Question for fellow bloggers

I really want to post about Emmett's first birthday party, but there are lots of pictures I want to share and I don't like doing them individually. I've noticed some friends have the pictures in a collage..... How do you do it? Please share your wisdom!

HELP!!!!

What a day and it is only 10:40! I'm mainly going to vent right now, so if you want to skip this post go for it, I won't blame you. It shouldn't be to bad though.
I'm driving myself crazy this morning. We are going to go get our taxes done tomorrow night and I'm trying to figure out my "earnings" from selling Avon. I'm getting so confused and just lost I'm not sure I'm doing it right....... UGH! On top of the frustration that that is building Emmett kept walking up to me and grabs my right hand right as I am trying to click on something on the computer and it doesn't help. I know he just wants my attention and wants me to hold him. BUT it was really irrating at the time. I know when he does it, that shortly after he will be climbing down from my lap so now add more to the frustration. He only sits for a second every time. Then I have Chase getting mad because Emmett did this and did that. Brotherly love right!
Thanks for letting me vent, I feel a little better now.

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!

11 Months Old!!!

I can't believe that Emmett will be a year old in one month!!! I'm a little behind this month on posting this, I'm covering for the other manager so she can use her vaction time before the new year. Anywho! Emmett is just growing and growing! Those top 2 teeth have come threw and now he has the 2 next to that coming in. So he will have the front 4 top and then the bottom 2 once these others decide to come all the way through. We went to see Santa last week. He was totally chill about it. He just looked at him like, "who are you?" He does that with anyone who picks him up that he isn't use to. He doesn't cry though, which is awesome. He is so funny, whenever we laugh at a joke or something he starts laughing too, and this laugh is sort of nasily/throaty. It's hard to discribe, but he screntches up his nose and eyes. It is so adorable! He really loves his brother and loves to play with him. He is still a major Mommy's Boy. Chase went to visit Grandma Smith with Aunt Kiera for a couple days in Cedar City, when he got home he just wanted to cuddle with Mommy. Emmett had a hard time sharing.
He loves to play with his brother's toys and take anything away from him that he has.
Just a note, I don't encourage him to stand in front of the tv. This is one of his favorite things to do though.

While we were making dinner one night, he crawled into the panty we had left open and found his Puffs. He kept trying to open it.


Here is a wider view.
He doesn't talk to much. He does say, Hi, yeah, momma, dadda, and baba. He waves like none other though. If he knows you are leaving or when you just get home he will smile and wave. He is still clapping for everything. He immitates us and will smile while he does it and won't stop till we join and say "YAY!" I remember that when I was pregnant with him we had wanted him to come before the new year, so we could get the tax deduction, but now we are happy that he didn't. Having atleast 1 paycheck between Christmas and his birthday is nice and we don't have to whats the term "stress" about two holidays in one. Does that work? Anyways! He is never endingly cuddily and sweet and a major flirt!

Cool Article, Celebrating 12 Months of Christmas

Celebrating 12 months of Christmas
Published: Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 8:38 p.m. MST
By Jerry Earl Johnston, Deseret News

I have an idea for a Christmas program.
You can borrow it. But don't steal it.

This is how it plays out.

You've heard of "The 12 Days of Christmas"? My program would be "The 12 Months of Christmas."

I believe every holiday has a nugget of Christmas spirit inside just waiting to be discovered.

We begin with a family decorating a Christmas tree. Everyone's feeling festive. Then a little girl says she wishes Christmas could last all year long. There's a moment of melancholy. The wise old Grandma takes the girl aside and tells her Christmas can last all year. She explains.

"Like Christmas," Grandma says, "New Year's Day is about second chances. We make plans and resolutions, but almost never get them done. But next year we have a chance to try again. That's the promise of Christmas. We're given the chance to repent and try again." (Hymn: "Jesus Once of Humble Birth").

"Valentine's Day," Grandma says, "is an easy one. We've made it about romantic love, but St. Valentine wanted it to be about all kinds of love, especially the love that Jesus feels for us and we feel for him." (Hymn: "Love One Another").
Mother's Day could be for Mary.

Father's Day would be for the Father of us all.

"And Easter," grandma says, "is just the reflection of Christmas in the mirror. Turn Christmas over, like a penny, and Easter is on the other side. You can't have one without the other." (Hymn: "Christ, the Lord, Is Risen Today.")

"But what about Pioneer Day?" the little girl said. "How can those hot, dusty plains be about Christmas?"

"The Pioneers and the Wisemen were alike," Grandma explains. "They weren't explorers. They were pilgrims, they were after the same things. They were searching for God's joy and peace. And all of them eventually found it." (Hymn: Come, Come Ye Saints).

"And the Fourth of July?" the girl asks.

"Ah, the Fourth of July is about freedom," Grandma says. "And that's what Christmas is about, too. It's about freedom from darkness and fear. It's about freedom to be who we really are." (Hymn: "America.")

And as for, Thanksgiving, grandma says, "Jesus may be the reason for the season, but gratitude is the attitude. In Spanish, 'gracias' — gratefulness — and 'gracia' — God's grace — are the same word. They should be the same for us, too." (Hymn: "Now Thank We All Our God.")

"Let's see" says grandma, "What have we left out?"

They both think for a minute. Then the girl shouts, "We left out Christmas!"

And everyone laughs and sings a rousing carol.

Everyone is happy and festive again.

And, no, nobody says "God bless us every one."