On the move!

As of Wednesday, this little guy is officially on the move.  It's pretty adorable.   It's also going to force me to keep my floors much cleaner, which certainly isn't a bad thing.

Emmett is definitely in much more control of his body.  He can move from his back to his tummy, from his tummy to crawling and from all fours to sitting. I've even walked in his room a couple of times to find him standing up in his crib!  This sometimes presents a challenge for sleeping, seeing as can get stuck in the sitting or standing position and can't get back to laying down so he can actually go sleep.  I peaked on him yesterday and found him like this:

It doesn't look very comfortable, but at least we know he's flexible!

Spring & Seven Months

Weight: 18.6 pounds

Height:  27.5 inches

Spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina.  The weather has been gorgeous, beckoning us to venture outside for snocones, popsicles, walks and park time.  It's all delightful, and since I know that around the corner lurks insane summer heat and humidity, we are taking advantage of quality outdoors time.

Mom won't let Emmett get crazy, fun flavors just yet...but he seems content enough with ice-flavored snocones and popsicles for now.  I'm sure it feels good on his teething gums.

I'm frequently amazed at how quickly Emmett learns things.  He's not crawling quite yet but between scooting and rolling and pivoting, the kids gets around.  I'm sure that by the time I write his 8 month post he will be crawling all over the place.

Thankfully, this boy has returned to good sleeping habits, which he had completely lost during our 3-week vacation in February.  He also came back from our trip no longer sleeping swaddled and often sleeping on his tummy, which is quite adorable.  (Let's be honest, sleeping babies, regardless of the position, are pretty adorable).  I love walking into his room when he wakes up and seeing his little head bobbing just above the bumper pads.  So cute.

He's becoming more and more vocal, which can be both cute and angry.  He's learned to click his tongue, and he makes sounds like ma-ma-ma and da-da-da.  He likes being sung to, though he doesn't seem to care for recorded music.

I guess it starts really young because this little boy LOVES electronics.  He can be surrounded by colorful toys, but he chooses to go for phones, remotes, cords, computers and ipads.  He also loves tags, tassels and drawstrings.

February vacation wrap-up

After Sun Valley, we still had a few days left of our vacation.  That is, Clark had a few days; Emmett and I still had a week and a half to play with family and friends.  On the way home from Sun Valley, we stopped in Salt Lake for Crown Burger and a Jazz game.  It was Emmett's first, and we had a fun time with Steve, Rach, Quin, Celia, Benson and Kent.

That week Emmett got to spend lots of time with people that love him.  Grandma & Grandpa Monson came down for a day.  Emmett is one of their 9 great-grandchildren.

He got all sorts of love and snuggles from the Schmutz fam.

I was lucky to see my cousin Megan and meet her little boy who is just a few months older than Emmett.

I also got to see good high school friends that I hadn't seen in far too long!

On the evening of Saturday, Feb 25, we got a call from Phillip saying that Jerai's water had broken and they were headed (in a blizzard) to Idaho Falls to have their baby.  I was thrilled, since I was hoping all along that she would have little Brewer before I had to go back to North Carolina.  Sunday morning we headed up to Idaho to love and snuggle my newest nephew.  At that point all was well and normal; however, the events of the day became increasingly worrisome and stressful.  

When we arrived at the hospital that afternoon they had been observing Brewer in the nursery.  We had to be content to look through the windows to see that handsome little boy.  A little while later they decided to move him to the NICU, and we got to see him a little closer as they rolled him down the hall.  That evening the doctors decided to transport Brewer to Primary Children's Hospital in SLC where they could better observe and treat whatever was wrong with his heart.  (At this point, the diagnosis was still a bit unclear).  It was a stressful night and we were all grateful to have so many loving family members close by (grandparents, aunts and uncles).  My dad had already left on Sunday evening, so he headed directly to the hospital to meet Phillip and Brewer.  My mom stayed with Jerai in the hospital in Idaho Falls, and I stayed at Grandma Monson's with Emmett, Beth and Boyd.  The next day, my mom, Jerai and Boyd headed down to SLC as soon as Jerai was discharged.  Beth, Emmett and I planned on going home later that evening so we could make a visit up to Grandma Moulton.

It was so good to see her and for her to meet Emmett--one of her MANY great grandchildren.  He put on a pretty good show, being funny and adorable.  I wish we could have stayed longer.

We stopped for a quick lunch in Rexburg at our favorite sandwich shop and were lucky enough to have Ryan swing over and visit.  I also got to see my friend and former co-worker, Julianne, and her sweet little girl.  (No, we did not plan our coordinating mother/child outfits.)

It was getting pretty late and we needed to get on the road for home, but we decided we should stop by and see Grandpa Durney in Pocatello.  After all, it's not often that people (in this case, Emmett) get to meet their great, great grandfather!  Grandpa Durney is 102 years old and still lives on his own.  He is pretty amazing and very sweet.  I was glad we could see him, even if was only for a few minutes.

I don't know why I failed to take a picture with her, but Beth was my sweet buddy during this trip.  She is such a great sister, and we had a memorable time trying not to get too bored on the drive.  We played more 20 questions, made jokes about the terrible Arby's food we had eaten, sang lots and lots of primary songs to Emmett.  She is 13 and really starting to come into her own.  I'm lucky to have her as my sister.

Back in Utah we learned more about the severity of Brewer's heart condition and the need for open heart surgery at just 3 days old.  It was a hard few days (now weeks), but I was so impressed with Phil and Jerai and their strength and faith through this difficult trial.  For more inspiring insights, information and updates on little Brewer, check out their blog and their facebook page.  

The night before his surgery we all gathered in SLC for dinner before starting a family fast and then at the hospital where Phil gave Brewer a name and a blessing.

Brewer is a sweet, special little boy with a soul full of courage and determination.  I feel like you can see that in his eyes.  This picture was take a few days after his surgery.  He has done remarkably well for all he has had to go through and actually got to go home this past Monday!  It's been strengthening and humbling to see the Lord's many tender mercies and to know of the many, many people praying for this little boy.  I'm so glad that I was able to meet my dear nephew and be there with my family during the start of this adventure.  I'm aching to hold and snuggle him, but I'll try to settle for lots of pictures and videos.  

Sun Valley 2012: Emmett's 1st Real Winter

After spending a few days in Texas, we headed to cooler climates.  Let me just take a minute to say how difficult it was to pack for this trip.  Not only did we have to pack for both warm (TX) and cold (UT) climates, but our Sun Valley excursion also requires all of our snow gear.  In addition, traveling with an infant nearly doubles the amount of stuff you need in the first place!  Anyway, our very large and heavy suitcases made it successfully and kept us nice and warm as we played in the cold.  We had a fun 5-hour drive up to Sun Valley where we stayed and played over the Presidents Day weekend.  Beth rode with us and helped entertain Emmett.  Numerous rounds of  Twenty Questions (which would be more accurately described as "As many questions that it takes to guess the answer")  kept us entertained for much of the way. 

We always look forward to being able to spend lots of fun, quality time with my family.  Everyone was able to come except for Nate who was in the MTC.  It was Emmett's first real exposure to cold weather.  I've had his snowsuit for months and was so excited to use it.  He looks pretty dang adorable and seemed plenty cozy amid the snow.
I skied the first day with my dad and brothers.  It felt so great to be on the mountain this year, and I had a great time with my fam.  It was also super fun to see Boyd on skis.  He had his first lesson and did a pretty fantastic job for a 3 year old! 

That evening we headed to the bowling alley.  It was surprisingly uncrowded and since we are such loyal customers each year, the worker gave us special treatment.  He put 15 tokens in the jukebox for us and he gave us a bowling pin and sticker for a souvenir.  That act immediately converted our bowling game into the Sun Valley Cup.  We all signed the bowling pin and determined that the winner would receive the pin until the following year.  

Jerai was a trooper--just weeks away from having her baby!

Our Sun Valley Cup

The whole crew.  My mom was the overall winner, but Clark and I were proudly on the winning team.

My sweet little boy, bundled up and headed to the pool.

Everyone was looking pretty hot in their bathrobes to and from the pool.  This was our first time taking Emmett in a pool.  He was initially a little surprised by the warmness of the water, but within seconds he was kicking and splashing and having a grand time. 

Pop-pop and Grandma bought Emmett a cute Sun Valley shirt.  He loved spending time with so many loving grandparents, aunts and uncles!

The next day Clark and I relaxed at home, both feeling a little under the weather, but in the evening we all headed out to cheer on the Sun Valley Suns on the ice rink. 

A close-up view.  I think Boyd was quite intrigued.

Playing with Uncle Quin.

 After church on Sunday we all went to the sled hill.  We had two new tubes to try out and lots of eager sledders.  Steve took a sled nearly to the top of the big hill.  Unfortunately, he only managed to stay on the sled for about 2 seconds.  Mom, Dad and Beth also hiked up to the top of the hill, but they did so without any sleds and had to scoot and roll themselves down. 

Well, maybe Emmett wasn't too eager, but that was mostly because he was so tired.

Love this bundle.  But don't let his kissable face fool you.  This boy was an absolute disaster at night during this vacation.  He developed a shrill, ANGRY scream that he liked to use between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m.  The only way to console him was to let him nurse and sleep in bed with us.  It made for some looooong nights. 

In our down time at the condo, there is always a puzzle on the table.  I didn't help one bit with the first puzzle, but these lovely ladies finished it so fast that Mom and Dad went out and bought a new one.  It turned out that they bought the worst puzzle ever.  It was SO hard.  On Sunday afternoon I was pretty sure it wasn't going to get finished; however, everyone took a shift and we managed to get it done sometime after midnight.  In the end there was one piece missing that would not be found despite our searching.  Mom left a note for the housekeepers and low and behold, just last week the piece showed up in the mail!

Our tired selves expressing exhaustion and disgust for the butterfly puzzle.

Monday morning we all went to the ice rink before heading back home.  Jerai (doesn't she look like a model?) played with Emmett while we all took turns helping Boyd skate.  Such good times.  

So blessed to have such wonderful family! 

Texas-Sized Fun

 The first leg of our trip landed us in Texas.  It was much nicer to travel with Clark, and our flights went really well.  There weren't many people on our flights, and on both legs we got to take the infant carrier aboard.  With a babe and tons of luggage in tow, we rented a car to help us travel with ease to see our many Texas friends and their Texas babies. 
We spent most of our time with Dave and Jessica and their adorable twins.  Jess used her photography skills to get some darling pictures of the little ones. 

 Jane and Ethan are 6 months older than Emmett, but it was fun to see them interact. 

 In these cute pictures, they are all dressed up from church.  The photo below is a slightly more accurate depiction of what usually look like.  :)

 We spent a lot of time just hanging out together and taking care of babies, which was so much fun.

 We did venture out a few times--in two cars, usually.  We even braved a couple of restaurants.  Table for 6 please...and 3 high chairs.  Jess and Dave showed us some of their favorite TexMex places.  The Hula Hut was delicious, as was Torchy's Tacos. 

Mmmm....so good!

 We made room for some tasty ice cream at Amy's.  We even let the babies try a little taste...  We were also pretty excited about trying to take pictures all six of us in the photo booth.  Unfortunately, the booth was broken, so we had to settle for a self-timer picture. 

 Emmett's first taste of ice cream (I know that's not good parenting, but it was just a little taste...).  The coldness seemed to surprise him, but he grinned afterwards, so I think he liked it. 

 Jess took some really cute shots of Emmett, some of which are posted here.  We got a kick out of the pictures that Jane and Ethan sneaked into. 

 Really, the best part was just spending time with such great friends. 

Love these cute kids!

  After spending a few days in the Round Rock/Austin area, we drove up to San Antonio where we got to see Lindsey, Kevin, Cooper and little two-week-old Maggie, who was oh, so sweet!  Afterward, we had lunch near the military base with the Thayer's but neglected to take a picture. 

 Next, we headed up to San Marcos, where we stayed the night with Hil & C.  We were so excited to meet little Ruby!  We are creating quite a good pool of potential wives for Emmett...

 Again, we mostly just hung out and took care of babies (which really is more fun than it might sound), but we did venture out the next day to a food truck park for a tasty lunch.  I can't believe we don't have one of these in Durham!  All sorts of delicious food options in one spot.  I was super thrilled about finding a place that would make me a lavender french soda.  Ahhh, so happy.

And just to sneak in one more great thing, we had a layover in Phoenix and my sweet cousin met us at the airport for dinner.  Love her and her cute kids.