Thanksgiving 2008

We spent this Thanksgiving with Dave's family. We left Safford Thursday morning and had our Thanksgiving late lunch at James and Silvia's house. All in attendance were: Clay, Mary, John, James, Silvia, Tom, Billy Tom's friend, Dave and I, Dan, Sarah, John Boxberger from Flagstaff, and the kids, Annie, McKay, Avery, Sadie, and Emmabelle. It was a very nice and relaxing day. We had lots of good turkey and a very delicious honey baked ham. We spent the evening just visiting and enjoying each others company.

Annie, McKay and Avery enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner.Dave, Mary and Clay

Avery with her Grandpa Hartman.

Mary and Annie playing, Avery playing with her Uncle Dan and Sarah.

Annie and McKay really enjoy riding their bikes, luckily they also had this tricycle so Avery was able to join in on the fun. Unfortunately her legs were to short so I got the pleasure of pushing her around. She really loved it though. It would be a great Christmas present if she could do it all by herself. We will just have to wait another year or so, until she grows a couple more inches.

8 Thing Tag

So I have finally been tagged. I really thought I was going to get away with not having to do something like this, but here it goes.

8 TV shows I watch
1. NCIS
2. Army Wives
3. The Starter Wife
4. America's Next Top Model
5. Days of our Lives
6. Handy Manny
7. Mickey Mouse Club House
8. Law & Order SVU
Six and seven are compliments of my two year old.

8 Things I remember about yesterday.
Don't know if I can remember 8 things, but I will try.
1. It was Wednesday. I don't always know what day of the week it is.
2. I had Tangy OJ Chicken for Dinner.
3. Avery had a 100% dry day.
4. I did 5 loads of laundry.
5. The girls actually slept in until 6:30.
6. I got the dishes done, you couldn't tell today.
7. The weather was really nice. We really enjoyed playing outside in the afternoon.
8. I read Avery and Emmabelle the library books that we got on Tuesday.

8 Places I like to eat.
1. Hunan in Flagstaff
2. Subway
3. Chalos
4. Arby's
5. Golden Coral
6. Olive Garden
7. Chili's
8. Applebee's

8 things I look forward to.
1. Thursday nights, I get to go scrapbooking for 3 hours.
2. The weekends, Dave actually gets to spend quality time with us.
3. Christmas. It is my favorite time of year.
4. My Birthday. I have always loved my birthday.
5. My children's firsts. I love watching them discover new things.
6. Visiting family. I love going places and especially getting to visit with my family.
7. Fall. I love to see the colors change and I love the crisp air after such a hot summer.
8. Taking the girls to the zoo this Thanksgiving weekend.

8 things on my wish list.
1. Happy, healthy kids.
2. I could look like I did in highschool.
3. The world wasn't such a scary place.
4. The word whine didn't exist. I have a very whiny two year old I am getting pretty tired of.
5. Financial Security
6. A new and improved wardrobe. I would really like to go on the show What not to Wear.
7. My dream house.
8. Retirement.

Tag it's your turn.

1. Cassie
2. Joni
3. Keri
4. Shannon
5. Danae
6. Trachel
7. Becca
8. Lynna

Potty Training Update

I am pleased to announce that we are a one diaper baby house. Avery is successfully potty trained. She is doing so well, she rarely has an accident, and when she does have an accident she is good to stop it and finish going on the potty. That means most the time I just have to change the underware and the pants stay dry. She has very good bladder control. She stays dry all night and through her naps, and she also stays dry all through church. We have graduated from her little potty to the big potty, (it only took the incentive of M&M's). We were rewarding her for going on her little potty with M&M's, but I couldn't get her to go on the big potty so we changed the incentive. In order to get M&M's she has to go on the big potty and by golly it worked. Our last step is to get her to poop in the potty. She tells me when she has to go, but we are still putting a diaper on her to go. She just throws a huge fit. Soon she will run out of diapers and she will have no choice. It will happen eventually. It will be so nice to only have to buy diapers for one kid now. Oh just a side note, if Avery were still wearing diapers, her and Emmabelle would be in the same size. We just moved Emmabelle up to a three.

We will miss you Aunt Lori!!

Well the day has finally come where we no longer have an Aunt Lody (as Avery says it). We really enjoyed having her live here and it was so nice to have a live in babysitter. She was always such a big help with the kids, and was always quick to jump in when I was getting at the end of my rope. I also loved coming home from a weekend getaway to a much needed clean living room. She was really good at cleaning it while we were away, since I have a bad habit of leaving it a mess. We wish her the best of luck in Tucson and want her to know that we love her very much.

Date Night

Last night Dave and I were able to go on a much needed date. We called up our friends Jason and Shannon Green and went bowling. We had dinner at the bowling alley, and then were able to bowl two games. It was so much fun. Dave and I had an off night on the bowling end, but we still managed to come out smiling. I don't know what was wrong, but I didn't even break 100, which I normaly do. Usually not much over 100, but I at least break it. I only got 1 spare and 1 strike out of the two games, and for some reason I am the worlds best split bowler. I bowl a split almost everytime, but I have yet to learn how to pick it up. Dave was able to break 100 both games, but his scores weren't near where they usually are. We had so much fun with Jason and Shannon and being out togther.

Bath Time Fun!!

Avery has always enjoyed taking baths with Emmabelle. This is the first bath that they have taken together since Emmabelle started sitting up by herself. They had such a good time together. This was on Sunday morning before church. They made such a mess splashing water all over. They both love the bath so much. When Emmabelle is laying down in the bath she kicks her legs so much and just loves to splash. Now she just does it with her arms. It was so cute to watch them together.

I took this video of them. It is just with my camera, so it is kind of hard to hear.

Here is just a picture of the cute pair. You can see the water all over the bathtub and them.

Ward Party

Tonight we went to our ward pie and ice cream social. It was pretty fun. Avery had a blast running around with her friends (that includes anyone that will play with her). There were a lot of good pies and some good homemade ice cream. Dave really enjoyed talking to his buddies about hunting and fishing. He really enjoys the men in our ward. There are a lot of them that hunt and fish, so he always has someone to talk to, plus he is just very social. I enjoyed myself and got to visit with a few of the ladies in the ward. All in all it was a pretty good success. Oh as for Emmabelle she just enjoyed taking in all of the scenery and commotion of it all.

Smores and Friends

Last night we had a few friends over to have some smores and marshmallows. We have a clearing in our backyard, so we built a fire and had a great time. The night was so beautiful, we couldn't have asked for better. Justin, Cassie, and Kabri Echols, Jason and Shannon Green, and Jarom, Nicole, and Brooke Lunt were those that came. Avery devoured the marshmallows as quick as she could get her hands on them, and Emmabelle enjoyed some yummy graham crackers. We really enjoyed being able to visit with friends and enjoyed the beautiful Arizona night.

The girls and I before the party started.Avery learning how to roast marshmallows.The Echols: Kabri, Cassie, and JustinAvery with Jason and Shannon Green. Avery just loves Shannon.One more picutre of Avery roasting by herself.

Family Outing

Tonight we were able to go to the duck ponds. Avery really enjoys feeding the ducks and as soon as I have saved enough bread we take an evening and go feed the ducks. Today was more out of necessity than anything though. You see I forgot today was a holiday and so I planned on taking Avery to the library. Well when we got there it was closed and let me tell you I had one unhappy girl. So I promised her after her nap we could go feed the ducks. I am glad I did though. It turned out to be a nice family outing.The ducks got crazy close this time. There were even a couple times that one walked right up to Avery and tried taking the bread right from her hand. They barely missed her fingers a couple times. She didn't get overly scared though, I was surprised.

Avery loves to go high now. And she does so good on the big swings. She is such a big girl.

Miss Emmabelle is Six Months Old.

Well Emmabelle is now six months old. The time has flown. I can hardly believe it. She is getting so big so fast. I haven't made a doctor's appointment yet so I don't know her measurements, but here are some fun little facts about our baby girl. (This is mostly for journaling so don't feel obligated to read my never ending tidbits.)

She loves to roll all around the floor. She is no longer a stationary baby. She is all over the place. She is starting to pull herself up on her hands and knees so it shouldn't be long before she is crawling.This girl loves food. She has never turned her nose up to anything I have given her. She is starting to choose solid food over her bottle, that is how much she likes it. She is getting better at self feeding. She practices with cereal and the little puffs that are a whole lot like cereal they just dissolve faster. She is really starting to enjoy feeding herself. Her only quirk with feeding is that if the food isn't the right temperature she gags on it. This is true for her bottle also. Everything has to be warm. Another funny thing she has started doing when she drinks a bottle is cover her eyes. It is the cutest.She is doing great a sitting on her own. She still falls occasionally, but she can sit for quite a while and play with toys in front of her. When she does fall it is the end of the world. She is quite the little dramatic. She milks it for all it is worth. Even when you know it didn't really hurt that bad.She has two teeth on the bottom and one cutting through the top even as we speak. She isn't the greatest teether, but it hasn't been the worst experience either. She just gets really grouchy. (I was just use to Avery who was one that teething didn't phase.) She is so cute though when her little pearly whites show.

She also loves to jabber. She is especially good at it first thing in the morning. If you ever want to hear some good baby talk be at my house between 5:30am and 7:00am. She will talk your ear off and not quitely either.

She loves to be outside. She can be extremely grouchy and all we have to do is stick her outside in her bouncer and she just cheers right up again. Tonight we were actually able to go to the duck ponds and she just loved it even with the chilly weather. She got to swing and even went down the slide with assistance. She had a blast.

One of her most favorite people is her big sister. She just loves to watch Avery and is so good at putting up with Avery crawling all over her and poking her face all the time. Avery is the best at getting her to laugh. Most the time all Avery has to do is look at Emmabelle and she goes into a laughing fit. I hope they continue to be good friends.

She gives the best hugs. She does this especially when she is tired. She will just snuggle her little face into my neck and she actually squeezes with her arms. I just love it. She has been an amazing addition to our family. Her sweet spirit has blessed our home greatly.

Is that Barack Obama?

So we were standing in the line at Wal-Mart today and Avery was standing in the basket looking at the magazines on the rack. I was getting ready to load my items onto the belt when she asked me a question. I wasn't sure that I heard her correctly so I had her tell me again. She looked at one of the magazines and very matter of factly said, "That's Barack Obama." I looked and sure enough on the cover of one of the magazines was a picture of Barack Obama. I had to ask her one more time just to make sure I was hearing her correctly, but she knew who he was. I even brought her home and pulled up a picture of him on the computer so that Dave could witness the discovery. I have never really been a political person, but I married into a family that is up on politics and has many political opinions or at least my husband does. Since the elections started Dave has watched many hours of Fox News and so I guess that is where Avery picked it up. I did try to explain that Barack Obama was going to be the next president of the United States, but that concept was a little to much. I just had to laugh.

The infamous potty training.

So we have officially begun the task of potty training Avery and I am pleased to say that it isn't as painful of a task as I thought it was going to be. She is actually doing quite well. We were even able to find some big girl panties that actually fit. I had my doubts.

It has been a week now and I am proud to say that accidents are becoming more and more scarce. We only have about one a day which is pretty good. She did really well over the weekend staying dry on both the drive there and the drive home, and she stayed dry through all of church. She refuses to go on the big potty, so she just held it through church I guess, or I am not giving her enough fluids, either way I was proud of her. She hasn't started to tell me when she needs to go, but hopefully she will start getting better at that, until then we will continue the every twenty to thirty minute routine. I hope Emmabelle is as easy as Avery has been.

Weekend Fun

This last weekend the girls and I were able to go to Animas and visit my mom. Dave had a scout camporee at Gillespie Wash which is south of Safford so Avery, Emmabelle and I decided to go and visit Grandma. I say only Grandma because Grandpa was off hunting with Clifford, Brigham, and Brinnick Payne.

We left Friday evening and stayed through to Sunday evening. We didn't do anything to exciting, but it was just nice to get out of town and visit with Grandma. We were able to go into Lordsburg and have lunch on Saturday afternoon. Other than that we just enjoyed eachother's company at the house. We stopped in and saw Grandpa and Grandma Great on our way into town on Friday. They are doing well and are enjoying being home from the high country. We went to church with Grandma on Sunday. I am pleased to say that Avery went to nursery all by her self, with no problems. She asked if I would go with her, I told her that I was going to go to my class and she just walked right in and didn't even look back.

Dave had a good campout with the boys. He said it got pretty cold that night, but all in all it was a fun trip and the boys liked it.

Sorry I don't have any pictures. I always take my camera, but never seem to get it out. It's a shame I know.

Hallwoeen 2008

Well halloween has come and gone and I have to say we had a fun night. Avery enjoyed trick or treating very much. She didn't get the concept at first. The first couple houses she tried to give them the candy that she had in her bag of candy. It was kinda cute. Once she got the idea she was ready to go. She didn't want to get back in the car, and she didn't want to go home. She only got scared of the costumes other people were wearing a couple of times. Emmabelle seemed to enjoy the night air. She loves to be outside. She was the cutest little cat I've ever seen, but maybe I am a little biased. We enjoyed spending the holiday with Grandpa & Grandma Mortensen. It is always so much fun when they come to visit and it is definately nice that they live so close by. I hope someday we will be able to live close to both sets of grandparents.

This isn't a halloween picture but instead of doing a whole new post I thought I would include this picture of Emmabelle. Today Dave was outside working on our back yard all day and I took Emmabelle out there and for the first time let her play in the dirt. She absolutely loved it. She just dug in and got nice and dirty.

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we were able to carve pumpkins as a family. Avery really got into it this year so that made it fun.

Here are the girls before we started carving.

Emmabelle enjoying the happenings.Avery digging in.Playing in the seeds. I always have to bake the seeds.Emmabelle joining in on the fun.She decides to give it a taste.Avery doing her part in the carving process. She colored all over the pumpkin.The family with the finished products. Dave's is on the left and mine on the right.

Emmabelle's Favorite Face

So I don't really know what to say about this one. I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.
Emmabelle likes to make this face alot, especially after she talks. She just sucks in that bottom lip, and her top lip sticks out like a little bird beak. It is so cute.

Kids pick up on the craziest things.

It has once again been affirmed that Avery is a little sponge. I really hate telemarketers and so I am a very big caller ID fan, and yes I screen my calls. Anyways the other afternoon the phone rang and I knew it was a telemarketer so I just hung up on them. I went back to talk to Dave in his office and as I headed back there I heard Avery's voice coming from her room where she was just waking up from her nap. I walk in and the first thing she says to me is "Mom that a telemarketer?" I had to think about what she was saying for a minute and then it clicked and I just started cracking up. No hey mom or how are you mom, just a is that a telemarketer on the phone mom. It was really cute though. After I told her yes it was a telemarketer she then said, "Mommy you don't like telemarketers?" So I took the opportunity to explain that I like the people, I just don't like what they do. You have to find every way possible to teach your children right? So you can see, Avery picks up on everything.

Emmabelle Gets Her Ears Pierced

I apologize now for all the posts. I am a little bit behind in the journaling area so just humor me. I have been meaning to get Emmabelle's ears pierced for quite some time now, but I just couldn't talk myself into taking her to Wal-Mart to get it done, so I just kept putting it off. Well I finally found a salon here in town that pierces ears. It went pretty well. She was pretty leary of the place when we got there. A lot of new people and the smell was probably unnerving, she seemed a little nervous. She was very curious when the lady went to mark her ears. It took a few minutes to get that done. Then came the gun. It was probably one of the saddest cries I have ever heard from her. It didn't last two long though just a few minutes and now she is a happy baby again. Until I have to clean and turn the earings. But that will be over in a few days and she just looks so cute.
It is hard to get a head on shot and get the earings also, but she really does look super cute with her earings. They are just a pair of silver studs.

First Fight with Cactus

So on Tuesday mornings I take the girls to the library for story time. It is just something that we do to get out of the house, and Avery really enjoys playing with the other kids. So a couple Tuesday's ago we had to share the car with Dave, we only have one car at the moment so sometimes we have to get creative. I decided that just in case he wasn't done looking at the house before we were done with story time that I would take the stroller and we would just walk home. So we were about a block away from the house and there is a house on the corner that has cactus. I new what the likely-hood of Avery getting into it would be so I made her walk on the other side of me so she wouldn't be tempted to touch it. We started turning the corner and I headed to cross the street and she was a little bit behind me and I wasn't paying attention very well because she went up and brushed her hand on one of the cactuses. I am not sure the type of cactus it was, but it almost lookes like a prickly pear cactus, but it has little fuzzy needles instead of the big long ones so of course she has all of these tiny little needles in her hand. She doesn't even realize what happend, I don't think it really hurt her, but by the time I had made a big deal of it she was in tears and whining. Luckily Dave pulled up right after it happened so he drove her home while I finished walking with Emmabelle in the stroller. This is how I found them when I got home.
The picture doesn't show it, but Avery is standing on the table. She was a good sport about it all and luckily it really didn't hurt her.

Friend Vs. Parent

So the age old question was brought up in my house today, can you be both parent and friend. If you ask Avery you can't. Avery is constantly talking about her friends. Which in her case any child that she sees is her friend. When we see them in the store or randomly on the street she says look there's my friend. Anyways, this morning at breakfast she was once again talking about her friends and asked me "Mommy are you my friend?" Of course I answered "Yes, Avery I am your friend." She quickly came back, "No you not friend you Mommy." So there you have it. You can't be both friend and Mommy. It kind of made me a little sad, but then again I guess they need to know that there is a difference to some point. Hopefully when she is a little older we will be able to revisit the issue.