The Latest with Emmabelle

So I really don't know what to say about Emmabelle's newest trick. She really isn't quite old enough for this one, but some how she figured it out and it is now her favorite thing to do when she is laying on the floor, or even the couch which we now are very careful about. At 2 1/2 months she has figured out how to roll over from her back to her front. It is actually really cute. She only rolls one way. She starts on her back and rolls herself from left to right. She still has some troubles getting her arm out from under her, but she gets over enough that she can't get back on her back so we have to help her with her arm. She really loves it though. As soon as you lay her on the floor she starts to ball up and roll. Here are some pictures of the event.

From the Back

To the Side

To the Tummy

Avery's New Bathtub

When Grandpa and Grandma Hartman were down here last time they were nice enough to bring Avery a baby pool. Unfortunatly Avery wanted nothing to do with it. You see I decided that it would be fun for Avery and I to take a Parent/Tot class together at the public pool this year. Initially thinking that it would be some good quality time for us to spend together I was all excited about it. To my dismay it didn't turn out that way at all. Avery hated it completely and it left her pretty tramatized. It was a little more agressive than I expected. We only went for one of the two weeks. We would say the word swimming and Avery would have a complete meltdown (much like the one she throws every Sunday when the closing song begins, I will explain later). Avery hasn't gotten back into a big pool ever since, but I am glad to say that she will get in and has a great time in her bathtub as she calls it. I filled it up for Marcy's birthday party and since Avery wouldn't get her swim suit on she eventually made her way in fully clothed and now I even have her back in a swim suit and sitting in the water.

I often wonder how smart I really was as a child. Avery just amazes me at how smart she really is. Avery has been in nursery now for four months and she knows when it is coming. We literally have to remove her from the chapel before the closing song is over because she knows what is next and has a complete meltdown and that involves screaming at the top of her lungs. The whole congregation is staring in our direction. It has even gotten so bad that last week we had to sit in the foyer because she started screaming as we were walking in. Dave gave her a good talking to this week so she did a little better. We were able to sit in the chapel, but we have to be careful where we sit because if we sit near her nursery leaders she gets very anxious and looks at them saying "no take you" which means don't take me. The crazy thing is once she gets there after a few minutes of crying she is perfectly fine. She loves it and has so much fun playing, and when I get to the door she says "mommy come back". That is also a phrase she says throughout the week when the subject of nursery comes up or playing comes up she gets a smile on her face and says "mommy come back", I reply by saying "yes Avery I did come back I will always come back for you".

Here are a few more pictures of the girls from the past week or so that I thought were cute. Hope you enjoy them as well.

Avery loves to hold her little sister.

She also likes to have Emmabelle sit by her.

Avery found a bandana so Dave put it on her. Poor thing it made her ears stick out even more. But she sure is cute.

Just some good smiles from Emmabelle. She is getting really good at it.

Emmabelle with her favorite rattle. And a halo compliments of her big sister. She is quite the little angel though.

Over the Weekend

Well this last weekend was a fun one for our family. I decided that it was time that I had some new clothing so we went to the valley for a big shopping trip. We left on Friday afternoon. We were able to have dinner with our good friends Scott and Stephanie Jones. They have a little boy that is a few months older than Avery. His name is Orren, but Avery calls him Orange it is rather cute. They are also expecting a new addition to their family any day. We went to the famous Joe's BBQ. It was so good to see and visit with them.

As usual we were able to stay with Dave's brother James and his family. It is so nice to be able to spend time with them. We love that Avery gets to play with her cousins. I am sure that they will grow up to be good friends. Here is a picture of all the Hartman grandkids.

So Dave and I decided or learned the hard way I should say that we will never go extensive clothes shopping as a family again. It was definately a long and challenging day. I am very surprised to say that Emmabelle was the good one. Avery was so grouchy and tired that it made things pretty difficult. All she wanted to do was go home and be in her bed. She kept telling us it was time to go home. After a full day of shopping I am sad to say that I only purchased two articles of clothing for myself. I was successful in getting Avery's shopping done, but I was pretty disapointed that I didn't achieve my full goal. Now I am bound for Tucson this next weekend to finish what I started, and Dave is staying home with the kids. But it was still nice to be able to spent some quality time with my family that I love so dearly.

A little insight to Avery.

I have decided to once again try to cut some TV time out of my life. That is one of my biggest weaknesses. I really enjoy the background noise, but I end up sitting on the couch and watching the TV instead of just listening. Anyways I needed something to fill my time so I decided to do some updating on the blog. I thought I would focus on some of the amusing things that happen that you just can't capture on film. So it will mostly consist of the quirky little things that Avery does.

I honestly don't know what we did without Avery in our lives. She is quite the little entertainer. She has more personality and spunk than she knows what to do with really. Our biggest challenge at the moment is watching what we say. It really is amazing to hear her talk. It doesn't matter what we say or how complex it is Avery will mimic it everytime, and then repeats it multiple times for emphasis. Just yesterday she had snuck into her daddy's office to see him and when I realized she was back there I went to get her and as I walked in Dave told me that she was ok. Not a second later Avery piped in I ok, I ok, I ok. She didn't want me to take her away from her dad. Now everytime I find her in there on her daddy's lap she starts saying I ok. One upside to her being a mimic is she is starting to say the blessing on the food. We are still working on it, but there is just something about your child saying the blessing for the first time that just makes you feel good.

Another thing that Avery just loves is singing. She is constantly asking us to "Sing songs me". "Daddy" (I'm so glad when Daddy comes home), "Papa" we just substitute Papa for Daddy in the song, Wheels on The Bus, Popcorn, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider, are just a few of her favorites, but I think we sing at least a dozen or so before she is satisfied. We recently bought a small stereo and put it in her room and she loves to go in there and listen to her songs, while she is jumping on her new big girl bed. That has been another big milestone for her recently. We were able to purchase a daybed and it came with a trundle so we put that in Avery's room. She loves her new bed and does such a good job at sleeping in it. We have yet to move Emmabelle in the room with her, but the crib is unoccupied so the transition should be a little easier when the time comes.

She is also quite the little priss. There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't come to me and say "Mommy I brokea my nail." So I have to get out the clippers and fix her broken nail. She is also in a nail polish kick. She loves to have her toes painted and just recently added her fingernails to the equation. Most of the time she also has to take a purse with her when we go out to the store or something. It usually just makes it to the car, but she won't leave the house without one.

This evening she did something out of the blue that just cracked me up. We were sitting on the couch and all the sudden she asked "Mommy go store me" I told her that we didn't really need to go to the store and then asked her why she wanted to go to the store? She replied "buy apple juice" The crazy thing is we really were out of apple juice. So we packed up and went to the store to get some apple juice.

Another thing that we have been attempting lately is some mild potty training. I am by no means in full potty training mode, but she is always telling me that she is either poopy or poopy which also mean wet. She hasn't quite got them distinguished in her head, but she does tell me when she is both wet and stinky. We bought a little potty for her and I guess you could say we have some good days, and then just days. I can't call them bad days, because I am not pushing the issue. When she wants to sit on the potty she tells me. Alot of times it is right after she has just gone in her diaper, but we go and sit on the potty and when she is done she gets rewarded accordingly. She is picking up on it though tonight in fact she told Dave she wanted to go to the potty and actually went in the potty. So hopefully in the near future we can be consistant and then I won't have to spend so much money on diapers. Diapers for two kids is out of control.

Well I am sure there are a lot of other quirky little things that I am leaving out, but it is getting rather late and my mind isn't functioning properly, not that it ever functions at 100%. I just hope you got a kick out of the little stories that really make my days brighter. I love Avery so much and am so grateful for her presence in my life. She really makes our home a happier and brighter place.

Emmabelle's Blessing Day

We have started a tradition in our family to bless the babies at home. We blessed Avery at home also and have just decided that we really like the closeness that comes from being with just our family. So this morning before church our family was able to get together and bless Emmabelle. Those in attendance were: Dave's parents, Dave's brother Tom, my parents, my brother Clint and his family, and my sister Lori. Dave gave the blessing. It was a very nice blessing and the spirit in the room was so strong. I know that many of our ancestors were there with us today, especially her namesake. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

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4th of July fun!!!

This 4th of July for the Hartman family was very eventful. We just partied all weekend long. Both Dave's and my parents were able to come to town for the weekend so we decided we would also bless Emmabelle.

The day of the 4th started out as every 4th should with the Gila Valley 4th of July parade. I am not sure that is its official title, but I know that all the towns are involved in it so that is what I will call it. The Hartman's and the Mortensen's got together to attend the fun event, eventhough it was stifling outside. Avery didn't have much reaction to the parade. I am not sure she really got the concept, but she did enjoy the candy that was thrown to her. After the parade we were able to get together with a few of our friends and family, it was pretty much an Animas reunion almost all of the attendees were from Animas, for a BBQ. Dave of course created a masterpiece with his brisquet. The kids and big kids (the dad's who haven't really grown up) had a nice little water fight. The kids also flew some kites, and we all had a great time visiting. Later that evening we were able to go and cool off in Clint and Nicole's pool which is a wonderful blessing. We were planning on driving out to the fair grounds to watch the fireworks, but as we were loading the car we saw in the distance that they were starting them early. Probably due to the weather. So we just pulled up some chairs outside and watched them from our front lawn. The view was great, and it was nice because they weren't so loud that they would scare the smaller kids, namely Avery. It was an awesome fireworks show. Dave thinks it is one of the best he has seen. All in all it was a great day and we were glad we were able to celebrate the birth of our nation with so many of our friends and family. Hope you enjoy the pictures from the day.

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A Trip to the Duck Ponds

The other evening we were able to take a family trip to the duck ponds. This is one of Avery's favorite outings and since my counter was being overrun by duck food we decided it was time to feed the ducks. They also have a little park there and so we usually swing for a few minutes after we are done feeding the ducks. Here are some pictures of the girls. Emmabelle was even able to swing for the first time. It was lots of fun.

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Emmabelle is 1 Month

It is so hard to believe that Emmabelle has been with us a month already. We are slowly, but surely adjusting to having a new baby in the house. Avery is doing really well with it all, I think I am the one that is having the most trouble adjusting. The lack of sleep is really getting to me and I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. It will happen though, it will just take time and diligence. I think I was in denial about how hard adding one more child to the equation would be.

Emmabelle is growing like a weed. At her one month appointment she weighed 9lbs 4 1/2oz and is now 21in long. She has also let us know that she is a picky eater. After two weeks of crying non-stop we finally decided to try formula. She was such a different baby on formula, but she still seemed so uncomfortable and still cried a lot, so the doctor gave us a new formula to try for colic babies. We were so glad when it started to make a difference. She is such a different baby on the formula, the only drawback is that it is costing us a pretty penny. I will say it is worth it though. She still has her days of crying, but they are getting farther apart.

We were able to take our first trip as a family this last weekend. My cousin Garrett got married and so we went to Snowflake to celebrate with him. It was a very enjoyable trip. Emmabelle did pretty good, nights were a little rough. Here are some pictures from the weekend. I didn't take any at the wedding, but these are from the cabin.

The first few are of us just enjoying the weather at the cabin. Grandpa Great Mortensen likes to sit outside in the sun to stay warm so we all enjoyed being visiting in teh wonderful mountain weather.

The next few pictures are of the girls with their great grandparents and then the last on is a four generations picture.

This is Avery on our way to Snowflake from Alpine. She fell asleep and I thought it was just the cutest how she was lounging in her chair.

Since it has taken me a couple of weeks to get this post finished it is a little long and I appologize, but I figure I will just say everything in one post instead of making multiple ones.

Emmabelle is now 6 weeks old and she is starting to be more aware of her surroundings. She really likes to have attention when she is awake. Oh great two attention starved kids, what will we do? She really enjoys laying on the floor and having a rattle shaken over her. She is also starting to have more facial expressions. She is trying to smile, not quite there yet, but here is a picture of an attempt to smile.

Well that is all that I can think of to update on for the moment. I will try to do better at posting more frequently.

The First Week Home

Well we have survived the first week with Emmabelle in our home. Things are going really well actually. Dave and I are taking turns getting up with her at night and that has made all the difference I think. We each get a little more sleep that way. We go to bed between 9 and 10, she wakes up between 12 and 1 and then again around 5. Most the time she will go right back to sleep but occasionally it will take a couple of hours to get her back to sleep. Those are the hard nights. She is eating very well. Dave and I both think we are going to have a chunky baby on our hands. We went to her newborn checkup on Monday and she has gained back her birth weight plus five more ounces. That is right she is now 7lbs 7oz.

Avery is adjusting pretty well. She lets us know when she isn't getting enough attention though. The hard part is that it is usually when Dave has just started holding Emmabelle or I am getting ready to feed her. Avery just doesn't want those things to happen. We work it out though. Most the time it results in Avery getting upset and deciding that she needs to go to her room and go night night. Yes that is correct she sends herself to her room. When her feelings get hurt or she gets upset she tells me she wants to go night night and I take her back to her bed. She stays in there for a few minutes until she calms down and then calls me to come and get her. At least I don't have to hear the whining and crying.

Yesterday morning she asked to hold Emmabelle which was something new. She did hold her in the hospital, but it was the first time she had actually asked to hold her. Both girls did really well. She actually held her for about 10 mins. I was very surprised. She wouldn't even let me help her so I had to prop Emmabelle up on a pillow and she just laid there while Avery held her. It was very cute. It is times like this when I know that Avery really does love her little sister, even if it is hard for her to share the attention. Here are some pictures I got of them together.

Here is a picture of the proud Daddy. He just loves both of his girls so much. I am so lucky to have such a good husband who is such an amazing Dad.

Announcing the Arrival...

The time has finally come. Emmabelle Hartman has finally made her way into the world. She decided that she wanted to give her mom the best Mother's Day ever. That is correct she was born on Mother's Day May 11, 2008 at 6:12 pm.

Sunday morning I woke up and realized that my water had broke. So after a filling breakfast Dave, Nicole (my sister-in-law) and I headed for the hospital. The morning went pretty slowly, I am postive for Group B Strep so they needed to get two doses of anitbiotics in me before the baby was born. Around 3:00 I got my epidural and at this time I was dialated to a 4. The family decided that it was time to come and visit us and bring Nicole and Dave their dinner around 4:30 or 5:00. They left around 5:30 thinking that it would be a few more hours until the baby was born since I was averaging 1cm per hour. Little did we know what was coming. When they left I was at 7cm and I just took off like a rocket. I ended up going from 7 to delivery in about 45 mins. They decided it would be a good idea to call the doctor at 9cm. He arrived at the hospital at 9 1/2cm and was barely getting his gloves on when Emmabelle decided to come out. Nicole and the nurses kept telling me to wait and hold on and wait for the next contraction. I very nicely told them that I was not waiting and that I was pushing this baby out. It took about 5 mins total from when I told them I had to push to when Emmabelle came out. It was quite a shock to everyone how fast it all came. Dave was able to cut the cord and I was able to hold her right away which was different from Avery's delivery. She was 7lbs 2oz and 19in long.

We stayed in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon. We would have been home sooner in the day, but the doctors were a little slow getting over to see us and give the discharge orders.

We are all doing very well. Avery likes her little sister most of the time. She has some trouble with Dave giving Emmabelle too much attention and has started getting a little irritated when it comes time for me to feed Emmabelle. But all in all she really is doing good at adjusting to another baby in the house. I have been amazed at how big Avery seems with Emmabelle in the house. She is still very petite, but she is most definately a little girl not a baby.
I hope you enjoy the pictures and I will continue to keep you updated as often as possible.

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Best Big Sister to Be!!!!

The past couple of days Avery has been very cute playing with her baby. Well she is always cute, but here are a few pictures of her. All of these things she has done all by herself. Well I supplied the lotion for her, but she came and asked me for it.

It is hard to tell, but here is Avery wiping her baby's bottom

Now she is attempting to put the diaper on. She had a little assistance with this.

Here is the finished product. She really likes to do cheezy smiles.

This morning she decided to lotion her baby. She came and asked me "Baby sotion Mama". That is how she says lotion.

She can't really get lotion out of the bottle, but she did a very good job of pretending. It is going to be very interesting to see how she is with her baby sister.

Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Family albums

Ready to Go

This morning Avery and I decided to do our grocery shopping. I got my purse and was ready to head out the door and I called for Avery from the other room and this is how she walked in. We had to go and show her daddy so these are the pictures he took.

Riding with Baby

The other day while I was getting ready for the day Avery came into the bathroom on her wheely bug and had her baby sitting in front of her giving her a ride. I just thought it was the cutest. Here are the pictures.

Easter 2008

Well I meant to get this blog on a little earlier, but when we got home from our Easter weekend we all ended up with a bug so it put me out of commission for a couple of days. Easter ended up being really good. The Marcel Mortensen Family has their reunion every year during Easter weekend. We usually do it up in the White mountains at Grandpa's cabin in Alpine, but this year it was moved to the Cotton City LDS Church. There ended up being 56 of us total that got together on Saturday. It was a day full of fun. The kids all flew kites, we had lots of good food, Easter eggs were hidden and found, and we also were able to have our annual talent show. Easter Sunday was also special, it turns out that the Mortensen family made up the whole sacrament meeting program. Uncle Jim and Aunt Marie both spoke, and the intermediate hymn was "Love is Spoken Here" sung by those members of the Mortensen family who were able to stay for church. All in all it was a very fun weekend. Here are some pictures of the events.

Avery's first kite flying experience. She really enjoyed it.

The Easter egg hunt.

Putting eggs in her basket.

The Easter Bunny goodies.

Avery with her cousins Marcy and Merry.

Avery in her Easter dress.

The Clinton Mortensen Family Easter 2008.

The Hartman Family Easter 2008

The Man's Project

This Easter the family has decided that they want Dave to smoke some of his amazing brisket so of course that let to the Man Project. Dave and Clint have really had a great time working together to get the new smoker ready for Easter. Here is Dave's newest love.




Clint wasn't here the day that I took the pictures, but he did his fare share of contributing. They can hardly wait to give it a test run this week sometime.