Family picture

As we were getting ready to leave the house for Allison's doctors appointment today I realized that all us girls were wearing cream and Darren was wearing a light tan colored shirt so we decided to take a picture of our matchiness. I don't think we have taken a picture of all of us since we were in the hospital having Allie. So here is a more up to date one.

Christmas dress

Darren's parents always send the grandkids dresses or suits for Christmas, so today Emmie and Allison got to wear them to church. We were running late so we only got a couple pictures of Emmie in hers. We'll have to catch Allie next week. We were trying to take them fast and Emmie wasn't really cooperating so we only got one decent one and the rest she is goofing off or giving attitude. Such as this one.

Cow Story

So Emmie has a new thing where she not only gets a bedtime story, but she wants to tell a bedtime story as well. So tonight Darren was putting her to bed and told her a story about a green delicious apple. After his story was over Emmie's story went as follows..."Once upon a time there was a beautiful cow who went mooooo mooooo blaah blaah, and threw up all over. Then some boys came over to ride the cow and the cow went blaah and spit up on the kids and they lived happily ever after. The end." We have no idea where she comes up with these interesting tales but they make us laugh and shake our heads nonetheless.

New Dos

So Emmie and I went and got our hair cut yesterday. I took a before picture of her in case I decided to take a plunge and chop her beautiful locks when we got there. Well, Darren and I decided to give her an easier hair do and opted for a bob. Yes as lame as it might sound I cried when they did the first cut, I couldn't believe I was cutting such gorgeous hair. But we love her short hair now. It's so easy and totally fits her bouncy personality. I don't have a picture of her yet with it actually done so the after pictures are of it freshly cut and it doesn't really flip under as much. I was going in to get my hair colored and trimmed after Emmie's appointment but after chopping Emmie's hair I decided if she could do it so could I so I took about 9 inches off of it after all the layers were cut. I didn't take a before picture of myself because I didn't think I would take that much off when I first went in, but when I was sitting in the chair I told her to go ahead and start chopping.

I don't know what's going on with my face in this picture. Maybe I was talking when Darren took it or something. I look like I am trying to whistle.

Our House

House

So since I last posted a ton more happened. The sellers countered our offer, we countered back, they rejected our offer. We then went to the house and relooked at it to see if we really liked it as much as we remembered and again felt like it was the right house for us. So that night we told our agent we wanted to submit a new offer and the next morning (which happened to be Thanksgiving) they accepted our offer!!! We are totally stoked and can't believe that this is going to be our home in just a few short weeks as long as everything checks out with inspections and closing. Ok so I don't have a picture of the outside of the house so I am including two pictures of the kitchen since Darren and I like it so much. Some people might not understand the two-tone look of the cabinets but we love it and it looks so good in person, pictures really don't do it justice. We originally went down to Utah thinking we would just stay Monday night and hoped that we could at least get the ball rolling with the home buying but didn't imagine we would stay almost a whole week and come back to Idaho with an accepted offer on a house and signing a bunch of paperwork. We are so thankful for Darren's brother and sister-in-law for letting us stay at their place. Jen took care of Emmie almost everyday for us since we were such basket cases and trying to get as much as we could get done in such a short time. We had so much fun staying up late playing games and talking to them and can't wait to move down there and be closer to them. Emmie didn't want to leave her cousins and was so sad as we drove away and kept asking us if she could live with them. We are coming into even more stress as this semester is coming to an end and now with getting all the needed paperwork done with this house but at the same time feel so blessed and at peace with where our lives seem to be leading us right now, we truly couldn't ask for more. Ok sure we can, a truck load of money would help a lot right now, lol, but other than that life is great.

So much going on!!!

So much has been going on in the last couple days that our heads are spinning. We accepted a job offer down in Utah with Darren's dad and brother and their new company. We are so excited to work with them and can't wait to start. We are down in Utah right now actually and have been looking at houses for the last 2 days. Yesterday totally sucked and we were so discouraged thinking there was nothing good out there for what we wanted to pay. Then today we were looking at houses for about 6 1/2 hours and the very last house we saw we loved. We just new it was one we were interested in as soon as we were walking around in it. Even after we left the house we couldn't stop talking about it. Well Darren and I thought it over for a little while and then went out to dinner with our realtor who happens to be Darren's old mission companions fiance'. At dinner we told her that we wanted to make an offer on the place. So she went out to her car and got the papers and we signed away and are now awaiting the response of the owners. We will know by tomorrow at 1pm if they accepted, rejected, or countered our offer. We are so scared and excited at the same time and can't wait to start our new life in Utah in January. Cross your fingers that we can make this work out and we will be home owners soon!

Sick Babies

Oh my what fun we have been having here lately. So Allison started getting sick on Friday and by Saturday night she was freaking me out so bad with how she sounded and how she kept gagging and choking that I took her to the E.R. I would have tried her doctors office first but it was closed. So her and I spent a couple hours there while they did a throat and face X-ray to make sure there was nothing causing her to choke in her throat and also seeing if her sinuses are developed properly. Well she checked out ok in those areas so they told me just to watch her close and sleep upright with her and give her Tylenol every 4 hours for her fever. A couple hours after we got home we were sitting on the couch and she was asleep so I placed her in her infant seat, she was in there for only a little bit before she started gagging so I picked her up and she proceeded to throw up more than I have ever seen a child do. Luckily I was able to hold her mostly over her seat so it didn't get everywhere. Well then she got all shaky so I called the hospital back and asked what else I should be doing. They told me to take her off breast milk for the night and give her pedialite. That night sucked trying to sleep. She woke up every hour choking and gagging and I would try to use a bulb syringe to get any mucus I could out of her mouth and nose but with little outcome. Sunday she still sounded horrible but seemed to be doing better until that evening when she decided to reenact her previous throw up episode but this time all over me. So we knew we were in for another long night. We decided to try to have her sleep in her bassinet but have it propped up on books instead of out on the couch again. I guess that ended up being a good idea since she had breathing issues all night long and ended up gagging and choking yet again which turned into projectile vomit all over the bassinet and herself instead of the floor and couch. Monday she was doing pretty well and I knew the doctors couldn't do anything for her so we just hung out all day. Well that's also the day that Emmie woke up worse off. Emmie had been telling us she didn't feel well all weekend but it wasn't until Monday morning that she had a bad fever and was getting even more congested. So today we are again laying low and resting and dealing with two fevers and snotty noses. Allison still sounds really junky in her sinuses but she isn't so lethargic so I think she is on the mend but I think we have just begun with Emmie. Hope you have enjoyed this long post about our woes. And since we haven't been out much in the last couple days here are some pictures of what we have been doing...sleeping when we can.

Emmie's Birthday

Emmie got two really small little parties this year. My mom and Derek were here and left our house on the 5th so we celebrated it that day with presents from them and Emmie got a little chocolate mousse cake all to herself. Then because Darren was out of town that day we had another little celebration on her actual birthday (the 7th) with Darren and myself and my brother Richie.

Here is Emmie all dressed up in her present from Darren and I. (a chest full of dress-up clothes)

Funny video

Darren and I were dinking around on youtube and found this video. It cracks us up but maybe we are a little immature.

Difficult decisions

We don't have many pictures to show of our last two weeks of not posting but that's because we have been so busy. This picture is of Emmie in time-out. I can't even remember what got her in there in the first place but I thought she looked so funny sitting there waiting to get out. She is just so bored and trying to push her luck by having only her feet in the corner instead of her rear. Darren and I so need a vacation right now. Our time has been so consumed with thinking about what we will be doing in just a little over a month when Darren graduates that we are going nuts and need a break. We now have it narrowed down to two places; Salt Lake or L.A. We thought this choice of where we would take a job was going to be so much easier than it has turned out to be. We have two great offers and can't seem to come to a conclusion of where to go. We have been able to sift Phoenix and Boise out of our choices but have yet to come to a conclusion on the two we are now faced with. We can't seem to go wrong with either place but it's just a matter of choosing the best one for us right now. So cross your fingers we will be able to make up our minds sometime soon before we end up loosing them with how much thought we are putting into this whole thing.

Other than thinking about jobs we had our Halloween like everyone else. Here is a picture of Emmie and my niece Joanna on Halloween.

This picture of Allison makes me laugh every time I see it. My mom bought this for Emmie but we had to try it out on Allie. This can be early payback for all the times she will tell me that she hates me when she's a teenager.

Halloween Party

We went to our ward Halloween party tonight. It was fun to socialize and let Emmie have free run of the whole gym, which she very much took advantage of. I can't believe that she never tires. Emmie and Darren had their own little doughnut on a string eating competition. It was funny to watch the two of them go at it. Emmie was embarrassed at first because a bunch of people were cheering her on. But she got over it once she tasted the sugariness of the doughnut. Allison fell asleep a couple seconds after we got there and slept through everything and I spent my time holding her and chatting it up with a bunch of other moms.

Emmeline was a butterfly princess and Allison was a bear.

MMM all that sugar right before bed.

Getting Chilly

The weather is turning cold and wet outside and that makes for some very stir-crazy cranky people inside (myself included) I don't know why Rexburg can't think to construct some good indoor activity places when they know that 80% of the year is consumed by cold nasty weather. So we try to make do with what we have. Here are some pictures of the girls taking advantage of the indoor playland at Micky D's. (For some reason the one of Allison is really washed out.)

This ones for you

So JD and Keri this is mostly for your viewing pleasure but I decided to post it on here since Darren and I found so much humor in it. Emmie was having a blast putting together all sorts of interesting looking Mr. Potato Head creatures and with this certain one she held it up proudly and exclaimed "Hims looks like JD" haha too funny. Hopefully you don't take it too personally that she thinks you look like a bug-eyed pirate. Maybe she just needs to see you guys again sometime soon *hint*hint*

Weekend

So we had a fun eventful weekend but no pictures to show because we are horrible about remembering our camera. Saturday we went to the Idaho Falls Harvest Fest which was fun because they had tons of things for kids. They had a lot of game booths set up with candy and a "train ride" for the little kids. The "train" was actually a riding lawnmower and the train cars were half barrels painted with seats screwed into them. Ghetto I know but Emmie loved it. Also they had the huge blow up castles to jump in, yummy food, and live bands playing. Then today we drove out to Bedford, Wyoming for the blessing of one of Darren's nieces. It was fun to see all his family and Emmie loved hanging out with a bunch of her cousins for the day. I sure wish I had pictures to show of all the fun so make sure to chastise me so I will remember my camera more often.

Battle Wounds

Can you see my injured legs? Immunizations are the pits!

Just in case you can't see them here's a close up

But I'm not going to let them get me down, I will smile through the pain.

Allison had her 2 month appointment today filled with the lovey immunizations that we all hate to torture our kids with. She was so happy and smiley and cooing and then WHAM they stabbed her with those horrible things 3 times and she started wailing so bad she was turning purple. Poor thing. But now as you can see she is back to her happy self but a little more groggy. She is such a little trooper.

Workin' up a sweat

Mom and Becky you would be so proud... 3 miles baby! That's right! This girl who swore she couldn't run even to the end of the street just ran 3 miles. To say I am happy is an understatement. I am ecstatic! Darren and I looked at ourselves after I had Allison and decided we needed to make some major changes in our lives to better ourselves and health was a big one. So we have been trying to eat better and exercise. Eating better has been really fun. Darren and I both LOVE food and I think that is probably why I gain 40 pounds with my pregnancies, because I throw caution to the wind and eat whatever I want when I want. Well I guess that way of thinking caught up with Darren and myself because we are sure out of shape. But looking online and through some fun cookbooks we have really enjoyed venturing out and trying new things each week in the kitchen. Also a few weeks back we finally just got off the couch and went running. We have to take turns going after we put the girls to bed so someone can be home with them and that has been tough to stay motivated when you have to run alone but man is it worth it! We both feel so much better after we go and once you get past the initial pain of the run it starts to actually be fun. Imagine that, I actually think running can be enjoyable, never saw that one coming. Don't get me wrong, I still hate having to do it but in a twisted sort of way I kind of like having to push myself. I have my brother Richie to thank for making me push myself my first night running or else I would probably still not believe I could go for more than a minute. My first night running he was actually staying over at our place and I asked him jokingly if he wanted to go running, he said sure and so I then felt like I had to follow through. Well while running whenever I wanted to stop because it hurt or I felt like I couldn't breathe he would say "just make it to that sign" then before we would get to it he would point to another one further away and say "just make it to that sign" before I knew it a whole mile was over and I was home, feeling like I might pass out or throw up, but home nonetheless. Darren and Richie can still run laps around me I'm sure, but I'm at least Darren and I are finally doing something about feeling out of shape instead of just complaining about it. I came across a quote about a week ago that I reread every now and then to help keep me going, it said "You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind" Just some food for thought I guess.

Default Picture

Already have a question about this thing if anyone can help. I don't understand how to post a default picture. If you know how, email or call me with the easy how to instructions since the blog spot instructions are confusing me. Thanks

First Blog

Well here we go. We decided it was about time we started one of these to be able to keep family and friends updated on our lives. We will try to post often to tell about our adventures (HA) I guess instead about our lack there of and our boring everyday life instead. Currently as all know we are finishing up Darren's last semester of school and applying to a bunch of jobs. All the while we are keeping our fingers crossed that we get an offer where we want. (preferably Salt Lake or Boise) Lets see... other factors in our family; Emmie is turning 3 in November and has more attitude than a bunch of teenage girls rolled together but keeps us laughing with all the new things she comes up with. We just had Allison in August and thus far has proved to be an awesome baby. She currently sleeps the majority of the time (obviously) but sleeps pretty much through the night on most nights or if she does wake it's only once to feed for a couple minutes and then is back off to sleep. We are trying to get her better about the car and leaving the house though. She is a total homebody and would love to stay in your arms sleeping all day if she could. I'm sure Darren is starting to feel the overload of estrogen by now in our little home. He still has yet to learn how to do girls hair but we are determined to break him in soon. By the time we are done with him we will have all the neighborhood moms wishing their husbands could do what he can. (That's probably wishful thinking huh?) Ok we'll shoot for a good ponytail instead. I'm still trying to learn my way around this whole blog thing but will try to master it in my free time (oh I crack myself up, free time, what's that?) But hopefully I will learn to post pictures and videos like a pro eventually so I can put them up often so everyone can come see our growing family here instead of having to send out tons of emails to everyone. We'll see how this thing works out.