The Trulocks

Never a Dull Moment

2012-01-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

Although sometimes I wish there was! It all started New Years Eve. Emmitt helped me put the laundry from the washer into the dryer, and then we went to my parents for a little celebration. When we got home, I took out the load to fold it and there was a red crayon melted a little to the inside of the dryer. My heart sank. Red crayon was all over the entire load of whites!

Mila's brand-new unworn shirt! This is just a tiny example.

It was too late to do anything about it and the next day was Sunday, so it had to wait until Monday. Well Monday came and I felt worse than I had in a long time. I had this horrible cold that my family had been passing around. I did not leave the house for days, and it took all the energy I had just to get us all dressed. My poor kids. By the weekend I was feeling better, but I had other things to do like getting Sharing Time ready for Sunday and getting things back to normal after being so out of it for a week. This Monday morning I woke up when Sam was going to work and just laid in bed thinking about what I wanted to get done. Physically and mentally I was finally able to tackle the crayon mess. When I went to the fridge to get breakfast for the kids everything in there felt cool-ish but nowhere near cold. I thought our refrigerator was broken. Upon further inspection, this is what I found...

I asked Mila if she had been playing with it, and she said yes. So the refrigerator and freezer had been off all night long! Almost everything in the freezer was thawed. I got to spend some time cooking meat and throwing things out. It did force me to clean it out. Is it pathetic that the thing I was most sad about throwing out was this...

In my defense, this Whoopie Pie ice cream is splendid!

Being a mom is the most interesting job. But you probably know that ;)

Christmas!

2012-01-02T16:14:00.000-05:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas! I love the traditions, the lights, the decorations, the music, the treats, the planning, the secret surprises, gift wrapping, gift unwrapping, I love it all. It was nice to have Christmas on Sunday this year. I like going to church on Christmas to help us remember the real reason we celebrate the holiday. I always love the Christmas Sacrament meeting because it's mostly music. Sam was the only speaker. He did an amazing job (of course)! It was a beautiful meeting even though Emmitt spilled an entire container of cereal on the floor in the chapel.

A recap of the Festivities...

We went to see Santa at the Heritage Center in town. They always have a nice display and you can take pictures for free (unlike the stingy mall Santa). Mila actually sat on his lap this year all by herself! I think it helped that we went with our friends, the Whitacres, and their son is in Mila's class at church. They went first so I think it helped build her courage. Plus, she really wanted him to know that she wanted Squinkies :) Emmitt hated Santa! He really threw a fit. Then when Santa's helper, an older lady, tried to give him a candy cane, he smacked it right out of her hand onto the floor.

For a couple of weeks Mila talked and talked about how she wanted to make cookies to leave for Santa. It was a disaster. Long story short, the recipe calls for 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice. I put in 2 Tbsp and I don't know how much more Mila added, but it was plenty. That was kind of how the whole experience was. We took the dough over to Grandma's and cooked and decorated the cookies with the cousins. I don't think they were very good, but they served their purpose and Mila was so happy to put them out. She still talks about how she left cookies for Santa.

On Christmas Eve, after we got home from our family party and the kiddos were sleeping, Sam and I wrapped presents and watched a movie. I felt like a kid myself because I was so excited for morning to come so the kids could see the presents under the tree. We didn't put any under the tree before because I knew Emmitt wouldn't leave them alone. Because of him, we also have ornaments on only the top half of the tree. Mila was so excited when she saw that Santa had come. It's funny to me how much she knows about Santa because I have never taught her about him. I think she picked up a lot from cartoons.

This is actually the first Christmas tree we've ever had! We always just decorated our ficus tree because we were always at one of our parent's houses on Christmas morning. We didn't have many ornaments, a tree topper, or a tree skirt (I borrowed one of my mom's old ones), but I remedied that with Christmas clearance. I cleaned up! I got over $500 worth of stuff for $150. I am such a clearance junkie. I stalk stores after the holidays just waiting for things to go to 75% off, and then I pounce.

Before church we let the kids open their stockings and Mila opened her church dress. They also got the present I was the most excited to give them...

I love this picture of Emmitt. This was his first time down, and he gets going really fast.

Yes, I want it for indoor use. When I first told Sam I wanted to get them a slide he was a little skeptical because it's pretty big and we live in a tiny house, but I told him I am the one who has to keep them entertained all winter. He agreed. We used the kids' Christmas money from Sam's parents. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Trulock! They love it! Mila keeps saying, "Mom, do you remember how we got a slide for Christmas?"

This was the best picture I could get of them together in their church clothes. Of course it was at the top of the slide.

We changed out of church clothes, minus Emmitt, then it was present time. These are a few of the favorites...

A giant Toy Story coloring book and coloring stuff.

I made Mila a shirt with a crown and her name made of jewels.

Cinderella Barbie. Modestly dressed, too. :)

Mila with her Squinkies and their cupcake house. Emmitt is playing with Chompin' Mike the Mower behind her. That one is a little too loud for me. The mower, not Emmitt. Well, sometimes Emmitt.

They also got the game Let's Go Fishin'. One of the fish got stuck on Emmitt's finger.

We had a magical Christmas! I hope that Christmas found everyone else well and happy, too. I can't wait for next year (especially because I'll get to use all of my clearance stuff)!

Happy New Year to all!

Update

2011-12-21T10:40:00.003-05:00

Dad's surgery was a success! They completely removed the cancerous prostate, and so the cancer is gone. Just like that! As it turned out the prostate was very enlarged so the Dr. said he would have probably had to have some sort of procedure on it in the future anyway. So I guess they killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. His recovery has not been pleasant. His abdomen is stapled in about six different places, and he's had to have a catheter in since the surgery. Not fun. He was so uncomfortable after coming home that we didn't even get to see him for five days. He just didn't feel up to seeing people (and having noisy kids around, I'm sure).

I'm so thankful that he's ok! I really appreciate the prayers of friends and family on his behalf. Thank you again! I hope to post about more pleasant things than my dad's prostate soon ;) I hope everyone has been enjoying the Christmas season so far.

A Request...

2011-12-12T13:52:00.002-05:00

Last month my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer and is having surgery on Wednesday. Dad has been very good about having his checkups, so he is lucky and it was caught early. We have a close friend in our ward who has struggled for years and has almost lost his life more than once because of a botched routine gallbladder removal. I feel a little nervous now about any surgery. So, I was hoping to add more prayers to the prayers of my family. If you could, keep him in your prayers over the next few days. Thank You!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T16:20:00.001-05:00

We kicked off our Thanksgiving festivities by making a Thanksgiving tree for FHE. Mila enjoyed putting the leaves on the tree. Emmitt, of course, enjoyed trying to take them off :)

My oldest sister came from Las Vegas for the week with her family. While they were here we took a trip to the Boonshoft Discovery Museum with all ten of the grandkids. It was a crazy couple of hours, but all the kids had a lot of fun. We went almost a year ago, but Emmitt was too small to do anything. It was so fun to watch him!

Doing some grocery shopping.

All of the grandkids looking for birds outside the treehouse.

Playing in the pizza parlor.

He obviously didn't know it was a microphone and not a snack.

Emmitt loved the dig pit. It was quite difficult getting him to leave!

The water table was a lot of fun for him, too. I think he couldn't believe that he could actually play in all this water without being scolded.

We had a wonderful feast with the family as usual. Sam had a few days off so it was beautiful to get some extra time together. I did some shopping on black Friday and got some really good deals. I also went to see Breaking Dawn with a friend. Not the next great American film, but entertaining enough. I read the books when I was pregnant with Mila. I was SUPER sick with her so they gave me something to do while I stayed still on the couch trying not to puke. Memories :)

I love Thanksgiving because it gives us an extra reminder of all the wonderful things we are blessed with. I wish I kept a more grateful attitude the whole year long. Something to work on, I guess.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Little Spooks

2011-10-31T23:40:00.000-04:00

I LOVE HALLOWEEN! I'm not sure why I like it so much. In reality it doesn't have a whole lot of meaning to me except for seeing tons of cute kids in awesome costumes and using my kids to score free candy from strangers ;) Well, it is so fun to decorate for it and plan costumes. I think I started loving Halloween because when I was growing up Dad would leave to go to the Priesthood session of General Conference and Mom and me and my sisters would decorate for Halloween. Then when Dad came home he would see our spookified house. I just always thought that was so much fun. That was a good tradition.

Anyways, for better or worse, it seems like making holidays special is kind of the mother's domain. Now that I'm the mom, I get to do it. I love it! It's definitely in my top 5 favorites of being "Mom." It was pretty fun this year because Mila remembered Halloween from last year and so she was excited about it. Also, she picked out what she wanted to be. She started telling me like 2 months ago that she wanted to be a pink butterfly and she never changed her mind. I bought Emmitt's garden gnome costume last year after Halloween. Here they are...

My little pink butterfly all ready to go.

She was ecstactic about the jewels I put on her face. She talked about how we were going to put them on all day.

I actually made her little skirt. I know there's the no-sew method, but I thought it would look better this way. I thought it turned out quite cute. She was thrilled with it so that's all that matters :)

We only got the beard on him for about 20 seconds. It's not even totally on. He HATED it from the moment he saw it. He definitely doesn't look happy about it.

Of course he slept through some of it. I was just glad that he was content enough to ride in the stroller the whole time. We definitely did not need E on the loose.

It was near to impossible to get a good picture of him. He was running through the house while I took these. I attempted the beard again. Wasn't happening.

They are so cute!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

How Do You Like Them Apples?

2011-10-28T23:25:00.001-04:00

Another awesome thing about fall is that apples are crazy tasty and cheap. One of the grocery stores here has been having apples for 49 cents a pound. We've been buying a lot of apples. I was there the other day and they were 24 cents a pound! My bargain-loving heart was going wild! Anyway, I really wanted to make some apple butter while I could get the apples cheap. I ended up doing a shorter, easier method and just did it in the slow cooker. Incidentally, while trying to find a recipe to use, I found out that in Enon, a town right next to Springfield, they have an apple butter festival every year at the beginning of October. I just missed it! Next year, perhaps.

I started by peeling, coring, and slicing about 9-10 lbs of apples. I used a bunch of different kinds of apples: Jonathan, Ida Red, McIntosh, Gala, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonagold, Cortland, and Rome. I think using different kinds made it really flavorful. I added about 1 1/2 cups white sugar, about 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, a couple teaspoons cinnamon, a couple teaspoons ground cloves, a bit of ginger, a few splashes of vanilla, and some pumpkin pie spice because I wanted some nutmeg flavor but didn't have any. My measurements were not at all precise because I didn't have any measuring utensils so I was using a plastic cup and a plastic spoon to measure things out. I let it cook on high for 2 hrs then let it cook on low all night and a good part of the next day. I ended up with this...

My non-precise measuring left me with too-sweet apple butter that tasted more like sugar, cinnamon, and cloves than apples. So I peeled, cored, and sliced probably another 5 lbs of apples cooked them in a pan on the stove to break them down quickly and then added them to what I already had. The result...

Perfection!

Hopefully, if you give this a try, the cooker part of your crock pot won't end up looking like mine. This is after I tried to clean it, too.

Totally worth it.

Two posts in a week? I'm surprised the universe didn't explode.

I'm Fallin' for Fall

2011-10-26T17:27:00.001-04:00

Has it really been almost 2 months since I last blogged? Time flies. I'm so happy it's fall! I love this time of year. I was so sad when fall first came because it had been super hot and then suddenly it was SO cold. I thought Mother Nature was going to skip out on the crisp air and sunny days that I enjoy so much about fall and go straight to winter. Things have warmed up again and aside from some rainy days, we've been having a beautiful fall. I like some winter, but since I've had kids I feel like it lasts too long. I get so tired of having to bundle everyone up to go anywhere and it takes so much more effort to go out and play. I am pretty lazy though.

This tree is outside our bedroom window. I've been staring at it in the mornings before I get out of bed and admiring its beauty as the leaves have been changing over the last few weeks.

Happy Fall! I love it!

The Crazy Kiddos

2011-10-26T17:22:00.002-04:00

It's always fun (and frustrating too) to see what the kids think up. I'm so glad I get to stay home with them. I would hate to miss all of this!

Well, maybe not this...

Poor Mila. We were at my mom's and Mila was playing with the cousins in the basement. She said she fell and hit her mouth on a chair. Luckily, my sister saw her first and cleaned her up. She said there was a ton of blood. I'm not sure I would have handled it too well. I think I would have freaked out. Her front teeth were uneven like this for a few days, but they have pretty much gone back to normal.

Emmitt decided that dumping the cereal on the floor would help him find the marshmallows easier. Annoying but funny.

Our cabinets hadn't been put up in the kitchen yet. The kids had so much fun playing in them! They would play with them like they were little houses. They would knock on the door to each others houses and go visit. Really cute!

Enjoying a snack in the corner cabinet.

And Emmitt is a total climber now. I'm not too happy about it.

Caylee, Mila, and Conlon got into Grandma's makeup...again. This time Mila also put lotion in her hair.

Playing naptime.

Searching for stars...in the middle of the day.

The Mila and Emmitt Club. No mommy allowed.

Watching Dad work.

Worn out. Getting into mischief is tiring.

How do they sleep like this?

Foreign Visitors

2011-08-31T17:24:00.002-04:00

Ok. Not really. Sam's brother, Jared, and his wife, Rachel, and their kids came to visit. They moved to Montreal (you know, in Canada) in December for Jared's job. We have been so busy with visitors since Kelly and Andrew were here for a week and left last Tuesday night, and then Jared and Rachel came Wednesday night and left Sunday morning. It was so good to see each other, and the kids had so much fun together. Mila keeps saying, "Mom, do you remember Logan? Mom, do you remember Giselle? Mom, where's Rachel? Mom, where's Daddy Logan (aka Jared. Ha Ha!)?" Warning: lot's of pictures!

Of course, we went to Young's Jersey Dairy

Emmitt loved sharing Cow Patty ice cream with me.

The kids barely ate a few bites of ice cream, and they were off to feed the goats.

Mila looks like a homeless child in this picture. Messy face and wild hair. People must see her and wonder if we own a brush or if she has parents that care about her. Just for the record, I did comb and put gel in her hair. This is what happens to her crazy hair in Ohio humidity no matter what I do!

All Emmitt cared about was running up and down this ramp in the barn.

I barely got this shot and Emmitt dove right off the cow. Luckily, Sam was there to catch him.

There he goes. Probably looking for the ramp.

Playing on the tractor. Love that little, goofy smile!

Mila spent lots of time here. What's more fun than a bank of hand sanitizer dispensers? I didn't mind her fascination though cause feeding the goats totally grosses me out!

The Cinderella Park

Mila, Ellie (a girl in our ward that was at the park, too), and Giselle on the pumpkin carriage.

Mila and Emmitt sharing a swing. So cute!

Feeding the ducks. These things are so crazy! They have no fear and get right up into your personal space.

Mila loved having a little friend to play "Darbies" and ponies with.

The Columbus Zoo

I hadn't been to this zoo since 7th grade, I think, and it was awesome! I did not remember it being so nice. Can't wait to go back since we didn't get see everything we wanted to.

Here were some of our favorites...

Black Rhino. Sam wanted to see this one the most, and he was sitting so he could barely be seen.

The tigers.

Lions. This guy was literally 3 feet away. It looks like he's looking right at my camera. Or maybe he thought I just looked like a tasty treat...

These three are pretty close to little animals :)

Flamingoes. Mila loves flamingoes and was pretty excited about these.

Alligators. This guy was laying right by the glass. He did not even look real! Look how funny his little hand is!

Koala Bear. I wish that I had a better picture because this little guy was so cute! He was all squished between the branches of this tree sleeping.

We had a blast with Jared, Rachel, Logan, and Giselle! Can't wait to see them again!

A Wedding Celebration

2011-08-31T16:02:00.001-04:00

Kelly and Andrew had their open house here in Ohio on the 20th. We were quite busy preparing for it. It was a lot of fun to spend the week with them! Of course, in my usual fashion, I decided like the day before to make tissue paper pom-poms to hang in the tree over the tables and crepe paper rosette balls for over the food table. I only got one rosette ball done because (as I found out the hard way) they are so time consuming! The open house was a success, and we all had a good time visiting with friends.

Erin, Me, Kelly, Tori

A few of the puffy beauties

I thought they turned out really nice!

The rosette ball. Lots of work for sure, but it was so pretty!

The Most Constant Thing in Life is Change...

2011-08-14T18:24:00.000-04:00

And how our life has changed! Good changes though!

Change #1: Today Sam was ordained as a High Priest and set apart as the 2nd counselor in our ward's bishopric. I think it's kind of funny that I just made Sam's Priesthood Line of Authority for his birthday which will now have to be changed completely. This will be such a great opportunity for Sam to serve the Lord and the members of our ward. Lucky for him, he served in a single's ward bishopric in Virginia which is a good introduction to this calling. Oddly enough, my dad is the 1st counselor. I never thought that my dad and my husband would be in a bishopric together. I miss having his help with the children in sacrament meeting already!

Change #2: Sam will also be starting a new job this week with Honeywell Aerospace! He totally was not looking for another job, but this opportunity came along and was too good to pass up. We are completely stoked because this job is better in every way--better pay, benefits, vacation, retirement, etc. He wasn't even going to apply because he thought maybe he should work for his other company longer, and it really would be a miracle for him to get the job. The more we thought about it, we just thought he should give it a try. The worst thing that could happen would be that he wouldn't get the job, but since he already had a job it wouldn't be the end of the world. Miracle of miracles happened, and he got the job! I think Heavenly Father was pre-blessing us since He knew that Sam was going to be called into the Bishopric :)

So, things have changed unexpectedly again for us in this wild and crazy land of Ohio.

A Wedding and Another Birthday

2011-08-10T15:51:00.000-04:00

We just got back from Utah last night. I love the dryness of Utah. We got to Ohio about 12:30 A.M., and I could still totally feel the humidity the second I stepped outside at the airport. Anyway, my little sister, Kelly, got married on my birthday in the Logan, Utah temple. It was a wonderful ceremony, and I was so happy to be able to be there for her sealing. It was amazing! I was ok sharing my birthday with her because I'm 27 this year. No need to celebrate that. Being at my little sister's wedding with two young children and a Mr. of almost 6 1/2 years suddenly made me feel a little old. I know that 27 isn't old, but when I was younger, I never imagined myself much past 25. I've already done most of the big exciting things in life like getting a driver's license, going on my first date, graduating high school, going to college, graduating college, getting engaged, getting married, having my first baby, well you get the idea. Turning 27 aside, it was a great birthday since I got to go to the beautiful Logan temple, I got to be with my family, and I still even got some cake. Even though I am 27, I know there's still lots of good stuff to come.

My beautiful sister and her new Mr.

There was a lot of waiting around for the happy couple to come out of the temple and then during some of the pictures so the children had ample time to try and get into mischief...

Emmitt has to be running and on the go ALL THE TIME. If he's not doing that...

...he's finding something he shouldn't to eat :)

Mila and her cousins, Gracie and Layla, climbing in one of the trees on the temple grounds.

Emmitt went nuts over the fountain! We could not keep him away.

Mila and Papa enjoying the flowers.

I really wanted to get a nice picture of our little family dressed up at the temple. This is the best one. You can only guess how good the other ones were.

All in all, a wonderful day with the ones I love!

More Birthday Parties

2011-07-31T19:08:00.001-04:00

We have a ton of babies our ward right now who have turned 1 or are turning 1 in 2011. Avery's mom decided to share Avery's birthday on the 28th with all the babies and had a little party for all of them. There were actually four babies missing from the party. We had a present exchange and then cupcakes. Everyone had such a fun time!

Back: Tristian, Emmitt

Front: Ziva, Avery, Liam

Tristian also had a party on Saturday that we went to. It was so hot and humid, but Mila had tons of fun. There was a baby pool set up, a tasty taco bar, the kids did a little treasure hunt, and we had cake pops for dessert. Yummy! All the kids also got a live fish to take home. Mila was so excited!

We have a book that we read almost every night that has a flamingo in it, so Mila was thrilled to get to play with this one.

Mila is so silly! She would not get into the pool until all the other kids got out. Well, I guess it was actually quite smart because she got all the toys to herself.

Mila got to catch her own fish out of the pool. The first one she caught was dead. The second one she caught didn't last more than 10 or 15 minutes after we left the party. She didn't know it was dead, and she carried it around the rest of the day!

My Birthday Boys!

2011-07-25T00:40:00.000-04:00

Emmitt is 1! His birthday was June 22nd. We had family over for a little party. I made dirt cake for him like I did for Mila cause at this age they're always eating dirt anyway. He LOVED it!

Then

Now

Hmmm. This is curiously delicious.

SO CUTE!

Don't worry it came right out of his shirt :)

Mila helped him open presents. She has had a bit of a hard time on everyone else's birthdays because she wants it to be hers so badly.

I printed these letters for Mila to color while I got everything ready. She was so happy to be doing something special for Brother.

He started walking the week before his birthday. He is an incredibly busy boy. I can't believe all the things he gets in to. He is very creative at getting to what he wants, and the boy has AMAZING strength!

Sam turned 28 on July 2nd! I can't believe how old we are getting! He really just wanted money for his birthday to go to the outlet mall that's about an hour away. So the Saturday before his birthday we left the kids with my mom and sister and went to the outlet mall for the afternoon. Sam really wanted to go to the Puma store. Their selection was pretty disappointing, but he did get some really nice shoes (I'll refrain from calling them "cute" because he hates when I say his stuff is "cute") at the Nike store and some other stuff. It was just so nice to spend a bit more of an extended time just the two of us.

He keeps asking me why his kids don't look like him. Ha Ha Sam.

For my gift, I made him a nice copy of his Priesthood Line of Authority. I think it will be a good thing to have in our home so our children will be able to see that the Priesthood their father holds comes in a traceable line from Jesus Christ.

I know that many women say they're married to the most amazing man in the world, but sorry ladies, my man really is the most amazing man in the world! I love you so much, Sweetheart, and I'm so glad that I'm making this crazy journey through life with you!

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

2011-07-24T18:34:00.003-04:00

Well, this is some of the stuff we've been doing...

Helping Papa plant and take care of the garden.

Harvesting lots of cucumbers!

Emmitt ended up eating about half of this little zucchini!

Eating rocket pops. Yum!

Celebrating the 4th of July

Last year's 4th of July. They have changed so much!

Picking grandma's flowers and finding little green worms.

Feeding goats at Young's Jersey Dairy.

Playing Princesses with Maisie and Tanner. Yes, Tanner is a boy :)

"Mormon Night" at the Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake game in Columbus. It literally was Mormon Night. They did it as a promotion. You could tell who a lot of the Mormons were because the women all had long shorts on, of course, there's always the tell-tale signs of G's, and lots of the couples had babies. We were lucky enough to get to leave our babies with grandma and Tori, who even put them to bed :)

A trio of Elders sang the National Anthem for the game. I think that's about all they really did for Mormon Night. There wasn't any mention of anything about Mormons that I heard, and they did not allow the Elders to hand out any stuff.

Splashing in puddles at the bottom of the driveway after the rain.

Swinging at the park. My kids can't get enough of the swings.

This swan was HUGE!

Feeding the ducks at the park.

Eating corn on the cob. Summer isn't summer without it.

Swimming on a super hot and sticky day.

Playing "Penguins." We had the box of swimming gear out and Mila came up to me and said, "Look at me mom, I'm a penguin!"

Riding in the wagon.

We've been having lots of fun this summer! I know this isn't all that detailed, but it's the best I can do to catch up right now. I am also posting about Emmitt's and Sam's birthdays. Hope everyone else has been having a great summer too!

2011-05-14T18:29:00.001-04:00

Not much has really happened with us lately. I've updated on Mother's Day and Easter, but other than that we've just been busy with living life. Sam's doing great at work and enjoys his job. The kids stay busy playing, growing, and loving being around so many cousins. I stay busy trying to keep up with life's messes, being a mom, and my new passion garage sale-ing (I just really don't know how to spell that word). Sorry we aren't more exciting!

Mother's Day

2011-05-14T18:22:00.000-04:00

Truthfully, Mother's Day could have been better. Sam had to go in to work for a few hours before church, and I woke up very late. So I had to get myself and the kids ready in very little time. The whole day was just a little off after that. It was a nice day really, but I was just tired I think. It had been a busy weekend so by the time Sunday rolled around I was beat. Perhaps I always expect too much out of Mother's Day, but really it's pretty much just another day because you still have to deal with the same tantrums, messes, and hassles of every other day. Maybe that sounds a little cynical, but that's the reality. Sam was a dear though and let me have some quiet time after church to do as I pleased. Always appreciated. Rough Mother's Day aside, it truly is a joy to be a wife and mother and to be so completely involved in something so much bigger than myself. I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this amazing experience!

Easter

2011-05-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

We had a really busy and fun Easter weekend. On Friday my sister, Erin, and I took her 3 girls and Mila to see the movie Hop at the theater. This was Mila's first time going to the movies and she loved it! The girls had so much fun together so I want to take Mila again soon. After the movie we came home and dyed eggs together. It was a bit of a disaster. Erin and I got a little distracted from watching the kids color eggs and we left them alone in the kitchen for like 10 minutes. When we came back in Mila and Brennae had spilled 2 cups of dye all over the table and chairs, and unpeeled over a half dozen eggs and partially eaten them. They eggshells and uneaten egg pieces were in the other cups of dye and just all over the table, floor, and themselves. Wish I would have gotten a picture of it because it was one of those messes where you aren't really quite sure where to start the clean up process.

Pre-disaster :)

On Saturday the cousins came over for an egg hunt which we had to do indoors since it was raining. We also decorated cupcakes. I ended up doing most of them, but we all had fun.

Sunday was a beautiful Easter Day! We'd been having such nasty, rainy weather here that it seemed like nature was also celebrating Christ's resurrection with us. We had a lovely dinner with the family and gave Mila and Emmitt their baskets. Mila's basket had all sorts of goodies in it. Emmitt's eggs were just filled with different flavored puffs and Cheerios.

I searched high and low for an affordable, cute Easter dress for Mila. I bought a couple, and then I remembered I bought this dress when Mila was 6 months old at a garage sale thinking that someday I could use it for Easter. It was in perfect condition and had a killer price tag: 75 cents! Can't beat that! Those other dresses of course went back to the store :)

Guess Who's Crawling!

2011-03-24T00:59:00.003-04:00

Emmitt, of course! Well, he's actually been crawling for a month now.

And he's in to everything.

Can't be mad at this face though!

He's particularly fond of paper. And shoes. We definitely don't need a dog.

He found a piece of blue streamer at a birthday celebration a few weeks ago. Obviously, it turned his mouth blue (and anything else it touched). He later found a red piece. I then tore down and threw away the streamers.

He also has two teeth. They came in the week after Christmas. I just hadn't dedicated a picture to the new buckers yet.

Love that smile! He really likes to bite though. He's given me a few bruises on my arms, so I'm a little scared for him to get more teeth.

Seriously, Emmitt! He is the messiest eater! I admit, I don't really enjoy feeding him solids. He always grabs the spoon, gets the food all over his hands, and then rubs his eyes or something like that. That exact sequence of events preceded this picture.

There are a few more new posts after this one. I haven't felt like anything too interesting has gone on, so I didn't think much about posting. I was surprised though at how many pictures I had on the camera. Enjoy!

Stickers

2011-03-24T00:35:00.000-04:00

Mila got a book of stickers for her birthday, and I have been finding them EVERYWHERE!

The wall. This is just one victim of many.

Doors.

Silverware. I admit, that's a creative place.

Tables. Good job on following the curved line.

The counter.

A laptop box.

I've found them in the carpet, in Emmitt's mouth, on all of our clothes, well..you get the idea. I will never be free of them!

Best Buds

2011-03-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

I have been really lucky that Mila and Emmitt LOVE to be with each other. They have so much fun playing and laughing together. I love hearing them giggle in the next room!

Ok. I just love this picture of Mila! It is so funny! She still has the chubbiest face. She was way chubbier than Emmitt is. I guess he is way more active way earlier than she was, too. Maybe that's partly why. I don't know.

So sweet :) I must admit, my faith that Mila will ever have hair on the sides of her head is beginning to waver. I keep having to cut the back to keep the mullet under control.

Sometimes I put Emmitt in the high chair while I cook, and Mila will then drag it over to her little table and play with him. They were playing with Guess Who pieces. Emmitt ate so many of the little cards that we threw the game away.

Mila got into the colanders one day and thought they made fun hats. She made sure Emmitt got a chance to try on

Every

Single

One.

My Silly Girl

2011-03-23T23:56:00.001-04:00

This little snowman was so cute! Sam and Mila built it. I wanted to get a picture of them together with their snowman, but Mila wouldn't get closer to the snowman than this. She's so funny sometimes.

Terra sent her kids' old Ipods out to us and Mila has been loving it. There are some movies and cartoons on them and she will go get the Ipod, put on the giant, adult-size headphones, curl up on the couch, and enjoy. This particular picture made me laugh because of her hair.

See! She loves it!

We were eating some salad at lunch one day, and she lined up all her celery along the fork handle. I've never thought to do that.

A few days later, while snacking on some carrots, she decided to decorate the stuffed animal with them.

I was getting in my bed one night and pulled back my blankets to find one of Mila's babies sleeping in my bed. Whenever she puts something down to sleep, it always sleeps face-down.

Mila loves to play with and eat ANY type of dough--bread dough, cookie dough, pizza dough, salt dough, whatever. She also is obsessed with turning said dough into "snakes." There's a whole family here.

She saw Tori laying on the couch and wanted to do it too. The ottoman was a perfect fit. Another scrunchy-faced smile from my silly girl :)

From the kitchen I saw that she had something on her face. But what?

Her cousin's upside-down glasses! Silly me. Of course you need someone else's upside-down glasses when watching a movie.

Just love the random smiles and laughs this girl brings to my life!

Just Playing

2011-02-22T22:25:00.001-05:00

My parents have this awesome little playroom underneath the stairs that is just chock full of toys. Even with tons of fun toys to choose from, this was what Emmitt (who is 8 months today!) was most interested in...

...the texture on the wall! Go figure! You may as well not buy toys.

Mila eventually gave him a ball to play with that he found a little more interesting. I was getting a kick out of his fascination with the wall though.

Ouch! He got his finger pinched. A smile is never too far away though. Wait for it...

wait for it...

Ta Da! There it is again :) What a sweetie!

Mila was busy cooking up something special for me while wearing Brielle's sparkly shoes on the wrong feet. Mila wears these shoes more than Brielle!

Mila brought this plate over to me and said, "Here Mom, I made you chocolate ones." Huh, how'd she guess! :)

We had a really fun day today just playing together. The kids have been sick for a few days so the last couple days have been a little rough since they haven't been sleeping well at night, which means I haven't been either. They woke up a few times early in the night last night, but then they both slept for a solid 6 hour stretch. That made a huge difference in our day today. I hope they let me sleep tonight!

"Pretty like a Princess"

2011-02-22T21:14:00.000-05:00

Sort of happy to be a Princess.

Really happy to be a Princess.

When Mila wants to dress up, she says she wants to be pretty like a princess. When she is wearing something frilly, girly, or especially twirly, she says she is pretty like a princess. It's so cute how she says "princess," too, because she has a little lisp. She got this cute little dress for Christmas from Sam's mom.

Mila decided to swap her plastic dress-up heels for a pair of Tori's real heels. Almost every day while Tori is at school, Mila goes in her room and raids her closet of shoes. Reminds me of my little sister days of sneaking into my oldest sister's room while she was at school and playing with all the stuff that was banned from me :)

There was no school on President's Day for most schools (poor Tori had to go for a make-up day), so Mila was really excited to play with Braelynn and Brielle for an extra day since they usually only stay Saturday and most of Sunday to go to church. Mila loves Braelynn and Brielle!

Baby Love

2011-02-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

I love these! These are just some of the pictures my sister Terra took when Emmitt was 3 weeks old. I think she did awesome, especially considering I arrived about 2 hours later than she wanted me to and we missed the good light in the room. I can't believe how little he was, and it breaks my heart that he's growing up so fast. I feel like time is just whizzing by with him. Mila's first year felt so much longer. He continues to be such a delight. He smiles so much and is such a sweet boy. I love having him in our little family! Especially now that he sleeps like 12 hours at night :)

Much Celebrating and Much to Celebrate

2011-02-15T02:39:00.002-05:00

Whoa! These last few days have been exhausting! I love holidays and birthdays, but I'm glad we don't have one every day. I don't think I could do it! I have been working since Friday to prepare for Mila's birthday and Valentine's, and I put in mental energy before that to plan. And here I am staying up late to blog about it all! I am certainly lucky though to have a beautiful daughter and a lot of love in my life to celebrate! I have decided that I really need to try and update more often because I just get too overwhelmed by the amount of pictures and things that happen so I end up not blogging because it's too much to catch up on. Plus, since I'm a horrible journal writer, this is a great way to keep track of things and pictures are included too. So read on. In my usual fashion, there are a number of new posts ;)

Valentine's Day!

2011-02-15T02:12:00.002-05:00

Sadly, I did not get to spend Valentine's with my sweetheart :( He left for Kentucky this morning to do some training for work. Even though he had to leave very early, he still managed to have flowers and a card on the table for me when I woke up. What a sweet man I have! However, I did get to spend the day with the two little Valentines he has given me! I just love my little cherubs!

Every year since I can remember, my dad has gotten all of his girls a Valentine's gift, and we have had a special Valentine's dinner usually consisting of red and heart-shaped foods. It's always been something I've looked forward to, and I'm glad I got to be here again for it. Our gifts this year were cute earrings and chocolates. My gift to everyone was the third installment of my Ultimate Love Mix. I made the first one for the first Valentine's Sam and I were together. Making this mix has been a source of stress for me because I started making it too late, and because it can't be done until I feel it's perfect. I made it on Friday, but it just wasn't right, so I made some revisions today and burned new copies. Here was our beautiful table. Notice the flowers from my love on the table :) Perfect.

I made a delicious heart-shaped pizza. Erin and her kids were here again, and Megan and her kids were supposed to come, so we figured that pizza would be something the kids would eat. I'm always in the mood for pizza anyway. I have to say I've gotten quite good at making tasty crust.

Mom made heart-shaped Jell-O jigglers which Mila could not resist. She hadn't even had any food yet. Between the jigglers and the chocolates sprinkled over the table, she certainly spoiled her dinner.

For dessert, we decorated heart sugar cookies.

The frosting knife had more contact with Mila's mouth than it did with her cookie. Big surprise.

She's not even pretending that she's working on a cookie!

Later, while I was busy feeding Emmitt his food, I caught Mila serving herself a big bowl of Jell-O. I hope she doesn't go into a sugar coma tonight.

Mila's 3rd Birthday! (Part 2)

2011-02-15T00:52:00.004-05:00

Mila's birthday is the 13th, which was Sunday, but we had her party on Saturday. Since Aunt Erin gave Mila so many presents, we had her open her presents from us on Sunday, her actual birthday. It was funny because on Sunday morning when she got up and I told her it was her birthday, she didn't believe me because of the big bash she had the day before! Basically she just opened more presents, and we had some more of the massive cake. It was fun to prolong the celebration a little more.

Mila was quite ready for more presents.

She got this shirt from her cousins the day before.

Showing off her new stuff. She has totally loved the new tea set. It makes a pouring sound when you tip it over to "pour." I've actually had a number of tasty cups of invisible hot chocolate today. I'm sure there will be more to come :)

Every birthday of Mila's feels a little bittersweet to me. I love watching her grow and learn new things, but I also lament that my baby is growing up and will someday not be my little girl anymore. I do have high hopes for this new year of her life though. I'm hoping that perhaps she will exit the terrible two's. I was hoping she would wake up on her third birthday, and they would be over! Alas, I was not that lucky. She is just a very stubborn and determined girl. Although these traits can be very useful in life, I have yet to find a good outlet for them at present.

She really is a funny girl though. We were driving in the car this summer and suddenly she said, "Mom, do you like animals?" I said, "Yes, I do like animals. Do you like animals?" Mila: "Yeah, I like animals." Then she said, "Mom, do you like zebras?" Me: "Yes, I like zebras. Do you like zebras?" Mila: "I like zebras." We had this exact same conversation concerning every animal she could think of.

One Sunday Sam was watching a game and Mila asked him to play with her, and he told her he would in a minute. So she held up her arms like she was holding something and said, "You want me to hold you? I'll hold you."

She is a wonderful helper and loves to help me cook, set the table, do laundry, and just about anything else but clean up toys ;) She is also a huge help with Emmitt, and she often entertains him so I can get things done. She can get him laughing like no one else can.

Here's to you, Mila. You definitely bring adventure, laughter, and love to our lives. I'm glad you're mine!

Mila's 3rd Birthday! (Part 1)

2011-02-15T00:28:00.002-05:00

My cute little 3 year old! She was so excited that I was having a really hard time getting her to just smile a little without scrunching her whole face up.

About a week ago Mila told me she wanted a "Princess Castle Cake" for her birthday, so I tried to deliver. I looked at a bunch of different cakes online and everyone used fondant as a cover to get smoother results, but I didn't have the time or patience for extra steps so I just used regular old icing. This is the first time I've ever made any sort of specialty cake, so I was quite pleased with the results especially since I made it the day of the party.

Mila excited about her cake and presents.

The party consisted of her cousins, of which only two are above age 3, so playing games with any sort of rules was pretty much out of the question so we had to get a little creative with activities. We did this fun painting activity that I got from Mel Whitacre. You put paper in the bottom of a box, put some drops of paint around the edges, toss in a few marbles, and roll them around to make a cool design. The kids loved it! They liked picking out their paint colors, and it was also cool to put different colors of construction paper in. Thanks for the awesome idea Mel!

One of Mila's creations.

They played a number of exciting rounds of Ring Around the Rosy. Can't beat the classics, I guess :)

This game cracked me up the most because it's not even really a game! I didn't even plan it, it just sort of happened, and it was the biggest hit. All I did was blow up some balloons, yelled, "One, two, three, GO," and they would throw a bunch of balloons in the air while I took a picture. That was it. But they LOVED it! We played this "game" for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Oh the joy! To be a kid again.

You know you're at a kid's birthday party when the dinner is macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Don't worry, we also had carrots and cauliflower :)

Cake time.

Blowing out the candles. I wish we had a better angle, but this will do.

How quickly all that work was destroyed :(

Mila learned an important lesson at her party. If you want a lot of gifts, invite Aunt Erin. Erin and her kids gave Mila at least 10 gifts. She had a blast opening her presents though, as most kids do. This was one of her favorites since one of Mila's current obsessions is ponies.

Mila also got a My Little Pony house, which she promptly filled with ponies, and it has hardly left her sight since. The kids spent the rest of the night playing. Mila had an amazing birthday party! I love how Caylee just suddenly doesn't have a shirt on in this picture! Reminds me of when her mom was her age.

Ice Storm

2011-02-14T22:52:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago or so we were hit with the huge ice and snowstorm that was all over the news. It was awesome! Schools and businesses were shut down so we all just hung out for a fews days watching movies in our pajamas. Well, we were lucky. Tons of people were without power for days, and there was some damage from the ice. Everything looked like it was make of glass. It was so beautiful! Here are some pictures.

The top of this poor little tree couldn't handle the weight of the ice.

This tree in my parents yard also broke because of the ice.

Ice about an inch thick covered everything. It was so thick on the grass that in most places it would hold Sam's weight when he walked on it. It was amazing!

Our car was totally encased in ice. Sam spent a lot of time trying to break it free.

Here is one little girl excited to go out and play in it all! She loved picking up the sheets of ice and throwing them down so they would shatter everywhere. Luckily she has a wonderful dad who went out with her every day to play.

Big News!

2011-01-31T16:45:00.001-05:00

No, I am not pregnant ;) Sam has a new job, and we just moved to Ohio! It was pretty unexpected and so fast the way things happened. We came here for Christmas and the kids and I never went back to Utah. Sam went back for a week and a half to get our stuff. He got hired as a Facility Manager for a company called Eclipse Advantage. We are thrilled that he is starting out in a management position since he does not really have any corporate management experience. It's also exciting because this company is fairly new and growing like crazy. They work all over the US so there is definite room for growth, and we hope to eventually make our way back west. We will miss our family and friends and Utah so much (and the fact that people take care of their teeth), but we have a really good situation here, and we are excited to start this new chapter in our lives. We are so grateful for this blessing!

Handsome Mr. Emmitt

2011-01-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

Emmitt so cute! I love when he smiles like this because it stretches out his cheeks and makes them so chubby and ready for kisses :)

I love this little face!

Look at those cheeks!

There are few things as beautiful as a sleeping baby. Chubby baby hands are so cute!

Napping with Daddy.

This is something my dad used to do with us when we were babies. Now Emmitt gets the thrilling pleasure.

Emmitt is growing so much! I can't believe how big he's gotten in the last month. He has two bottom teeth. He is a major mommy's boy and wants me all the time. He's rolling all over the place but not quite crawling yet. He scoots himself backwards so I'm thinking he'll start crawling soon. He's very giggly and smiles all the time, and he loves playing with his big sister. He's such a joy to have in our little family!

Ohio Christmas

2011-01-31T15:55:00.001-05:00

Brennae, Brielle, Emmitt, and Mila after church. Mila and Emmitt love playing with their cousins. I also love when the cousins come over because I don't have to worry about entertaining Mila! They play hard and are always worn out by the end of the day.

Emmitt after church in his little Santa hat.

Emmitt's new Christmas jammies.

Mila in her new Christmas jammies playing with the Little People Nativity pieces by the tree.

Mila fell asleep on the couch after the excitement of opening presents on Christmas morning.

Mila helped us make our traditional popcorn cakes this year. Her favorite part was watching the popcorn come out of the popper.

It was a busy season and Mila had lots of fun, but she was sure tired out by it all too. I love how she sleeps with her hands under her cheek like this. She falls asleep with her hands like this almost every night.

Utah Christmas

2011-01-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

We went to the lights at Temple Square which is always a fun and beautiful outing. It was so cold that night!

These two houses are a couple streets down from Sam's parents. These pictures seriously do not do them justice! This night was super cold too, and Sam rolled down the window to take the picture and then the window would not roll back up so we had to drive around the rest of the night with the window down. Luckily our neighbor is good with cars. He said the motor was dead, and he had to pull off the door panel and roll up the window manually which took like an hour because it only goes up and little at a time. I felt a little silly causing all that hassle just because I wanted a picture of the crazy Christmas light houses.

Emmitt opening up a present from Grandpa and Grandma Trulock.

Mila got a new family of ponies. I really just love her face in this picture. Her little pony bag is now literally bursting at the seams with all of her little friends!

Mila got this little tent too. She loves it! We put it in her room for the night and in the morning she dragged it back out to the family room and started putting all of her little toy friends into it.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub Babies in the Tub

2011-01-31T14:22:00.000-05:00

We couldn't get Mila in the tub one night so we made her a bubble bath. She was so excited to get in. The only problem was that for a while she would not take a bath unless it was a bubble bath.

The kids both weren't feeling great and both needed baths so we put them in together. I'm still holding on to Emmitt cause he still couldn't sit up on his own, but Mila really liked helping Brother in the tub. Now that they bathe together all the time, they love splashing in the tub together.

Catching Up With Mila

2011-01-31T14:05:00.000-05:00

Mila's hair looks like this pretty much every morning. I don't know how she does it! She has the most unruly and unmanageable hair. I never know what to do with it, and she hates when I try to fix it so it's always a mess!

Mila bundled for the cold weather. She always wants to go outside so I'm pretty excited for warm weather to return.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's with one of Sam's friends from work who has a daughter Mila's age. Mila had so much fun playing the games. She wasn't able to throw the ball far enough in ski-ball so she climbed up to get a closer shot.

She loved the duckie game of course :)

I made Buckeyes (basically peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate) and Mila could not get enough. She kept going to the refrigerator and getting them herself. I was getting ready and didn't realize she was doing this until she came in looking like this. She has a mouthful in this picture.

Real Salt Lake Game

2011-01-30T18:21:00.000-05:00

Me and Sam in our RSL gear. Sam was able to sit with us the whole time this game.The kids were really good again and we had such a blast!

Mila has to take this bag with her everywhere! It is filled with My Little Ponies and rubber ducks. If we go somewhere without this bag, we seriously regret it. So this bag came with us to the soccer game. Like most places, when you come through the entrance gate they check your bags. It made me laugh so hard when the security guy opened this bag only to find a bunch of ponies and ducks! He laughed too.

Halloween

2011-01-30T18:05:00.000-05:00

We went to the Harvest Festival at Thanksgiving Point and saw some really huge pumpkins. This beasty blob was the winner.

We went to a fun Halloween party at the Vogelsberg's. Sam got the pumpkin all cleaned out and then Mila decided she wanted to paint it instead.

Our festive family. Sam was a sport and changed his shirt when he got home from work. Thanks for humoring me, sweetheart :)

Beggar's Night was really nasty and rainy out so we tried to take Mila to the mall to trick-or-treat. Everyone else had the same idea because it was packed and all the stores were already out of candy. This was all Mila got. We ended up going to Jared and Rachel's and going with them in their neighborhood. The kids had a lot of fun together, and they did pretty well.

Obviously, Mila was a ladybug and Emmitt was a lion. They were so cute! Mila loved wearing the ladybug costume, and it was pretty hard getting it off her. I'm not sure anything will ever beat Mila's skunk costume from last year though.

NEW POSTS!!!

2010-09-23T04:59:00.003-04:00

There are tons of new posts so you have to go back 2 pages!!! I didn't get to post for forever because our laptop bit the dust and our desktop is somewhere in storage. We had to get a new laptop for Sam's job so I have finally been able to load our pictures and update things. Enjoy!

Emmitt

2010-09-23T04:24:00.008-04:00

One of my last pregnancy pictures with him. I don't remember how many weeks I was.

I can't believe how fast my little baby is growing! I actually sort of miss being pregnant with him. I never thought I would ever say those words!

I'm surprised at how much more physical he is than Mila was. He has been trying to sit up for weeks now, since a little after we got here. When I lay him on the bed he pushes his elbows back and lifts his head up off the pillow trying to sit up by himself so he can look around. It's interesting the differences in how things have been from the start with he and Mila. He has been so much easier! I know I'm more prepared and relaxed this time around, but it really has been so much easier, even the pregnancy was. The only thing that has been easier with Mila was her delivery because I was induced and had an epidural, and I delivered Emmitt naturally. I appreciate the different experiences I've had with both though.

More Emmitt

2010-09-23T04:13:00.005-04:00

Emmitt is such a sweet baby! He really only cries if he needs something. He is so quick to smile and he loves his mommy. He really laughed today for the first time. He has been thinking about it for a while now, but he actually let out a chuckle today when I tickled him.

Mila

2010-09-23T04:01:00.004-04:00

Mila's favorite place at home. We spend hours out here.

We were at Ross the other day and she found this duckie neck pillow. She carried it around the whole time we were at the store and was so distraught when I asked her to leave it. I couldn't bear her sadness so I bought it. It was only a few dollars, but I wasn't buying anything else so I couldn't believe I was standing in line to buy the duckie neck pillow. When we got home, she ran out and put the duck in the swing and started singing to it while she pushed it. I got a good laugh out of it.

More Mila

2010-09-23T03:43:00.004-04:00

Swinging is Mila's most favorite thing to do. She would live in the swing if it were possible.

Mila with chocolate face. She is a raging chocoholic just like her mother :) She asks for it all the time and gets VERY upset if we don't have any. Chocolate isn't really something that we always have on hand so I deal with a lot of fits that are centered around chocolate.

Capitol Discovery Week

2010-09-23T03:24:00.002-04:00

Being a stay-at-home mom right now, I get a little bored with doing the same thing every day so I'm always looking for different stuff to go do. Well, we were driving down the road in Lehi and I saw a billboard advertising Capitol Discovery Week. I looked on the website and they said they were supposed to have rare artifacts from the founding on display, and it seemed like it was going to be a big deal. I had never been to the capitol, but was interested in seeing it and since Cheryl is also an from out of state, I asked her to come. So Cheryl and I head up with the kids one afternoon. We get there and there are no signs or anything directing us where to go so we just find a door and go on in. Once again there isn't anything or anyone to direct us to where we should be. We see some school kids obviously on a field trip so we assume we're in the right place. There were a bunch of glass cases with stuff inside that we perused, but it just really wasn't all that exciting. We were most excited about the Liberty Bell replica. Across the street was a travel information place with these two bison statues out front that Mila had a lot of fun with. In the last picture she is kissing it. Well the trip may have been lame, but at least we got out of the house I guess. Although, I'm not sure it was totally worth it though because all three kids screamed the whole way home. Well Cheryl, thanks for wasting your afternoon with me! I chuckle to myself every time I think about the fact that we went to Capitol Discovery Week!

Real Salt Lake Game

2010-09-23T03:11:00.002-04:00

Sam and our friend Derick both are working for a company that has a program that allows people to order food from their phones at sporting events so they don't have to get out of their seats and miss any of the game or stand in line. Cheryl and I got to go to the Real Salt Lake game the other night with the kids. We were a little nervous at first because Cheryl was also babysitting the daughter of another guy that works for the company, so it would be me and Cheryl with four kids at the soccer game. Luckily, the kids were all really good, and we had an awesome time. Derick got to sit with us for most of the game so that really helped. Emmitt slept through a good portion which was amazing because of the noise level. It was awesome because we had front row seats, but Mila kept dropping stuff over the side so the security guy, bless his heart, had to keep picking it up for her.

Bedtime

2010-09-23T03:01:00.002-04:00

Whenever I get Mila ready for bed Emmitt is usually on the bed too, and Mila cannot keep her hands off of him! This poor kid never gets a break from her! Sometimes she makes him cry, but most of the time he loves when she plays him. She scares the crap out of me though! I catch her trying to feed him all sorts of stuff. Just today she was trying to put an alphabet flash card in his mouth! He's also sampled jell-o, popcorn, crackers, milk, cookies, and who knows what else when I haven't had my eyes glued on her.

Labor Day

2010-09-23T02:35:00.006-04:00

We had an awesome Labor Day! First off, any day that I can spend the whole day with Sam is awesome, but we did lots of other fun stuff too. First, we went to an aquarium with Derick, Cheryl, and Lincoln. It was so much fun mainly because of Mila. It's awesome taking a kid her age to things like this because they get so excited. After the aquarium, we went to Ikea to do a little browsing mainly. Derick and Cheryl needed some stuff for their new apartment and Sam had never been. I'd wanted him to go because it's such a fun store. After Ikea we had a little cookout and watched the BYU game. Definitely a good day.

Sam touching the sting ray. He tried to get Mila to do it, but she wouldn't. I'm not sure I blame her.

Obviously a penguin. This was Mila's favorite part. She loves penguins so much. We had to watch Happy Feet later that night because she was still excited about the penguins.

Mila finding which penguin she's closest in size to.

Mila also got really excited about the seahorses. She was making neighing noises the whole time she was looking at them which is why Sam is laughing at her.

These were the coolest jellyfish. They changed colors like those fiber optic lights do. So they would be pink, then green, and blue, and whatever other colors, but it was so neat to watch. It didn't seem like a real creature.

Emmitt Dressed in His Sunday Best

2010-09-23T02:23:00.002-04:00

Emmitt is the best baby at church! I can count on one hand the number of times Mila slept at all during church in her lifetime. It was always too distracting to her so she was always cranky and tired at church so consequently I spent most of my time in the hallway. Emmitt sleeps really well anywhere! He's usually asleep by the time we get to church, which since we're in Utah is only a couple of minutes, and he would sleep through all of sacrament if only Mila would let him. That girl is all over him ALL THE TIME! It is sweet but incredibly frustrating too. Anyways, Cheryl made him these sweet tie onesies, and they are so perfect because they are comfortable for him and obviously adorable :)

FHE in the Canyon

2010-09-23T02:06:00.003-04:00

We went up American Fork Canyon for Family Home Evening one Monday night with Matt and Amber and their kids, and Marc, and Amber's sister Amy, who Mila happens to love. It's always fun cooking over a fire in the canyon and tasty too.

Mila roasting a marshmallow.

Mila is obsessed with picking up rocks, and she gathers rocks wherever we go. There is almost always a stash of rocks next to her car seat in the car. She also loves to play in water and splashes through and throws stuff in every puddle she possibly can. So this was so much fun for her. Not only did she get to pick up tons of rocks, but she got to throw them into the water and make a splash without me telling her to stop. She tries to do this wherever there is any water like parking lots, sidewalks, you name it.

Splash Park

2010-09-23T01:51:00.003-04:00

Mila had a blast at this little splash park, and it's free! We've been back a number of times. She was cracking me up by the fountains. They start out low and get higher and more forceful and she would just giggle and run away every time. I LOVE her body in a bathing suit! She has the cutest thighs! How come chubby little thighs are so cute on a little kid, but not so much on an adult? That's unfortunate :(

Mila and Dad

2010-09-23T01:42:00.002-04:00

Mila helping Dad wash the floor mats of the truck.

Mila with Dad at his fast-pitch softball game. She would stand by the fence and yell, "Go Dad!"

Emmitt's Second Bath :)

2010-09-23T01:30:00.003-04:00

It was about 3 1/2 weeks before Emmitt had his first full-on bath, and he loves them. It took forever for his cord stump to fall out. These pictures are from his second bath. We had run of batteries for the camera so I found some in one of the remotes. I put them in the camera and got him in the tub. When I went to take a picture the camera wouldn't turn on. I guess the batteries only had enough power to work the remote, and the camera required more.

Emmitt's Blessing

2010-09-23T01:17:00.002-04:00

Emmitt was blessed on July 11th. It was such a great day and a beautiful blessing. He slept through the whole thing. We were so grateful to everyone who came and shared the occasion with us. It was nice to feel so much support from friends and family.

2010-09-22T02:39:00.001-04:00

I still have so many pictures to post of the last few months, but I'm having problems with them. I'm too tired to try and mess with it anymore tonight so I will have to try again tomorrow night. Sorry Dad!

Ohio

2010-09-22T01:35:00.003-04:00

Some pictures from our stay in Ohio right after Emmitt's birth.

New Emmitt taking a little snooze.

Of course, no trip to Ohio is complete without an outing to Young's for some ice cream!Mila ended up with the biggest ice cream cone out of all of us, and she loved it!!

Playing on the tractor with Mommy.

The Fourth of July. This picture says it all :)

Meet Emmitt Samuel!

2010-07-01T22:04:00.000-04:00

Emmitt Samuel Trulock made his grand entrance into this world on June 22nd at 7:32 p.m. He was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 1/4 in. long.

It was kind of a whirlwind delivery. I wasn't sure I was in labor for most of the day. We were walking up to the hospital entrance at 5:50 and he was born at 7:32! I couldn't believe how fast it happened. I only pushed for about 15 minutes, and that was really the only hard part about it. It was a pretty rough and intense 15 minutes, make no mistake about that, but we made it through with a handsome, healthy boy. He even has a little man dimple in his chin which I was hoping for :)

Shortly after birth. Sam was holding him while taking the picture so it's not the best.

The proud daddy and his son

Right after bathtime

Hanging out in the light bed so he could get a tan and impress the girl babies in the nursery

Just waiting to go home

Sadly, we do not have a great face picture of him on our camera from right after birth. I will have to look at my mom's. These will have to do for now. So far, he is the sweetest, most cuddly baby. Mila is adjusting better than I thought she would, but I really have to watch her because she will literally smother Emmitt with kisses. I'm at my parents recuperating so things still feel manageable since my mom cooks and there are lots of people to help out with Mila and the baby. We'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

I have not posted forever and there are so many things we've done in the last month that I wanted to share, but at this point I'm guessing that's not going to happen. So, we'll just move on from here.

Mother's Day (it's a long one)

2010-05-09T23:14:00.000-04:00

I feel incredibly blessed today to have such an amazing little family! It took me a while to really grow into the role of "mommy," but now that I've been doing it for a few years, I can't imagine not doing it. It has been wonderful to watch my little Mila grow into this sweet girl who loves bubbles, caterpillars, flowers, and dancing, but doesn't love anything as much as mommy, despite all my faults and the times I'm impatient with her. How humbling it is to have an innocent little person love you so completely! Some nights I go to bed feeling like such a failure as a mom, but when I see her in the morning, she still smiles and is so happy to be with me! She is quite strong-willed, which can be tough sometimes, but I guess she's just a girl who knows what she wants!

I'm so excited to have our little boy join our family soon! I am so curious to see what his personality is like and to learn more about who he is. I already feel really close to him, and I never get sick of feeling him kick and move around, except when I'm trying to fall asleep at night!

Lastly, but most importantly, I am such a lucky girl to have such an amazing husband. I would not be able to keep my sanity without him! Sam is always so patient with me, and has put up with a lot as we've both been trying to finish up school the last few years. He is incredible! I love that he is such a hands-on dad. Mila LOVES to play with him whenever she can. They even have little games they play together that she won't play with me. I'm so glad that I get to spend eternity with him because that still won't be long enough! So, Sweetheart, thanks for picking me! You're my best friend, and I'll love you forever!

Me and our baby boy at 33 1/2 weeks. 6 1/2 more to go! Yes, I'm counting half weeks. I'm getting so anxious to meet the little guy!

Just a little comparison picture of little Miss Mila on our first Mother's Day together. She wasn't quite 3 months old yet. Sometimes I miss her like this, but then I remember that she now sleeps all the way through the night without me having to get up and feed her multiple times. It's definitely a better arrangement:)

Me and my not-so-little baby anymore. Sometimes it's sad that's she's no longer my tiny baby! She really is so enjoyable as she gets older though. I was trying so hard not to laugh because the only way we could get her to smile was by Sam telling her to show him her teeth.

I've been wanting a sewing machine for a few years now, so I was really excited that Sam got me one! Sam is so funny! He is always too anxious about giving me gifts, so I usually receive them before the actual day. He gave this to me last night. If he had bought it sooner, I would have had it even sooner. My sweet, impatient husband:) My current method of fixing problems with clothes is either to stitch it myself by hand, which is such a pain and doesn't always look so good, or to stockpile them all til I can take them to Ohio to have mom fix them. I'm not guessing that I'll ever be an amazing seamstress, but I would love to at least be able to fix simple things myself. I'm already contemplating what my first project will be...oh the possibilities!

Our Blueberry Monster

2010-05-09T23:08:00.000-04:00

Mila absolutely loves eating frozen blueberries, which she calls strawberries. Unforunately, they make the biggest mess! It makes me laugh how she is able to somehow get them all over her mouth, cheeks, and even her eyes. I don't laugh so much, however, when she gets them all over her clothes and the couch.

Mila Getting Some Practice

2010-05-09T23:01:00.000-04:00

Our friends Derick and Cheryl had Lincoln a couple of months ago. He is so adorable and a total beast! Mila is just over 2 years, and he's just over 2 months, and he's half her weight! He has a man dimple in his chin that is so cute it drives me crazy! You'd think he was my baby the way I gush over him. Mila wanted to hold him, and I kind of wanted to see how she would do with it. She really enjoyed it, so I'm crossing my fingers that she will be as excited about holding her own little brother coming in about 7 weeks. Thanks Lincoln for taking one for the team because Mila probably got blueberry juice on your onesie, and I'm pretty sure she tried to poke at your eyes.

Mila's Fits

2010-05-09T22:56:00.000-04:00

Mila has certainly developed quite the temper over the last few months. I do not even remember exactly what this fit was about, but it was over something little. She just threw herself on the ground and cried and cried. She got so mad though when she saw me trying to take a picture. She got up and starting coming after me and yelling her jibberish. Poor thing, I just had to laugh at the whole thing.

Mila's First REAL Easter!

2010-04-07T21:21:00.000-04:00

Mila's cute little Easter basket full of goodies!

Mila exploring all her new stuff.

She found the most important part!

She loved her new Play-Doh. She would not let it out of her sight. We had to throw it away by Tuesday because it was totally dried out since she always had to have it out. Notice that there are more candy wrappers next to her :)

After a morning of sugar and lots of playing with new stuff, Mila crashed on the couch. That's definitely her Play-Doh in the container in front of her. I'm not kidding that she took it with her everywhere.

Even though Easter pictures didn't go the way I wanted them to, we had a good Easter morning. I don't think I did anything for Mila at Easter last year, so I was really excited to put her little basket together. I bought some of the stuff for it well over a month ago. It was really fun to watch her slowly notice all the stuff that was in there. It's a good thing I didn't put too much candy in her basket because she inhaled what was in there!

After our Easter morning festivities, we spent the day listening to General Conference. As usual, it was amazing! I always love being home with our little family listening to our Prophet and the other general authorities. We certainly are a lucky group of people!

Easter Pictures

2010-04-05T14:59:00.000-04:00

Our little family. Sadly, Mila is not smiling, but at least she was looking at the camera. With 2 year olds you take what you can get I guess.

Mila looked so cute even though she refused to wear her shoes. Whatever. Sometimes you have to choose between whether they wear clothes or shoes.

Mila has definitely been going through something the last few weeks. So this face feels about right to me.

Sorry this post feels a little glum, but it seems like whenever I plan something things never go the way I want them to. Mom has been wanting a family picture of us for forever, and we are just really bad about pictures. So I thought that Easter would be a perfect time to get gussied up and take a bunch. I wanted to go and get pictures taken between Conference sessions and then do a little Easter egg hunt for Mila, but Mila fell asleep so we waited until it was all over. By the time all of us got ready and out the door, there wasn't a whole lot of daylight left. That was the least of our troubles. We got there and starting taking some pictures and our batteries died. I meant to grab some extra ones but I forgot. So we didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted, and there isn't one picture where Mila is smiling really nicely. We also got no pictures of her little egg hunt. I guess next year I will have to be more prepared.

Belly Update

2010-04-05T14:44:00.000-04:00

I'm just getting bigger by the day! This is me and baby boy at 28 1/2 weeks. I can't believe that I still have so many weeks left! I'm already busting out of a lot of my clothes! Stuff that I wore up until delivering Mila does not fit me very well this time around. On a happier note, everything seems to be going well.

Valentine's Day!

2010-02-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

My growing tummy. 22 weeks.

Mila looked so cute, but she was being so squirmy that we didn't get one picture with her eyes open. Sam got us some flowers too, but our vase is still packed up somewhere so they have been living in one of our giant root beer mugs.

Our romantic dinner.

We ended up celebrating Valentine's Day on President's Day instead. We made homemade fetuccini alfredo (so yummy), breadsticks, salad, and chocolate lava cakes for dessert. We dressed up even though we stayed home. It was actually kind of nice to have Valentine's dinner with our little Valentine. Between Mila's birthday on the 13th and Valentine's Day, we spent the entire weekend celebrating. What a good weekend!

She's Stuffing Her Shirt Already!

2010-02-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if she's trying to make her tummy look like mine or not. She came out of her bedroom with all of this stuff in her shirt saying, "tummy, tummy," over and over again while giggling. I helped her clean her shirt out and all of this stuff was inside.

Happy 2nd Birthday Mila!

2010-02-26T14:44:00.000-05:00

On February 13th, Mila turned 2! I can't believe that my little baby is 2! At the same time though, it has been a long 2 years. We didn't do anything too exciting for her birthday. We did go to Roanoke for most of the day because we really wanted to get out of town and go to some stores other than Walmart. I miss living in Orem where Target was less than a 5 min drive away.

When we got home, we had some cake, Mila opened some presents, and I spent the rest of the night putting together Mila's new kitchen while poor Sam took an exam. Don't worry though, Mila gave me plenty of "help."

Mila tried, with no success, to blow out the candles.

She dug into her cake before we even gave her a fork!
One of Mila's biggest obsessions right now are these little ducks, who also enjoyed the birthday celebration. We already had the big one, but every time we go to my Dr's office they give her a new little one. They are so cute, and she's so funny because she takes them everywhere. There are actually two more, so she's always hauling around this family of 5 little duckies.

Mila's kitchen pre-set up. There were TONS of pieces.

Mila's kitchen after. She loves it so much! She spends so much time playing with it. The little burners light up and make noise like there's boiling water or something frying in a pan.

We're Having A Baby...

2010-02-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

...and it's a BOY!

Pretty much everyone who looks at this blog is our family, so you all already know that we are having another baby. We went to our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday and found out that we are having a BOY!!! That's pretty exciting because on both sides of the family there is a total of 14 grandchildren with this little guy being number 15, and so far there are only 3 other boys. Sorry these pictures are such poor quality, but we just took pictures of the ultrasound pictures which were already not very clear. The first one is a facial profile picture, and the second one is the "it's a boy" picture. The boy parts have a light circle around them if that helps.

As usual, I didn't post forever so there are a lot of new ones. There are some on the next page as well.

Oh, Mila...

2010-02-06T01:06:00.001-05:00

Mila loves to put on other people's shoes. This morning she put on my rain boots which were so tall that she couldn't walk in them. It made her really mad.
I've been having a really hard time keeping Mila out of gum. She always seems to find it. She keeps putting more and more pieces in every time she gets a hold of it. This particular gum wad is 6 1/2 sticks! She could barely swallow, and she couldn't chew at all. Mila, Mila, Mila...

Once There Was A Snowman

2010-02-06T01:02:00.000-05:00

We've been getting TONS of snow here in Virginia the last few weeks so we have been singing the Snowman Song with Mila a lot. When I came home from class the other day, I drove up and saw Sam and Mila playing in the snow. They built their very own snowman together.

Mila's best friend ELMO!

2010-02-06T00:47:00.000-05:00

Before we left Ohio this summer, Aunt Erin gave Mila a talking Elmo. For a while, Elmo endured many beatings at the hands of Mila, so he doesn't talk so well anymore, but she has been trying to make up for treating him so badly. These pictures are evidence that Mila has changed her ways.

Mila gives Elmo lots of rides in the baby carriage.
Elmo enjoys many meals with Mila. She usually even gives him a few bites.
Elmo enjoys many relaxing afternoons in the bouncer. As you may have already noticed, Elmo has been wearing a dress. Mila even let him borrow some of her boots since the weather has been so bad.

Made in the Shade

2010-02-06T00:39:00.000-05:00

Mila loves to wear sunglasses, well any glasses really, but these are the only ones we have in her size. A couple of Sundays ago, she found my sunglasses in the diaper bag, and when she had them on she wanted everyone to see her wearing them. Now, for everyone who knows Mila well, you know she is very shy and pretty much hates everyone, so this was really funny for me to watch. She would walk up to the end of the pew and stand there looking at everyone until someone smiled or laughed at her. To top it all off, she had the same face on that she has in the second picture because my sunglasses were way too big, and she was trying to hold them onto her face. What a silly little gal we have.

Our Own Baby Mozart

2010-02-06T00:34:00.000-05:00

Mila loves to play the piano. Usually it's just a lot of pounding, but sometimes she does manage to play something that resembles a tune. I can't wait to teach her some little songs!

Travel Buddies

2010-02-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

While we were getting packed up to leave for Ohio for Christmas, I told Mila that we needed to get all of her stuff together and get her coat on because we were going for a ride. When I came back out to the kitchen she had all of her little animal buddies waiting at the door for take off. Sometimes she does the funniest things.

A Visit to Santa

2010-02-06T00:23:00.000-05:00

We took Mila to see Santa Claus when we were in Ohio, and it went exactly how I thought it would. She freaked out, screamed, and clung to me like a wild cat. Consequently, I had to hold her and stand next to Santa. She still stared him down. Then, we waited for Santa to leave, and we borrowed his chair for a few more pictures. Oh Mila.

Sleepy Baby

2010-02-06T00:05:00.000-05:00

I came in the room, and she was sound asleep like this. I woke her up with the camera.

It seems like all babies sleep like this. How is it comfortable?!

For a few weeks, we kept finding her asleep in the rocking chair.

Senior Day

2009-12-12T19:23:00.000-05:00

The cutest guy on the team!

Sam in the middle of the big game.
Mila and Grandpa watching Sam play.

Grandma entertaining Mila during the game.

At the end of October, Sam's parents were able to come out to Virginia for Senior Day. They stayed the weekend with us, and it was so nice to see them. Mila loved having grandma and grandpa here to play with because she gets pretty bored with me!

Virginia Wildlife

2009-11-02T17:02:00.000-05:00

We found this really cute little skunk behind our apartment!

The skunk in its natural habitat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2009-11-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

If you look closely there is a lollipop stuck in her fur!

Obviously, Mila was a skunk for Halloween. She was SO CUTE!! I just wanted to squeeze her and kiss her cheeks! We went trick-or-treating in downtown Lexington again this year. Lexington is the coolest town because most of the buildings are historic, and they all have these cute little shops in them. For trick-or-treat all of the shops have someone standing outside to give out candy. It's really nice with kids because I just put Mila in her stroller and walked down the sidewalk. It's mostly little kids like her too, so it's nice not having a bunch of teenagers around all the little kids. We went with Shanda, my friend who watches Mila, and her nephew, Tee, who is like a week older than Mila. Mila slept pretty much the whole time too. It was really fun!

Filling Mommy's Shoes

2009-11-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

Mila is obsessed with my shoes. She goes into our closet all the time and gets my shoes out and then walks around the apartment in them. I worry that she's going to twist her ankle in my heels or something because she really loves the taller ones.

Tooth Decay?

2009-11-02T16:27:00.000-05:00

One night before bed Mila ate a banana. Then I gave her the liquid vitamins, which as most mothers probably know, are a nasty brownish color. Well, the banana left a residue on her teeth which then was dyed this nasty brown color by the vitamins. It just killed me because she looked like someone from the 1800's who had never seen a toothbrush. Then she was laughing and smiling and it was making me laugh so hard. I tried to get some pictures, but they didn't turn out great because she wouldn't stop moving. Luckily, we do use a toothbrush every night, and it all came off.

"I'm Just Dandy. I Got a Bowl of Chocoloate Pudding in My Underpants!"

2009-11-02T16:22:00.000-05:00

Mila always has to eat whatever Sam is eating, and she loves to eat on his lap. This is what often happens to poor Sam. This time it happened to be some chocolate pudding. Thank goodness for bleach! I use tons of it! By the way, if you're a movie freak like us, you probably know that the title of this post is from the movie Blacksheep.

FINALLY!!!

2009-10-12T01:27:00.000-04:00

I finally got our blog updated!! Our laptop broke at the beginning of the summer, and they took so long to fix it that we had already moved back to Virginia by the time it was finished. Mom and Dad brought it down last weekend so I have finally been able to update things. By the way, I realize that the blog is mostly about Mila, but we have the blog mainly so that grandparents can see her grow up. So, sorry if you get bored of her, but she really is the cutest member of our family!

Our Energizer Bunny

2009-10-12T01:15:00.000-04:00

Mila yelling to go outside. A daily occurance.
She loves to go to the school and run around on all the stairs and ramps there.

We also go to the park to play. We have to do anything we can to wear her out for bed!

Gorgeous View!

2009-10-12T01:04:00.000-04:00

Virginia is so beautiful! This is the view from right by our apartment. I can't believe that we already have less than one year left here. I can't wait for us to be done with school, though.

Miscellaneous Mila

2009-10-12T00:50:00.000-04:00

Mila decided that the "C" from her foam alphabet made a better nose ring.
Mila would always sneak into great grandma's chair whenever she would get up. She always thought she was being so tricky.

This is actually the handle of a sippie cup. She couldn't make much noise while holding this on her face. A baby muzzle, maybe? I see some definite possibilities!

Fun Times With Dad

2009-10-12T00:40:00.000-04:00

This is one of Mila's favorite games to play with Sam. I think she is starting to realize that he is the fun parent. With me, she gets to do fun stuff like get her nose cleaned out, take nasty vitamins, and brush her teeth.

Beautiful Barefoot Baby

2009-10-12T00:21:00.000-04:00

I love these pictures so much! I took them at Mom and Dad's house this summer. It was so hard to pick out just a few!

A Day at the Park

2009-10-11T01:52:00.000-04:00

Obviously, Mila is not a baby that likes change or new things that much. When we first got to the park all she did was scream on the swings. Poor girl! Soon though, she was playing on the dinosaur and Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. Still, with all the fun things to do she ended up playing the longest with the mulch. Go figure! We could have done that at home!

Best Buds

2009-10-11T01:41:00.000-04:00

Tori is pretty much Mila's favorite person. Tori would always take Mila outside, share milkshakes with her, and watch SpongeBob. What baby could resist an aunt like that?

Our Little Babushka

2009-10-11T01:35:00.000-04:00

She is soooo cute! There is nothing more than that to say about these pictures!

Happy Helper

2009-10-11T01:28:00.000-04:00

I really hope she continues to be this enthusiastic about cleaning as she gets older!

Sleeping Beauty

2009-10-11T01:22:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure that these are like the only two times that she has just crashed. She usually takes a bit more coaxing to go to sleep so I had to document.

Our Little Water Baby

2009-10-11T00:30:00.000-04:00

I got this little frog pool for Mila because she freaked out so much last year about the big pool. What happened was that everyone spent most of the time squished into this tiny pool, while Mila spent most of her time in the big pool. Isn't that the way it goes?!

Washington D.C. Temple

2009-04-29T22:45:00.000-04:00

We had the opportunity to go the Washington D.C. temple last Friday, and it was so beautiful! I had seen it before, but was never old enough to do a session. Sam had never seen it, so it was really fun to go. Sam is in the bishopric of one of the singles wards here, and the ward was there too. We had one of the girls watch Mila for us. It was so sad because she cried so hard when I first left her. Poor thing! It was worth it though.

Me, Sam, and Mila in front of the temple.

The two cutest people in the world enjoying the flowers.

Our little family strolling the grounds.

Picnic by the River

2009-04-29T22:27:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we went down to the river and had a picnic with some friends who are graduating.

Me and little Mila. She is so sweet! Well, most of the time!

Sam held Mila so she could touch the water. She started splashing in it, and then immediately put her hands in her mouth to get the water. I hope the water was at least a little clean!

Sam and Mila. What a cute little smile!

Happy 1st Birthday Mila!

2009-02-18T16:41:00.001-05:00

Here we are. We made it a year!
Sam and Mila. Mila is contemplating her birthday wish.

A messy Mila with her favorite person in the whole world. (Sam is glaring at me as I type this!)

Mila wasn't quite sure what to do with her cake at first, but she started to squish it in her hands and loved it.

We all enjoyed some delicious dirt cake.

Mila was enjoying her cake so much that she didn't want to get cleaned up!

Mila's 1st birthday was on Friday the 13th. We had a really small get together because we had been sick all week and hadn't really planned much. I had been trying to decide what kind of cake to make and how to decorate it. I decided on dirt cake because Mila has the most amazing eye sight and picks up every little speck of dirt off the floor and puts it in her mouth. She really loved being able to eat all of the "dirt" she wanted!

I can't believe that my little baby is a year old already! I won't lie and say that it has been poodles and candy canes the whole time. Being a mother has been the hardest, most exhausting thing I've ever done in my life! With that said, it has also been the most amazing thing to watch this tiny little bundle grow and learn all that she has in this short time. There is still nothing that melts my heart more than to have her snuggle in to me and lay her head on my shoulder. We are so lucky to have her!

White Christmas

2009-01-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

We had a beautiful white Christmas in Utah. This icicle was outside the family room window at Lee and Teressa's. It started out shorter and fatter, but by the last day it had reached all the way to the ground. It was taller than me!

Look How They've Grown!

2009-01-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

Mila and I visited Amy, my old roommate, and Lucy when Mila was about 2 months old and Lucy was about 3 weeks old, I think. Boy do I look so tired! Believe me, I was.
Here, about 8 months later, the girls are so much bigger! We had such a fun visit. The girls were obviously a little more interactive. They had fun stealing toys from each other and racing for the rubber duck. We wish that we lived closer to them so that Mila and Lucy could play more together.

More Christmas Fun

2009-01-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

Mila being Mila and trying to eat the studs on the couch.
Grandpa helping Mila ride the pony.

Mila tuckered out after her big, exciting day of wrapping paper, new toys, and ponies.