Ready for Christmas

I thought I ought to get at least one more post in before Christmas, since December is now nearing an end, and my last post was at the beginning of the month. I have made a goal to post more often, but since our life is well - normal - there isn't always a lot to write.

Of course the Christmas madness has hit, however, and we have been busy busy busy. I don't know where this past week went. We spent much of Wednesday at the Temple for a session and a sealing, because Ian and Victoria were getting sealed. We are so happy for them! I don't have any of the pictures we took outside. Go figure.

For the most part we've just been getting ready for Christmas. Here's Emmett modelling his Santa hat:

His grandparents bought it for him, and he was sure showing off for the camera. Tonight we decided to go to Layton park to see the Christmas lights. It's cold, so we got all bundled up and headed out. Luckily Emmett did stay warm, but unfortunately the bundling up made it a little bit difficult to see him in the pictures. Oh well. You get the idea:

It was a lot of fun! Emmett seemed to enjoy looking around at all of the lights. It's a small park, but we enjoy going there every year. We're hoping to get a chance to go to Temple Square as well, but we've been so busy that it doesn't seem like that will happen. Oh well. There's always next year.

Holy Wind!

Well, we had a water disaster earlier in the year, and I guess wind felt a bit left out. Yesterday was one of the worst windstorms in 13 years here in Utah. Winds topped 102 miles in Davis County. The freeway was closed and commutes were a mess, even on back roads, because of flying debris. We woke up to no power, and it was getting pretty chilly in our house! They were warning people that it could take up to 48 hours to restore power to all residents, and we were preparing ourselves for a stay at my parents' house. We spent the day there, and then came back at 5 pm to grab some stuff. Just as we were preparing to leave, the lights came back on. Thank goodness!

 I was a bit worried that there would be some damage to our fence. My dad's dog did, after all, run right through it. Oh well, a few missing planks are fixable, right? We've done it before. Well here is what we got:

I officially declare this $6,000 fence dead, after only 3 years. The dogs are currently refugees at my parents' house until we can get a new fence, and we're desperately hoping the home owner's insurance will help us out with it. They will, fortunately pay to fix our roof, which is now missing about one-third of its shingles.

I wonder if they will pay for this as well:

Yep. That's right. The wind rattled the car port so hard that the ceiling fell on my car. Luckily my car is sturdy (and apparently protected by the ghost of my grandmother - but that's a creepy story for another time) and had only a few minor scratches.

Our neighbors didn't fare much better. In fact, the entire neighborhood was pretty much re-decorated. Here's my neighbors yard. That USED to be a huge pine tree around the corner...

That piece of siding, so thankfully not on my side of the house, ended up in our yard, and I have no idea where that chunk of fence went. BUT...let's end on a happier note. Emmett is 4 months old! PEEK-A-BOO!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Villanedas!

Let the Holiday Madness Begin

While I won't get my decorations put up or break out the Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, I see nothing wrong with getting some shopping done a bit early. That's what we did yesterday, and it was super fun to shop for our little boy. It'll be a small Christmas this year. We got him some books and a cute musical sea-turtle toy. It was a lot of fun taking him to the mall though and letting him watch everything that was going on. He even got to meet Santa!

He did really well. He wasn't upset or anything, and Santa was really great. (Believe it or not, the beard was actually real!) 

Last night was also our first date night since Emmett came. We have just been so busy and money has been tight, that it unfortunately hasn't been possible for us to go until now. We went to Cafe Rio and then went to see Breaking Dawn, Part 1. That was my least favorite of the Twilight books, but I have to admit that the movie was pretty good. More exciting than the book for sure.

Now it's time for me to come down off of my Christmas shopping high and focus on Thanksgiving. I'm definitely looking forward to the food! (But that might just be because I haven't eaten breakfast yet and I'm hungry.)

Thank You Veterans

My dad is a veteran combat medic who served in Bosnia and two tours in Iraq. While in Iraq, he received the Bronze Star for actions and training that saved lives. He has since suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which has seriously impacted his life, and my mom's. We're proud of him for his sacrifice.

In honor of that and in honor of Veteran's Day, I wanted to post this picture of my dad meeting his grandson for the first time ever. He was undergoing a treatment for PTSD at the time Emmett was born and wasn't able to meet him until a couple of weeks later. We surprised him by taking Emmett to the airport to pick him up when he came home.

Thank you Veterans!

A Concerto...

By Emmett. Seriously, this toy was the best investment!

I can't get enough...

of Emmett's smile! Our little man is just so much fun. He is more and more aware of his surroundings and is now able to interact with us, which has been awesome. Yesterday after lunch I snapped this shot of him "sitting" on the couch:

I also love fall, and especially the start of the holiday season with the approach of Halloween. This year we decided to carve a pumpkin. Here is Emmett's first pumpkin-carving (okay gutting, since we haven't actually finished the carving part yet):

The dogs had a good time too, though we did have to banish them from the room, because they (not to my surprise) tried to eat the entire pile of pumpkin.

I was hoping to get a picture of Emmett inside the pumpkin, but unfortunately one side is too flat, so there isn't much room inside. I did manage to get this instead, before he toppled over (poor boy tried so hard to be cooperative):

Happy Halloween!

Times, They are a Changin'

Emmett is two months old now and growing cuter by the minute! He discovers new things every day, and it is so much fun to watch. He can now track people, objects (and Shena, whom he seems fascinated with) with his eyes, and he is smiling more and more often. Sometimes he even "laughs" by letting out a small squeal while he smiles.

Unfortunately he is NOT sleeping through the night yet, and I spent the last night or two on the couch trying to give Josh a chance to sleep. Emmett sleeps better in his swing, you see, a 

 habit which we are desperately trying to break so that we can eventually move him into his own room. He's starting to get too big for the cradle! What he really wants is to be held while he sleeps - and while we love to cuddle with him, occasionally we'd love some sleep ourselves!

I am finding that I quite enjoy the idea of being a stay at home mom, despite the ridiculous financial issues that might arise from that decision. No doubt about it, taking care of a baby has proven to be exhausting, but I'm very excited to keep working and playing with him! It has been quite an adjustment, viewing myself as a stay at home mom, but this is what I know is best for us. As for my writing, I keep hoping that I'll be able to do enough to contribute financially, but work has been scarce for me, and most of my time has been taken up by Emmett anyway. I'm very happy to have been cleared by my doctor to workout again. It was nice getting back to karate, but boy am I out of shape! Wow...I feel like I'm back at a purple belt level or something! 

The other major change is happening in Josh's job. He has accepted a job with Deseret Book for the time being, since the Distribution Center is closing in October. We are a little bit bummed about it, as he has had to accept a two dollar pay cut, but at least he will have a job to step into when his current one ends. He hasn't been as successful as we'd hoped at finding another job. Hopefully all will work out for the best. It's a little bit exciting, because he's been working at the Distribution Center since he got home from his mission, and this will be a different experience for him. Otherwise he's still in school, working away at those classes. We are hoping that he will be able to get a great business internship soon, but he's still in the process of applying so that could be awhile.

Of course life has changed for the dogs as well, with the arrival of the new baby. I feel bad, because they definitely don't get the attention they used to. I'm certain that once we get into more of a routine we'll be able to squeeze more walks and trips to the dog park back in. Shena is in definite need of some more vigorous exercise, and Toby is...well...he's just Toby. What can I say? His winter coat is already coming in and, as usual, it's still hot so he's shedding it. Suffice it to say there is fur everywhere.

And that's that...our little life in a nutshell! Stay tuned for future fascinating updates...(or more rambling, whichever comes first)...

Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

Be prepared for an overload! Anyone who knows me knows that I get camera happy whenever I get a chance, and what better excuse is there than a baby? Okay okay...I didn't actually take most of these first pictures, but I have to post them all the same. These are Emmett's newborn pictures, taken when he was two weeks old. They were done by our photographer, and we love them!

His blessing was last Sunday. His dad did a great job! Here are some pictures of Emmett in his little tuxedo. What a handsome little man!

Welcome Baby Emmett

Wow time flies, and our little man is already over a week old. Things have been so busy since his arrival, which is odd, since I've only left the house twice. Though I'm still quite sore and, by doctor's orders, really limited in my activity (limited stairs for three weeks? I live in a split level!), I must admit I'm starting to get cabin fever and am jealous watching my husband exercise. With my bump now gone, I am eager to start losing this extra baby weight so that I can fit into some jeans again (seems I'll be wearing sweats for quite awhile). But I've still got five weeks to go before my doc will even think about clearing me for anything. At least I'm allowed to drive again. I wasn't allowed to do that for a week either. Wow!

I guess I promised an update on little Emmett's arrival. The morning of July 25th, our anniversary, we went up the canyon with Josh's family to eat breakfast and celebrate the 24th of July holiday. I was having mild contractions, which wasn't unusual, other than the fact that they were a bit more frequent than I was used to. Later that afternoon we took a trip to Walmart and the contractions started to become more painful, and even more frequent. Yikes! I decided at dinner, celebrating our 2-year anniversary, that I'd better start tracking them. Sure enough, by 9 or 10 pm they were extremely intense, but not close enough together to go to the hospital. We finally did head in to the hospital and got there at 1 am. They monitored me for 3 hours, during which time I made VERY slow progress, before admitting me at 4 am and giving me pitocin to try and speed things up.

Contractions suck, I will say that. By 8 or 9 am on Tuesday morning I was over that and asked for an epidural, though the thought of getting one terrified me. Soon after that I was blissfully numb, but going crazy because I literally could not move my legs. Meanwhile, lots of family, including my mom, my in-laws, my grandma, and my aunt's entire family (a nice surprise) came to visit. Finally, around 12:30 my doctor came in and said we were ready to go. I kicked everyone out of the room - no need for them to see that - but they waited just outside in the hallway so that they could hear everything. That I didn't mind. I thought it was quite funny and I could see my mom's feet pacing beneath the curtain. It was nice to know I had the support and I know it made it more special for everyone that had taken the time out of their day to come and be there for us. Mom even had EJ and Kathrine, who couldn't be there, on a conference call so that they could hear when he finally came.

And yes, "finally" is the right word for it. I pushed for almost an hour and half, which was exhausting! My doctor called him a "little rascal" because he kept trying to move back in. When he did finally come out and he started crying, I was instantly in tears. What a perfect little guy! It was surreal though, thinking that he had just come from my tummy. How did he fit? He's actually quite small, at 6 pounds 10 ounces (but tall at 20 inches), and all of the newborn clothes I thought would be too small within a few days still drown him. Here are a few (gazillion) pictures of our first days together:

He is Here!

Surprise! Just a little bit early. Emmett Bradley was born yesterday, on July 26th 2011, at 1:46 pm. He is 6 pounds 10 ounces, and 20 inches long. I'll post more details later, but for now enjoy this sneak peak picture while I go enjoy time with my little guy!

The nursery is finally finished!

Well...aside from the car seats that are cluttering up the corner, which desperately need to be taken and installed in the cars in case this little one decides to make his appearance sometime in the near future! Overall, we're quite pleased with the result.

Here is a view of the whole room:

And a tall shot to include the cute valance:

And a better shot of the crib with the cute wall stickies (my favorite!):

The cute lamp:

The monkey curtain we replaced the closet door with:

All of his cute little clothes!

And the letters I made, finally hanging on the wall:

We're so excited for this cute room to have a little inhabitant! Any day now baby. I'm ready when you are!