The Home Team

Just some happenings at home this week.
Emma is still doing pretty well adjusting to being a big sister. She loves to hold Talmage and play little games with him. On Monday however she had a hard day. She was just making trouble. We had had several discussions about being obedient. She was helping me make the FHE treat. She was playing with some scissors that were out. I asked her to put them down and she did so right away. I thought, "here's my chance to focus on positive behavior." So i said, "Emma, thank you for putting those down immediately. That was very obedient." She was quiet for a minute, then heaved a big sigh and said, "I am tired from all this being obedient!" Oh my! It was about her first obedient act of the day.
Morgan and Emma are loving "reading" a library book, Hooway for Wodney Wat. (Thanks for the tip Carrie) They can't get enough. I love hearing them remember exact quotes "All this teasing day in and day out . . ." "She accidentally-on-purpose stepped . . ." etc. It is a good book, go check it out (as soon as we return it). In other silliness, they continue in their odd pajama choices. All summer long they insisted on sleeping in sweats and flannel feety jammies. Now that it is getting cold they are starting to wear shorts every night. Crazy kids!
Talmage rolled over on Monday. From his tummy to his back. Awesome!
Yesterday it happened - My baby is no longer tiny. I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden last night he just looked so big to me. I can't believe how fast they grow up.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our seven year anniversary. Seven wonderful years of being a family. I'm sure you all want to know our story so here are the facts.
First meeting: April 30th, 2001 outside the Belmont Apartments.
First date: May 4th - tinfoil dinners up Provo canyon
First kiss: Memorial day, May 28th
Our song: Colors "Reggae Song"
We met at the beginning of Spring term. I only lived in my apartment for 6 weeks but it was enough time to fall in love and know we wanted to spend forever together.
Nate proposed on July 14th at the top of a waterfall in Sandy, UT.
We were married on Nov. 17th in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. It was a beautiful day. It was very warm for mid-November. (Even if it had been freezing cold i don't know that we would have noticed, we were just so happy.)
Our reception was held at Wheeler Farm. It was a dream come true. My amazing mom and her friends worked their magic to transform the gathering barn into a pink, wonderful dream. Our colors were pink and periwinkle. We served crepes with ice cream and sauce. We also had a white candy table with several different types of white candy. It was a wonderful evening with many friends and family.
Since that day we have had many happy days together. We have lived in 3 different apartments and now a house.
We both received our bachelor degrees from BYU and Nate added a PhD this year.
Our first six and a half years were spent in the same ward in Provo and now we are experiencing a different ward in Oklahoma.
Best of all we have added three very cute people to our family. Morgan, Emma and Talmage have joined us in this adventure. We love being a family. It's not always easy to put up with independent toddlers, busy schedules, or sleepless nights, but we love it. So happy we took the marriage plunge seven wonderful years ago.

Today i feel...

Talmage is so expressive and friendly. We love all his little smiles.

established - because i just "hosted" the wife of a ConocoPhillips interviewee. I took her on a tour of our town and actually felt like i knew where a lot of places were. Hopefully she got a good feel for OK. Talmage and Emma were so nice while we drove around for nearly 3 hours.

excited - for Kristin and Blaine to get married. Congratulations! Kristin is Nate's cousin and also happens to be one of my favorite people and kindred spirits. We are so happy that she has found the love of her life.

exhausted, mostly exhausted - having a new baby will do that. He does pretty well for a newborn, but it is just not enough sleep. My family can tell you i have not been the easiest person to live with lately. I pray daily for an extra measure of patience. We did have a really good night two nights ago. I was able to let Nate sleep all night and i felt really happy to spend quiet time with Talmage. Last night was much harder. It's nice to know that things will get better with time.

Halloween - a little late but . . .

Nate carved these awesome pumpkins for our ward trunk-or-treat. Morgan designed the face on the right and Nate used the other one to announce our news.
Talmage was a cute little ghostie. We were taking pictures and i said "Now smile!" and he did. What an obedient cutie.
Emma was Superman (again) and Morgan gave up being a dinosaur-with-a-backpack, like he had originally planned, and at the last minute decided to be just a dinosaur. They were both costumes we already had so it was easy to just rework them a little. Easy Halloween.
It was beautiful, warm weather on Halloween night. We all had a great time trick-or-treating on our street and getting to know a few more of the neighbors.

Three's company

Everyone keeps asking how we are adjusting to having three kids. We are really enjoying it. It seems very natural. The kids adore Talmage. Emma is always asking if she can hold him. Every night they fight over whose bed he will lay on first. I know all of these little people are supposed to be a part of our family.
Maybe the hardness has not really hit us yet. Perhaps this is because at this point i am still giving myself permission to do almost nothing. Our house is messy but we are happy. Putting no pressure on us to do things, just enjoying doing what we want to do. It has also been easy because people have been so kind and supportive. Our friends and neighbors have been amazingly kind bringing meals and gifts and just being happy to see us. Thank you to everyone. I am amazed by all you have done for us.
Talmage really is a good baby. Last night i had a moment of just cuddling him and i realized that i have completely fallen in love. He is so beautiful. I love his skinny little arms and legs. I love his dark eyes. I love just watching his face. I wish we could capture every sweet little smile and happy greeting look. I love spending sweet time with him (much of this calm time comes late at night or in the very early morning but it is sweet whenever it comes). I am grateful for these moments.
Our wonderful friend, Sherri, spoke at our stake women's conference last week. She talked about how much we love babies even though they do nothing to earn our love - they keep us up at night, bring a lot of pain when they arrive, and make messes - and still we love them so completely and unconditionally. It is so true. It was a very timely talk for me. It really touched me and i am trying to remind myself to love everyone that same way, just because of who they are.