cinco de Mayo

We had our 3rd annual cinco de mayo fiesta with the Hagbergs and Nydeggers this year! I love that a party and some food is all it takes to get the Hagbergs to drive 2 hours from Cincinnati to see us! Kara..what I really want to know is if you love us enough to make a 5 hour drive next year from Boise---> Utah?! You better say yes!

Bexley was the only one festive enough to sport the mexi-stache I bought :) ha ha!

Nydeggers

Andertons

Hagbergs

Emri and "Bessy"

So....anyone in Utah up for our party next year?!

A New Wreath....

I finally took the St. Patrick's Day Hanging off my front door a couple weeks ago, haha....and added this cute springy wreath. I made it! The cost: just a few bucks for the wreath form...the rest was scrap fabric! Are you impressed?! Me too :)

I got the inspiration HERE. I still need to add some leaves...but for now, it's on the door. I think my project days are coming to a close since we need to start packing :(

Do you think it's inviting? Will it make someone want to buy our house now?!

CLICK HERE For her ROSETTE TUTORIAL

And, I had to catch up on my posts....so sorry about all the blog vomit below :) I think I'm just about caught up now!

About Emri...

This girl is such a fiesty little thing! She cracks me up (most of the time)! Since I don't really do a monthly post on her anymore I wanted to write down a few things about her right now so I don't forget how silly and sweet she is!

• As pictured above (yes, she's in Jet's carseat), she LOVES "Emmie's ah-pod" touch. Not sure how this became "hers"...it was Brett's till he got his iPhone, then he passed it to me and I'd mostly use it for scriptures at church....well, this little stinker can navigate through it better than I can. Seriously. It is now full of home videos of her. Music of hers. Movies of hers. And her favorite games. They are at least educational games :) It works like a gem at restaurants and at times I bust it out in the grocery store to keep her mind off of wanting to climb out of the cart. I occasionally get to use it!
• She often repeats lines from movies....when I look confused and ask what she said she tells me what movie it's from. ie: "I just can't to dis a-yone," ("i just can't do this alone"..in a very dramatic voice)..."dats from Tinkabell movie mommy!"
• If I'm ever in the kitchen, she pulls a chair over from the table and says "emmie help!"
• She's getting REALLY good at putting off going to bed....always wanting to give baby brother one more kiss, or needs a drink of water, or wants to ride her rocking horse. I didn't realize it starts so young!
• Has all of her favorite books memorized. We say the first word on the page, and she finishes it. I love that she pretty much "reads" to us now! Time for some new books I guess!
• Doesn't say the letter "s" at the beginning of many words: "gary"-scary, "nake"-snake, "no"-snow, "duck"-stuck.....we've been working with her, I think she's just being lazy!!
• loves to sing....some of her favorites are: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Give Said the Little Stream," "I am a Child of God," "Old MacDonald," "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes," "The Wise Man Built His House on the Rock," "Eensy Weensy Spider" "Once There Was a Snowman"
• Can now open our doors! I had to put a child-proof thing on her room so she'll stay in for naps.
• When my mom was here Emri was watching her do her make-up. She was penciling in her eyebrows and Emri said "Gomma's paintin da rainbows!" hahahahaha!
• One night at dinner Emri started spitting her milk back into her cup and making a mess. My mom (queen of bribes) told her to just hurry and drink her milk all gone and she could have a treat. Emri throws her milk to her lips to guzzle it down. When she takes the cup away she had milk everywhere on her face, including in her eyebrows and lashes! We laughed, then I noticed it was all over in her hair by her ears. I kinda rolled my eyes and said "oh great now you're going to need another freakin' shower!" To which Emri replies "anudda fweakin showoh?!" haha! oh man, my mom and I were about peeing our pants. Then emri of course repeated it again because we were laughing so hard. And yes, she got another freakin shower that night!
• Whenever Emri is hurt or crying, she runs to Brett or I for a hug and when she shows us her owie we give her sympathy and say "darn it!" The other day she randomly showed me a scratch on her hand and said "dohn it!" I don't think I realized we said it that much!
• Emri's biggest news lately is being toilet trained!!! I had HAD IT with buying diapers...and changing her poops! haha! Starting last Wednesday we spent 2 full days in the bathroom. I asked Brett to stay home from school the first day to help me. Having a newborn/nursing is not that conducive to focusing 100% on a toddler trying to potty train! Brett was a MAJOR help!! He actually spent most of that first day in the bathroom with her. Thank goodness we took turns, because that first day is ROUGH with several accidents until they figure out they are the ones that can control the wetness! The second day she did great with NO accidents! She'll probably hate me one day for this picture :)

She actually came down with a fever, but was still acting okay. A little more mellow than normal which I think helped us keep her in one little space for 2 days. Really, she was in heaven....all the snacks and juice she wanted while watching her favorite movies and occasionally sitting on a cushy Dora potty seat....this is the life! She loves wearing her "big girl panties!"

The best part about her training so far...in my twisted opinion...was when she pooped! She looked in the toilet to see what she had accomplished and said "ders cohn it der!!" (there's corn in there!) haha! hey...whatever gets her excited!! :) Don't worry, I spared you the picture....Brett however couldn't have been more proud and he immediately sent the pic via text to his brothers and friends! haha! A BIG thanks to Brett who kept me sane during these past few days!

And a special hug and kiss to this silly girl who definitely keeps us on our toes!

Easter

This was our first official time as a fam coloring Easter eggs....so fun now that E is big enough to enjoy it! As you can see, Brett and I just sat back and made grandma do all the work! Haha, ok only for a minute while I snapped pics and he filmed w/ the videocam. She taught E to slowly dip the egg in with the special wire thingy (as opposed to Emri's not-so-gentle form of "egg drop" from 3 inches above the glass)!

passing the time while the eggs soak up the color with her new "crazy face"

"Emmie do it!" This is pretty much the most common phrase at our house these days. She did great getting all the eggs out...

...then had to admire her work

...and give them kissies

So proud of her work!

Emri and I before church. Her dress came in our Easter package from Gma and Gpa Anderton....Sharon said she saw it at the last minute in the hand-me-down bins (that are free reign for all the siblings/grandkids) at her house. It was a perfect fit....and perfect timing so I didn't have to go out and buy one (and I already had the white shrug from a different outfit of hers)! I love getting hand-me-downs from Brett's fam! We actually matched :) Brett had on a blue tie...and Jet wore his blessing outfit so they were matching too! haha! Totally unplanned. And...no family pic :(

Since we have 9am church (and I wasn't about to get up extra early) Emri didn't get to see her spoils from the Easter Bunny till after church! She got some new sandals, a swim suit and some much needed clothes for the next season from the Easter Bunny and Momma Max.

She was very excited to find so many eggs full of "cheets" (treats) around the living room.

Jet was pleased with his finds too...a hooded towel, OSU jammies, a batman shirt, socks, and binkies!

Thanks Gma & Gpa Anderton for his cute shirt!

After church we had a YUMMY Easter brunch at the Nydeggers with several friends. We ate eggs benedict (Meg's tradition), strawberry waffles, fresh fruit, and hashbrowns. Then we played a really fun game called "Spitz & Gooph" with hard-boiled eggs (a Nydegger tradition) where we all took turns trying to crack eachother's eggs! That night we had a yummy ham and "funeral potato" dinner. I love that special holidays always have some kind of food involved...can you tell I like to eat?!!

the kids

Just a few other random pics of the kids at the house from when grandma was here.

My mom and dad sent E this rocking horse a while back...before she could even climb up on it herself or her feet could even touch. She lovingly calls her horse "Bullseye" and loves to tip her hat while she rides. What a kook!

Oh she makes me laugh so hard some days...and want to scream on other days! This was a laugh day! Just being herself at the playground...

Still hard to believe I'm a mom of 2!

Lovin' on the boy after bathtime...