Emma's Halloween Poem

Black Cat
by Emma 10/12/09

Black Cat
Black mean
Biting, watching, scratching
He has snake eyes
Cat

Lizzy's First Snow

Another short video for my family of Lizzy looking at snow for the first time. She didn't seem too impressed. She liked being outside, but she was more interested in the camera than the snow.

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma"

To satisfy the requests of my family, I have uploaded a video of Lizzy's latest accomplishment: saying "M" sounds. She can now say, "Mmm-Ma-ma-ma-ma." I like hearing her say "Mama" in her tiny little baby voice. So stinkin' cute!

She learned how to shape her mouth to create "M" sounds on our drive to Las Vegas last Friday. By the time we got to the hotel she had mastered it pretty well and said "Mama" a few times. We forgot to tell Rachel and Craig that, so when Lizzy started demanding for her "Mama" while they were babysitting her, Rachel and Craig were very surprised. "I didn't know she could talk," Rachel exclaimed when Brad and I returned to the hotel.

My First Rock Concert: U2 360

I am no longer a rock concert virgin! I went to see one of the greatest bands on Earth perform live at the Sam Boyd Stadium last Friday in Las Vegas. It was quite an interesting experience! U2 drew in a HUGE crowd of over42,000 people to this concert. Brad bought tickets for him and me near the beginning of the year, and they were ground floor tickets, so we could be up close to Bono and the rest of the band. I'm not nearly as big of a U2 fan as he is, but let me tell you, my adrenaline was pumping and I was jumping up and down when U2 showed up on stage only about 30 feet away! I have come to appreciate their music over the last three years, and I was very excited to see them up close.

Brad and I left early Friday morning with a bunch of other U2 fans carpooling in our van.
From left to right: Tony, Dan, Uncle Jerry, and Craig.
Lizzy came, too. My sister Rachel and her husband Craig babysat Lizzy during the concert. I was thrilled that Lizzy was able to come and that I was able to see Rachel. I'm glad everything worked out so perfectly.

We waited in line for several hours. That wasn't very fun, but at least we had each other to keep company.
My legs and feet were killing me!



The stage was amazingly HUGE!
From what I've heard, it's the largest stage ever constructed for a rock concert.


Hooray for U2!

Bono was so close!

Thanks U2, for making this experience a memorable one for me.
I may even go to another rock concert someday.
Just not any time soon. My feet still hurt.

Lizzy Eating Solids

Where has the time gone? I introduced Lizzy to solids last Saturday. She's growing up so fast! I just gave her a few spoonfuls of infant cereal mixed with formula, and I've been doing it once a day since. At first she thought it was very weird. I think the texture and flavor of the cereal made her face crinkle and her eyebrows tighten. But now she seems to like it more. Hooray for growing babies!

New Baby Rats

Scott and Emma are really looking forward to these three little babies joining our family at the end of the month:


Pixie







Poppy







Blackie
(Black Beauty)

Scott named the little black one, which will be his rat. Scott just finished reading the book "Black Beauty," and the protagonist is a black horse with a white star and white socks. This little female rat reminds him of Black Beauty.

We love rats in our family. Checkers, our last remaining rat, will be passing away shortly, so I had to find some more babies to replace her and our other rats before we have an empty cage. Scott in particular has a special fondness for rats and enjoys their company.

*Pictures were taken by Frannie's Rattery in West Valley City, Utah*

Lizzy's Parakeet

One of Lizzy's favorite thing to do is stuff her cute little green/yellow parakeet in her mouth.

Don't worry... the bird isn't alive. It's a darling little life-like puppet my aunt Wendy gave my mom when Lizzy was born. My mom left the puppet here for Lizzy to play with during her last visit, and Lizzy loves it! I think she likes the little blue eyes and the bright colors on the bird the best. She "talks" to it and smiles at it, and she especially loves shoving it into her mouth. It's so cute to watch her play with it.

While the Boys were Out

My little sister Rachel and her husband came to visit me over Conference weekend this year. While the menfolk were at the Priesthood session, Rachel and I asked Emma what we should do together, just us girls. "Let's do makeovers!" Emma said excitedly. Rachel and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows. I don't know what Rachel was thinking, but an immediate memory came to my mind of the last time Emma gave me a makeover. I believe the word "clown" was used to describe my appearance afterward.

"How about we give YOU a makeover, Emma." Emma loved that idea! Rachel grabbed my makeup and began beautifying Emma. It was a fun process to watch, especially when Emma began to look older and older as each stage of makeup was put on. I couldn't help but think, 'Oh, no! What happened to our little girl?' She looked much older by the time we were done.

Here's the finished result:


Here are some step-by-step pictures:

The Highlight of My Day: September 2009

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in September:

Tue 9/1/09: Lizzy turned 12 weeks old today! She loves to smile and "talk" with her mama and papa. She constantly rolls over onto her tummy and tries to wiggle away on her playmat. She recently started sucking her thumb when she sleeps and no longer likes her binky.

Wed 9/2/09: Today I am grateful for family members and new chapters in life-- even if those chapters may be hard. I went out to lunch with my in-laws at Applebees today. It may be one of the last times we do that with Zach and Amanda before they move to Arizona. Also, tonight my sister called to let me know that my Uncle David passed away while he was visiting his family in Southern California. Although times of change are hard, I am grateful for the opportunity of getting to know wonderful people. They have influenced my life for the better.

Thu 9/3/09: Tonight we all went to SEP Conferences. Scott and Emma have great teachers this year, and I am looking forward to helping the kids with their assignments and school projects. Should be good!

Fri 9/4/09: Brad came home early yesterday, which was a happy treat for me! We spent time talking together and discussing important issues with Brad's mom. I love being Brad's wife! He's wonderful.

Sat 9/5/09: Brad and I watched "Sarah Plain and Tall" together. It was Brad's first time seeing it.

Sun 9/6/09: Brad received some great news from his credit report: He's now in the EXCELLENT category! No more bad credit!

Mon 9/7/09: We decided to go for a walk this evening, with baby Lizzy in Brad's arms. After we got back the Bruce-clan showed up and we gave Jessica her birthday present.

Tues 9/8/09: The kids came back from their Labor Day parent-time with Melanie. It was great being with them again! We went to the library together and did "Sweets and Sours." Emma was very excited about upcoming events.

Wed 9/9/09: Today Brad stayed home from work. I took advantage of him being home by leaving Lizzy with him and getting my hair cut. Now I have a really cute short hair-do.

Thu 9/10/09: Brad and I took some great pictures of our family this evening. Nothing staged or planned-- just lots of nice pictures of us outside, enjoying our evening. It was great!

Fri 9/11/09: Today Rachel emailed me her itinerary for her flight to Utah in October. I'm so excited to have her and Craig come!

Sat 9/12/09: Brad and I made ourselves some pizza and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. It was nice spending time together.

Sun 9/13/09: Scott went to his 12-year-old interview with the Bishop today. He'll be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next week!

Mon 9/14/09: It was a wet, rainy day. I liked watching the rain fall, mainly because there wasn't much for me to do today besides being sick with a bad cold.

Tue 9/15/09: Brad and I had some alone time tonight and we went to the library. It was nice being with him. He takes such good care of me.

Wed 9/16/09: Brad and his dad gave me a priesthood blessing today. I love having the priesthood in my home!

Thu 9/17/09: Scott turned 12 years old today! Happy Birthday, Scott-Boy!

Fri 9/18/09: Scott had a sleepover tonight with Michael and Ryan. Emma got to go spend the night with her cousins.

Sat 9/19/09: This morning Brad, Lizzy, Michael and I went to see Amanda and Zach before they left for Arizona. We are going to miss them.

Sun 9/20/09: Scott received the Aaronic Priesthood today and was ordained to the office of a Deacon in our church.

Mon 9/21/09: I am reading the Book of Mormon while nursing Lizzy. I can definitely see a change in the way I think and feel when I read the scriptures. My day went much better.

Tue 9/22/09: We went to the library tonight and I checked out the Roger and Hammerstein musical "Cinderella" to watch with Emma. She really likes the song "In My Own Little Corner." I sing her that song at bedtime.

Wed 9/23/09: Lizzy finally likes her swing! I put her in her swing a few times today and she loved it. She played in it and took a nap. It kept her happy and entertained while I got done other things.

Thu 9/24/09: I drove to the Health Department today to get a copy of Lizzy's birth certificate. It's been on my to-do list for a very long time, so I'm glad I finally got it done.

Fri 9/25/09: Today I hosted a YW Board Meeting at my home with Marcie and Sharon. It's nice feeling in the loop of things again. I also went to Brad's volleyball game tonight. Our ward won both games!

Sat 9/26/09: Little Cinnamon passed away today. Scott conducted a funeral for her, which I thought was sweet. I enjoyed gathering together as a family in the backyard and saying nice things about a rat. It meant a lot to Scott.

Sun 9/27/09: Today was the Primary Presentation at church. Scott and Emma both participated. Scott's talk at the end was wonderful and brought me and Brad to tears. Scott also passed the sacrament for the first time today.

Mon 9/28/09: Emma had a fun idea for FHE tonight. She suggested we play a game where we have to write out as many prophets as we could think of in one minute. Brad won the game by writing down 16, I wrote down 14, and Scott wrote down 8. But the cute part was asking Emma how many prophets she wrote down. "One," she answered. "Only one?" we asked. She nodded her head. "Gordon B. Hinckley."

Tue 9/29/09: I loved watching Scott interact with 16-week-old Lizzy today. Lizzy smiles and coos, and loves "talking" to Scott. I also loved hearing Scott call me "Mama" several times today. It felt good.

Wed 9/30/09: Tonight we discovered that smacking our lips makes Lizzy laugh. All of us took turns making her happy. It was hilarious hearing all of the kissing noises in my room last night!