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. . .

Emma's Sanctuary :)

A couple days ago when I was changing Sara's diaper, Emma came up behind me and tickled my bum and then ran away. This was the classic start to our tickle-tag game. While I was finishing up with Sara, I made some fun banter to let Emma know I was still aware of her. To all of my threatening, "I'm gonna get you!",and "Where did my Emma go?"'s she responded with huge giggles, and I heard her banging around some of her toys in the front room. When I came out in the front room,I saw her toy animals scattered all over the front room, but I did not see Emma. I was a little confused- there aren't that many places to hide in our tiny apartment. That was when I saw three little fingers peeking over the top of the 'Toy Door'. It was so cute when she appeared with a grand gesture and the most adoreable, "Here I am!!" I am not sure when she discovered that she could fit herself in there- but she now uses it for a hiding place, and for a place to go and cry when she feels she is not getting enough attention. It still breaks my heart tohear her cry when I am trying to feed or bathe Sara, but I like the quiet whimpering in her cubby much better than her screeching and tossing all the books off the shelves.