Emily's Blessing

It has been a buys weekend at our house! Today we were able to bless our little angel at church and had Ricky's parents in town for the special occasion. It has been such an amazing day with lots of family and fun. Emily has been getting so much more interactive the last couple weeks and loves to smile for everyone. She is such a happy baby and we are so blessed to have her in our family. We are so thankful for this time of year that we have to show our thanks and appreciation for all that we have. Sorry for the picture overload, we're a little obsessed with this girl.

Grandma

I've been trying to catch up on some of the recent events at our house. Things have been a little hectic for the last couple months and are finally starting to settle down a little. But two weekends ago we traveled to Salt Lake and Rexburg for my Grandma's funeral. Ricky and I had the privilege to live with her in Rexburg for the first 2 1/2 years of our marriage. She was truly a great lady and I feel so blessed to have had her as a role model. She turned 90 years old at the end of March and had been a widow for 23 years. Every birthday she would tell me that she just wanted to be back with my grandpa. Although I'm sure the reunion on the other side was such a happy one, Carmen Garner is terribly missed here. She was in excellent health her whole life until about a month ago. She kind of just ran out of gas. And even in those final weeks when she was surely in pain and waiting to go she always remarked what a beautiful day it had been. She was the most pleasant and optimistic person even in her final hour. I am so grateful to know that we will be reunited again. I can't imagine what a more painful event her death would have been without the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful to have a testimony of its truthfulness. 

Say Cheeese!

I think it's safe to say Jace has figured out what the camera is all about. I don't know how kids learn to fake smile, but it cracks me up! I mean, seriously, that is the scariest smile I've ever seen. Haha! I couldn't resist sharing these funnies. This kid is always good for a laugh!

Pumpkin Time

For the last four months Ricky has been working Saturdays... serious bummer. However, he did have Thursdays off, which turned out to be kind of nice because we were able to get out and do some of the fun activities we would have otherwise, but with no crowd. So last Thursday we went to the Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch. It was so much fun. I'm not going to lie, I have been looking forward to this for months! Fall has always been my favorite season and with all the 80 degree weather around here I've been grasping at whatever kind of Fall I can get. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about a prolonged summer here (after all I've been wanting this for like the last 7 years-aka the whole time I lived in Rexburg). 

We had so much fun wandering around and picking out our pumpkins and doing the different activities. Jace got to feed the chickens, and I mean chickens. He refused to feed the rooster. I have no idea why but he was sincerely angry when the rooster tried to take the food from his hand. Then we naturally took advantage of the sweets at the shop. We came away with 1 1/2 pounds of fudge (it didn't even last a week), and some gummy worms. We are getting pumped for Halloween tomorrow!

Emily: 2 months

Boy do I love that little smile! What is it about baby smiles that can just melt your heart? The last two months have literally flown by! Jace is in serious need of some recent photos and I need to get on top of that ASAP, so stay tuned. We are just loving this newest addition to our family. I don't know how I ended up with two such amazing kids, but Ricky and I feel so blessed to have them everyday. For more photos from Emmy's 2 month sesh visit my photo blog here.

Announcing Emily Packard

I've taken a little break from the blog the last several months and I think it's about time to update. We've had a lot of changes in our family in 2012 and are finally happy to have things settle down a little. But most importantly we have added another member to the team! Emily Packard was born on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 1:47 pm. She was a healthy 8lbs 6oz and 18 in long. Our little princess weighed almost 1 whole pound more than Jace! She is a good eater and good sleeper. I don't think a mom could ask for anything more! She has been an angel!

Emily was 6 days early and I couldn't have been happier about it! I had been having contractions here and there for about 2 weeks before this princess decided to make her big debut. Early one Monday morning I woke up having contractions pretty consistently and waited for about an hour before deciding that they weren't getting any closer or any more intense and went back to bed. After that my patience was gone! I was sure she was on the way and the waiting game was killing me. My brother Drew and his awesome wife Cami came in to town that weekend for the wedding of a family friend and they wanted to meet Emily before they had to leave on Tuesday, and I was more than willing to oblige. Ha! Unfortunately Cami had to leave on Monday for work and didn't get to meet our little girl. Drew was able to stay an extra day, however, and while Ricky was at work that day Drew and Jace and I did everything we could think of to speed up Emily's arrival. We went on a walk up the huge hill by our house with one foot on the curb and one foot off (suggested by Cami), we had Indian food for dinner, I ran the stairs a few times, and on and on. I really don't know if any of that is to thank for her speedy arrival, but I woke up about 1:30 Tuesday morning having lots of contractions and we headed to the hospital about 3:30ish. It took a little longer than I anticipated given that once I got to 4cm with Jace he arrived about an hour later. Emily took her time though. I didn't start pushing till about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, but that part was quick! She made her first appearance at 1:47 on Tuesday, August 21. I should also mention that we hadn't decided for sure on the name Emily until we saw her sweet little face. Ricky had a sister named Emily who passed away as an infant and we feel so blessed to now have our own Emily Packard.

We are all doing great and adjusting a little more every day to being a family of four. Jace loves giving Emily kisses while she's sleeping in her swing and helping her with her pacifier when she's upset. The biggest challenge so far has been figuring out how to split my time between 2 kids, but Jace has been very gracious and patient with me as I learn. We feel so blessed to have 2 such amazing babies. It's hard to imagine my world without them. 

*For more photos from Emily's newborn shoot click HERE to visit my photo blog.

Spring Fever

Well it has been almost three years since Ricky and I were married in the San Diego, CA temple. Before our wedding we were able to spend 2 weeks just enjoying the beautiful San Diego sun! Every March/April since then we have been able to go back for about a week and just soak it all up. So naturally it is February and I'm tired of winter and wishing for a So Cal getaway. It is all I can think about! I am physically aching to go! This summer I am going to be prego, so instead of normal swimsuit shopping I have been doing a little maternity swimwear shopping (online naturally). Why is it so hard to find cute maternity stuff?! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I want to look frumpy! Hello!! I have come across a couple cute suits, but seriously, why do they have to be so dang expensive?!

This is my favorite one so far. It is really the only one that I would actually think about wearing. 

Jace is also just getting so big! He's walking everywhere now and really learning to assert himself, which is fun (most of the time). He LOVES animals, especially fish and other sea creatures. I have been dreaming of taking him to Sea World! When I'm bored, I seriously just daydream about our trip to San Diego and all the fun we're going to have.

Ok, we really aren't sure we are going to be able to go this spring, but I can dream! Right?