Where has the time gone?

This past year has just flown by! My little baby is turning one on March 4th!

Since we leave for Utah/Idaho the next day we are having his birthday party a few days early.
We love you Collin!

Hold your loved ones near

Last week a coworker and his wife lost their little girl. Her heart gave out as the mother was finishing the final pushes during labour. All medical attempts to restart the heart failed. It has made me contemplate many things over the last week. I hold my kids a little tighter and for a little longer. I treasure every moment, even the ones that make me want to pull my hair out. I am so lucky to have my children in my life. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows and loves each of us and that we will all be able to see our loved ones again someday. Take a few moments to hug your children, spouse, or parent. Tell them you love them. Life is so precious.

Fun Giveaway

Want a chance to win a really cute bag? Check out this giveaway on The Crafty Cupboard.Take some time and look around on her site. She has great ideas!

Milestone

Drumroll....

Last night Collin slept through the night. Yes, he is 11 months and 3 weeks old and yes, this is the first time he slept through the night. I woke up this morning to the alarm clock and realized that I had not seen or heard my son all night. After being up 5-7 times a night with him for 3 out of the last 4 weeks (3 new teeth) it felt so liberating to wake up in a bed with no baby curled up next to me. But only for a moment, then I realized I hadn't fed him all night and I feeling slightly uncomfortable.... But not to worry he woke up half and hour later as I was finishing up my exercises.

Now I'm hoping for a repeat tonight!

Climber??

Tonight Emily was enjoying quiet time in her bed before she went to sleep. This usually entails her playing the Nintendo DS and tonight was no different. She wanted to show me the memory game she was playing. I sat cross-legged on the floor watching her. Collin crawled into the room, pulled himself to standing, stepped his left leg onto my leg, pushed off on that leg until his right knee was on top of Emily's bed and then pulled himself up onto it. Then he sat next to Emily, looking over her shoulder with a big grin on his face. He takes his job as little brother VERY seriously. :)

**Side note: Emily is REALLY good at the memory game. She easily is able to play the eight card matches with only 1 or 2 mistakes. She is able to complete the 12 card game 50% of the time with only 1 or 2 mistakes. That is a better percentage than me. She amazes me every day.

Almost there...

Collin took three steps on his own yesterday. He was standing in front of me and turned and walked three steps to Sheryl Coe (he wanted some of the food she had.) He did it without thinking. It was really cute! He loves to walk from one adult to another (or sometimes Emily) but usually manages only two steps before he wants to crawl. Emily gets so excited for him. And then she'll say, "Emmy's turn to walk to mommy!" And she gets up on her tip toes and walks to me like she is on a tight rope. She will sway, almost fall and then run the last few steps. Just like Collin. Then she collapses into my arms. I say the same thing to her that I say to Collin. "Good Job! I love how you are walking." I LOVE being a mom!

**Special moment today: I think my daughter is smart. But usually I just get told that she gets into things, and other negatives. It makes it hard for me because Emily has such a soft heart and she doesn't like being told those things. (Yes people say it to her.) Today at StrongStart the lady running the center, Cynthia, turned to Emily and said, "Emily you are so smart. I love how you solved that problem." (She couldn't reach the farm house so she had taken out a toy bin, turned it upside down, stood on it and played with the horses.) Emily looked surprised then smiled and said, "Yeah, smart." I thanked her. Sometimes we are so concerned with keeping things clean or making things uber safe that we forget that creativity is important too. I learned something today. Its okay when toys are out or my kids are crawling around making mischief. They are exploring, learning, problem solving. At the end of the day does it matter if my house is clean or that my kids know that they are loved? A house can be tidied but childhood only lasts for a moment.**

Quilt

I really want to make this quilt. It is SO cute!

No I am not pregnant

But I did find this great tutorial that I would like to use if I do get pregnant again.

Click here for a tutorial on how to make a pair of maternity jeans from a pair you already own.

"You Hear Me"

Bed Time at the Palmer Home. Emily tucked into bed having her "quiet time" before bed. Landon and I are watching a show when we hear....

"I want a sippy cup."
*pause*
"Mom, Dad I want a sippy cup."
We don't reply.
"You Here Me? I want a sippy cup!"

Her reply was Landon and I laughing outloud. I love three year olds!

Cute kids

Ready for cuteness! (Emily let me do her hair for church last Sunday! And then she wouldn't let me take it out for three days...)

Remember Haiti

A very good friend of mine sent me this article. It is about a husband and wife who run three orphanages in Haiti. She and her husband worked with this couple while volunteering in one of their orphanages one summer. It was beautifully written and very powerful.
Please take a moment to read it.
Click here for the article.

My Birthday and Christmas Presents

My wonderful parents and inlaws kindly gave me money for my Birthday and Christmas presents. With only one rule. I am not to spend it on anything but something for myself. :) They know me well. So a couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to splurge on myself and spend this gift money. Here is how I spoiled myself...

This is my "Birthday Present"


I bought this cute necklace from The Rusted Chain. It says Landon, Tamara, Emily, Collin. Of course one of the first things that Landon said was, "Oh so I guess we aren't having any more kids." I told him that I'd just buy me another one. :)

The "Christmas Presents"

Since I wore my yoga pants daily during my pregnancy with Collin they were in need of replacement. So I used my parents gift card to purchase me a cute pair in a size smaller! :) I think that may have made me happier than actually owning a pair that weren't all stretched out!

Through blogland I had heard a few times about Recessionista. But I'm a total impulse buyer so I've stayed away. But I decided to take a look to see if there were any shoes I would like for my present. I ended up with a pair of shoes,a hat and scarf. Yeah! Since they don't ship internationally I gave them Rita's address and figured I'd pick them up for spring break. But to my astonishment I came home from work to find a package sitting next to my mailbox. They had shipped my stuff to Canada! :) I love all of it! Landon picked out the hat and scarf and he would like everyone to know that since I look FABULOUS in them. I've got such a great hubby!
(No picture of the shoes but they are a white Tommy walking type shoe. It ends up my sister Naomi has the same pair. Great minds think a like! Oh and this is me looking fabulous in my hat and scarf after walking 3 miles with my mom.)

Aunt Nomi would be so proud!

Here is a little video clip of Emily dancing on Sunday. She must be channeling a little of her Aunt Naomi... :)

Emily's Band

Emily came up to me carrying one of her guitars in one hand and a maraca in the second.
"Mommy, come dance with me."
I followed her to her room, where she handed me the maraca. She turned on the radio and started to "strum."
"Mommy, play."
I played the maraca, while she played the guitar. Well until she decided I was having more fun with the maraca so she took it and handed me the guitar. Collin joined us and hit a box with a spoon. Emily ended up giving him the maraca so that she could play her "piano." (More like an xylophone.)
A memory that I will remember FOREVER!

Few Pictures from Vancouver

I didn't take many pictures due to the fact that my camera batteries almost died. Do you like the puppy that Emily tried to shoplift? She told me that she needed to talk to dad and proceeded to walk out of the bookshop on the ferry backwards. A little suspicious, I peered over her shoulder and asked her what she had behind her back. She told me nothing. I told her that she couldn't steal the puppy and that she could ask her dad if she could buy it if she gave it back to me. She ran up to her dad and told him she needed money. It was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I bought the silly thing. I know not a good idea but hey the oldest gets the most rules and responsibilities so its okay to spoil her... :)

What does your little girl do in church?

Mine takes her dress off.

Yep. Emily was given a belated gift from Rosie Fleury when we got to church on Sunday. It was a cute summer dress that she had made. Emily took it out of the bag and said, "Wow, I love my new shirt." I told her that it was a dress and suddenly Emily took off her jumper. I realized, a little too late, that Emily wanted to wear her new dress. Since we were in the middle of the chapel I quickly pulled the dress on over Emily's head so she was dressless for about 30 seconds. Immediately Emily found an open space and started to spin. She went over to Rosie and said, "Thanks, I love my new dress." After church I mentioned to her that I thought her dress was cute. She said, "Mommy, I LOVE my new shirt." She wore it all day. She even slept in it! My mom picked me up for work the next morning and she walked in to Emily spinning in it. She told her that it was Emmy's princess dress. :)

Emily and Toys R Us

While in Vancouver we stopped by Toys R Us to pick up a car seat for Emily. Her car seat will be moving down to Collin as he is going to be turning 1 in a month. (Crazy!) She loved trying out the different chairs. She and her dad have expensive taste! :) We still had a half an hour to kill before heading to the US Consulate so we decided to just wander around the store. Emily was in heaven! She would see something she liked and then pick it up and put it in the cart. And I would take it out and put it away when she wasn't looking. She loved playing with all the different kitchens! I have wanted to get her a tricycle for a long time but thought she was too small. I took her to the bike section to have her try one on. She is almost too big! She peddles one like a pro! Problem was then she didn't want to leave. I walked off with Collin and Landon tried to convince her to come with us. Landon called for me to come and watch her. As soon as I saw her I started to laugh. Not a small laugh. As in quickly I had tears in my eyes and my sides hurt. She had gone over to the bike helmets, picked one up and put it on backwards. Then she had climbed into one to the Little Tykes cars that you move around with your feet. She was "driving" it around and talking to imaginary people. Hilarious! I really wish that the camera had been with me.

Family Home Evenings for 2010

Here is a great Family Home Evening resource that goes along with the 2010 Primary Theme.

One Year of FHE