

2. Sara spent 3 of her first days here on Earth in this luxury sun box. Our differing RH factors in our blood caused her to have some unfashionable yellowness, so she decided to tan it on out of there :) She really enjoyed it in there, but we are glad that she has fully recovered since then.3. Unfortunately, our little sweetheart suffers from a condition known as Baby Bulemia :) I have never seen a baby spit up so much!! I don't know how she puts on any weight at all- it seems like it is all just coming right back up. She is really good at tagging Ross- for some reason his clean shirts make her very nauseated. Whenever I hear the groan that usually accompanies a good dousing of Daddy, I jokingly reply- "From my breast to yours, Honey!"

4. Sara loves to sleep on her tummy. I ALWAYS put her down on her back- but I have to check back every 15 minutes or so to flip her back over.

5. This little princess is no weakling! Sara is very strong. She rolled over for the first time at 2 1/2 weeks, and hasn't stopped since (hence the constant tummy sleeping). She is also very good at kicking herself out of her swaddling and pushing off any heavier blankets I put on top of her. The picture below was taken ten minutes afer I had wrapped her REALLY tightly and put a nice heavly quilt over the top and then tucked it into the couch cushion to ensure that it stayed there.

6. Sara has been a pretty good sleeper- but she always sleeps the soundest and the longest when she has someone touching her somewhere. It looks like we have another cuddly girl on our hands- which is fine by us!! We love our snuggle bugs! I wonder what she is dreaming about that is making her smile so cute.

7. Even though she is just barely over a month old- Sara has some great expressions. People keep trying to tell me it is just gas, and I keep telling them (in my head of course) that they are just jealous that their kids were not as cute as mine!

8. This swing has been my salvation these past few weeks. Sara LOVES it and will just hang out in it for hours!! If only I could get Emma out of my hair for that long. . .