OCD

Emily is my mini-me...

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If anyone is still checking...

If anyone has been concerned that I "haven't" been updating my blog... I really have. Just all backdated posts. Here are the links the last few blog posts I have done. They are mostly pictures, but that's why you come here anyway, right? To look at my cute kids? I thought so.

Here's a September one: http://ourfamilyzforever.blogspot.com/2010/09/baby-and-kid-wearing.html

And four for October: http://ourfamilyzforever.blogspot.com/2010/10/playing-with-brother.html

http://ourfamilyzforever.blogspot.com/2010/10/basket-party.html

http://ourfamilyzforever.blogspot.com/2010/10/wait-for-it.html

http://ourfamilyzforever.blogspot.com/2010/10/cutest-thing-youve-ever-seen.html

And please, leave a comment. :)

Peace.

Look Mom!

I am trying to teach Emily some responsibility so that she grows up with some good habits. Trying to get her to make her own bed has been interesting. Granted, she is only three (and a half!) and making a bed is somewhat difficult even for adults, but I'd say she did a pretty darn good job for her first time all by herself.

She is "showing" me how well she did at making her bed by herself!

Never mind that the comforter is upside down and the "folded" blanket looks more like it got tossed on the bed. She probably spent a good five minutes working on this and I was very proud of how well she did.

Now to see if we can teach her to do the dishes...

Happiness is...

I am sick.

I HATE being sick. (who actually likes it...that's a dumb sentence.)

But I don't think that I have been sick since I've had two children. Not like this.

And it's hard.

Hard to take care of the kids. My house is a WRECK and I feel like poo.

So yesterday, Scott was my knight in shining armor and came home to make dinner, do the dishes, start the wash, and gave me a bunch of daisies with the phrase,

"Daisies always make people happier."

What. A. Sweetheart.

I love it when he does little things like that.

I am still sick. And I still feel really yucky. But every time I look at the daisies sitting on my table, it does make my day happier.

Because I have a man who loves me and does everything he can to make me happy.



Go ahead and see if this picture doesn't make you happier. :)

Emily-ism #3

Here is a conversation that Emily and I had today:

Emily: "Mom, when I'm bigger I can drive the car! And you can sit in the front by me!"

Me: "Oh really?"

Emily: "Yeah! And Daddy can sit in the back by brother. But we have to move my carseat. Cuz when I'm bigger I won't fit. My bum will be too big to fit in the carseat. Just like yours."

Me: "Thanks, Emmy."

(I am trying to document all of the funny things she says, because someday she can read them and laugh at herself too. I hope. )

Emily-ism #2

Scott: "Emily, you're beautiful!"

Emily: "No, I'm not! I'm dangerous!"

Summer 2010 at Sand Hollow. She's probably eating something,
but looks somewhat pirate-y and "dangerous." Funny girl.

Emily-isms

Emily is full of funny things she says. Here is one for today.

Emily was playing "My Little Pony" with my friend Nancy and she told Nancy that she was going to be the mommy pony and that Emily would be the daddy pony.

Emily then said "I'm going to work." (since she was the daddy pony)

Nancy asked "why does the daddy pony have to go to work?"

Emily's response was: "So he can bring home the bacon! And the grass..."

What can I say? She's a cooky cookie.

And we love her for it.

Grandma Campbell's Christmas Party

Every year on the sunday before Christmas, my Grandma Campbell does a party for her entire posterity. There are probably 75 people in her basement and tons of food. This year my mom came to help with the festivities. Here are my favorite pictures from the event:

My little artist

Emily is my budding artist. She painted with watercolors for a good portion if the afternoon. The result was a messy table but a lot of great paintings. When asked what the "painting"on the table was called she replied:

Mess.

And so here you have it folks....

"Mess" by Emily.
Medium: watercolors

Goal Achieved

Eric playing in the laundry basket. Cutie patootie. 

As a mom, I have come to celebrate the seemingly "little" successes throughout my day to feel like I actually did accomplish something.

Y'know...besides keeping four human beings and two cats fed and alive....

Anyway, today was a monumental day because....

(big breath...)

I SORTED, STARTED, WASHED, DRIED, FOLDED, PUT AWAY, AND HUNG UP ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN THE DIRTY LAUNDRY HAMPERS AND FOLDED ALL OF THE SOCKS FROM THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK AND PUT THEM ALL AWAY TOO.... ALL OF THIS ALL IN ONE DAY! TODAY! AND I'M FEELING REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF!

Phew. Glad I got that off my chest.

Some of you Supermom's out there may think this is ridiculously simple and can do this with no problem, probably every week, but for me, it has probably happened once. Ever.

Well, TWICE now!

So, today, I celebrate! Hurrah!

And to celebrate, I believe I shall go put myself to bed.

Good night.

I promised...

Lest any of you think I have not kept to my promise, I HAVE been blogging...just on things that I backdated to June and August. Here are the links for those of you who care to check them out:

(But leave a comment pretty please so I know you looked? Thanks s'much.)

There are three:

Eric's birth story can be found HERE

"Bringing Baby Home" can be found..... HERE

and finally...

A really nice post about part of our trip to San Diego can be found.... wait for it.... HERE

Okay, ready set go!

Self-feeding

Eric has become quite proficient at feeding himself. He is growing up too quickly!

I'm in love...

I have found a new love.

I have always had an affinity for things that smell good. I like it when Scott wears his cologne. (Except he only wears one squirt...and you can only smell it when you're really close. But he says that it's just for me. Since I'm the only one who ever gets really close. Hm. Cute. I digress...) I love the smells of newborn babies. I looove my house to smell good. (Maybe THAT'S why I sell Scentsy. Ah ha!) I love the smell of baked bread. I love the smell of fresh cut grass. I love the smell of laundry.

Yes. Laundry.

And every time I do laundry it smells good while I fold it. And that's it.

Until...

My sister in law Ashlee introduced me to THIS:





It has changed my life. It makes my clothes smell good for the whole week. I can smell it when I pick Eric up and snuggle him. Or as Emily runs by. Some people hate the flowery laundry soap smell, but I LOVE it.

No, this is not a paid testimonial. And no, I'm not getting any free samples out of this. I just have been doing laundry today and decided that I love this stuff.

Okay, so I'm a nerd.

But at least I'm a nerd that smells April Fresh!

A bit of craziness..

Today was crazy.

I was up by 5:45 am to feed the baby. Alarm went off at 6:00 am. Fed both kids, and on the exercise bike by 7:30 am. Off to the bread shop. DMV. Grocery store. Home to put away groceries. Doctor's appointment for Eric. Home to teach piano. Make dinner for friend who had a baby. Take dinner. Go to pharmacy. Pick up prescription. Home to make dinner. Eat dinner. Kids to bed. Put in Scentsy order. And finally...

...my favorite part of the day...

GO TO BED.

If you see me tomorrow...this is what I WISH I could be doing...

Good. NIGHT!

Cookie Monster

Eric will eat just about anything we give him. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but we ventured out on a limb last sunday and gave him an oreo cookie. His first cookie ever. That is a milestone to remember, right?

Needless to say, he loved it.

And I love his messy face.

And I love Oreos.

But I love him more.

She reads....

Emily is a smart little cookie. She loves books. She also likes to play around on www.starfall.com. (awesome for teaching kids letters and their sounds!). As such, she can read and has been for about 6 months or so. And by read, I mean she can sound out all of the letters and figure out 3-4 letter words. Tonight she told me she wanted to read me the book "Are You My Mother?" She sounds out each word and I help her when the letter sound is different than the normal rule (i.e. "said" is not s a ih d). So many exceptions to the "rule" in our language. Scott came home while we were reading and took these pictures. It was a precious moment:

Littlest Scriptorian

We have been reading scriptures with Emily for a while now, and sometimes we just do quick short scriptures that she can memorize. So, the following story made me beam with pride a bit after it was told to me:

Last Sunday in church, since it was Ward Conference, the Stake Leaders were doing the sharing time in Primary. They were talking about how Jesus shows us we love us, but we can also show Jesus that we love him. And how we do this is, (and the leader started quoting) "If ye love me..."

And Emily pipes up and shouts, "KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS!"
(John 14:15)

This was the first scripture she ever learned, and we probably haven't done it with her for a few months at least, so the fact that she remembered it (and that she was paying attention in Primary!) made my mommy buttons burst with pride a bit. She is a smart girl.

And she'll keep her teachers on their toes, that's for sure. 

Day One...

I am not going to turn this into a food journal, but since this was "Day One" of our "Game On Diet" I thought I might just document what all this "diet" entailed...

Meal 1: Grape Nuts cereal w/ Skim Milk, Pure Maple Syrup, and a Greek Yogurt

Meal 2: Banana, 8 Almonds, 2 String Cheese

Meal 3: Hamburger Patty, Sauteed (w/ Extra Virgin Olive Oil) Mushrooms and Onions, Spinach Salad w/ Balsamic Vinegar

Meal 4: Banana, 8 Almonds, 2 String Cheese (not very original, I know...I was in a hurry...)

Meal 5: Grilled Salmon, Whole Wheat Pasta mixed with EVOO, Fresh Basil, and Garlic Powder, and Grilled Asparagus

100 Calories of "whatever": I chose a delicious White Mint Truffle Skinny Cow Ice Cream Bar.



And who says that you go hungry on diets.... I'm stuffed!!

Day Two? Bring it on.

Game On!

Tonight was the last night for us before we start out GAME ON! diet tomorrow. We are playing with two other couples from our ward, the Miners and the Fontanos. It will be awesome. It's a game. It's a diet. You earn points. You win. You get in shape. It. Is. Awesome. (Check it out: www.thegameondiet.com)

It's written by the writer for Grey's Anatomy, Krista Vernoff. The book itself is a little colorful in language, but the game itself ROCKS my SOCKS... :) I am excited, can you tell?

I have taken a "before" picture. No you cannot see it. It's scary. Really scary. It makes me not want not to ever eat sugar...ever. But it's definitely motivation to change.

So, for our "last supper" we had fish and chips. (BOTH of which are completely and obviously NOT on the diet.) To top the day off, too, we had the ward "girls night" at our house which involved a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN....omigosh. L-O-V-E it.

So...all of that being said, I'm totally ready for this game tomorrow. The wives are playing against their husbands. If the wives win (which we will...duh!) we get a girls day out....pedicure, lunch, movie, massage, whatever we want! and the guys have to go jump in the freezing "Lake at the Hills." HA! If the guys win (right..) they get to go golfing and then the girls have to rub their stinky golfing feet. (groossss)

So, y'know...I have to win. And I will! But most importantly, I will be getting healthy, losing weight, and feeling a whole lot better about myself in general.

So, here's to the next four weeks!

GAME. ON.


Okay, FINE...you can see my "before picture"... don't judge me.

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RIP Bert

Today was a day that will live forever in my mind...

No, not because it's President's Day.

But because today, after almost 19 years, my childhood pet, Bert the cat, passed peacefully away via medical assistance.

Why make such a big deal? He's just a cat... No... He was our one and only pet we had growing up, besides a short-lived (literally) spurt of raising some fish and the one time I got to bring the 3rd grade class pet hamster home for Spring Break.

This cat was a trooper. He was born in Copperas Cove, Texas in a litter of kittens that my piano teachers cat had. He was part Siamese and part Tabby cat. We named him Bert because all of the boys in my family were B's (dad Brad, brother Bret....) and my brother Bret actually named him.

Since living in Cove, he has spent time living in Kansas, a short time with Aunt Kirsten in Houston, in Emigration Canyon with Gma and Gpa Nelson while we lived in Korea, in Idaho, in Iowa, and when my parents moved to Japan he went to live again with Gma and Gpa Nelson, this time in Hurricane, Utah.

He was an odd cat--liked to chase things and bring them back in his mouth, his favorite being a plastic bag tied in a knot two or three times and then cut off on the ends.

He was not particularly fond of small children. He definitely had his favorite people as well, my Grandma Nelson being one.

Emily and I had a good cry this afternoon after I told her that Bert had passed away. I told her that he went to go see my Grandpa Nelson (who passed away in June of 2009.) I told Emily that I was very sad, but she told me that I shouldn't be sad. I asked her 'why?' and her response was this:

"Mommy, when you are sad or mean, the Holy Ghost leaves your heart.."
*This 3 year old explanation is due to the fact that we have been trying to teach her that it is not good to be mean, or the Holy Ghost cannot live at our house...*

But the sentiment was right...

And so I laughed, she gave me a hug, and we shared this special moment together.

RIP Bert

(Couldn't find a picture of him, although I know we have one somewhere.)

I am ashamed...

I have been called out by multiple people who shall remain nameless.. .(*ahem*... Mary, Chelsea, Katelyn, Anne, Melissa, Katie, Holly, Chandi..did I miss anyone?...)

"...update your blog already!"

"...when are you going to update your blog?"

"...you never blog anymore!"

"I am ashamed." (said in the style of the cleaner shrimp on "Nemo") I am guilty of negligence of my blog. And I have a goal to change.

IN FACT, I will be blogging every day for the next month to catch up! It's a new goal, and ultimately since I will be printing this blog, it is my "journal" for the family.

The biggest reason that I haven't is due to the fact that I feel like there is SO much to catch up on. The last time I "caught up" on my blog was the week before Eric was born (ummm.. .JUNE!) There is so much to catch up on, but I WILL DO IT!!!

There will be some posts about what is going on now, but MOSTLY, there will be updates that are back dated to between now and when Eric was born... eight and a half months ago. (shame shame..) I have to.... HAVE TO... have everything in chronological order....so, if you don't see a new one, it's because it's backdated and is showing up else where. ( I think that is how it works..?)

So, if you are still reading this, which I would be surprised to see who still is... prepare yourself for the... (cue drum roll)

BLOG CATCH-UP OF THE CENTURY!

One post every day.

Pinky Promise.

(oh yeah, end drums)

Here is a picture for those of you who think "word-only" posts are usually boring. (Like me...haha...)

Taking a bath in Grandma's sink in December....

**Does this count as my post for the day??**