Pink and Purple?

I'm now making some slipper socks for my brother-in-law and everyone laughs because they're pink and purple. I've been trying to work out the logic for his request of pink-and-purple slippers and I figure it's either because 1) I threatened my father-in-law with pink-and-purple slippers when he asked for some and now my brother-in-law is calling my bluff OR 2) he wants them to be so girly no one will steal them (he's stationed in Afghanistan). Maybe even both. The thing is, I'm so in love with them I might be simple. I love them so much I'm thinking of making eleventythree pairs for everyone I know and myself because hey, if I love them everyone else will too, right? Er, maybe.

So here's a picture of the finished cabled booties pattern and mine so far. We loves them. (Did I mention that already?)

Emma's Sweater

Emma's sweater is done! Yay! My very first sweater is now complete and ready to be shown off. Here our lovely model runs around the house...and unlike most models she can be bribed with food! I made the sweater a bit big (size 2 yrs) so that she'll still fit into it this coming fall and winter. Right now it's a bit huge on her, but she walks around petting it while she wears it. Talk about a girl after my heart!

Details-
Pattern: Lion Brand Little Kimono
Yarn: Lorna's Laces in Happy Valley (2 hanks) - a superwash worsted weight wool
Started Sunday Feb 25 and finished Monday March 5
Modifications: I added a seed stitch around the bottom and cuffs to keep it from rolling because I really like the way the seed stitch looks with this yarn. Also, I made the sleeves a lot longer than the pattern since I hate short sleeves. I added buttons to the sides since it's easier than trying to get a toddler to hold still while you tie their sweater closed. :)

Daydreaming

Okay, it's sinking in. Or maybe that sound is actually my upstairs neighbor thumping around again during Emma's nap time. Have I mentioned before how happy I will be when we no longer live below someone who walks like a cave troll? Moving on...

I've been fantasizing about the new house (yes, the honeymoon has begun and will last until we move in) and after I saw this yesterday, I just drooled. I mean, really. I want a knitting/sewing room that looks that pretty and is that organized. I'm already rubbing my little hands together and planning it in my little head. Of course, the decor of the room will vary depending on which room I end up with since they all have a different color of carpet. Oh, did I neglect to mention that? Yes, each room of the house has a different color of new carpet. I have no idea why this bizarre decoration choice occurred but since it's all new carpet I really don't mind. Everyone else can think it looks strange, but who cares?

In my world of knitting I've been making progress on Emma's sweater...then tearing it out because that is the price you pay when you make things up and choose to modify the pattern when it's your first sweater. *sigh* Anyway, I just have one more sleeve to knit and then it all gets put together. Expect pictures of it soon!

It Begins!

So it's official! We have a signed contract on a house and let's hope everything goes smoothly. It hasn't quite hit me yet but it will soon. *phew* The process has been really drawn out up till now because we offered, they countered, we countered their counter and they finally accepted. I swear they must live in Brazil or something because they've overshot every deadline by like 5 hours. Their agent told our agent they've moved already (which would explain the lack of furniture in the house) and the nearest computer with Internet is 30 minutes away or something crazy. Can you imagine having to travel 30 minutes just to check your e-mail? *gasp* The horror!

Here's a picture of the front of the house and it has a whopping 1650 sq ft and 4 bedrooms. Perfect for when we convert to Mormonish and start our 8-child family. Ha ha ha. Not.

Anyway, wish us luck and fun!

Fuzz Junkie (or is it Junky?)

Morgan hit it right on the nose last night when he called me a "Fuzz Junkie." Probably because it was one of those quiet moments and he asked me what I was thinking about and I told him thrumming. Or maybe it was because I was so upset when someone snaked not one but two e-bay lots I was winning away from me (in the last 25 minutes!!! that snake!!) while we had friends over for dinner. Or maybe it's because I went all loopy over this lovely yarn and for the past couple days Emma has watched too much Baby Einstien so I can knit her a sweater with it. Hey, and I'm almost done, too! *phew* I would say this might be unhealthy and that I need a hobby but, wait, this is my hobby...

Also, Emma has taken to trying on all my stuff. While it will be a bit before she starts stealing my shoes, she's already working on stealing my clothes. :)

With a View

This last week has been so clear and beautiful and the weather has been warming up a bit, too. It's easy to take the mountians here for granted, especially when they're hidden by clouds and smog but this last week they're like a splash of cold water. Wow! And these were taken from the stairwell of our apartment building. :)

Of course, we're supposed to have a snow storm tomorrow, says Morgan...

Such lucky girls

Emma and I are such lucky girls. We went out yesterday evening and when we got home Morgan had already beat us there! There were roses waiting for us, red and white, along with a bottle of wine for me and a little car for Emma!! It was so sweet and we were a bit surprised how much Emma likes her new little car. She hasn't really figured out how to make it go more than a few inches but she did discover the horn. Beep beep! Look out on the sidewalks! :)

As for Morgan, we made him a card and bought him The Little Mermaid on DVD. It's his favorite Disney movie and Emma and I thought he might like it.

Valentines List

In honor of this day of mushy luvy stuff I want to present my list of (some of the very many reasons) why I love many people in my life.

1. I love Emma because she has taught me just how unselfish I can be.
2. I love Morgan because he gave me Emma.
3. I love Emma because every day I have the chance to model the behavior I want to see her take into the world.
4. I love Morgan because he has helped me be a better person.
5. I love Morgan because he has always been supportive of me in my education and all other insane pursuits I dream up that bring me happiness.
6. I love Emma because she is my child and at once she is so different but so familiar to me.
7. I love my brother because he has never said, "I told you so!" even though there have been ample opportunities to do so and he has been right 96% of the time...maybe more but we don't want him to get big-headed. *wink*
8. I love my in-laws (yes, ALL OF THEM!) because even though someone once told me you can't join a family like you join the army, boy was she wrong because I signed up and I'm lucky to be a part of something I can't lose no matter how much they want to lock me in a closet.
9. And last, but never least, I love the family I was born with because coming to see them is like I've never been away. Kaydee told me that's just what family is.

And if you're not on this list it doesn't mean I don't love you. :) It just means I need to get off the computer sometime today.

Happy Valentines Day

Emma got all dressed up just to say, "Happy Valentines Day!"

Does anyone else think this first picture of Emma looks a lot like Jeannie?

Emma pictures

And now the real reason anyone checks this blog: cute pictures of Emma.

Knitting Projects

So I thought I'd post some of my recent knitting projects just for fun. There's a pink hearts scarf made from baby alpaca (soooo soft!) for my Grandma, a pair of felted ballet slippers, the hat I was talking about before (Morgan thinks it's strange but I think it's cute) and my father-in-law trying on the new slippers I made him. :)

Bath time blues?

Something funny: Emma went from being fine with water and swimming pools to needing to take a shower with me being held ONLY. Seriously, this girl would scream like she was being murdered if you tried to put her in a tub for a bath even if you tried to be in the bath with her. On Thursday something changed and I have no idea why. I decided to take a bath to help my cold and Emma became fascinated with the tub and water until she insisted on coming in. She even tried to climb into the tub on her own. After she was in she had a splashin good time and cried when I took her out. Strange. What made her go from hating baths with a passion to suddenly loving the splishy splash of the tub?

How?

I have no idea how this is possible, but Emma recovered from her little sniffle on Wednesday while Morgan and I managed to become sicker. I mean, hey, no more snotty nosed kid but now both parents are beat because we're so stuffed up we can't sleep. Oh, the irony.

In the meantime Emma has been exploring her vertical. Yesterday morning I was knitting while Emma played when suddenly I hear the clickty-clack of computer keys! Little girl had climbed onto the desk chair and was standing while typing on the computer. !!!! Insane. Next she climbed into the second shelf of her changing table after she took both baskets off the shelf. Then this morning I was talking with Morgan and I turn around to find her sitting on the dining room table. *gasp* What happened? When did my baby become a monkey that climbs everything?

Today's List

My list of things I like and don't like today:

Of course, there is this small dilemma. Do I start with the good or the bad or mix them? Since I hate ending a post on a bad note I'll start with them.

I do NOT like:

1. Snotty noses on kids...or anyone else for that matter. I don't know if Emma has a little cold since I have a little cold, too, or if her pet allergies are getting worse, but her nose runs like a faucet and of course, like all little kids, she hates having her nose wiped. (How was that for a run-on sentence?) *sigh* I knew this was coming since the day I was pregnant but the whole snotty nosed kid thing just makes me recoil in horror. Always has.

2. The search for the next house. I know I should be jumping up and down in joy to have a home instead of this apartment but I'm not. In all honesty I really don't hate this apartment, I just wish it were a little bigger. The house hunt is just begining and I want to shove my head under my pillow and stay there. It's such a pain to work at house hunting when Emma has her own ideas about what times are acceptable and will loudly protest in the car for the whole 60-plus mile round trip if I don't take her schedule into consideration. It feels like it is all on my shoulders to find the house because 1. Morgan needs to spend his time working to feed us and 2. we have very different ideas about what kind of house is acceptable to live in.

Now, onto the good stuff. I LOVE:

3. This yarn I bought on e-bay a few months ago and I've been scratching my head over it since trying to think of what to make of it. Finally, my endless Internet searching for new patterns to knit revealed this pattern. I am currently knitting it up into the most gorgeous hat the world has seen...and yes, there will be pictures posted when I finish it. :)

4. I love that Emma loves books. Little girl will drag her books all over the house, read them to herself, read them to me and, best of all, come sit in my lap when she wants me to read to her. There is no bribing or begging like there is when I want kisses or hugs, just her coming up and plopping her little self in my lap to be read book after book after book. I am so happy that she is fascinated by books and I can only hope it's a habit she will keep. Talk about making a mama proud.

So, I'm off. Miss me!

No Board

So I've decided that it's a bit silly to try to scramble and do all the fun things you could possibly do just because you can. (Did that actually flow and make sense? It's late and I'm getting ready for bed.) I think I'll just be lazy and sit around instead of going snowboarding. Of course, by being lazy I mean I spent the day cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, doing laundry and going out to dinner with a friend. Boy, you should see me on a busy day! *wink and a laugh*

I think I might get that from my father, he always seemed to have to do something...and the clean freak part I'm sure I got from my mother. My Dad was funny because no matter how early I called he was always awake. Seriously. I tried it once at 6:15 and he was up and on his second cup of coffee or something. I used to think it was because old people don't need as much sleep as us young pups, but now I think it may have been some form of hyperactivity that's genetic so you just can't sit still. I know Emma has it. Anyway, off to bed with me. That will be all.

To board or not to board?

Morgan and Emma went a-travelin' today to Colorado Springs, CO. That means I am all on my onesome and trying to decide what to do with myself. Part of me is seriously considering going snowboarding on Sunday. I mean, it's been years since the one time I went before and when else am I going to have the chance? On the other hand, I'm really lazy. We'll see.

Home Sweet Home

So what makes a place home? I mean, people you love to start, but what about beyond that? I don't feel like this is home, it's just a lily pad floating in the middle of the pond. There's nothing connecting about this place. I'm feeling really homesick this morning. I'm missing the library being two blocks away, the tree-lined streets that were great for a walk and the park that was a nice stroll away. I miss the grocery store being two blocks away so I could walk out to get that gallon of milk. I miss my friends and my father so much. Sorry this is such a depressing post.

Travelin' Pants

Good news, at least for me. Morgan is taking Emma to Colorado with him this weekend which means I'm home alone!! Trust me, I'll miss them, but it'll only be 48 hours. Two whole days of sleeping in, working out at will and generally being lazy and free. *sigh* I love my life but I really enjoy time to myself, too. I may even go see a movie or two at the dollar theatre, I might have time for a long, hot bath. I could go shopping and take as long as I want. I'm getting giddy from the excitement. :)

Quick like a tiger!

So the house didn't pan out. Just after I strapped Emma into the car the agent calls and lets us know (she just got word) the house went under contract. Small consolation: the house needed a lot of work on the outside. Actually, that does make me feel better though I'm not really crushed about it. What will be, will be. There is a house out there for us and when the time comes we will move quickly and pounce like a tiger. Rarrrr! :)

Pardon the growling, we're watching Beauty and the Beast this afternoon. hehehehe...

Tupperware as Hats...

Today has been awesome. I got to sleep in until 9:00 am (don't laugh, that really is sleeping in) and when I woke up Morgan had just finished making pancakes and tea. After a wonderful breakfast, he cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes. *sigh* It was like being on vacation at home.

Then Emma took a three hour nap. *double sigh*

Does life get any better? Oh, actually it might. On either Monday or Tuesday we're going to go peek at a house. It's a bit early to be looking but it has an oversized two car garage and it might be something we could swing if it's the perfect house for us. Cross your fingers for us and we'll keep you posted. :)

Death and Taxes

I just finished doing our Federal and (two) State income taxes and Emma just learned some new swear words. Only took me 3 hours. Bah humbug! The state ones piss me off to no end. We had to pay Colorado state income taxes for half the year (even though we never lived there) and Utah state income taxes for the other half. What really gets me is that they don't say, "Okay, you made X amount of money here so pay us taxes on that part." Oh no! They say, "Tell us how much you made total this year, calculate how much state tax you would pay on the entire amount and then just pay us part of that." Essentially, they make sure they can figure your tax amount on how much money you made in another state (or if I was working, how much I made, too even when I never worked in Colorado) and then have you pay them a portion of that amount. Colorado gets money from what Morgan made in Utah and Utah gets money from what Morgan made in Colorado. How friggin stupid is that!!!!!

Anyway, if you're totally lost now...forget it. Just know they're the two things you can't aviod: Death and Taxes!

I did it!!!

I did it! I finished my first ever sock!! In a record 3 1/2 days I might add. Boy do I feel cool. Yeah, that's it, I'm cool cause I can knit my own socks for twice the price you paid to buy yours. Uh huh. Anyway, don't pelt me with logic or how incredibly old I feel for actually knitting at all but let me bask in this one small thing. *sigh*

Loooooong time

So it's been waaaaay to long. We are all well, no serious illness has kept me from blogging or anything like that. You can all breathe a deep sigh of relief now.

A few things to note:

1. A world without naps is not pretty. Emma's been fighting her naps and missed her afternoon one today. Heaven help you if you cross this toddler when she is overdue for some sleep. Oh, and she figured out if you push the red button on the car keys everyone goes crazy.

2. The floors are not made of concrete! I can't tell you how many times I want to go upstairs and ask that guy if he is training for the bowling Olympics or why he needs to vacume after 9 pm. I cannot wait until we have a home of our own again. :P

3. I miss my husband. When he finally called to tell me he was coming home I asked him if he'd rather just find a cot down there because all he ever comes home for is sleep, or so it seems. I know, I know, he loves his job and he's working hard to support us, but why can't he call it quits at the end of the day and just come home like all the other techs?!?! *deep breath* Okay, now I feel mean but purged.

4. Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips ruin diets. That's all I have to say.

Forgive Me, For I Have Not Blogged...

...in quite a while. I know I said that with a lovely new computer at home I would Blog more to keep you lovely people (who bother to read this) up to date. :::flashed a big smile at my sweetie::: And he made it so...but I have failed along the way. Forgive me, I will be better. At least, I'll try.

So in November Emma and I were once again a traveling pair. Our stop in Cheyenne was brief and good but not filled with much sleep. Emma was teething badly and hit a temp of 102 degrees sending her poor mama into a panic. It was only with the calm voice of her Grandma Bea (a nurse for many years and mother of four that all lived through teething just fine) that we all made it through without me running her to the hospital in a panic. *phew*

After being home for a whopping 24 hours the entire family went down to Las Vegas, NM for some heavy gambling and hard drinking...just kidding! Just outside of Vegas we actually met up with Nana and Grandpa Roger for a few days of visiting, some amateur poker playing at the kitchen table and turkey eating (thanks to Joyce and Jerry for having us). It was really nice to see them and learn that Morgan and I aren't half bad at playing Texas Hold'em. We just won't test that in Vegas for real money. :)

In the meantime, it's been Christmas parties for Emma and for us. Oh, and we got our Holiday Pictures taken, too. Aren't they adorable? Enjoy!

So little time

First, an annoucement: Emma and I (Lisa, of course) will be in Cheyenne the 16th through the 21st visiting my stepmom, Bea. If you would like to get together and visit you can give me a call since I still have the same Wyo number or e-mail/write a comment with your number. I'll delete your comment soon after if you post your phone number so it's not floating in cyberspace. Now I feel like a secret agent giving instrucions for a dead-drop... Anyway...

Thanksgiving is quickly coming and that means Christmas is soon on it's heels. I realized this on Sat when Janelle and I went to a craft show with Emma and all the Christmas stuff was out. "Holy Cow!" says I, "There's so much knitting left to do!" This year I'm trying to knit most of my gifts and I'm doing alright, but I keep coming up with more projects and more people I want to give gifts to and it's getting a little scary. This morning Morgan eyed me and said, "Sweetie, I think you should just stick with trying to finish what you have. You'll be lucky to do that," when I showed him my newest cool project/gift idea. Doubting Thomas. I will finish them all!!! Hahahah!

Is anyone out there?

Seriously, does anyone even read this besides me? Am I simply typing into the abyss of the internet in vain hope of commual adoration of my lovely daughter? I mean, really.

Anyway, here's hoping.

Last Saturday and Tuesday Emma and I (and later Morgan, too) went up to Park City, UT to visit ::::drumroll please:::: my high school English and Geography teachers. Gary and Sherrie are married and such wonderful people that I feel so lucky to have kept in touch all these years. :) They both just retired and have been relaxing by hopping all over the country, and they decided the mountians sounded like fun. Lucky for us, we were able to meet up and explore the old town of Park City and share some great company and excellent food.

Next I was able to have a girl's night out at Angel's house with a bunch of other mommies and it was soooo much fun. We at fattening treats (love that Artichoke dip!) and had too much to drink. Thankfully, I was able to hitch a ride home with Kim. Hehehehe. I just remember showing off my painted toes at one point so I know I had a bit much of the strong stuff.... *blush* Ah well, this is as wild as I get these days so watch out!

Bit by bit we're making friends and settling in here and I'm starting to enjoy my small circle of friends. How long does it take before a new place feels like home? Do we ever stop missing the places and people we left behind? ::::stop and look up with a Doogie-Houser/Carrie-Bradshaw-like pause:::: Okay, now I can't finish with anything semi-deep or it'll just sound sappy. Bye for now!

Lions and TIGERS and Bears, Oh My!

Miss Emma went a partyin' with all the other babies and she went as a tiger! Oh My! But she wasn't the only tiger at the party. And she discovered if she's quick enough she can steal rice crispy treats right off Mama's plate. Who knew tigers ate rice crispys?

Cutie Pie

We just got some pictures of Emma developed and she is such a little cutie pie...even though she's standing next to me screaming right now. Enjoy!

Cranky Pants

Emma has been little Miss Cranky Pants lately when it comes to letting anyone feed her and I figured out why this morning. Kiddo has not one, not two, but THREE teeth working their way out. One of her top front teeth is 85% in but the two teeth to either side of the front ones are also coming in. I would be crabby, too!

Last week I decided to let her try to feed herself...yogurt. What a mess but cute so hence the messy pics. Mostly I think she used it as finger paint.

Also, we have a new record for how many steps she's taken: six. My baby girl is no longer such a baby. *sniff*

She took her first step!

Emma took her first step on Sunday when we were playing with her and since then she's been going like crazy. Just this morning she took four steps in a row!! Wow, how our baby has grown. It seems like just yesterday she was so tiny and look at her now. Next she's going to want to drive.

Also, we bought her Halloween costume today and she's going to be a Tiger!! Sooo cute. :) Lisa is going to be, you guessed it, a witch. Hehehehehe. I'm sure you're all shocked. Morgan is undecided, big surprise. :*

We finally found her little Touch & Cuddle Hedgehog by Fisher Price at the oddest place - K-Mart. The entire family has seriously been hunting for this toy since I saw it in Parents Magazine last November. 11 months later... Geez! The good news is she loves it. The nose sqeaks and it's so bright and soft. :D Spoiled baby.

Off and Running

Life is calming down a bit and Emma and I are getting a bit more settled in Salt Lake City. This morning we went to a playgroup with other mommies and babies and it was a lot of fun but very noisy! Poor Emma felt a little picked on as she got hit in the head by a flying ball (I'm still amazed a what a great shot that was by the other little girl! Right in the front of the noggin!) and then a little boy wanted to play with her ponytail and grabbed her hair. Poor baby! Other than that she had a good time and had to tell me all about it on the way home.

Yesterday we all went hiking up Big Cottonwood Canyon up by Brighton Ski Resort. We were looking for the trail that would take us to Lake Mary and just kinda ended up in an aspen grove somewhere... Hahaha Either way, we had a good time and Emma loved riding in her Kelty backpack. Thanks Matt! :)

In more good news, Morgan's grandmother is coming home from the hospital today. She was in pretty bad shape for a bit and they thought they were going to do surgery to repair her damaged artery (high blood pressure gone unchecked for several years). We're all very glad to know she's headed home and will keep her in our thoughts.

My father passed away

My father, David Troyanek, passed away on Friday afternoon. He was fighting and losing to ALS and thankfully he was spared the worst of what lay ahead. We are greatful that he went quickly and peacefully. His memorial will be on Wed. and I saw him this morning at the funeral home. We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers and kind memories at this time. He was well loved and will be missed by all of us.

I keep getting e-mails with everyone asking how Morgan's new job is going and I realized I might have forgotten to post about it. *blush*

He's really keeping busy at BMW of Murray (the same place he worked three years ago) and it's a nice change. More work equals more money and we can always use that. They are so busy they're even thinking about putting the techs on in shifts (three 13 hour days on and four days off) to get all the work done. Appointments are being scheduled for five weeks out right now and it's nuts! The new building is going up in Pleasant Grove, just a bit south of Salt Lake City, and being built as we speak. I think they're going to have it open in Oct/Nov and they want Morgan to work down there.

Right now we're renting an apartment in Sandy so we're almost halfway between the two workplaces. In about a year we'll know for sure which shop he'll be in and look at buying a house probably. All in all, things are going well for us in Utah. At some point, when I can bear to leave Miss Emma with someone else, I'll look at trying to find some work teaching at one of the community colleges but I haven't really decided when that will be.

Our house in Cheyenne is scheduled to close on the 14th of July and I'm counting down the days. The people who are buying it are being such pains in the tushie that Morgan and I are getting ready to pull our hair out. First it was having to do a home warranty, paint the garage and parts of the house, come back and clean more stuff and now, get this, they're complaining about the ants in the back yard and (she says) the basement. *rolling my eyes* Please. I've never seen ants in the basement, at least not more than the occasional one. Anyway, Dad's our realtor and being so patient about it all. It'll all happen just fine but until then they're just being pains.

Time Together

This morning Emma and I are going to music time at the library and I think she'll really enjoy it since she seems to like music so much. It's been a pretty crazy week and we could use a little fun time together. Here's a picture of her and me at Liz's graduation in May. Such a cutie!

Fun Times

On our recent trip to New Mexico Emma had a lot of fun playing with her Grandpa O. Just look at that silly smile!

Alive and Well, Happy Fourth!

Hi, it's Lisa.

We're all alive and well now in Salt Lake City (Sandy, actually) getting settled in. So far we've been visiting some old haunts, finding new ones and unpacking. With Miss Emma going to bed at 7:30 there hasn't been much time during the week for wild times but our first weekend we went hiking with the dogs. This past weekend we had to come back to Cheyenne to get the last of our stuff from the house and paint the house, too. Fun fun! Of course, we know Morgan and power tools so he thought the paint sprayer was pretty cool and I'm just thankful he didn't try to paint more than the house. *phew* Though we do have some odd blue leaves in random places thanks to Brian. hhmmmm...

This week I'm actually in Cheyenne with Emma and Dad since Bea's mother passed away and she needed to go back to Iowa. Dad just isn't doing well and I'm glad we have time to spend together and that I can be here to help him. For those of you that don't know, my Dad has been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gereg's Disease (spelling??)) and each day is a little harder than the one before.

Tonight we watched the fireworks from the front porch but it was so gusty and chilly Dad went to bed before they were over and I got a nasty headache from the wind blowing in my ears. Eeack. Anyway, I really should be off to bed, just wanted to catch ya all up on what's been going on in our world. :)

Run Away!

So we're going to run away for a while. Too bad we'll have to come back to pack the house into a U-Haul. :P Tomorrow we head out to go to New Mexico for about a week and then come back for a day, load up the house and then drive to Salt Lake City. I'm trying to look at this as one big happy, fun road trip but man, it's gonna be rough. Wish us luck and happy trails!

Good News

We have some great news! We found an awesome apartment in Sandy, just a bit south of SLC that will let us keep both dogs and the cat...oh, and the baby, too. ;) It's such a relief to have that part all taken care of.

Emma apparently had a great time visiting her family in Colorado Springs. She smiled and laughed and told us all about it. The only bad part was her poor Auntie got sick right before Emma came home. At least Emma has decided to sleep through the night now so there is a break from the never-ending action. I swear that kid must chug coffee when I'm not looking. She's working real hard on trying to crawl and it'll be any day now, heaven help me. By the way she's been eating I'm sure she's hitting a growth spurt, too. She's just growing up too fast!!!

Rollin Rollin Rollin...

Recently Emma has discovered she has toes and can roll over. Since then there's just been no stopping her. Crazy kid loves to roll over onto her tummy now and like to sleep with her face planted in the mattress. Horrifying to her mama!

So tomorrow we (Emma and I) hit the road to go meet up with her Auntie and cousin so they can play for the weekend while Morgan and I go scout an apartment in Salt Lake City. We need to find a place and hopefully we'll sign a lease to get that all taken care of. The hardest thing is going to be finding the right place for the right price since the house here isn't sold or under contract yet. Translation: we're going to be paying for a house here and an apartment there but we have a baby, a cat and one dog coming with us.

Yes, sadly, Johnny will be looking for a new home and it breaks our hearts but he keeps almost stepping on Emma just because he doesn't pay any attention. That and he's a big dog and it'll be hard to walk both of the dogs while I'm carting around Emma at the same time. *sigh* Does it get easier someday? Life in general that is....

So from here on out it's gonna be pretty hairy. We travel this weekend and then after the 8th we'll pretty much be on the road until the 18th. Yuck.

Sock Hop

Liz and I put socks on Emma today and she just went wild! Big Smiles!

Moving

Also, we just recently came to the conclusion that we're going to be moving back to Salt Lake City, UT.

(Quick catch-up: We have our house on the market and were planning to move down to Loveland, CO to be closer to Morgan's work but since we're moving we thought about moving back to SLC. We went back to visit when Emma was about 6 weeks but decided it would be too expensive.)

We thought the SLC option was probably dead but Morgan's old boss called him last week with a firm offer. It turns out he can almost double his hours out there meaning a lot more money for us so it wouldn't be too expensive and we could actually start getting ahead. I might even be able to have health insurance again! Woo hoo!

So as soon as the house sells we'll be moving back to Utah. The only down-side is that the school systems in Utah are not so hot because there are way too many kids for the population...I wonder why...

Maybe she's teething...

Disclaimer: Emma is an awesome baby 98% of the time and not really a crier but...

I swear, some mornings she just wants to make me crazy! At 4:30 am she started her newest trick: cry like she's hungry but scream when I try to give her the bottle and after crying about it for 5-30 minutes, finally take the bottle and calm down. It makes my hair stand on end and my eyes cross.

But here's the real kicker. At 6:10 when she finally ate and then Daddy picked her up, she looks over at me and SMILES! Like she's saying, "Ha Ha Ha, I win!"

And we all can guess there's no going back to bed after an hour and a half of baby wrangling. Anyway, here's a picture of Emma at 6 weeks when she was having a screamin day so I gave her a mohawk and a pacifier just to make myself laugh.

Long Time...

Okay, due to technical difficulties I haven't been able to post on the blog in a looooong time. Very sorry, and hopefully I've found a new place to start posting on the blog (look out Perkins, here I come!) so there should be more updates.

New Suff:
Emma now smiles and even laughes. Her favorite game is to make big smiles at me at 4:30 in the morning hoping that I will pick her up and play with her since SHE is wide awake...even though mama is not. I have to admit, it's really hard to resist baby smiles and squirms. I think I might be a sucker.

If you play with her feet or tickle her sides when she's excited Emma will laugh these little "hhh hhh hhhh" noises and sometimes giggle. Man, is she cute.

She can now hold her head up pretty well and is almost ready to roll over. Those hands are really starting to get used now as teethers and as she's grabbing at her bottle.

It's so amazing to watch her grow everyday and develop. Pictures are forthcoming... :)