Monday, September 16, 2013

Emberisms

In honor of Ember's 4th birthday tomorrow, here are some Emberisms for you to enjoy.

Ember was drawing in the kitchen one day and was telling my what she was drawing. She said, "This is my flower compilation." Don't ask me where she learned the word compilation nor how she managed to use it properly, but somehow she did.

I was going to go in the other room to do something when she turned to me and said, "You stay in here then I can see a beautiful, big thing." Oh, I love being a beautiful, big thing.

I overheard her playing with her toys one day. "I am the evil king of the silo. Welcome to my kingdom." (Evil laugh).

"When I am a mom I will have 2 sisters (daughters) and 3 boys."

"James (a friend of hers) and I might get married and then we will get to kiss on the lips."(Why is she thinking of this already?)


"Dragons are forever, like families."

"Do you like to go fast or cook? (before I had time to respond she continued) I like to go fast so you can cook. Don't go fast cause you have to cook." 

Josh was giving me a hug one day when Ember asked "Can I be the cheese of that sandwich." Of coarse she could.

"Let's play space animals. (In a very urgent voice) We've got to hurry. There is a lot to do before space starts."


Ember, "I don't like the sun."
Mom, "Why not?"
Ember, "Because the night time is the right time."

Ember has been playing Peter Pan and Hook for probably 3 months now and Josh is pretty tired of it.
Ember, "Daddy, you will be Hook."
Dad, "I want to be daddy for a little bit."
Ember, "That sounds weird."


Ember, "I don't know what I want to be when I have a job." (she sounded very concerned that she didn't know this yet-almost panicked).
Mom, "I thought you wanted to be a mom?" (She has said she wants to be a mom many times before of her own accord).
Ember, "Yes, but after that. Maybe I will be a princess."
Mom, "That's a good job choice."
Ember, "Or maybe I will be a mermaid."

Sunday, July 28, 2013

News

We are expanding by two feet. February 28, 2014. 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Emberisms and Steeleisms

Our Cinderella


I had a long list of really funny Emberisms on my phone but they got deleted by a little girl at some point so this list is going to be pretty short.
She came out of bed one night and came into the kitchen where I was doing dishes and announced, "I can't sleep, I haven't learned to kiss long enough."
 "I put my armpits on top of my head." Sounds wonderful.
"Heavenly Father made ice cream good for our bodies so we could eat it."
"I am going to have a sister and I will name her Blossom."
"I heard Heavenly Father's voice. He said I should save some stickers for you."
Playing catch with Daddy
I had to go to the bank and get a wire transfer and she sat down in the chair next to me and proceeded to chat to the banker. She told him all about her morning and asked him what he was doing and why he was doing it. She then proceeded to tell him that she knew some songs and sang the first article of faith to him at her normal volume. He was trying not to burst out in laughter as was everyone else at the bank. She is such a ray of sunshine.
Grandma took her on the plane yesterday and apparently the last half hour of the flight she was singing the articles of faith at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear (she loves singing and we will often listen to the children's hymns in the car). When they stood up to get off she turned around to the people behind her in the plane and announced in her best sing-songy voice, "Goodbye. I am going to my Grandma's house. Goodbye." Apparently they all were laughing at her silly antics.

Climbing the "Daddy Mountain"

Chillin' at Target
Now the Steeleism:
Steele only knows a few words so far so I am trying to teach him more by repeating them over and over. He was holding a monkey so I said, "Monkey". He responded by saying, "Dada." Coincidence? I think not.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Haircuts

Ember and Steele both got their first haircuts two weeks ago. Ember still had her baby hair and I ended up cutting about 5 inches off which resulted in the loss of all her curls. I had been noticing her hair was getting harder to scrunch but I thought it was because there was so much weight. Her hair is now slightly wavy but all her ringlets are gone. Sad day. She was so excited to get her hair cut and seems to like it shorter. It is much easier to comb through and do too. Here is the before: 
And here is the after:
Steele got his cut as well. I need a little more practice cutting boys hair but he didn't mind. He was just excited to get to sit in his high chair outside and hold the comb. Before:
After:
His hair seems to be getting lighter in color. It is almost a golden brown or dark blond now. 
Ember also got curlers for the first time last week. We put them in for her photos for dance class. 
She loved wearing them. I will post pictures of her curly hair another time. 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Happy Birthday Steele

Our Little Steele turned 1 year old on Friday and he had a great day. We spent the morning at home then he went to the doctor and get a checkup and shots (lucky boy). He is a pretty small guy so far. He is 22 lbs 4 oz (43%) and 29 inches (26%). We have started to call him small fry lately because he is so small, but what he lacks in stature, he makes up for in determination.


 After the doctor, we went to the park for awhile and he has decided that climbing up slides is the best thing in the world. He could have stayed there all day and he did eventually make it all the way to the top. Determined kid.
 We then had a few friends over for dinner, cake, and ice cream. He was a little apprehensive about the cake at first, but in the end he loved it.


He has discovered that there is water in the toilet and he has decided his life's mission is to get into that water. If ever a bathroom door is left open he is off to it. As he is crawling in that direction he will start saying "No No" over and over. It is funny to watch. He can say a few words but we may be the only people who understand them:
Ball
Mama
Dada
Nana (banana)
No No
Na Na (Night Night (This sounds about the same as No No)
He has decided that he is all about yucky things. I am constantly pulling him out of the garbage can, the toilet, pulling dirty things out of his mouth (including someone's used bandaid he found outside-yuck). He loves to be outside putting leaves or rocks or dirt in his mouth. He loves to climb although luckily he is too short to get anywhere too high.
He hasn't started walking yet but I think it is only for lack of trying. He can stand for about a full minute without holding on to anything and can bend down and pick something up that he dropped. He loves balls and is actually better at throwing them then Ember is (sad, I know, she throws like a girl-and not a very athletic one). We love our little boy and are so lucky to have him. Happy birthday Steele.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

11 Months



These two pictures are pretty descriptive of life in our house right now. Steele is all over and into everything. He is Curious and Determined, which is a deadly combination. He doesn't want to take no for an answer. Today Josh took him away from something three times and he would get out of Josh's hands and crawl right back to it. We finally just shut the door to that room. Tears ensued. Another thing about Steele-if he doesn't get what he wants and especially if a door gets closed, it is the end of the world and he cries like the baby he is. He is usually a pretty quiet guy, until you get somewhere where it is supposed to be quiet, then he lets it all come out. Today during church he decided to start singing the hymn with everyone, which was fine, until the song was over and he was still singing at the top of his lungs. He has discovered the joy of emptying drawers and can pull open ever drawer in the house I think-yes, even the heavy drawer under the oven where pots and pans are, he can even get in there. Sigh. He is a turkey.
He loves the bath and will crawl from anywhere in the house if he hears the water going. Ember has decided that she wants to take showers now so we usually put her in the shower and then when she is done, Steele comes in and they both play in the bath. Josh will do everything in the world to block him or try to hold him back but he claws his way to the bathroom the second Ember gets the water on. I told you he was determined.
Another thing about him is that he has no fear whatsoever. He will  lean out of your arms as fast as he can when he decides it is time to get down. There have been near drops from our arms to the floor. He has come very close to climbing straight off our bed too. I hope he lives to adulthood.
He loves to dance in our arms. We will turn on music and dance around the living room almost every day and sometimes more than that and I think it is the highlight of his and Ember's day. They both have a great time.
Steele has recently learned to clap and he thinks it is so fun. He just smiles and smiles when we get him to do it. He also is cruising pretty well and sometimes will stand for up to 10 seconds by himself. He loves to walk holding onto your fingers but not very far. I think he gets bored with it. Lately he has been bouncing himself off things and just bouncing on his legs. He has far too much energy.
He can say Mama but we aren't quite sure if he is saying it to me and tries to say Ball but that is about the extent of his vocabulary. I am pretty sure he is starting to understand things though. He will look for Ember when I say her name and you can tell that he understands when we say other things too.
Tonight at bed time he was very tired, I was reading a book to him that had pictures of different objects and the word under them. We got to the picture of a ball and he said "BA" then he tried to reach for the ball, when he realized that he couldn't grab it he started crying as loud as he does when we close a door. I decided that was the end of the book and he went to bed immediately.
Up until about 2 weeks ago, Steele was waking up about 4 times a night. He was a difficult one. We finally had to just let him cry it out all night. He has improved, but, even now, he will wake up once a night. Hopefully this phase will end soon.
He is a fun boy and we love him. Ember has been especially fond of him lately and will often give him a hug without any prompt from us. Sometimes her hugs are closer to tackles, but at least she loves him. He can't get enough of her either. Whenever she walks into the room he lights up and watches her every move. It is so fun to see.


Monday, February 25, 2013

10 months



Steele hit the 10 month mark and he has turned into quite the trouble maker. He is a speedy little crawler and is into everything. He loves to play with the colanders, the blinds, and anything his sister is playing with. He loves balls and Legos too and I will sometimes catch him playing alone with Ember's train set. He pulls himself up to standing on everything and I have seen him stand without holding on to anything for a second or two. He is a very good eater but he seems to like vegetables and grains more than fruits although I introduced grapes recently and they were a big hit. He likes to feed himself more than having my help so I try to give him foods he can put in his mouth or just deal with the mess he makes when he tries to feed himself the less toddler friendly fare. He loves to be held but will instantly turn around to see what is going on around him. He is interested in everything and always wants to touch it and hold it but after about 10 seconds he is done and ready to move on to the next thing. He won't hold still for very long either. He and Ember have started butting heads. She often starts screaming NO the instant he so much as looks in her direction. It is a struggle because she does need to learn how to share but I also want her to not share certain things with him so we are still working on that. She has been a little bossy with him but does love him and often will give him a hug on her own. I hope they will be good friends as they get older.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

9 Months

Steele turned 9 months old on Saturday and Josh and I both decided that we wanted to eat him that day- not in the he is so cute that you could just eat him up way, in the I can't handle another minute of listening to this whiny kid kind of way. Granted he (and the rest of the family) had the flu for the week prior which ended in a nasty sort of cough with a congested head so I am positive he was miserable and just wanted someone to make him feel better. It was not a fun day because we were all feeling about as miserable as he was and no one wanted to hear about how miserable anyone else was. But we did survive and I am happy to report that no children were maimed in any way and everyone is feeling significantly better.
So, on to the 9 month milestones. Steele finally learned to crawl, on Christmas morning, no less. He finally figured out how to do more then plop on his face and he is loving it. He follows us from room to room and gets a big goofy grin on his face when he sees us again. He is still pretty methodical (aka slow) and hasn't really started getting into anything yet so he is just at the cute stage of crawling. He has started trying to take whatever Ember is playing with though and she doesn't like it one bit. We have been talking about sharing and also about taking your toys to a place were he can't reach if it is something that isn't meant to be shared. It is going to be a learning process-probably for the rest of their childhood.

Steele went from just being able to crawl to being able to cruise so fast. He will pull himself to standing on the toy box and can take a few steps to get any toys he wants. It was so quick. He is babbling quite a bit now and will say Mama all the time. It doesn't really mean me so we aren't counting it yet, but he seems to like that sound more than any other (he IS a momma's boy). We haven't heard anything that resembles Dada yet. He loves to play with balls and hard plastic toys. It is interesting to see the difference between toys that Ember loved and toys that Steele loves. Toys that she wouldn't even look at are some of his favorites and vice-verse. I wonder if it is boy vs. girl or if it is just the difference of personality. He is definitely a cutie and we love having him around!