The Light of My Life and Bane of My Existence

Oh, Emmett. My sweet middle child. He is going through that really cute stage right now where he is learning to talk, smiles all the time, and does hilarious things. But he drives me nuts too. He is a little monkey, constantly climbing on the tables, couches, cupboards, beds, dressers, or anything else he can find. He loves his baby brother, Roland, just a little too much and will not leave him alone. But he seems to favor Roley's bouncer and swing just a little more. Emmett has already broken one swing and I can not keep him off the new one. If Roland isn't sitting in them, they have to be locked up in his room. But Emmett also gives the best hugs and can say, "Love you, Mama!" Who can resist that sweet face and mischevious, gap-toothed grin?

Shower for One, Please

Today I took my first shower while home alone with the three boys. Although maybe alone is a relative word here. I waited until I thought Roland was asleep in his room, where the boys couldn't get to him. And then I debated locking myself in, or leaving all my doors open. Alden & Emmett were playing outside, but the time before they need some kind of adult help or comfort is always short-lived. And I figured it was better for Emmett to be in bothering me than getting into things I can't see, or being stomped on by Alden. My private showered lasted two or three minutes before I had all sorts of company. I was very quick, but spent the first half trying to keep Emmy from joining me - he loves showering with Dad. Luckily he found my stash of bobby pins and played happily on the floor the rest of the time. And naturally Roland was crying by the time I got out - but still had to get dressed and complete at least part of my beauty routine. Somehow I am more motivated now to take my showers at night while Aaron is home.

Catching Up With Some Pictures

I haven't been posting much here because every day tends to just run together when you have a newborn. I just try to get through everything and still manage to enjoy some of the time with my husband and three boys. Thought I'd post some pictures of any happenings over the last few weeks.

We had most of Aaron's family over to watch the Super Bowl. It was lots of fun, even for those not as interested in the game. The Bairns generously provided dinner for everyone before the game, and then brought the entertainment - Baby Jaycee! Emmett is completely taken with his cousin and often asks for her by name. He loves to hold her and this Sunday tried to imitate Mom by carrying her in the Snugli - luckily Uncle Stephen was around to help out.

The boys ask to hold Baby Roley often - they only last about 15 seconds though. Good thing Auntie Mette could hold Roland for hours, which she has often, giving me a break. She even gave him a bath one day.

Last Saturday we had Blasnek & Rhoton visitors. Abby & Brooklynn were excited to meet their new cousin and even held him for a bit longer than my boys have. Ma'am and Grampa are tired out from all the babysitting they've been doing lately.

Does it seem like Nana and Baby Jaycee are here a lot? They are - and Candice too, of course. I'm so glad they will all grow up together.

He's Baaack!

Emmett, the elephant baby, is back. He went up to the mountains with his Nana & Auntie Mette on Wednesday, to spend the weekend. And apparently on Sat. he started breaking out in spots/hives. And then his feet started swelling up. So they decided to bring him home Sun. after church, rather than wait for Monday afternoon. They called from Payson and said he was getting worse quickly and that we needed to be ready to take him straight to urgent care. He looked awful and was so pitiful with his crying and scratching. He couldn't even stand or walk because his little feet were so swollen. My Dad came over and he and Aaron gave him a quick blessing before we headed out. Oh, that was after switching cars since mine wouldn't start unexplicably. (Just a dead battery, we had it jumped later.)

After waiting forever at urgent care, as I'm sure you've experienced, the doctor examined him and pronouced him to have Erythema Multiforme, which is the same thing he was diagnosed with last February. And since he's been on amoxycillin the last 10 days for his ear infection, just like last time, we're gonna go ahead and conclude he's allergic to it. But what I want to know is, what about all those times he broke out in hives between rounds of amoxycillin? And I say hives because when the dermatologist biopsied Emmett's little tummy, we were told they were hives. Apparently from here we can go to a pediatric dermatologist, an allergist, or an immunologist. Gee, I can't wait.

Family Journal

A big reason we started this blog was to keep a family journal of our daily lives and happenings. I often feel the guilt of not working on my family history and decided that this was one way I could do my part. And although I was inconsistent through 2007, I still managed to record more than I ever had before and was happy. But I worried about the electronic format. Would it save forever for posterity? And then I discovered blurb.com.


They were listed in one of my magazines, probably Domino or Lucky, as a place to print cheap and nice photo books. I know Shutterfly, Snapfish, and other such sites do books like this and I ordered one last year. I was disappointed. I actually think I got it from , maybe the other sites do better work. So I was wary about spending money on another one, but really wanted to find someone who did great work - for a reasonable price. And when I checked out blurb's website I realized they more than those photo sites. They are more of a publish-you-own book kind of place. They do photo books, portfolios, wedding books, cookbooks, and ... BLOG BOOKS.


Blurb actually has free software that allows you to "slurp" all the posts, including pictures, from your blog and automatically format them into a book. And then they give you a lot of editing tools to fix them up to your liking before publishing. I was fairly impressed with the range of layout and editing options - I couldn't do everything I wanted, but for free software they are thorough. And then they publish the book for you - even giving you the option to sell copies to others. They have an online bookstore. I'm sure I'll make millions. But after ordering my one copy - I waited anxiously to judge the final product. When it came yesterday Aaron and I anxiously ripped open the package and looked through the book together. Success! We love it. We ordered a hardback with a paper dust jacket (customized) and I am so pleased with the product. I kept most of my pictures small - I do have our family photo album too - and let the journal entries take center stage. I will definitely do this every year. Finally I can check off "keep a journal" from my life's goals.

What a Face!

Trip to the Train Park

More Pics And Visitors

Because we love and adore this baby... we (I) can't stop taking pictures. I'll try not to be posting them all the time, get's a little boring for everyone else. But Roland is enjoying life and meeting all his new family and friends.

The Bairns, Emmy & Ma'am, Great-Gram & Aunt Cheryl

The proud Papa!

More Baby Pictures

Leaving the hospital

First family picture. The boys love their little brother.