Emmett is 1 year old!!!!

I can't believe we have finally reached it! Emmett's 1st birthday was Wednesday! He actually had a rough sleep that morning. He had woken up just after 1am and had a hard time going back to sleep till I gave him a bottle. As I climbed back into bed I realized that he was born at 1:10 am, we were back in bed asleep at 1:04(so close right!). He woke up earlier than usual to start his day. My sister-in-law gave us this adorable Birthday Boy onesie a long time ago and I had to have Emmett wear it. Just after breakfast his diaper leaked onto his clothes. Luckily there was time to wash it before we had to leave for Daycare. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to spend all day with him on his birthday, but it's ok. When Mark got home from work and picking the boys up he brought them into the office to play for a bit while he helped us with a computer problem.
That night after dinner had settled in our tummys we had some birthday cake! Just some individual cakes from Reams with Sesame Street Characters. We did not put a candle on Emmett's but we did sing to him. He totally went to town on it!

He actually ate more than all of us. Mark only ate half of his, it had to much frosting, and was whipped, I ate almost all of it, Chase ate all the frosting and a little bit of the cake. Emmett ate the whole thing!!! I kept debating of taking it away from him, that was a lot of sugar! We knew that as soon as we tried, he would freak out! So we let him eat as much as he wanted...the whole thing! Oh my gosh I couldn't believe it. He had lots of fun though! He didn't get as messy as Chase did on his 1st birthday. Chase had rubbed his hands in his hair and threw pieces on the floor. Not Emmett, he only dropped maybe 2 pieces on the floor and just had frosting on his hands, face, and belly. His birthday party is not until Saturday night(more on that then). We had a lot of fun! He has grown so much in the last year! He has started trying to say "Chase" and "Kiera" and "quack". A note on the "quack" he was playing in the tub and I showed him one of the ducks and quacked with it and he started coping me. It was adorable! He will make vroom noises when he has a car, boat, sometimes any toy, and he will push them along the floor. He also says "mine" well he doesn't really say it, he will point to things and then to himself. Sometimes when he does it and points to himself he will shake his head, saying "not mine". He started walking just before Christmas(like a day or two) and now he is trying to run! He got sick last week with a cold, and a cold in his eyes as well, and an ear infection. While he was sick he got pretty attached to his bear. It's pretty cute watching him carry it around. He loves playing with his brother. They like to lay on top of each other and bump heads into each others bellys or just head butt. Emmett loves when we chase him around. He has learned to go down the stairs. I'm still uneasy about letting him do it, so we are always right there as he goes down just to be safe. He is such a big boy and it will be exciting to watch him grow further, and learn more.

Necessary Evil

Yesterday when I went to take my boys to daycare so I could go to work, my car wouldn't start!!! For some reason the battery had died. Luckily Mark was home sick(who wanted to rest, understandably, and preferred to have the boys at daycare) so I took them back into him and went to find our maintenance man. He was doing a work order for one of the apartments, but came to help jump my car. Though he teases me all the time(sometimes worse than what I got from my brothers and all their friends) and has some bad humor, he is a really nice guy and I appreciate the help he gave me. We got the car running and I was able to get the boys to daycare and me into work on time...barely. Cars are a necessary evil. Yes I know you can live without them, but it does make a life a ton easier..

Christmas Recap

I really wanted to get this done before the new year, but obviously I failed...

We got to celebrate Christmas 4 days in a row! On the 23rd was my extended family party. We get together at a church(since we are so huge) and hang out almost all day. This year there were Gingerbread House making, coloring pages, basketball, snacks, and hanging out. Once everyone arrived we did the Nativity Story. My aunt keeps all the pieces in a tote. There are costume for all the characters and even signs with their parts on it. Afterwards we have a Sing-a-long. We sing the same songs every year but it never gets old! When we sing "It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas" and split into parts we compete to be the loudest and who can hold the final note the longest. It is so much fun. We usually sing this one again after all the others. The Nativity and sing-a-long are our traditions and we've done it every year as well as have a Pinata!!! My dad and his siblings take turns each year on who gets to make/get it. Then we start from the youngest kid and work our way up. Emmett was the youngest and got to hit first! I don't think we got past the 8 year olds before the pinata was done. After the mad dash for candy we settle down and my Grandparents hand out gifts for everyone and we give them our gift. We use to draw names and exchange gifts with everyone, but we have gotten so big now that a different sibling of my dads is in charge of the family service project and we donate to whichever place they chose. Last year was the food bank and this year was the Road Home.

On the 24th we had Mark's dad and brother and his family over to our house. We played a few games and had a nice ham dinner. Then we exchanged gifts with each other. Nik and Chase wanted to open everyone presents not just their own. Before we go to bed on Christmas Eve we always open one gift which is pajamas. Then we watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and put cookies and milk out for Santa. We also have a special key to hang on the door so Santa can get in. Chase was super excited!
The next morning, Emmett woke up before Chase so I woke Chase up. I told him that Santa had come, I said it several times before he realized what was going on and shot out of bed. He was so excited to open his presents. We let the boys take turns one then one etc. It was lots of fun. Breakfast took longer than we liked, but was yummy sticky buns! Chase got a bike from Aunt Kiera(but we pretended it was from Santa) and after breakfast we took him outside and let him ride it for a bit. He can't quite figure out the pedaling but he got a couple turns in. We vegged the rest of the day and enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner.
On the 26th we drove out to Greenriver, WY for my family party with my siblings and parents. My brother and his wife held it at their house and prepared a nice ham dinner. It was really nice being with all my brothers and their families. We chatted and opened gifts. Again Chase kept thinking it was his turn. Then we played Harry Potter Scene It and Twilight Scene It. Mark and I won both. Then we made the journey home. Mark drove my parents(my dad has a hard time seeing the roads at night) and I drove our car. When we hit Parleys Canyon there was salt etc flying up onto my windshield so bad that I couldn't see except for a small portion in the bottom left corner and even then I could only see a few feet in front of me. Our washer fluid hasn't worked in years and we can't fix it. It was a bit scary. Nothing happened, we were safe. We got home after midnight, but it was a ton of fun.

Emmett was walking by Christmas Eve and is all over the place. He thinks he is all that in a bag of chips! Chase is fully potty trained(day time) and does awesome! I'm so proud of him!
Hope your Christmas was just as awesome as mine! Happy New Year and I hope this year gets even better than last!