Conference Center

A couple of weeks ago we went to Salt Lake and went to dinner and the conference center. Jared had bought a $30 groupon to Wingers for $10 that was expiring. We decided to go on a Tuesday and use it and then get a tour of the conference center from the Hobbs in our ward. I'm so glad we went! It was a lot of fun and Emery loved seeing pictures of "Je-je" (Jesus), "Oni" (Moroni), and "Gapa" (President Monson).  Sister Hobbs loved showing Emery off to the other missionaries and telling them how Emery is her favorite little girl at church. 

Enjoy the Journey.

We [heart] the Coach

The daddy at our house is a fabulous basketball coach and we love going to watch his games, and Kayden play too!

And everyone loves Emery and tells us how cute she is! 

Enjoy the Journey.

Cell Phone Update

Sorry for the low quality... here are some pictures from our life from the month of January.

Chip Beef Gravy is always a fav!

Anyone need a dryer sheet?

Old.

Always a comfortable way to color.

This girlie loves to watch her "birth" video.

She put herself to sleep on the step.

Ready to go! 

We were at JCPenny's and Emery was a mess. Jared wasn't inside yet and a lady offered us her cart. She said she was about to leave and knew how it was to shop with a toddler. It made my day! 

Flashback to when I was little... hiding and getting into mom's craft stuff!

Rockin' the headwrap!

My name is Kara and I hoard lace....

This girlie posts at the window several times a week waiting for her daddy to come home... sometimes 3 hours before he will even be home, so I have to distract her and get her busy doing other things.

The day after the SF game she was still in her jersey, and then only wanted to wear her Sunday shoes. She kills me sometimes.

These two are my favorite.

And some days.... she's really ready when nap time rolls around.

Enjoy the Journey.

Dear Girlie,

Girlie, you've been growing up so much lately. Every day I am amazed by the things you are learning and teaching me at the same time.

Last week I smashed my finger in your closet door while I was trying to get clothes out for you. I was slightly crying while I was getting you dressed and you were so concerned. I would barely get something done, such as putting one leg in your pants, and you would stand up and wrap your arms around me and give me a big squeeze. You did this several times because you were so concerned about me and why I was crying.

Next, you haven't had diapers for a whole week! I'm so proud of you sweet girl! You are so good about telling us when you need to go potty and not having any accidents. We've been leaving your bedroom and our bedroom doors open so that we know when your'e awake. This week I took a couple of naps and you would just walk in and find me sleeping on my bed and say "hi." It was so cute!

Lately, you've also thrown a few fits I can't get you calmed down for almost anything. You seem to get frustrated because you can't tell me what you want and it irritates you. I have learned that if I stop and hold you tight and start singing "I am a Child of God" then you calm down and melt in my arms.

Sweet girl, you make me so happy. I love being your mom and am so glad that I get to stay home with you everyday and teach you and even more, learn from you. Thank you for your patience with me, and for the smiles, hugs, kisses, and laughs everyday.

Love,

Mom

Enjoy the Journey.

[For the Love] of P Words: Panties, Planking, and Piggy Tails.

The girlie is officially potty trained! It took a few days, but she's rocking it! She thinks she's hot stuff in her panties too!

Below is what I shared with friends on facebook when they asked how I did it so fast/young.

Emery has been going on the toilet since she was 12 mo.
I noticed, or finally put thought to something that had been happening for a while, she had been waking up dry in the morning and after naps, so I'd hurry and take her and she'd go on the toilet.
We bought the kind of seat that goes on the toilet (I think it was like $12 at Walmart), because I didn't want the potty that would take up lots of space, and she was TERRIFIED (at that point) of just sitting on the toilet (like we'd try to hold her on and she would cry and scream).
On the 11th we were at Walmart and I decided to buy her panties. We came home and I put them on over her diaper and she thought she was the coolest ever. We told people to have her show them her panties and she'd get so excited. 
She wore them over her diaper all weekend then last Monday I let her wear them without the diaper. I took her about every 2 hours and she had a couple accidents, but I would show her her wet panties and say "uh oh" and she would repeat it and sit on the potty anyways (and just a bit longer than normal so I could be sure her bladder was empty, sometimes she'd go and sometimes she wouldn't).
She'd try to say "potty" but it also sounded similar to "bye bye" so sometimes we'd take her and she wouldn't do anything because we misunderstood her. After a few accidents she started crossing her legs, holding herself and saying "uh oh" but she would be dry. That was her telling me she needed to go.
We've gone 6.5 days with no accidents now.
I've been putting a diaper on her while she sleeps, and if we're out, but she's been holding it and is still dry every time. I think we're literally 6.5 days with the same diaper. 
We also made a really big deal out of it every time she went, doing high-5's and fist bumps and she'd smile and get so excited.

We've been doing a couple "30 Day Challenges" and Emery tries to help us. In these pictures she is trying to plank with her Daa-ee.

Side note: this belt was a fashion statement for a week... with everything she wore.

And the other day I put pig tails in her hair. They looked adorable, but grew her up toooooo much, especially since it was during potty training week!

This girl is simply my favorite. I'm so glad I get to be her mom.

Enjoy the Journey.

Grand Central Station Part I

The day after Christmas my mom came down for a funeral and we ended up having a wedding to go to too! We went to Valerie's dad's funeral and came home and received a call from Pauline that her cancellation came through and we were invited to attend her sealing in the Jordan River temple on Saturday! Jared and I did videography and it was so fun! 

Her Temple Video

Her Luncheon Video

Saturday night Carrie came over and Felicia, Michael and Alex got to our house to spend the night on their way home from Nevada. It was so fun to get to see both of them! (Look at them all cute in their cardigans and after being at a wedding in heels all afternoon all I wanted was yoga pants and a hoodie!)

Sunday morning my mom headed back home and Felicia, Michael and Alex staying until about 1. Julisa came over and then Kyle came and picked her up for church. Our house was quiet for a bit so we enjoyed time as a family. (We stayed home from church because I woke up not feeing well).

Enjoy the Journey.

Grand Central Station {A short Break}

After a few hours of naps, Bethany stopped by to pick up her make-up that we found under Jared's bed while we were in Idaho. She had lost it over Thanksgiving. She hung out, we had home-made pizza and then I got a phone call. It was my Aunt Sylvia and she was asking if she could come visit. She'd been here for 9 days and was flying out the next morning. Turns out she'd been staying 2 blocks from us! It was fun to see her and meet her new husband. He was one of the kindest men I've ever met! 

They brought in their little dog and had it do a few tricks for Emery and she was so happy! She LOVED him! They left and we played for about an hour as a family.

She was tying daddy up!

We built a fort and played in it.

After about an hour there was a knock on our door and it was our old nextdoor neighbor (they moved right before Thanksgiving about 15 min away). She had a trifle and said that she wanted to share because they had way too much and needed to get rid of some! 

Enjoy the Journey.

Grand Central Station Part II

While I was getting out trifle Jared's parents got to our house. 

Julisa helped by cutting Jared's hair. She said she needed to learn. :)

We went to Midway for the day on New Years Eve. We stopped by Krispy Kreme on the way there.

We didn't look at times for when places opened so we got there and all of the places we wanted to go to were closed. We went to the thrift store, grabbed lunch and checked out the crater, an ice sculpture, another little cute store, ice skated, and looked at the ice castle from the outside. It was a fun day and we were all exhausted!

It was fun we were all able to ride in the same car since we have the third row in the Rendezvous. That night Julie, Jill, and Kayden came over for pizza, games and laughs. It was a ton of fun!

Enjoy the Journey.