E is 3 MONTHS & our trip to AMISH Country

My little squirt is 3 months! She's developing such a fun little personality! Here's her picture for the month....yes, "serious" is one of her many camera faces!

• Overall, she is a happy baby!
• She loves to make gurgles in the back of her throat to talk to us
• She sleeps anywhere from 8-10 hours at night now!
• She's great at taking a bottle and likes her feeding times with dad
• She loves to have books read to her and usually starts breathing fast when we start reading, like she's excited about it!
• She's getting better at taking longer naps than just 45 minutes...i think she's trying to transition herself to one morning nap and one afternoon nap
• She loves to suck on fabric...which started because we'd cover her hands with mittens during the day and at night she wears nightgowns with hand covers....she sucks her mittens, nightgowns, mine and brett's shirts, burpcloths, and blankets!
• She drools like crazy!
• She doesn't really fight taking her Zantac Rx anymore although she does have a strong gag reflex.....which is a struggle for all dental hygienists when taking xrays....yes, I'm sure I will have "that child" at the dentist that we all love to see on the schedule!
• She still loves her bath time and gets upset when we take her out!
• She loves having just her diaper on and getting lotioned....this is when she's the most talkative too!
• She bats at her toys that hang from her bouncy chair! I love watching her learn!

I just love her to pieces!!

Memorial Day this year started off with a free breakfast at Mimi's Cafe! Let's just say Landon is the king of finding out how to get free food! We called ahead of time to make sure they would take 6 coupons all at once. They said it was fine....which turned out to be a different story once we were handed our checks...It's a good thing my friends aren't scared to cause a scene if necessary! Ummm, I had already headed out to the car with Emri to avoid an awkward situation! Yes, call me chicken!

Meg, Brett & Brett (sportin' a shiner from basketball)

Me & Emri, Landon & Kara

Emri is a true Ohioan...even she owns some Buckeye apparel! Our destination for the day was Berlin, Ohio....AMISH COUNTRY! This was our first venture and I was in awe! We first stopped at Heini's Cheese Factory. The boys LOVED it! I'm not a huge cheese fan, but you better believe I didn't miss out on the fudge samples!

There were several aisles just like this, stacked with more cheese than I've ever seen at one time! In front of each different flavor, were tupperware bowls with free samples of the cheese. I'm sure these boys will have a hard time pooping today! ha ha

Yes, this is Rainbow Sherbet FUDGE! So yummy! They had every flavor of fudge you could think of!

We also hit up the spice rack....I think Brett and Meg made a haul there! Spices were super cheap!

We spent most of the day walking down this main street and wandering through their little shops.

Quick family photo in front of the beautiful flowers....and I can't remember the name. They weren't lilacs and they really didn't even have a scent....they were pretty though!

We went in this shop (that kind of reminded me of Mexico) that had random purses, luggage, belts, and biking gear! The boys took full advantage of this....(you might have to check Kara's blog later for better pics)...I got this picture when they were only half dressed....pretty soon after this they were all in leather biker chaps too! Love these boys! Most of the shops were filled with crafty house decorations and furniture.

I think my favorite part of the day was just driving around seeing the Amish people doing their thing. The girls riding their bikes through town.....IN DRESSES!

The little buggies were so great! If you look closely you can see the man's long beard. None of the pics are the best of quality since I was snapping shots on the go. I don't think they really like you to take their pictures.

All of the men wear denim and the women in dresses....very simple. Every house had their laundry hanging out to dry.

This part of Ohio was so beautiful....it was hilly and green...and out in the country. I loved it! Columbus is just too flat...and you never see any horses or cows on a regular basis (or ever). I didn't ever think I would miss that, but I could have driven around those cute little streets and side country roads forever. I felt like we were on a hunt for buggies....and every time I saw one I got excited and had to take a picture of it!

I was freaking out when we saw the first buggy! If there's a shoulder on the road, they stay to the side, but if not they're right in the lane in front of you and sometimes you have to wait to make a pass around them!

I would really like to go again and learn about their lifestyle, and maybe do the tourist thing and take a buggy ride...and of course, get some more fudge samples! Any visitors up for a day trip??

All I kept thinking about was how cold those things must be in the winter! I sure take a lot for granted with my modern car and all it's features! In all it was a fun day! I love long weekends when Brett doesn't have school! Thanks for a fun time as always friends!

ORGANIC BABY!!!!

Last night we had a great date night....to TWO new places! For dinner we went to NorthStar Cafe and it totally rocked! It's a fun urban atmosphere in downtown Columbus in an interesting area referred to as "The Short North." The menu was fun...I tried their "sweet basil burrito" and loved it. A lot of their menu is organic stuff which I'm not always into, but I'd definitely go back...ACTUALLY, we're going back this Saturday for brunch!! Apparently their "cloud nine pancakes" are to die for!

The girls, well, minus Emri who was with us, but Brett was carrying her in her carseat.

Kara & Landon

Meg & Brett

Me & Brett...and Brett holding E, just below where the pic cut off (who was the photographer?)! See how fun High Street is?! I loved walking down the sidewalk (other than the wind chill and the fact that I didn't have a jacket for our mile walk to the icecream shop!) and especially people watching....it's a different breed in those parts of town!

SO, I'd never heard of JENI'S icecream till last night...but it too was a real treat! Check out the link to see the flavors! This girl's icecream motto (or whatever) is LESS SWEET AND MORE FLAVORFUL! I tried like 10 different samples and decided on Lemon-Blueberry and Savannah Buttermint! Both Delicious!! Ummm, Brett on the other hand picked something a little more risky and went with Thai Chilli---yes, it had a bit of a kick to it, then a tingly burn in your throat after! Not all were that crazy, but they were definitely not your original "cookies n cream" type of flavors!

The line was out the door! This is a Columbus based company AND did you know their icecreams are made only with ORGANIC OHIO dairy from GRASSFED cows.....with only 5 stores?? (i'm not sure why we were so organic last night) so.... if you're DYING to try some Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries, Salty Caramel, Wildberry Lavender, or Grapefruit Hibiscus ICECREAM....then you're gonna have to make a trip out to see your favorite Buckeyes and we'll gladly take you out for an icecream experience you won't soon forget! AND...even better, we'll let you hang out with this cute little peanut that loves to tag along on our dates with us (and is always an angel)! WARNING: she just might suck your arm off!

Thanks for the great date friends! We love you! AND....TO KARA.....who I'm really upset with, this poem is for you:

KARA, KARA

I like your hair-a!

But i do not like that you're leaving,

it makes me want to stop breathing. :)

Why do you have to go away,

6 months is too long.... so i'm protesting TODAY!

Tell landon he'll have to be wife-less

because you friend jami and little E are selfish!

Who's gonna watch Parks and Rec with us on thursdays?

SLC and Boise are WAY lame anyways :)

most of these little sentences don't even rhyme....

oh, i've got an idea! If you stay... i'll pay you a dime!

We have an extra room if you decide to stay....

Landon, please let her and i PROMISE i'll make you a treat everyday!!!!

Brett won't have anyone to bug if you leave....

I don't know anything that ryhmes with that except "STEVE"

(and he has nothing to do with this....who's steve? What?)

So please reconsider your 6 month "vacay"

Cuz if you stay here we'll have tons of fun, no work, ALL PLAY!

Outlets, Mother's Day & a PUSH gift!

Last weekend a few of the girls headed to the Jeffersonville Outlets as a last hoorah before Emily and Mindy leave. Both of their husbands are graduating in a few weeks so they will be moving away.....boohoo! I'm so sad to say goodbye. We've met and become friends with some really awesome families here so this is always a sad time of year to have to say goodbye to those ahead of us. Well, we had a very PRODUCTIVE day of shopping! Some of us did more damage than others, but I think we each found a few steals we were very excited about! One happened to be these swimsuit cover-ups!

By the way...who needs a dressing room when you can just change in the middle of the store?! This was the only picture I took while shopping! Obviously we were busy, if EVEN I didn't take pictures! We made a pit-stop at The Olive Garden on our way home to fuel up with some carbs after a long day of exercise! ha ha!

Meg, Amanda, Me & Emri who I must say was quite the little trooper! She fussed only a couple of times in the 10 hours we were gone. Yes, we got home after 10pm! Doesn't her face look like she's about had it?!

Mindy & Jersey, Emily and Heather. The picture below is too funny! After our checks came Mindy couldn't find her Andes mint anywhere...she even blamed Emily for eating it! Then she looked down...Jersey had swiped it off the table and was helping herself to it! She's getting started early!

This year was a special year for me as I got to experience my first Mother's Day! It was so fun to be spoiled all day by Brett...and Emri! She was waking up from a nap and I went to her room to get her and found a card on her belly and this cute little box wrapped inside the blanket with Emri. She and Brett gave me these diamond studs as a "push gift" from her delivery! Brett said since she came befor her actual due date he wasn't quite prepared! I love them!!!! A girl can never have too many diamonds!!

Brett prepared a delicious meal with a new food network recipe, had hidden these flowers and got them out for our centerpiece at dinner, cleaned up dinner after he made it and let me take a nap with Emri in the afternoon! It was a wonderful day!

This was our meal...chicken marsala, mashed potatoes and veggies. Seriously, the marsala was AMAZING! I've been wanting more since Sunday! Things always taste so so good when you don't have to be the one to cook!

My cute, thoughtful hubby! Thanks babe!

Also, this is a few days past, but it's never to late to tell the women our your lives how much we love them! To my "MOMS"...Max and Sharon, I love you like crazy! I miss you! Thanks for everything you do for our little family! I'm truly grateful for your examples of love, hardwork, compassion and especially your testimonies of the gospel that you have always shared with me. I always was appreciative of everything you've always done, but I never fully understood all the devotion, dedication and true love that goes into motherhood until just a couple of short months ago. Thank you for being the best!

I got this sweet poem in an email last week and I wanted to put it on here. It explains my thoughts completely...

Before I was a Mom, 
I never tripped over toys 
or forgot words to a lullaby. 
I didn't worry whether or not 
my plants were poisonous. 
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never been puked on. 
Pooped on. 
Chewed on. 
Peed on. 
I had complete control of my mind 
and my thoughts.. 
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held down a screaming child 
so doctors could do tests. 
Or give shots. 
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. 
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. 
I never sat up late hours at night 
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held a sleeping baby just because 
I didn't want to put her down. 
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces 
when I couldn't stop the hurt. 
I never knew that something so small 
could affect my life so much. 
I never knew that I could love someone so much. 
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, 
I didn't know the feeling of 
having my heart outside my body.. 
I didn't know how special it could feel 
to feed a hungry baby. 
I didn't know that bond 
between a mother and her child. 
I didn't know that something so small 
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night 
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. 
I had never known the warmth, 
the joy, 
the love, 
the heartache, 
the wonderment 
or the satisfaction of being a Mom. 
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, 
before I was a Mom ...

WORK SCHMERK...

So, Emri is 11 weeks today and I had my first day back to work from maternity leave. It went (somewhat) as I pictured in my head.....EXCEPT IT TOTALLY DIDN'T! I had a lot of emotions leading up to this day as I'm sure all new mothers do when they are about to leave their newborn for more than an hour for the first time. Luckily one of my worries was not who I am leaving her with, thanks to my sweet friend Heather that I feel completely comfortable with. I'm so so glad we don't have to do daycare (well, I just wouldn't go back to work if that were the case). We have been blessed with so many amazing friends here and I'm so lucky I can leave her in safe hands!

I started packing Emri's diaper bag (2 days ago) and realized I needed something more the size of a duffel bag! How can one little 12 1/2 lb person need so many things to stay alive for 7 hours??? Crazy! So I overpacked in the beginning....I think I had like 4 outfits in there. Okay, so she does have blowouts, but usually not 4 in any given 7 hours! ha ha Before putting her to bed last night I gave E a little peptalk about what was going to happen today and that she needed to be a good girl...I thought it went well! :)

Last night I had all her stuff ready, by the door, so could just grab and go:

• diaper bag
• diapers
• wipes
• bum cream & Q-tips
• changing pad
• Zantac RX and medicine dropper
• baby lotion
• hand sanitizer
• nasal saline and bulb/ booger sucker
• 2 oufits and undershirts (yes, i downsized)
• socks
• 2 pacifiers
• bottles/nipples
• frozen breastmilk in cooler bag w/ icepak
• mittens
• headbands and bows (one to match each outfit packed)
• bracelet
• mylicon gas drops
• 2 blankets
• books
• bouncy chair
• carseat
• list of Emri's schedule, my office #, pediatrician #.
• My pump and lunch to take to work...

This morning I set my alarm with plenty of time to get myself ready and then Emri if she woke up before we needed to leave. So, she wakes up just as I finish my makeup, and I'm thinking this is PERFECT, I can feed her now and then take her to Heather's right after! This isn't in Emri's plans....she usually wakes up all smiley and happy....not today. She is crying while I change her poopy diaper and by the time I sit down to feed her she is screaming, won't look at me, and will MOST DEFINITELY NOT be eating from me! I'm feeling sad and sure that she knows exactly what I had told her last night and I know that she's furious with me for leaving her! After 20 minutes of trying to feed her I hand her off; luckily Brett isn't gone for school yet so he takes Emri. I am freaking out thinking...I can't do this! I can't leave her when she's screaming like this. I'm calling work to tell them I can't come! Brett ends up feeding her a bottle because she won't have anything to do with me. She poops again! Then while Brett feeds her she has a massive explosion in her diaper (again...yes, that's 3 poops in 45 minutes and I'm definitely rethinking throwing in a couple more outfits into the diaper bag at this point...who says baby poop slows down at 2 mos??) that gets all over her nightgown. So, we end up putting her in her outfit for the day and at this point she is all smiles!! WHAT?! Apparently she just had some MAJOR gas! And a full tummy is nice too! Well, now that she didn't eat from my I'm super "full" since she does longer nights now and the last time she ate was at midnight!! Too bad, no time to pump right now! Brett gets her in her seat and heads out the door to my car while my hands are full of my purse, diaper bag, bouncy chair, breast pump, lunch and CRAP...where on earth are my car keys? CANNOT FIND THEM ANYWHERE! Seriously? I'm supposed to be at Heather's RIGHT NOW! I'm going to be late for work...where are my keys? Brett finds my spare key....in the console of my car (hello, what good would that have done me if I ever locked the master set in the car? I'm starting to wonder about my brain these days). He gives me an extra house key, a kiss goodbye and we are off just around the corner to Heather's...arriving only 4 minutes later than my original plan....which wasn't too bad considering how the past hour at our house just went! Heather is all smiles bright and early and I'm sure I just rolled my eyes laughing at the basketcase I have become! I quickly go over Emri's schedule, but it's only for my sake...Heather's a mom...she can handle it! Emri is bright-eyed and smiling so I try to calm myself knowing that she's just fine and she's really not mad at me! WE will both be fine! I kiss her goodbye, hug Heather as she grabs me some tissues because we both know what's coming! I give her a "smile" and I'm out the door as my tears hit the sidewalk. Just down the road Megan sees me in my car (with tissues in hand, blotting my eyes) as she is on her way to work too, she calls to make sure I'm ok! so nice! I make the 25 minute drive to work....and am quickly reminded that there are a lot of idiots on the road! On my way I call momma max so she can comfort me, but she doesn't answer (it is only 5:30 am in Utah). I take a few deep breaths and at this point I'm pretty impressed with myself that I'm almost to work, baby fed and dropped off, hair is done, I'm dressed, makeup is done (well, i'm sure half of it is gone now) and it's not even 8 AM yet!

Wow, did you read that all in one breath like I just wrote it? My day at work really wasn't bad....other than the fact that my first patient was new and he couldn't remember the last time he'd had his teeth cleaned! Nothing like a hard appointment right off the bat to get me right back into the swing of things! Fridays we only work till 2, so that's nice! My schedule was pretty light due to a couple cancellations which worked great so I could pump...weird to do NOT in the privacy of my home. It was pretty comical though because I walked into this spare office to pump and there sat 2 identical breast pumps to the one I had because 2 of my co-workers also have new babies at home!! So, they felt for me having my first day back to work! It made me laught because I never would have thought that when I stored my pumped milk in the freezer that I 'd actually have to label it with my name so other mothers wouldn't mix it up with their "extraction!" Funny....and probably too much info for some of you readers!

Anywho, Heather said Emri did great and that makes me really happy! I think she was just trying to throw me for a loop this morning. We'll see how this one day a week work plan pans out for us!

PS...Emri did have a blowout while I was gone, but only one....good thing there was an extra outfit! Way to be prepared self!

Cinco de Mayo

So we decided to do a special dinner for Cinco de Mayo yesterday....I'm always up for turning any old day into a reason for a food event! We had salsa chicken tacos, quesadillas, guacamole, mexican rice, refried beans and for dessert we fried up some yummy cinnamon-sugar crustos (my personal fave)! Then we ended the night with some rock'n'roll on A. Idol.

Landon cookin' up a mean quesadilla

Salsa Chicken: (courtesy of Melissa W.)

4 chicken breasts, thawed

2 c. salsa

1 pkg taco seasoning

a couple dallops of Daisy (sour cream)

*Cook on High in CrockPot for 3 hours, shred chicken and return to salsa mixt.

*Good to eat on pan fried corn tortillas with black beans, lettuce, cheese and sour cream

AND, of course I couldn't leave out any pictures of our "big" peanut from the past couple of weeks!

love her solo dimple!

tummy time

This is how she is every morning when she wakes up! I love it!

She LOVES to have daddy read to her! This particular night I think he read to her for 40 minutes and she barely moved a muscle!

Cute little Spring dress for church...I think she's like, "seriously mom, could you take ANYMORE pictures of me?!" Or she's flashin' her gang sign....what gang would that be?? The poopy diaper/hairbow gang, i assume!

Daddy's girls!

She's free as a bird when she sleeps! She starts out semi-bundled (from armpits down) and when I go into check on her this is how she is....blankets undone, frog legs, and free arms! Silly baby!

She is such a sweetheart! She really is a good baby and I have so much fun hanging out with her all day! I start my first day back to work on Friday and I'm having mixed emotions about it (even though it's only one day a week)! She changes so fast and I just don't want to miss anything! Wish me luck!