SHE CAN STAND

I could hardly believe it... My little girl can stand by herself. Not just for one second or two even but for like minutes. She even danced a little. She is quite funny though. The first time I stood her up (which was yesterday) she looked at me, looked at her feet, smiled and then started walking to me (about 3 steps before she fell). Well she didn't like falling all that much so she wouldn't do it again...until...later that same afternoon. I was sitting in a chair and I stood her up and she walked 5 steps to me. Well now she thinks it's a game...I stand her up, move back, and say "come here" she'll stand there forever (it seems) and then smile and drop to her knees and crawl to me. What a silly little miss. We are very excited for the sturdiness that has come into her life and maybe soon she'll get some fire under those little feet and walk.

Happy 1st Birthday Embry

Wow the time has flown by. I can't believe it has been a year. I remember when this picture was taken, Embry was one month old. She hasn't grown much since then but she sure has learned alot: How to say; shoes, mama, dada, dance, na na (her pacifier), nigh nigh (night night), and tries to repeat most of what we say. She is such a sweet girl and loves to give kisses, to her daddy most of all. She has brought such a sweetness to our home and can always make us laugh.

We love you Embry!

Her very own cake, Nannie and Niki bought it for her

Still not quite sure how to blow out the candleShe wasn't sure what to do at first She was very delicate about eating it...
Then she realized how good it tasted and dug right inThat was YUMMY
After a quick bath it was present time. She loved all the fun stuff her cousins and family got for her. Her favorites were the babies, she wanted to kiss all of them. She had a great birthday with all of the family around. Thank you everyone for the gifts.
A fun Thanksgiving Birthday, can't wait for the rest!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

We went to El Paso this Thanksgiving to spend time with family. We were so blessed to see our twin cousins Travis and Ty return from their missions. What a blessing to have them return on Thanksgiving Day. It was so great to have so many people at the airport to greet them. I was looking around feeling so blessed to have such a big supportive family.

WELCOME HOME TY AND TRAVIS!!

The wonderful mother
You think she missed them?
Happy to be homeWhat a great example for our future missionaries

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...

Okay so I haven't blogged in about a month so here we go... PIGTAILS! My favorite thing is pigtails on little girls, especially mine! Isn't she just adorable?

POOR BRODER DOO

Our poor little Broder got an ingrown toenail. I can't believe that we let it get so bad, but I honestly didn't even know that his toe hurt until his soccer game on Saturday and he said that he didn't want to wear his shoes. What kinda of mother am I?
I took him to the podiatrist and he gave him four shots to numb his toe and cut out the ingrown part. He was so tuff, but I know that the shots really hurt him. This is his toe about four hours after it got cut out. It looks so much better now and the doctor said that it will grow back out and be fine. Feel better soon Broder.

EARLY FIRST BIRTHDAY

Embry's birthday this year was on Thanksgiving Day. We went to El Paso to celebrate with my family so we celebrated with Dustin's family the weekend before. She wasn't a year yet so we put her candle in a roll and let her blow it out, or let her try anyway.
She had never blown out a candle before, but we showed her how and she tried really hard. Look at that cute face.
She loved all her gifts and Mama really loved all the clothes. Thanks everyone for all the great gifts. I will post her actual first birthday soon.

Diaper Cake

We had a baby shower a week ago for my sister-in-law. Tenay (another sister-in-law) and I made this diaper cake for her. It was so fun to make and not very difficult. I have seen them on-line and they are definitely not as cute as ours!

HOME UP-DATE

Counter tops, cabinets, paint
Master bathroom counter tops, sinks and faucets
Basement tile
More has been done and I'll post more when I take more pictures. Cross your fingers that we'll be in by Christmas!

SHE KEEPS ME ON MY TOES

Embry's new favorite thing to do is sit on the bottom step of the stairs and bang her feet against the wood. She loves the sound that it makes (which is really loud).

I can't let her out of my sight, she bolts straight to the stairs and she will crawl all the way to the top in 1.5 seconds. She has also learned that if she crawls up the left side of the stairs ,where it is more narrow, she can get to the top faster. We are still working on coming down the stairs (hence "She keeps me on my toes").

BRODY'S PARTY

Brody had such a fun party! He invited all his friends and they got to play at the park (one of Brody's favortie things to do.)
First time ever playing pin the tail on the donkey! Pretty good aim for a first timer!
Isn't this picture priceless. Brody did get a chance to blow out his own candles after Kyler took his turn.
His most favorite toys in the world "Power Rangers"
Brody had a great time at his party! Thank you to everyone that came and celebrated with us. And thanks for all the fun gifts!

Happy Birthday Brody!!!

I remember the day our little Brody was born. It was such a blessing to have him here and he has continued to bless our lives since. I didn't want to have a Halloween baby so he came the very next day. Ever since then he has been such an obedient little boy.

What a funny boy he is, we are always amazed by his wit and sense of humor. He is very smart and catches on very quickly. Last week we were at a Halloween party and he pulled out some silly glasses Nannie gave to him and said "Wow these glasses are impressive", only little Brody! Here is Brody's Birthday in a nutshell:
Birthday dinner at "the place with the beans"

(Gecko Grill/Cravings)
Birthday dessert at the "snow cone place that has pink bubblegum"

(Bahama Bucks)
Fun Birthday calls from Nannie and Grandpa Larson

His favorite gift from Mom and Dad (Power Ranger underoos)

Ah Brody, what would we do with out you? You are such a good boy, full of love and joy. We could all learn from your happy, energetic, fun loving spirit.

Our newest little pumpkin

For those of you who don't know, we have a family tradition of putting our kiddos in a pumpkin the Halloween before they turn one. This year was Embry's turn. She was not very happy about it (Brock, Kenley and Brody all loved it). It was probably due to the fact that she needed to poo cause halfway through taking pictures her face turned red and she started to grunt. We were able to get some cute ones, though, most of them she wouldn't look at the camera. She was a cute little pumpkin no matter what.

Oh, how sweet they can be!

Yesterday I was dropping Brock and Kenley off at school and I saw the sweetest thing! Kenley's back pack was really heavy because all her treats for her class Halloween party were in it. When she got out of the car she said, "My bag is so heavy." I told her that it wasn't far and to set her bag down in line when she got there. I kissed them both goodbye and said I would see them after school.

I have a habit of watching them until they round the corner, so as soon as they shut the door I turned to watch them and I see Brock grab Kenley's bag and carry it all the way to her class line. Kenley was soooo happy! I could see her bouncing and smiling the whole way. Wow, what a good boy! It's times like those that help me to realize that maybe they are listening and paying attention! Brock has such a great example in his Dad. He is always helping out around the house and very thoughtful, always paying attention to what I need. I am so grateful for his example to my boys. This is proof that they are always watching. Thanks Brock for being such a good boy and a great example for Brody!