Cause for Celebration!

Today we faced something that I have been looking forward to and dreading for the last several months...nursery. I was SO worried that Emma wouldn't let me leave her because she can be kind of clingy. But off we went anyway. She did great. All the other kids were screaming hysterically and she just sat there looking at them like they were crazy. It was a proud moment for me. Anyway, I left and checked on her a couple more times during the rest of church. The last time I went and peeked in the window she was curled up in a big recliner fast asleep. This girl loves her sleep. It was so cute. She has also been sleeping in her toddler bed this week and has done great, even with naps. She is growing up so fast!

We Made It!

Well, after several stressful days of packing, way too many hours in the car, and a few near death experiences we have made it to California. We spent all last Thursday loading the moving truck and cleaning the apartment...thank you to everyone who came and helped. We never would have been able to do it alone. Then Thursday night, in the middle of a huge snowstorm and with almost no visibility we drove to Salt Lake and barely made it. Let's just say that our exit came up really fast, our car has no snow tires, and we had to get over two lanes...we being our car and a 16 foot moving truck. Not the kind of excitement I want to ever experience again. Anyway, we stayed at a hotel there with my dad. We got up the next morning and started the long drive across the rest of Utah and Nevada. It was pretty nerve wracking in the snow but once we got out it was fine. Emma was so good to just sit in her seat and sing and sleep. As long as we kept her bottles filled she was good to go. We are so grateful for that. We drove all day and got to my aunt's house in Sacramento at about 10 pm. We had fun visiting and appreciated the nice, warm beds. We got up Saturday morning and finished the last couple hours of driving. All in all, what is usually an 11 hour drive turned into 18 hours of driving. It is so nice to finally be here! My dad stayed another day and it was fun to have him here. We really appreciated all his help with driving and it was fun to visit. Here are a few pictures of our trip. We have several more, especially from Christmas, on our other camera so there will be more posts coming when we get those on the computer.

The beginning of our pile of packed stuff. Also doubled as a great jungle gym for Emma.

We couldn't leave Utah without one last major snowstorm.

After way too many hours of driving we finally stopped at McDonalds. Emma was so excited to be out and play we couldn't get her to eat anything. The play gym had too many big kids but she loved sitting with Ronald.

At my Aunt Susie's house. Emma is a major animal lover. Aunt Susie has 4 or 5 cats, a goat, and several chickens so Emma was in heaven.

Jon and Emma had so much fun swinging on the rope swing.

Here is Emma's new big girl bed. Jon's little sister were nice enough to let Emma share their room. We set up the bed today so we'll see how it goes tonight! Either way, it just looks so cute and she was so excited about it.

The Results are In!

Well, we just got back from the doctor and it's official...we are having a boy! We weren't really surprised but it's always nice to know for sure. Everything looks good and they moved my due date to May 14, so that was exciting. I know it's only 3 days sooner but it's something. We plan on naming him Matthew Steven Farrell. We are so excited for him to come!

Little Helper

This morning I was trying to get some packing done. I figured it was probably time since we're moving in a week and nothing is done. Anyway, I was packing pictures and decorations but I was wiping them off before I packed them. Emma saw what I was doing and immediately paused her very intense game of Rummikub to come help me wipe pictures. She had our family pictures and after she wiped she would look at it and name the people she knew. It was sweet. I love this age when she's starting to make so many connections like this. She is such a fun, sweet girl.

There is Nothing More Entertaining Than

ITUNES!!!
With the below freezing temperatures, our days here have been really, really long. Especially on the days that Ryan is here. They just feed off of each other's energy and it can get really crazy. So, the other day we rediscovered the iTunes Visualizer! They cuddle up together in the big computer chair and watch this thing forever. It's great. I love iTunes!

Playing the Waiting Game

I thought I'd post a little update on our lives right now because everyone keeps asking what we're doing and if we've heard back about jobs. So, where to begin...
The short version- We are learning A LOT about faith. Almost more than I want to know. And we are still waiting to hear back about jobs/internships for January.
The long version- Jon interviewed with Pixar 5 weeks ago. We were supposed to know within 3 weeks what their answer was. We are still waiting. He interviewed with Dreamworks 2 weeks ago and they said they would get back really fast. We are still waiting. To take any job/internship in January we have to move before Christmas because we live in student housing and Jon won't be a full time student if we don't stay here. So, we debated for a long time whether or not we should put our move out notice in. After a lot of thought and prayer, it really felt like the best thing to do. So we put our move out notice in and we are moving on Dec 21...in 9 days...ahhh! We are planning on moving to California and will live with Jon's parents until we can get a place of our own. This works out really well because they live really close to Pixar. So now we just need a job offer. :) So, in a nutshell, this is what we are doing right now. It has been SO hard to walk blindly and take such huge steps totally in the dark. But we can't deny the feelings that we've had and the tender mercies that have kept us going in the direction that we are going. So many things have happened along the way to push us along this path, and I know that they aren't just coincidence. As we have started planning our move, EVERYTHING has fallen right into place. Everything has happened how we needed it to in order to be able to move so soon. It really has been a blessing. We just need an offer now and then everything will be set. So, we'll keep everyone updated.
Sorry to go on for so long. On a happy note, we get to find out what we're having next Wednesday! Our doctor doesn't do ultrasounds until 20 weeks and I will only be 18 1/2 but I talked her into letting me do it before we move. I am so excited. We'll let you know what we find out!

Poll

Just wanted to point out the poll on the right side of the page. My cousin did this poll before she had her ultrasound and I thought it was fun. I figured since we are going to find out this month what we're having it would be fun to see what everybody's guesses are. Please vote!

Dancing and Spinning!

I am so excited. I finally got a video to post. I have had several that I wanted to put up and they just never finished processing. Yeah! Emma loves to dance to any music she hears. She has a stacking toy that plays a song when you push the button on top so this is what she usually dances to. I hope you enjoy.


Here is another video that's kind of cute. I'm just putting it on because I'm so excited that I can finally put videos on!

We Got a Christmas Tree!

Thanks to Esther and Nathan we have a Christmas tree this year. We didn't have one last year and weren't going to get one this year because we had nowhere to put one. But as luck would have it, their fake 9 foot tree was way too tall for their apartment so they let us use the top part of their tree. It's small but fits perfectly on our end table, where little hands can't reach it. It's amazing how much a tree can really make it feel like Christmas. Thanks guys!

Just Some Funny Pictures

The other day I was trying to get Emma dressed. She let me put her undershirt on but wouldn't let me put anything else on. Since we weren't going outside I didn't push it. Then she brought me her shoes and whined until I put them on her. Boy does this girl have style! I can't wait till she starts dressing herself. :)

This is her favorite toy. She rides this bus up and down the hall all day. It works great for me,
I just feel bad for our downstairs neighbors!

Emma and Ryan(the boy I babysit) love to spin in the computer chair. He put his arm around her and I thought they looked so cute together.

I love the "Uhh...what is he doing?" look on Emma's face.

The stuffed animal in the picture is Ryan's coveted Cowie. Emma has recently taken a liking to him and will steal him any time she gets a chance. This time Ryan gave Cowie to Emma and then changed his mind. We call this picture "What have I done?"

Christmas Time!

We had heard it was supposed to snow on Saturday so when we woke up and looked out the window we were so excited to see that it really had. It actually ended up snowing all day. It is beautiful. And it was nice that it snowed on a weekend so we could actually enjoy it. So, we bundled Emma up and went out at 8:30 in the morning. She loved it. We found a little hill and went sledding and let her walk around in the snow...as much as she can walk with all of her snow gear on. :) Later in the afternoon we went to a park by our house with real sledding hills and went sledding again. It was so cold but it was fun anyway. In the evening we got together with my sister and her husband, Esther and Nathan, and made gingerbread houses. We had fun decorating and Emma had fun eating WAY too much candy. She has been one wild little kid today. We have sworn to never let her have candy again...we'll see how long that lasts.

Christmas Tag

I've been tagged so here goes...
First, list some of your most memorable holiday traditions from your childhood that just make you go all warm and fuzzy because they were just so much fun or made you feel your Savior's love. Secondly, tell about your holiday traditions now, because we frequently will pick up new traditions from our other half when we get married, or drop old ones because they don't fit with who we are now.
Growing up we had a lot of Christmas traditions, most of which we did on Christmas Eve, but I'll try and get a variety.
-doing the 12 days of Christmas for another family (or giving them a piece of a nativity each night with a scripture until they had the complete set on Christmas Eve)
-reading Christmas stories from the big Christmas book and always reading Luke 2 on Christmas Eve
-giving a gift to Christ on Christmas Eve. We write down our gift to Christ and put it in a little lantern ornament that each of us have. We also read the gift we gave Christ the previous year.
-giving sibling gifts on Christmas Eve. We either drew names or rotated and that is the one present we opened early.
-each getting a box of cereal for Christmas and then eating it for breakfast that day.
-getting a new ornament each year. Mom usually picked them out and they represented us or something we had done that year.
I know there are more but that's all I can think of for now.
As for the second part, I don't know that Jon and I really have any Christmas traditions yet. We have only been married for 2 Christmases and have spent each one with family. We have fun decorating and we've done gingerbread houses each year but that's about it. I'm excited to see what everyone else's traditions are so that we can get some ideas for new ones for us!
If you're reading this consider yourself tagged!

It stuck...baba

This morning Emma and I were eating breakfast. All of a sudden she looked up and said "It stuck...baba(bottle). I had no idea what she was talking about or if it was just jibberish and I made it sound like something but I looked down and sure enough her bottle was stuck between her leg and the table. I was so excited because this is the most words she has ever put together that made sense. I can't believe how fast she's learning to talk. She's been able to say several words for a while but in the last couple of days she's started talking nonstop. She will name all sorts of random objects she sees or hears and loves to say her name. It always catches me off guard because half the time I had no idea she even knew what something was called. It just goes to show how much stuff little kids pick up. I really have to be careful about what I say around her now!

Thanksgiving...a little late

Well, we are back! It was SO nice to have a real vacation last week. We spent a week in California and came back Friday. It was fun to see family and it was so nice not to have to worry about school and work. But real life has returned and Jon is in major crunch mode now. There are only 3 weeks left in the semester and he is trying to finish up several projects, but isn't that how it always goes??? We will be glad when this semester is over, especially since it's his last real semester. Next semester he'll just do his 2 online generals classes and then we'll be done with the student life!!!
Anyway, enough about school. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

We decided to go to the zoo before we flew out to California because we didn't leave until evening. They had this sign up outside the apes/gorillas that we thought was kind of funny.

Jon wanted me to put a picture of at least one animal and our Emma Bear doesn't count. So, in the BYU spirit we picked the cougar. Go Cougars! On a side note, I watched my very first BYU football game on tv on Saturday (the BYU vs Utah game). I remembered very quickly why I don't ever watch football. It got off to a very slow start, but I hear the end was pretty exciting and we did win. And now I can say that in my 4 years at BYU I have seen a football game.

This is at a lake we found at Tillden Park outside of Oakland. We hiked all the way around the lake. It was really pretty and very short...my kind of hike. :)

We love this picture of Emma walking with Jon's dad. She loved sitting and cuddling and playing with him while we were there.

Our little princess. Emma has just recently started getting into the "dress up" thing. If you can't tell, she's wearing a crown and a necklace and holding a purse.

We went into San Francisco for a few hours one day to do the tourist thing. It's always fun to go into the city and explore.

Emma went on the merry go round at the Pier.

Jon loves playing with our new camera and seeing what kinds of things he can do. This picture was taken out the airplane window on the way home. There was a light on the end of the wing so he kept the shutter open and moved the camera in the shape of a heart to make the line. I hope that all makes sense...

And that was our trip. It was fun to visit and HOPEFULLY we'll be back out soon for good. We should find out about internships this week. If Jon gets an internship we'll move right before Christmas. We'll keep everybody posted!

Any Suggestions?

I've wanted to ask for a long time if anyone has any suggestions of good books to read. I am on a book reading kick again and really need some ideas. I really like historic novels, church books, that kind of thing, but after reluctantly reading the Twilight series and liking it, I am open to pretty much anything.
While I'm asking for suggestions, here goes another one. Does anyone know of foods that help with nausea or that were good to eat while you were pregnant? I haven't really been sick but I just have a hard time finding foods that look/sound/taste good. I would love to know what you all found helpful. Feel free to suggest away.

Ups and Downs

Wow, this last week has been rough. I've had every intention of updating our blog, but there has been nothing to write about and I haven't taken a single picture in over a week. Emma has been sick and I feel like it's been all I can do to just get up in the morning and get through a day. She spent almost a week throwing up every night, and then on Friday she got diarrhea that we are still dealing with. On top of that she has a horrible diaper rash that won't go away. Ahh, the joys. So, after doing 10 loads of laundry between Monday and Saturday I am really hoping we're towards the end of all of this. I know she's miserable and it makes her really grumpy during the day. I just want her to feel good and be happy again. Anyway, I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. Even though it has been rough, I know it could be worse and I'm trying to remember the good things that happen. I am SO grateful to Jon for stepping in and helping so much. I could not do it without him.
The highlight of my week was that we found plane tickets to California for Thanksgiving for $58! We are spending Thanksgiving with Jon's family and were planning on driving. But now we don't have to and it won't cost us any more than gas would have. We are all so excited. Yeah for Southwest specials.
Another good thing that happened was that we got a new camera. Jon is taking a photography class and had to get a professional camera. It was really just a good excuse to spend money that we don't really have to get something that is not necessary but is really nice to have. So, we are happy with it. Anyway, since I didn't take any pictures this week, I thought I'd post a few of the pictures Jon took with the new camera.

A picture of our new camera

We love this picture of Emma

Well, that's all for this week. We leave for California on Saturday and are SO excited for our week of vacation. I love the holidays!

A Day on the Farm

On Saturday we took Emma to a place called Hee Haw farms. They have a corn maize, hay rides, and tons of other farm type activities. The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun.

Emma got to ride this pony. She was laughing the whole time. It was great.

Petting the pony after the ride.

They had pig wrestling...no we didn't participate...but Emma thought it was funny to watch the pigs running around.

Jon and Emma rode together on the animal train.

I love this picture.

She couldn't reach the steering wheel but thought it was fun to sit up so high.

Playing in the corn box...like a sandbox but so much better.

I would totally recommend this to anyone around here with kids. It was inexpensive and kept Emma busy for a couple hours.

On a side note Jon has his interview with Pixar today! They also took him out to lunch today so it's looking promising. Hopefully we will find out soon what we're doing.

Family Pictures!

Well, it's been a year but we FINALLY got new family pictures. Emma was so distracted by everything going on that we didn't get any of her smiling, but that's what Photoshop is for.
The first one is probably our favorite of us as a family.

I just think this one is funny.

For those of you who have never seen it, this is Emma's surprised/excited face. We have never been able to capture it on camera so we love this picture for that.

Trick or Treat

Once again my posts are out of order. :) So continuing our Halloween festivities from the previous post, I took Emma to BYU to go trick or treating at Jon's work. She didn't mind the costume but was not sure what to do. It was pretty overwhelming at first but once she got the hang of it she had a blast. She would pick a candy out of one person's bowl but insisted on holding it. She would try to get a candy at the next cubicle and then realize that her hand was full so she would throw the candy on the floor and get her next piece. And so it went. It was pretty funny. After trick or treating we went to a Halloween party on campus. Everything was for older kids so we left and went trick or treating at the dorms where Emma repeated her previous trick or treating tactics. She had a blast and looked so cute. Here are the rest of our Halloween pictures. Thanks Debbie (and Jenny) for letting us use the costume.

This was outside Jon's office after we went trick or treating. She was still a little overwhelmed. :)

Enjoying the fruits of her labor. Thanks for the bucket Mom, she loves it!