Tag

* How long have you been married? 7 Years in July

* How old is your spouse? 28 - what an old man!

* Who eats more? It depends on what we're eating of course! If dinner has a bunch of veggies in it then Toby eats more, but if we're talking about Pizza, especially Barro's BBQ Chicken, then for sure me!

* Who is taller? Toby of course - everyone is taller than me!

* Who sings better? Toby by a long shot - I can't carry a tune in a bucket. Maybe they should record me singing and play it for the prisoners of war - now that would be torture!

* Who is smarter? Book smart: me - common sense: Toby

* Who controls the T.V. remote? Most of the time I do, until football season in the fall

* Whose temper is worse? Probably me - Toby doesn't get mad much (when there's enough Prozac involved, neither do I)

* Who does the laundry? I do! It's my only household chore - mostly because I'm very particular about folding.

* Who does the dishes? Always Toby - occasionally I'll empty the dishwasher.

* Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? This is confusing - if you're looking at the bed then me - if you're on the bed then Toby.

* Who cooks dinner? Toby - see above for Barro's pizza for my idea of cooking.

* Who is more stubborn? He would say me and I'll say him

* Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We agree on nearly everything so most of the time no one is wrong, but on the off chance that we do disagree, I'm always right

* Whose parents do you see the most? Neither anymore - too far away (I miss my mommy!)

* Who has more friends? I'll say me - if it was his blog his friends list would have like 2 people on it, but that's mostly because he's really close to his family and feels like he doesn't need that many other friends.

* Who has more siblings? Toby's got me by 4

* Who wears the pants in the family? Again, I'd say him and he'd say me. It depends on the situation I guess, but maybe me.


Now I tag Jaime, Rebecca, Sara, Joanna, Brooke, Candice, Kim, Haylee, and Shannon! You'd better do it, ladies!

Kids are . . . Fun?

I've admitted in the past that I read a lot of blogs. That being the case, I've noticed that people often gush about their kids and families. Everyone thinks their kids are perfect. Which I think is fabulous! I'm the first to tell people, yes even total strangers, that my children are fantastic. However, I have several friends who don't yet have kids and I worry that this happy picture the rest of us paint may lead them to see thru rose-colored glasses when it comes to having kids. So for my friends without kids, let me break it down for you in 11 points (I had more than 10 and I couldn't think of a 12th one so you get 11):

1. Getting knocked up: this is the fun part

2. Morning Sickness: the term itself is completely misleading as it's not at all limited to happening in the morning. My personal favorite was totally chunking in the middle of a gas station when I stopped to buy a fountain drink. Ya - it was fabulous! Another myth surrounding this little treat is that it goes away after the first tri-mester. Not true, my friends, not true.

3. Getting Fat: painful but true - you will gain weight. Some people you know will look exactly the way they did sophomore year in high school just weeks after giving birth. I assure you, this is not the norm so don't count on it. Be prepared to work out like you never have before and don't even try on your skinny jeans until the kid is at least a year old. This alone will save you tears, I promise.

4. Peeing: every hour on the hour and sometimes in between - even in the middle of the night. I personally believe this is God's way of preparing you for the lack of sleep you will experience for several months after the baby is born.

5. Smell/Taste: nothing smells or tastes the way it should when you're pregnant. Not sure why. You will find yourself dry-heaving at the thought of eating something you normally love. You will also want to eat foods you don't like at all. Smells can and will induce vomiting so watch out for that one.

6. Family Matters: deciding who will be there when the baby comes. Now, some people have parents who want to be there - even fathers. Some people are married to people who's parents want to be there (my poor sister is one of these - her hubby's mom kept walking in the room). Everyone's preference is different so don't be afraid of hurting anyone's feelings here. In our household the conversation went something like this: Emily said "it's my va-jay-jay - it's my decision who gets to see it". End of discussion. However, it is not up to your husband or significant other whether or not HE gets to be there. This is kind of one of those things where if you were there in the beginning you're obligated to be there at the end.

7. Labor: not the way they show it on tv. It's either a lot easier than it is on tv or it's much, much worse (it depends on the show). When Rachel had Emma on Friends, that one was WAY to easy. What, did she push like twice?! Come on! Painful? Yes. Unbearable? Apparently not or the human race would have fizzled out long ago. I do, however, highly recommend the epidural. Sure, it's a 10 inch needle being inserted between your bones in order to shoot chemicals into your spinal column. So what? And so what if they don't work 100% of the time. Give it a try anyway - you'll be glad you did, trust me!

8. After the Baby is Born: this is the part they don't tell you about. Once the baby comes out you have to still push to deliver the rest of the garbage in your uterus. I thought I was done pushing! Then your body has to return to "normal". I use the term in quotations because the fact is, your body never feels exactly like it did before you had a child. It just doesn't. You'll adapt to a new sense of the term normal and that's ok too. It will take months for this new normal to become ok with you.

9. Sleeping After the Baby is Born: don't count on this happening for at least 4 months. And just when the baby gets into a routine of sleeping and you get nice and comfy with that, teething begins and you start all over again. Be prepared to not get a good night's sleep for approximately a year without having benadryl involved.

10. Poop: it will be everywhere. Everything you own will get pooped on, spit up on, projectile vomited on, sneezed on, bloody nosed on, cried on, peed on, or baby food spilled on (and it's always the nasty green stuff that gets spilled). You will learn how to get spit-up stains out of everything (or throw it away and pretend you never owned it) and Sharpie marker out of your sofa (if you need this info, give me a call).

11. Child Rearing: the whole is better than the sum of it's parts. Some days you will want to kill your child - but you won't. There will be days you want nothing more than a nap and you're looking forward to bedtime like it's Ed McMahon knocking on your door with Publisher's Clearing House. Inevitably that's the night the baby will stay up until 3 am wailing or the older child will decide there are monsters under his bed. You will want to pull your hair out and jump out the window - but again, you won't. Why? Because, despite all of that, being with your snotty, poopy, spitting up kids is a blast! In my limited parenting, I've been thru infancy (twice), toddler, preschool age and now school age. They are all fabulous! I love all stages of life I've seen so far! Check in on my blog in 10 years when I have a teenager and it may be a different story - we'll have to see. Just seeing a child learn something new is fascinating. I love all the "why" questions because that means Tysen is learning something new. He may not remember all the things I teach him (hopefully he lets some of the 4 letter words he hears slip his mind), but he learns so much and it's fabulous. Even Audrey discovers new things every day at her young age. Nothing makes me happier than to sneak in each of their rooms at night and put my hand on each of their chests to feel and hear them breathing and wonder what they're dreaming of and what they'll be someday. And I tell Toby every night "We have beautiful kids" and he always says "I know - they're perfect!"

Blog Stalking

I have to admit, I have a problem. I'm a total blog stalker! My favorite way to waste time is to try to find blogs of people I know. I love to find people's blogs and read them. Not in a weird "I know where you live and where you sleep at night" kind of way. Just in a "it's nice to catch up on people's lives from my past" kind of way. I found Janey Ann's and Nate & Haylee's blogs at least a week before I commented and let them know I was peeking at their blogs.

An old coworker and friend of mine (Spencer) and his wife (Amanda) keep separate blogs. I was reading his today and I clicked on hers on his list and I commented on her blog and she doesn't really know me other than I used to work with her husband. So then I went to Spencer's blog and commented on one of his posts telling him I commented on Amanda's blog and hopefully she wouldn't think I was a total freak. His response post was: "Emily, don't worry, you are a total freak." And I suppose this is not new information.

I'm always a little excited to click down my contact list and see if anyone posted anything new recently - I do this at least every other day. Accordingly, I'm always a little disappointed if I make it thru the whole list without seeing anything new. My sister, Joanna (do I really need to specify that it's Joanna if I only have 1 sister - the process of elimination should take care of this one), can almost always be counted on to post something amusing nearly on a daily basis so I'm rarely disappointed. (By the way, if you post less than once a month, you may be kicked off my favorite people list - I may develop a minimum posting requirement.) And I'm always excited to see new little fun things like Brooke's look-a-like-o-meter (absolutely loved it and I voted - mine will be coming soon) and pictures are an absolute MUST at least from time to time. And I LOVE it when people comment on my blog and I enjoy commenting on others' as well. Don't even get me started on tagging - it makes my whole day!

But doesn't everyone blog-stalk to some extent? If there's anyone out there who's reading my blog and I don't know you or you're not on my contact list, please let me know who you are and if I should know you from somewhere. And if you blog-stalk others please let me know. And if I'm a total weirdo let me know - actually, keep that to yourself, please.

Splish-Splash!

We went swimming yesterday at a friend's pool with Kenlynne's family. We really needed the break after hauling all our new furniture up the stairs and completely rearranging the second floor of our house to accomodate it. That's a whole long story. Anywho, we had a blast swimming! Tysen & Toby had gone waterskiing the day before and Tysen was afraid to jump in the water because he didn't think his life jacket would keep him up. So we went swimming so we could throw him in the water and prove to him he wouldn't drown. Here is some of the fun!

Tysen jumping into the pool - after overcoming his fear, of course.

Toby & Tysen



Audrey was totally worn out and fell asleep in Tessa's arms wrapped in her towel when we got out of the pool.

Toby & Kenlynne (she'll probly kill me once she sees I took this pic let alone posted it - oh well!)

Our Family (it's impossible to get a pic with everyone looking and smiling when there's a baby involved - this was the best we could do under the circumstances)

Audrey floating

Kenlynne was helping Audrey "swim" by blowing in her face to take her breath away and then dunking her under the water - as you can tell, she loved it

Tysen - not drowning in his life jacket

Kenlynne & Audrey - before the dunking began

Emily & Audrey

Random Pics

Bonzai the Wonder Dog!

(contrary to popular belief, I don't hate the dog)

Bonzai and his trusty sidekick Buck

The Amazing Matching Boston Terriers!




Glynn & Baby Audrey

Tysen's first day of Kindergarten last fall

I was going to have this be pictures of the kids, but I'm at Kenlynne's house (aka my fabulous sister-in-law) and these were the only pics I could find on her computer to post. I'll try again another time for kid pics - and specifically more recent ones.

OK, So I'm A Little Crazy

So, apparently I'm beginning to acclimate to the AZ weather. Last summer I wanted to DIE in the heat - and some days I thought I might actually keel over. But, then again, I was prego at the time so I'm sure that didn't help. But so far this summer the heat has been fine. Take yesterday for instance - it was 100 degrees outside and when we left church I said, "wow, it feels really nice out today". Apparently 100 degrees now qualifies as "nice" Who knew! And today I walked out of the office to grab lunch and we keep the office at about 77 in the summer and I was burry (as my kid would say - aka cold) and when I walked outside (again 100 degrees today) it felt fabulous! I may be a little crazy for thinking that, but it give me hope for the coming months of 115 degrees. They don't call this the valley of the sun for nothin'! (Don't you love the meniacle sun graphic?)

Little-known facts about our family

5 Things you May Not Know About Toby
* He can sing along with nearly every Backstreet Boys and 'NSync song
* He once taped a New Kids on the Block concert off of the Disney Channel and watched it repeatedly
* He is WAAAY into politics and (brace yourself) has a strong opinion on nearly every political topic imaginable (ok, so that wasn't very shocking)
* He is a REALLY good cook when he wants to be - he's very inventive behind a stove
* He is the most fabulous husband and amazing father and my very best friend and my spaghetti (inside joke)

5 Things you May Not Know About Emily (me)
* I was born in a small touristy seaside city in Chile
* I have dissected a human body (in college - not unsupervised)
* My mother forced me to take piano lessons for 7 years and to this day I couldn't tell you where middle C is on a keyboard

* I once gave my best friend an enema (very, very long story)
* I'm the only member of my family who hasn't served a mission for the Church
* I make a mean cheesecake (ok, that was 6 - it's my blog and I'll do what I want)

5 Things you May Not Know About Tysen
* He walked at 9.5 months of age
* He likes Toby better than me (and he likes Grandma Day better than both of us put together)
* Last Mother's Day when the primary kids sang a song in church he came down from the stand and smacked me for making him get up in front of everyone
* He's a pretty good little singer and unfortunately has a penchant for memorizing any song we listen to (which is fine when he sings "Come, come, ye saints" or "How Firm a Foundation" but not so impressive when he's singing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" or DMX's "Rough Riders")
* He's brilliant - really, really brilliant (and I'm not biased at all, I promise)

5 Things you May Not Know About Audrey
* The Dr. nearly didn't make it into the room when she was born - she kinda fell out and I didn't have to push (she had me at hello)
* She "talks" to Grandma Day on the phone and she stares at the phone like she knows who it is - and then she tries to stick the phone in her mouth so maybe she doesn't really get it yet
* She's in very good shape (don't laugh! round is a shape!)
* She has slept thru the night since the age of 7 weeks and will fuss in the evening if you don't put her in bed when she wants - she loves that crib
* She'll sleep in till 11 am anytime you'll let her (seriously, she had me at hello)

Seriously!?!?!

There are no words.

Being sick is not "sick"

So a few weeks ago the boss at work asked what the term "sick" meant. He was asking the 3 employees at the firm who are under the age of 35 and we all sit at the end of the lunch table together (it's a little like high school, but that's another Oprah show). We've been trying off and on for weeks now to explain and get him to properly use the term "sick". Which is funny to hear coming from a man over the age of 50. So that's where the last bit of the title of this post originated. The rest originated over the last weekend and yesterday when I was, in the literal sense of the word, sick. I had a terribly headache and body aches and sore throat. It was pretty miserable for a couple of days. I'm feeling much better today, thank you for asking. So poor Toby starts having a scratchy throat last night and this morning I awoke to the not so pleasant sound of vomiting in the bathroom. Nice . . . and charming. So I say today that being sick is not "sick"! (p.s. this picture is not of any of our throats, it's from the web - I just thought it would add something visually to the post)

Proof I'm doing something right

One day last week after school Tysen was in Toby's classroom and some of the jr high kids were talking to Tysen and wanted to see if Toby has social science on the brain all the time. (They think he lives and breathes history even at home.) So they asked Tysen social science-related questions.

At one point they asked Tysen "do you know who the president is?"

His response was "President Monson - President Hinckley died a little while ago"

Ahh, the sound of parental success!