Spring, Summer, or Fall?

The weather has been really weird here in Reno. It has gone from feeling like lovely Spring, to HOT Summer, to gray wet Fall in a matter of two weeks. Right now it is very Fallish. Our front tree is starting to turn orange and yellow - it thinks its fall too!!! It has been raining for days and a couple days ago Stew left for the hospital and it was snowing. A week ago it was 98 degrees. So weird. Anyways, here are some pictures of our cute kids enjoying the weather no matter what it is like!

Swimming in our backyard

Evenings cooling off with ice cream

Rainy play days

When Bridger sees the camera come out he tries to smile for it but he doesn't really know how to produce one on cue. It is a little more like a growl. It totally makes us laugh. :O)

And baby number three really doesn't even notice the weather! :)

NEW CALLING!!!

For forever I have been the one that gets called and then left there until...we move. I had resigned myself to being in the nursery for forever just like in my last ward had left me as the senior primary teacher from my second week there until we moved three and a half years later. My mom always tells me that I never get moved because I do such a good job at my callings. :) Well, I must have messed up the nursery because I finally got called to a new calling. I am so excited about it largely because I finally get to work with more then one other adult. I am the Second Counselor in the Primary. I really love Primary and feel like I know it well so I am excited to get to work more closely in it. I really enjoy everyone who is in there with me. When I was called my first reaction was shock that I was actually called to a new calling and then I was worried for Bridger. He is so used to having his mom there. When I would even step out to get water or something he'd freak out. So last night Stewart gave him a blessing. I know that is so dorky but I felt it would help him. Today was my first Sunday away from nursery and he didn't even miss me! :) Now I just need to pray for the new nursery leaders to be brave and strong because it is seriously a crazy bunch. I really enjoy those kids and honestly love them. I even missed them today. I sort of feel parental - I am worried that whoever is called might not love them like I do. :) There are a couple little boys - my son very VERY much included - that range from crying for mom all the time to hitting all the time that make it more like a zoo then anything else so it is hard to keep level headed. I am grateful I am the counselor over the nursery. I hope I can still be a help. Anyways, yay for me! And I oversee the Activity Girls too! One of my old callings I know and love. What a great calling I have! Yay! Yay! Yay! :)

Becoming a Doctor and a Doctor's Wife or My Parents?

Becoming a doctor just became a lot more fun for Stewart. He is loving being able to watch and help out the doctor he is shadowing in all her surgeries and seeing all the pre-opt and post- opt patients in the office. He calls me everyday on his way home from his last surgery of the day and is so excited about everything he was able to do: stapling up tummies, suturing up intestines, and being a "surgical assistant" on a large variety of cases. It is so rewarding for him. His favorite part is working with the babies and children. I cant help but feel his excitement too when he talks about doing surgeries on one day old babies and about a little toddler girl who was wheeled in carrying her Elmo doll that they bandaged up just like her. He really loves it. Stew likes school and is a great student but the real thing is a million times more fun and rewarding! Right now Stewart is practicing suturing a banana together. :O) Pictured left is my dad with his mom when he graduated from med school

In some ways I feel like we are playing pretend. He basically is living the life of a doctor minus the real pressure and the real pay and therefore I am playing along as the doctor's little wife. What has struck me is how it takes me back to my childhood. Stewart smells like my dad, sterile, too clean, just like a hospital. He is now getting medical journals in the mail and when the kids go down I find Stew sitting down reading about "Botulinum Toxins". Everything keeps taking me back to little moments of my childhood. Like sorting the mail as a kid and seeing all sort of magazines with deformed feet and weird rashes pictured on the cover and how my dad would read it all for hours. You see, last night I came to bed later then Stew. He was tired and I wanted to finish what I was doing. When I finally got there he was sitting in bed reading his scriptures and medical journal. I brushed my teeth and plopped down next to him. As I cuddled up to him I took in a deep breath and smelled... the HOSPITAL. I sort of freaked out - it was too much like my childhood. That was how it was with my dad. He'd be reading in bed at night and I'd jump up on his bed and cuddle next to him and count all the moles on his arm while I could smell his smell... hosipitalness. I realized in one moment that I might be signing up for more of my previous life then I thought I would be. I am not sure if anyone will appreciate that besides my own siblings and parents but I found it startling. My husband will smell like my dad forever, he will work doctor's hours just like my dad, I will want to stay up and quilt (craft whatever) while I watch old movies and he will read his scriptures and medical journals just like my mom and dad would. Stewart seemed to read my mind and said, "Looks like we are turning into your mom and dad already." That threw me over the edge. I informed Stewart that maybe he should not be a doctor, maybe he could join CES like his dad or just be a research scientist, anything else but a doctor.

I don't know what I envisioned for our future but somehow this wasn't it. It was not that I really didn't want to be like my parents as it was too clearly laid out, too familiar to be exciting, not my own, basically it was not my future at all... it was my past! I have seen the panoramic picture of my parents lives and it was/is a hard life. Happy and full of wonderful things, but hard. I wanted to just think about surviving the med school years and my ideas of the future are vague dreams filled with finally having money and going to kid's soccer games. I hadn't really thought about the reality of it all and it was weird. Pictured left is my dad dressed in his surgical wear. They pauses to take pictures with their first little new born before my dad headed off to work.

Stewart could only laugh at me. He informed me that we had a long way to go before he was a doctor and that we had lots of years of studenthood ahead to soften the "blow" of being a doctor. Trying to calm myself I told him I could live with him smelling like my dad and a hospital but the reading in bed forever had to go! He conceded. :O) He reminded me that being a doctor had been more glamorous when my dad was a newish doctor. He promised to take me on fun medical meetings with him to wonderfully new places like Thailand just like my parents did when they were younger. Bless his heart, he soothed my fears and somehow conveyed to me that we would do it our way, whatever that was. It would at least be interesting and fun even if some parts were very familiar. My parents with , I think, baby number four or five. Todd or Jason ?

I realized that while in someways we will be like my parents - which is a really good thing, in other ways, in some ways I need, we will be different. I guess I realized I am not quite ready to be a doctor's wife, but I am glad we are both being schooled now and prepared to someday be what we deep down really want to be. Us, with a few dashes of my mom and dad. :)

Angels Came to Reno

I have decided that Heavenly Father sends most of our blessings through our family members.
This week we were to be living it up before Stew had to reenter the world of med school. We had tons of plans but most of them died with me being sick the entire time. While we simply enjoyed being together Heavenly Father sent some angels our way. Aunt MaryAnne, Thomas, and Mary Anne's sister Lisa. They spent time with us while they traveled to and from California. And not only did they bring their delightful selves to spend the night they also brought a car full of toys for the kids. It was better then Christmas! MaryAnne is always so good to us. Thank You MaryAnne, Thomas, and Lisa!!!!! :O)

They took us out to dinner and even let Stew order steak!!! He was in Heaven.

They brought Bridger a cool Spiderman hat and both the kids sunglasses. Very cute! And His Batman Jammies are from the last batch of gifts she gave us! We are so spoiled!

They heard me talk about wanting to get Angeli a purse on their first night with us and so when they came back through they gave one to Angeli that they bought for her!!! She has been carrying it around since. She is too cute with it!!! She really is such a girly girl.

Bridger had his first slumber party!!! He was Thomas' shadow. Whatever Thomas did Bridger did. On normal nights brushing his teeth is a World War II reenactment but not when Thomas is doing it too! It was so fun for Bridger to have a big brother for a night. Thomas, the kids miss you already!

Thanks for being the highlight of our week off. You pampered us and made us feel so loved. We love you and are so excited to see more of you all this summer!

Pinewood Derby

Tonight was our Ward's Pinewood Derby. I am sure I attended my brother's at some point of my life but I really have no memories of them so in many ways this felt like my first time doing the pinewood derby thing. Stew and I made our family's little car. It certainly didn't win any speed races, or any special points for looks but it sure won Bridger's heart. When it was time to put it on the track he bawled and bawled. Our poor guy thought he'd never get it back. After one official race we had to withdraw from the competition because it was too traumatic for Bridger. He then carried it around the rest of the night and showed it off to everyone that would let him. His favorite thing was that there were little pictures of our whole family...yup, we did our van with all of us in it. Bridger would walk up to one of the young men and point out to him that there was mommy, daddy, him self, and baby!!!! I mean that really is something else!!! :O) After the races we got to let Bridger race his car all by himself and he had a ball. He is sleeping with it right now. I think it might be the favorite toy for the next little bit. We had fun making some new memories and I am excited for all the years we have ahead with Bridger being able to get even more into the great fun that is pinewood derby.

Bridger showing the camera his Hot ride!

Here it is after running it's races. There you see Mommy and Bridger. I know, my painting ability is breathtaking. LOL

And there is Angi and Daddy.

My Cute family! If only I could get them to all look at the camera. :O)

One Down, Three To Go!

My wonderful husband has officially completed his first year of Medical School! We are so grateful that this year has gone so well for him. He has loved it and I am so proud of all his hard work. He has done really well. He is "pretty confident" that he was able to get his straight "A"'s and honors this semester! :) Yep, that'd be my funny school-perfectionist hubby! It has gone so fast I can't believe we are already done with this school year. This summer he will be doing a preceptorship where he follows a doctor around 24/7 for 4 weeks. He is excited about it because the doctor he is shadowing is a general surgeon, a pediatric surgeon, AND a trauma surgeon! He is sure to get a lot of experience and get a really good idea about what type of surgery he would like to go into or not go into.

To celebrate we went out to dinner, then the park, and then we hit up the Med School Party. We had a great time and the kids loved all the the attention they got at the party - well, Bridger did. Angi is a bit shy. :O) We are so excited for this next week we have to play before his perceptorship. After his perceptorship we'll have a whole summer to vacation!!! I have been looking forward to ALL of this for months!!!

We are so glad that we are on the road together as a family to achieving Stew's dream to become a doctor. There have been and I am sure there will continue to be many sacrifices but so many miracles have been placed in our path we feel completely blessed and excited about all that our future entails. I know Stewart will be a fantastic doctor! Stew, you're doing an amazing job at being my husband, a daddy to our little kiddos, and a full time student. I absolutely love and adore you! Congrats on now being MS II!!!

Stewart and his Fan Club. I am part of it too but we neglected to take one of us together. :(

Greatness Required

I was a perfectionist. I didn't want to be good at things, I wanted to be GREAT! I knew I wasn't really built with the stuff for overall greatness but I was a hard worker and by golly I was going to be great no matter how hard it was!!! Well, I fought the good fight and then I was pooped. I was nowhere near great and I was making myself miserable. So I had to decide something very hard; Happiness or the dream of being GREAT. I chose happiness. I was going to be standard but at least happy....Well, in time that failed too. The problem was I couldn't embrace standard or even just good. I am Mormon, after all. I don't want to be Telestial or Terrestrial. No, I want to be CELESTIAL! The highest kingdom and the highest level! I have been taught that I can achieve that and I must want that. And I'll tell you, I really do want that.

So how did I settle the score between striving for necessary greatness and being sane and happy? It was priorities. I concluded that there are some things worth striving for greatness in and others, not so much. I think in many ways it is different person to person and depending on what stage of life you are in. I think there are seasons to work on some things and seasons to work on others and I am so very grateful for that.

My current dilemma is that I am in the season of young motherhood. Today I am squabbling with myself over priorities. I need to be a great mom. I want that more then anything else in the world. It is the first thing I pray for in every prayer. This drive for greatness isn't that of a perfectionist, no, it is of a mother who realizes the enormity of her call. The thing is, I feel overwhelmed. I am not sure where to start - what are the priorities of a really great mom? I find it so incredibly daunting. Motherhood is complicated and I wish I could just pinpoint what I need to do to be a great mom. Is it simply like love? Is it the play groups, story time together while the house is quite, vacations with adventures, cooking their favorite cookies just because or is it different for each of us? If so, then what mother do I need to be for my kids? What do I need to do to be the mother Heavenly Father envisions me? I am not sure. I wish I had a clearer vision, do you? Today I find motherhood humbling, it requires of me greatness and I am faced with the same old realization of teenhood - I am not great. I am human and I know there will be things that I am bound to do wrong.

My dear blogging friends, when Motherhood bares down on you where do you set your gaze? How do you strive for the greatness that is required?


I think my own mother would say to me, "Emily, try your best day by day. Pray a lot and the Lord makes it enough." What would your mother tell you?

A Hard Day and How it was Saved

The other day was a hard day. I was so sick but I had some urgent errands that had to be run and my poor kids had been stuck in the house with me for so many days that I knew they needed to get out of the house too. I guess it was the fact that we'd been in our own little world for so long and that I was so sick that made it so I had a hard time dealing with people's reactions to me and my kids. I will be the first to admit that Bridger can be very hyperactive; offices and libraries were not constructed with two year old boys in mind!!! At least not hyperactive ones! I felt like we were the circus coming through town.

It seems that people don't keep much to themselves. They would talk about us as if we weren't able to hear them, "Hey look at that little boy. He's sure got a mind of his own." and "Look he's on a leash. How sad!" The worst is that people will stare at me and see that I need help and will not go out of their way to help me but rather to let me know, "Well, you've got your hands full don't you." and "Wow, they are close in age! You're sure brave." I heard that so many times I wanted to scream. Why do they say that? Do they actually mean well? What it really translates to is, "I am so glad I am not you. You have more then you can handle. You are dumb and crazy to have kids so close." I think its just rude! Usually I am able to answer their comments by saying something about how much I love my kids and then do something that shows just how much I do enjoy my kids no matter how crazy they are, but I was sick and really not enjoying them very much so no such answer came. I just gave a weak smile and then ran after Bridger and Angeli getting into their latest escapade.

This one is so rude it really blows my mind. It happens all the time. They say this to me even when Stewart isn't there, just like this hard day. "Your kids are beautiful. Their Dad must be very handsome." and "Wow, they have such beautiful blue eyes. Their Dad must have beautiful blue eyes." Now, it's not so much that they are saying I am ugly and my eyes are not pretty enough to have given my kids their blue eyes that bugs me, its that they think they are very kind. They think they are just complimenting my children and not implying that I am a terrible genetic provider. They are delighted with themselves and wait for me to be flattered by their nice compliment. I'll I say is "Yes, their Father is very handsome and has very beautiful blue eyes." People, I think you mean well but come on!

However, there were a few people that did exactly what I needed after all the scoffers and rude comments. They saved the day. They loved my kids and helped me! Novel, I know, but they did it just right and it saved me from having a melt down. One such encounter happened at the library. We were leaving the library and our overflowing HEAVY bag of books kept setting off the alarm and Bridger was running around crazy. I was exasperated and people were looking at me annoyed that I was holding up the exit. Then the only nice person in the entire library came to my rescue. He took the huge bag for me, rescanned the books and then helped me get out the door. Then he said with a big happy grin "Have a good day." It was all I needed. I loved that kind man!

Then later that evening I realized we had no food, that I was too sick to cook dinner, and that Stew was staying late at school studying for finals. I decided we needed fast food. I was in tears because I was so sick and not sure I could make it to our local McDonald's without throwing up. However, they needed food so I had to suck it up and go. I wanted the kids to be able to play and eat there so they could have a little bit of fun out of the house so I decided we were going in. Once we got there some magical things happened. No one was there but us. One of the workers got the door for me and he smiled at my kids. Bridger fell in love with him. He let Bridger help him wipe down tables and sweep. The workers told me how beautiful my kids were without saying anything about my husband and even told me my son's eyes were like mine. They smiled and talked to Bridger and Angeli. Then this kind man came in and gave Bridger some money to put in their money thingy. It spins the coins around and around delighting my son like no other.

I left feeling rejuvenated. Bless those people that saw the beauty in my kids and treated me with dignity and kindness. They will never know how much I needed that. They saved the day.

EaRThQuaKEs!!!!

We have been having some little earthquakes ROCK the Reno area lately. Lucky for us we live the furthest you can from the epicenter and still be considered part of the Reno area so honestly we have only felt one of them and even then it was more of hearing it; Rattling dishes and the sound of the earth sort of rumbling. I was surprised how much it scared me though. The last time I was in an earthquake it was the Southern California Wittier earthquake in the 90's. That one was a BIG one. It messed our house up quite a bit. It even put me in shock. I didn't talk for like two days, a total Zombie. I wouldn't let my mom out of sight! So this last week when this little one sounded in our house I immediately knew what it was - EaRThQUakE!

I had a dream the other day that there was a huge flood and we had to evacuate our house. We couldn't find anything. All our flashlights were dead, and we had no idea what we should grab - total chaos! So this week for our FHE we had a serious run through of our emergency plan and made a checklist of things we need to add to our 72 hour kits. They keep saying to be prepared for a big one, so hopefully if one hits we'll be prepared to handle it.

When we looked at a map of the recent earthquakes we realized that while we are having some earthquakes here in Reno it still isn't too rare of an event to have earthquakes in the West. :) Check it out! http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm

Our Sweet Boy

My Son is a sweet boy. A hyperactive, jolly, mischievous boy, but ultimately he is very sweet. I think one of my favorite things about Bridger is how much he delights in life; in the little things, in everything. His joyfulness is so contagious and makes our little family full of so much energy and fun. The past couple nights he has been so sweet to his newest teddy bear - which really is a ginger bread man we call Gingy. At one of my events I attended with my business they had a free build your own stuff animal table. Bridger was able to stuff it himself and thus he feels a little more of a connection to this sort of odd stuffed cookie man. Anyways, he has been tucking his little Gingy into bed every night as we put him down and it is the cutest thing ever.

He talks in whispered jabbering as he lays Gingy on his pillow, gives Gingy some of his juice ("ere gooo. Ju"), layers each blanket on him with great care and the most gentility a two year old can render. Then he dose one of the greatest acts of love, he gives Gingy his pacifier. He tries to put it on his mouth but it seems to always fall and after a few tries Bridger is content on Gingy simply having it next to him. Bridger gets up from Gingy very carefully and then starts to make snoring sounds. When Stew and I talk too loud he informs us that we should be talking softer. "no, no, no. zzzzzzzzz"

This whole event makes Bridger beam and you can tell he is a proud little parent of Gingy. Last night it was so cute that I had to take some pictures. I wish I had video so you could hear his whispered jabbering. It is adorable. It something like, "nigh, nigh. sssssssh. juba hbaba. jubab bababa. sssssh. nigh nigh. zzzzzzzzzz" - translation: "nighty night, Shhhhh. jabbering I don't understand. shhhh. nighty night. snoring sounds."

He has started to ham it up for the camera. He is really trying to smile on cue. Funny boy!

Flirting with mom

Here is Daddy tucking Bridger in with all the necessities: Teddy bear, Gingy, his sippy cup, his wa wo (pacifier), and all three blankets.

After we put him down I could hear him talking to his stuffed friends for about a half an hour. I bet he was tucking them in all over again. :)

Who Rules the Roost?

Well, it's the kids. They've got us running around like a bunch of crazies. Having two toddlers is proving to be quite the joy and trial. They are turning into the cutest little friends and it warms our hearts like none other. However, it has also multiplied the trouble they seem to create. Yesterday the kids gave us a run for our money. I had to go to an event for my business and so Stew took care of the kids the bulk of the day and had everything under control. I came home to a clean beautiful house and two sparkling smiling kids. But I must have triggered something because as soon as Stew retreated to the bedroom to study some while I cooked dinner they let loose. Angeli was in the trash can, Bridger was in the cupboards, they both managed to get in my ceramic glaze and spread it all over the laundry room. After an emergency bath to get the lead glaze off them (super scary!) I thought we'd be in the clear, but no. Bridger tackled Angeli to steal the blue marker she was coloring with so I took him to timeout where I have to police him so he actually stays in it. When we emerged from timeout ready to say his sorry we found that Angeli had tried to eat the blue marker. She had actually pulled the ink thing out of the pen and tired to eat it. It was everywhere. So once again we had to take a bath. When I had to call Stew out of the bedroom to witness the latest disaster our adorable children created he could only say, "How do our kids survive with you everyday?" my response was, "How do I survive?" :) Honestly, I don't know how we are all still alive after all the trauma that goes down at our house but at least we always seem to get a good laugh out of it. :O) To live it up and turn our crazy day around a bit (yes, this really is living it up for us) we headed to the video store to rent a movie and McDonald's to get some ice cream. The kids thought we were wonderful and we thought they were wonderful too despite our crazy day.

At least it makes her eyes pop. :)

You can see the battle wound from their marker fight. :)

I wish I had one with her blue teeth, she looked so funny!

He is my favorite little man even if he tackles his sister for her markers.

If we were Celebrities...

This is totally for fun. Yes, I know it really just indicates that I need to get a life but still I had fun doing it. :) Here are the celebrities we matched with the most. Enjoy. :O)

BTW I also matched with Dolly Parton, Stew matched with Jamie Lynn Spears, and Angeli matched with a ton of guys. Who knew?!?

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Genealogies - Free family history

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Old photos - Free family tree

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family tree templates - Free genealogy

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities