Poor Emmy

Emmy fell at the dance studio on Monday and earned herself her very first trip to urgent care for a split chin.  She was getting a drink from the drinking fountain and fell off the stool, landing on what I think is a cement floor with her chin.  It was pretty deep and it bled a ton, but once her tears were spent, she was her usual perky self.  Thankfully, I was able to stay calm and a friend took Sami and Ally to her house so I could concentrate on Emmy.  I had just finished feeding Kassi, so she was content to just sit in the carrier.  The nurse put numbing gel on it (above) and let her play for about 20 minutes, then the doctor put glue over the top of it, creating a synthetic scab.  They added tape on top of that in hopes that she wouldn't be tempted to pick at it. Emmy did an incredible job at holding still on the doctors table, even though she usually hates them.  We were just so grateful that she didn't have to get a shot or stitches!  It was an eventful but surprisingly non-stressful hour.  The angels must have been exhausted afterwards.  :)  

Girls' Night

Sami and I had a Girls' Night last week and went to see "Little Women: the Musical" at a local community theatre.  I was very impressed by the talent, music, and emotion of it all.  Sami and I had so much fun!  We've decided that a trip to the theatre is going to have to become a yearly tradition at our house. 

The First Day of School

It was a big day of firsts at our home! 

Sami had her first day at her new school

that she tested into last year!! 

Ally had her first day of KINDERGARTEN!! 
(whaw!) 

Emmy had her first day of Dance Class!! 

Sadly, the room she was in made it hard to get a good pic of her dancing...

And Kassi LAUGHED for the First Time!!!

We have not been able to get it on video yet.

3 WHOLE MONTHS!!!

 Kassi is growing up on us already!! 

She holds her head up with ease, sleeps great at night, interacts and coos and laughs and grins at everyone, and she's working on sitting up!  She has started reaching for things and showing interest in what others are doing.  She's noticed herself in the mirror, but I'm not sure if she knows that that cute baby is her yet.  She likes to watch TV--so we are trying to keep her away from it.  She's found her tongue and she's starting to drool--I think she might be teething already... (nooo!!!)  We all can't imagine life without her.  She is so, so sweet and easy going.  What a doll!!!

 I had to include a couple rolly-poly pictures.  I know that some babies would put Kassi to shame, but at our house, she is a chunk!  She is definitely our rolly-est baby ever!  I have never had a baby with chunky thighs before--I'm loving it!!  and just look at those pinch-able cheeks!

 We love our Kassi!!

Bleed Blue!

 Even though BYU had a rough third quarter against Utah last Saturday (the early snap was soooo sad....) and the nerves got the better of them when they had a second chance to tie the game with one second on the clock but the field goal hit the goal post (sigh), we still bleed blue at our house!  At least the game wasn't as sad as last year's.  (Sorry, not lamenting the loss of Heaps here...)  I am a Nelson fan even though he looked a little defeated at points Saturday night.  That could not have been an easy game to play--especially with the rowdy Utes fans making it hard to hear anything on the field.  Yes, even after our sad defeat, we still cheer--GO BYU!!!

 We went to the annual BYU vs. Utah ward pep rally on Friday night and the girls had a blast like always!

I guess it's time for another post about....

EMMY!

 

Yes, Emmy has been...well, herself more and more lately.  I wonder sometimes if she takes advantage of the fact that I am often busy with Kassi.  Her bedroom is never clean.  She likes to empty the entire contents of her drawers on the floor when getting dressed in the morning and she doesn't like to keep her blankets on her bed for some reason.  (Ally, who now shares the butterfly bedroom with Emmy--yes, Sami has moved into her own room--thinks Emmy's messes are great, because they hide her own.)  Emmy runs around the house, getting into everything she knows she is not supposed to get into.  She is always very...busy, as GP put it when we visited Idaho last month.  He just sat and laughed at her as she ran in and out and up and down and touched this and that and kept everyone very busy keeping track of her.

 

  She has an obsession with touching my stomach even though there is no longer a baby in it.  And she loves to touch my neck (which started when I got pregnant last year).  And she loves to take out my hair and make a mess of it.  I've stopped bothering with styling it because as soon as I sit to feed Kassi or get something done, Emmy is right behind me with her fingers in my hair and on my neck...and her feet on my stomach or back.  She's kind of a monkey that way.  :)  And I let her get away with it because at least I know that she is with me and not causing trouble somewhere.

 

Anyway, here are a few of the trouble moments of late that are worth remembering:

 

Would you like Salt with that?

Grandma Dee stayed with the girls for a night while Jeremy and I went to his firm retreat last month.  I think Emmy wore her out.  She called me when I was on my way home to inform me that Emmy had eaten an ink pad.  She had given the girls stamps and stamp ink pads to play with that morning.  I guess Ally and Emmy decided to put the ink pads in a bowl and pretend that it was soup.  However, Emmy stopped pretending.  Grandma Dee found her with the salt shaker, dumping salt on the case of the ink pad and licking it off.  She had green ink all over her mouth and the ink pad was no where in sight.  It turned out that she did not actually eat the pad, but she did suck all the ink out of it.  What kills me most, is that she salted it first!  I guess you can't truly enjoy your ink without a healthy dose of salt....

 

Lil' Bully
Emmy is a bully for a good portion of each day.  She pulls hair, climbs on people, screams in ears, makes annoying sounds, gets into others' "treasures," teases relentlessly, and has recently taken up biting (which we are putting an end to asap).  She has basically decided that being that 'Terrorizing Three-year-old' suites her.  The crazy thing is that Ally won't take it and has started giving Emmy some of her own medicine.  Nothing like peace and harmony in the home!  (or so I hear....)

I'm just going to let the picture tell all on this one...

 

The really funny part is that it was a brand new box and the sink was filled with all the paper backs.

 

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

Emmy has really been into wanting makeup lately.  So we call the chap stick makeup and she puts it on every day.  One day, however, I had my hands full and couldn't get the chap stick for her, so she helped herself to my makeup bag.  I noticed the silence (never a good sign) and went to find her.  She had used my blush brush to put eye base all over her face and she had mascara all over her eyelid and cheek.  It was a Sunday, too, and we were rushing to get ready for church.  Between the rush and the fact that my base and brush were ruined, I didn't think it humorous enough at the time to take a picture...  Plus, I try not to take pictures with her on the scene anymore.  I am worried they may be acting as an encouragement.

 

Chatterbox

Emmy has taken up the art of constantly talking when in the car.  She doesn't want to listen to music and she doesn't like it when others are making noise in the car.  She gets mad during carpool mornings when I pick up a set of chatty twin boys.  She just wants to talk and be heard.  And when I can't see her face, I can't always understand what she's saying which is really frustrating for her.  But she still talks and talks and talks and talks wherever we go.  She tells me when to stop at signs and lights, and she tells me which way to turn.  And she tells me when I'm driving wrong.  She is so helpful!  And great company!

 

Just Tasting

 

 

Play Nice!

Yesterday, Ally and Emmy were playing upstairs and I was enjoying some peace and quiet, knowing that they were watching out for each other.  Suddenly, I heard a frustrated scream come from Ally and a door slam.  I immediately went to investigate.  Ally was all upset and when I asked why, she informed me that Emmy was not playing nice.  Apparently, they had been playing that dragons where chasing them, but Emmy decided to pretend that the dragon ate her.  Emmy was playing dead and Ally was distraught that Emmy had "sended herself to heaven and it's not nice!"

 

 

The Stuff Tales Are Made Of...

I asked Jeremy to take the three older girls camping Labor Day Weekend.  I figured it would be a good opportunity for him to bond with his girls and for me to get some deep cleaning done around the house without having to worry about what mess Emmy is making in the other room.  They left at about 2pm on Friday and I spent the rest of the day scrubbing, wiping, organizing, and dusting.  It felt so good to be productive again after two months of caring for a newborn.  Kassi was excellent.  She spent some time in the bouncer next to me, cooing and keeping me company.  And she spent time sleeping.  I did put her in the Bjorn for a little while and was still able to accomplish a lot.  When she wanted to eat, I took a break and ate something myself or read.  I didn't have to make dinner.  I didn't have to put kids to bed.  I didn't have messes being made faster than I could clean them.  It was wonderful!  I have to admit, I missed them all when my bedtime came and I hadn't said goodnight to anyone (no cell coverage where they went) or had my four goodnight kisses yet, but I am glad I got the time.  I made plans for more cleaning and errands on Saturday in hopes that they wouldn't be home until early afternoon (I had told them to take their time breaking camp...) and once my parents were safely here for their weekend visit for Kassi's blessing, I went to bed.  Well, at some point in the middle of the night, I was awaken not by a hungry Kassi but by lighting and a downpour outside my window... I hoped the campers weren't getting any of it.

Saturday morning, I slept in a little.  No kids on my arms or yelling at me to get up and Kassi being more than cooperative.  I got up, made only myself breakfast (Mom and Dad were still sleeping), and mentally prepared for some more cleaning and trip to the store.  HOWEVER, at 9:30am, four tired, smelly, ruffled campers came trudging in through the garage door and this was their story:

They had all gone to the store to grab a few more necessities before heading up into the mountains.  They all decided that bacon and orange juice would be perfect with their pancakes in the morning.  They filled the car with their goodies and gas and they were off!  They got to camp, set up, took a little nature walk, and had their dinner and s'mores all as planned.  Then they all climbed into the tent for bed at 8pm (the girls weren't sleeping very well last week and were exhausted).  Then some rain came.  They were all comfortable in their tent, though, and so it rained and they slept.  UNTIL Jeremy woke at 2am to the sound of crashing and rummaging outside.  He wasn't absolutely sure what it was but it sounded like something had knocked over the cooler.  And he didn't get up to look right away because he didn't want to wake the girls and.... it sounded like a bear!!  He finally got up and started to slowly unzip but the animal decided to move on at that time and all Jeremy could see in the dark was rain.  At around 3:30 or 4:00am, the light rain turned into a downpour and the lightning started striking.  Jeremy said the bolts were close enough that he could vividly make them out through the top of the tent.  There were at least 30 bolts in the first hour.  Then a big one hit super close and the girls all woke up screaming from the bright light and extremely loud thunder.  They all frantically clambered into Jeremy's sleeping bag with him.  Finally, at 5:30am, the tent started leaking and it became obvious that the girls had no intention of going back to sleep.  Jeremy told all the girls to make a run for the car and picked up what he could of the camp before getting drenched--including what remained of a bear-attacked cooler that was missing a lot of bacon, hot dogs, chocolate bars and potato salad.  Once safe in the car, they all drove down the canyon and found a Denny's for breakfast.  After breakfast (and when the rain had stopped), they went back to the campsite and finished breaking camp, taking down the soaked tent.  They were home and bathed by 10am and Jeremy was shaking his head at me and the thought of any more camping trips in the future.  (So far this year we have picked one of the coldest nights in May and the wettest night in August for our camping adventures...)  The cooler had in fact been harassed by a BEAR.  It was confirmed when we got a good look at the broken lid of our cooler and the toothmarks on some of the hot dogs.  Jeremy was still morning the loss of his bacon the next day.  ;)  I don't think he or the girls will be forgetting this camping trip for some time!   

Kassi's Blessing Day

 Kassi was blessed today by her Daddy.  It was such a beautiful day for me. 

Also in the circle, our bishop, my dad, Steve (our neighbor and adopted Grandpa figure)...

 and Curtis and Michael (both good friends of Jeremy).

Jeremy picked out Kassi's dress.  I wasn't even allowed to go along on the shoppping trip.  He was pretty cute about it, and Kassi looked lovely.

 We Love You Kassi!!