Emma's First Christmas

Andy and Kathryn after the ceremony
Emma lounging on the stairs on Christmas Eve

Grandma and Emma

Christmas morning

This has been a big week for us. Thursday was Kathryn and Andy's wedding, and many relatives were in town and saw Emma for the first time. The wedding went great, and Emma looked divine in her black and white gown. We didn't get any pictures of her at the reception, because I was standing in the line, and Denny was chasing her around the building for a couple of hours. She lasted until 8 o'clock, and I didn't get home until 10:00 PM.

The wedding breakfast turned out great, with just over 100 people in attendance. Emma stayed at home with her Aunt Barbie, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. It was the first time we have left Emma with anybody, and from what I can tell, they both had a blast. Thanks again to Barbie.

Last night (Christmas Eve) we went to my folks house for the family party. Emma donned her Christmas dress and was an instant hit. It is probably the only time she will be able to wear that particular dress, but she made the most of it. It is totally different attending a party with a toddler. Emma was doing great for about 1 1/2 hours, and then the wheels came off. We made a hasty exit and got her home quickly. She had a rougher than usual time going to sleep last night, probably due to over-stimulation being around so many new people, and playing six rounds of bingo.

Christmas Day has been wonderful. We ate breakfast and opened presents with Denny's folks, and Kathryn and Andy who are living with us until their apartment is available next month. Emma took the prize for having the most gifts, because we wrapped up many of the gifts she received at her showers, and put them under the tree. What a wild time!

I'm sure that Emma doesn't grasp any of the Christmas concept. Hopefully she is not now expecting parties and gifts all the time. I don't think so. She is such a happy, busy little person, that she takes each day as it comes, and makes the most of each one. She and Denny are bonding more each day. Thanks to Denny's efforts, Emma is learning and showing great progress. I think they were MFEO. OK then.

"They're Gettin' Married in the Mornin'"

The countdown for Andy and Kathryn ends tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. after a 310-day engagement. Can't imagine a more fetching couple. I think they look alike (and that's a good thing). After the ceremony and photo snapping, we'll lunch at the Joseph Smith Building (I believe menu is green salad, chicken parmesan, and brownie a la mode), and the couple will receive well-wishers in North Salt Lake from 6 to 9. Apparently the cultural hall is adorned with 30 Christmas trees, which Andy has been helping decorate today.

Aunt Barbie is being kind enough to watch Emma at our house during the daytime activities, but Emma will sport her reception dress (see our "Need Sleep, Can't Focus" post for a photo) in the evening.

We're looking forward to tomorrow's big events. Let's hear it for Andy and Kathryn!

Ribs is Tasty!

Pretty good photos, eh? We were up at Uncle Matt's and Aunt Erin's place to partake of some baby back ribs from the Caja China, with three of Emma's cousins. We weren't sure what she would be able to eat, so Denny started spooning some of the potatoes into her mouth. Poor cousin Josh was sitting to Emma's right, and lost a rib off of his plate to some good old fashioned sleight of hand, and the next thing we knew, Emma was cleaning every scrap of meat off of that bone. That's my girl! The picture of Denny is of said bone after Emma went on to her next rib. Thanks to Matt for some great ribs.

I figured out why Emma is such a good sleeper. It takes a lot of rest to wear out two adults. As I am writing this, I can hear Emma singing to her mother, who has been lying down trying to get Emma to sleep for the last 25 minutes, from the dark confines of her crib. I was in there momentarily, but it seems that I am something of a comical diversion to her, and she keeps laughing, so I left.

Every night we give her some milk (which she has little interest in), brush her teeth (a two-adult chore while singing "This is the Way We Brush Our Teeth"), say prayers together, and then try putting her down around 9:00 PM. Somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45 she puts on the full-court press, trying everything she can to delay the inevitable. She drags out books, her favorite ball, blocks, the big bear, and even her special empty box for a ride across the room. Denny puts on a CD of children's tunes playing softly (I prefer the soft rock ballads) and Emma goes down for the evening. It's good to get her into a routine. After four weeks back, things is settling in to a nice monotony.

The doctor's office called back after some samples were left, and it seems our little girl picked up some kind of bug that requires medicine to be administered three times a day. Our process for squirting the pink goo into her mouth includes a full nelson with head-lock, while we are both singing the first chorus of "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi. It seems to work, because she keeps most of it in her mouth, and she is feeling better. I suppose we could sing "A Spoon Full of Sugar," but I have my limits, besides I don't know all of the words. OK then.

Alright Already....

Emma went out in the recent snow to play for...um...three minutes or so until she decided it was cold and wet and did not meet expectations.

This is Emma pre-snow experience when she had high expectations. Took longer to get bundled up than she spent in the snow.

Part of the group at the fun shower Joe's work threw for us.

And their message on the whiteboard....Thanks, Distribution Center!

High time we posted. Sorry it's been so ding dang long (in case you've been checking in...) Bad blogger form.

Things are going well in Emmaville. She's a happy little girl, except when she wants something she can't have. Then she's irked 'n' peeved. But mostly happy, chortling, cackling, running around, babbling. She's learning sign language from the "Signing Time" DVD's ("It's signing time with Alex and Leah....it's signing time with Alex and Leah....it's signing time with Alex and Leah..." Try getting that tune out of your head. You can't. ) Emma can sign "more," "dog," "eat," "cold," "hungry," "apple," "cheese," and a few others. And I think she knows what most of them mean, too, as she has started using them appropriately, rather than just mimicking them, in the last few days. Bright little girl. It's fascinating to see her pick up things. She says "baba" when Joe's around. She imitated me saying "uh-oh" the other day. She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something and sometimes says "Ni ni ni ni" (she'll get the right vowel sound one of these days...)

We've gone to a couple of fun showers in the last two weeks, one at Joe's work and one in our old ward. People are so nice. Emma has received many beautiful toys and clothes. She is going to be outstandingly well dressed between the ages of 2 and 2-1/2. Her closet is a sight to behold.

Annie the dog continues to be watchful, as Emma likes to pull fur, pat hard, and leap unexpectedly onto the dog's tummy as she reclines. Annie's been very patient and will go directly to dog heaven someday (hopefully not as a result of anything Emma does to her). I must confess that we mix up the names "Annie" and "Emma" sometimes.

Speaking of the dog....Joe cooked a chicken in the dutch oven on Sunday. We ate half of it for dinner and then made the mistake of leaving the other half on our kitchen island when we went out visiting later that evening. The island is high and our dog is short, but apparently Annie, when properly motivated, can leap high enough to grab half a chicken off a cutting board on the three-foot-high island and devour the whole thing...except for the breastbone, which was licked clean and then buried under our pillows in our bedroom. When I turned down the bed that night I got quite a fright--couldn't tell what that was in our bed. A dead bird? (well, sort of). Blech blechety blech yuck yuck. Then we figured out what had happened. Annie seemed fine until the next day when the whole sorry incident caught up with her in the form of all manner of gastrointestinal anomalies. Pooches. Can't trust 'em when you don't put your leftovers away.

Life is good and we love our little Emma. We are blessed. She is the most adorable little girl and every day is a new, fun adventure. We'll try to take more pix and post more often.