MAY FAMILY

Moved and Back to School

2011-09-09T12:44:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm a bad enough blogger that I haven't even mentioned that we sold our old house and moved around the corner into a larger, more comfortable home at the end of a cul de sac. And we moved in June! It's a huge blessing and we are so thankful; we honestly didn't know if it would work out for a while.

We had a super fun but very short summer. The kids played in their rooms or our backyard and basically didn't watch television at all. They played soccer in late spring, and Emerson scored his first goal. We had cousins come in town in July and August and did our own swim lessons by going to the pool for a couple of hours each day for a week. Emerson is doing real strokes and Stella is almost there, too. Atticus is still convinced he can swim when he really can't. Stella mastered her bike without training wheels just as school started up.

Tad did his usual bike races -- Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons. And he has his City Creek Canyon race coming up in October. I did three half marathons and a couple of 5ks. I did better than expected, especially considering that I was sick for two of the three half marathons. It's so sad that the early morning light is waning so we can't go for early rides or runs as easily.

Of course Stella turned five and as school started up she started kindergarten while Emerson started second grade. Both kids are loving it and doing a really fantastic job. I can't believe how quickly they're learning! Atticus, however, is just impatient for them to get home each day. He asks, "Mom, where's Emerson? Where's Stel?" about every ten minutes.

Spring Has Sprung -- I Think

2011-04-07T13:46:00.000-06:00

   Spring in Utah is an elusive thing. This year in particular illustrates how difficult it really is put your finger on a calendar date and say, "Yes, spring is here as of April 7th." It seems like each day as I pile the kids in the car for our ride to school, there's a weather dialogue and it usually goes like this:

"Mom, when is it finally going to be warm warm -- like summer?"
"Well, sweeties, it's spring right now and --"
"How can you tell it's spring, Mom, there's snow on the car!"
"Well, that's just the way spring goes. It might be warm for a day and then rainy and cold for a day or even snowy."
"That's what you say every day, Mom."

   Now of course we are having some splendid spring days, but these serve only to create a false sense of spring security and a couple of days later my tulips are flattened by soggy snow.
   The kids, however, seem to grow as if their bodies are in perpetual spring. Stella has grown more than five inches since her last birthday, and her intellectual growth is even more stunning; if I need something in our house, she knows where almost everything is and she's really improving her reading. Emerson is a full-fledged super reader who had to convince the school librarian to let him check books out of the second and third-grade sections. He writes these amazing, fully illustrated stories about our pet lizard, Bluee. Atticus is speaking in complete sentences -- all the time, even when I beg him to quiet down for a few seconds -- and is obsessed with strawberries ("strawbreeze"). I can't believe he's already two. He got a couple of guitars for his birthday and he loves to dance as he plays them. He's such an assertive little sucker who fully comprehends the noisy lengths a third-born must go to in order to get the attention he so richly deserves.
   For the last couple of months, we've been trying to sell our house in order to buy a larger house around the corner. And although we've had a couple of close calls and 30 showings, we've had no offers yet. This means that my full-time job is cleaning. And I'm not talking putting toys away -- I mean floor-to-celing scrubbing and putting EVERYTHING away. I've officially been driven to obsessive-compulsive cleaning habits; I stare at the smallest speck of dirt like it's my life-long sworn enemy and I extinguish it's existence with ruthless efficiency. But with the deadline for the sale of our home approaching, I'm taking solace in the fact that no other houses are selling either and that at least our house looks the best it ever has.

Pacific Northwest Adventure

2011-01-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we in the May clan are definitely optimists. The proof -- we decided to fly, that's right, fly on a plane during the busiest travel season of the year, the week after Christmas. Our destination was the May estate in Vancouver, Washington. But it proved a little tough to get there. After arriving at the airport in the morning, boarding and deplaning twice (with hour-long stretches sitting in the plane between), and waiting around for nearly seven hours, we received the news that our flight was cancelled. Optimism tested.

Luckily Caroline, Afton and Cheryll were able to make it to Vancouver VERY late that night. And luckily we were able to repeat our performance the next day, sans delays or cancellation and with a brief and not entirely unpleasant stop in Seattle. We convinced the kids (all of whom behaved admirably) that Monday had just be a rehearsal for the actual trip and boy were they overjoyed to finally arrive at the cousins' house!

We had a great trip -- lots of cousin play time, eating, visiting, freezing excursions to gorgeous sites, and more eating. I'll post more about that later, but I had to share this link to this New Year's song that Uncle Tim composed with a lot of help from all of the cousins and adults. Get ready Bilboard Charts, here comes your latest hit:
http://schmaldviche.com/2011/

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I've been really lax on the blog posts lately, but I promise it's only because I've been silly busy (who hasn't?). And that's basically what this post is about -- being chronically busy. Don't get me wrong, I'm under no illusions that once all three of my kids are in full-day school things will be much better. I have plenty of friends who've disabused me of that notion and I realize that things will only get crazier, although in different ways.

We found our Christmas tree!

   It's not even that my kids are over-scheduled or anything; I've made a conscientious effort to limit them to one extra-curricular activity per child. Emerson is loving piano thanks to a brilliant teacher and Stella looks forward to her dance class each week with sparkling eyes, taking extra care to choose the perfect leotard-leggings combo. Atticus has chosen the full-time pursuit of high-speed, adorable, chatty destruction (think of a talking tornado with curls and ridiculously long eyelashes). Sure Emerson has homework, but his teacher truly understands what is an appropriate amount for first grade. And Stella insists on her own "homework" projects while Emerson does his.
   Of course Tad and I have our little endeavors, too, like running/working out and yes that little thing called a bishopric calling. But looking at that list and thinking of what my friends accomplish, I wonder why my "busy" takes up the whole day (and well into the night) without so much as a minute to catch my breath. If I sit down at all by 9:30 at night lately, I feel extremely fortunate (and I should clarify that it's more of a collapse than a sit down).
   But do you know what the truly amazing part is? I love the chaos. No, I'm not wishing for more on my plate, but I really don't quite want to remove anything from that plate either. I feel like just about everything we're involved in is important and satisfying in some way. And so at Christmas time, as this chaos is more intense than any other time of year, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas -- from my whirlwind to yours!

Toothy McDuck

2010-09-21T14:17:00.002-06:00

Emerson's First Day

Stella's First Day

After a wonderful summer of achieving new personal goals (learning to really swim, jumping off high objects, making sandwiches for themselves, an awesome ward campout in our new family tent), the kids are of course back in school. Let's be honest, I never really worry much about Stella and school, so I wasn't too stressed for her in preschool. You could plunk that girl down in a completely different culture and within minutes she'd have an entire entourage of friends.

The First Tooth

But I can confess to some nerves about Emerson starting first grade and being in school all day. It's pretty amazing, though, because he's decided to absolutely love school this year. When anyone asks him about school, he says, "I love Mrs. Barnson." Last week they had a perfectly nice substitute, but before school on Monday, Emerson was literally jumping up and down and saying, "I can't wait for Mrs. Barnson!" And he's learning and growing so fast. Monkey bars -- check, reading with fluidity -- check, taking piano lessons -- check. Here's the really big one -- last night he lost his first tooth (thus the post title). The mixture of excitement and terror right before Tad yanked the wobbly sucker out was truly palpable. And that super-generous Tooth Fairy brought him five dollars.

Stella at dance class

Stella's experience at preschool this year can be summed up in this short story: when I dropped her off the other day, she immediately grabbed Sophia's hand and they ran off comparing their similar shoes. Sophia's dad then told me that she hated preschool until she made close friends with Stella and now she won't let him leave her at school until Stella shows up to hold her hand. That's my girl, the spreader of joy and light. She's learning to read and she can't get enough of coloring and painting. We've already lost several new school clothing items to tragic preschool painting incidents.

Pony ride at the fair

Atticus is growing too fast. He wanders all around naming everything he sees, combines words like a champ ("uh-oh chair"), and insists on running as much of his life as he can. Just like big brother was, he's obsessed with trucks and tractors. At the state fair last weekend, he literally quaked with excitement as we placed him on the seats of several real tractors. And he finally made it through an entire two-hour session of nursery last Sunday with only one brief cry. I've never had a child this good at getting into mischief and I constantly find things he's pulled out of closets, drawers, bags, etc. If he wants it, Atticus will find a way to get it.

Tad's Big Cottonwood Race

Tad did another bike race, the annual Snowbird Hill Climb. Despite a slightly longer and more challenging course, he got the same time as last year! We really had fun cheering him at the finish of this one -- the canyons are so beautiful. I ran our annual neighborhood Labor Day 5K and finished second overall! The only person to beat me was an 18-year-old boy and I ran just over seven-minute miles, so I was really pleased. My next race is a half-marathon this Saturday so fingers crossed!

Kids in a Parade

2010-07-17T20:18:00.001-06:00

Today the kids and I marched in the Days of 47 Youth Parade behind our stake's float. The float had a large piggy bank to remind us all that our stake's namesake, President Heber J. Grant, repeatedly reminded church members to save their money and avoid debt. That's why Emerson and his friends are wearing penny hats in this picture of them marching in the parade from the Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700049018/Youth-parade-salutes-pioneers.html?pg=2
Check out the pics next to the story and you'll see Emerson and his buddies. Stella and Atticus waved the whole way despite having to wait for three hours in 96-degree heat next to a large pile of dirt (resulting in happy but grimy parade participants) before we started to move.

Why can't summer last forever?

2010-07-12T15:41:00.000-06:00

About this time of summer, I forget that it ever changes; I just feel like it should always be warm enough to swim, play in the back yard and pretend that jackets don't exist. It's so fun to know I can go running early in the morning without having to worry about how dark it will be. And I love having the windows open with the breeze blowing through and whisking away all of the lovely smells kids, dogs, and husbands create.

We're still in the process of re-doing our kitchen, just the ceiling and backsplash and flooring to go. It's simultaneously terrifying, expensive and satisfying. It's such a big difference already, but we'll wait for the final stage for the big online reveal.

The kids are loving summer. The Bigs are in swimming lessons and Emerson finally worked up the courage to go off the diving board by himself (several days after Stella). We stay after to do free swim at the great outdoor pool where we take lessons and I've come to find out that Atticus thinks he can swim. He dives forward, plunging his whole head under water, and comes up laughing. But his truly favorite move is to plunk down on his bum and fall back all the way under water. It's a real workout for him and me.

Emerson has developed this character he calls the "teenager gangster" (no idea where he got these ideas). When he wants to make fun of something, he slumps his shoulders, makes a frowny face, does a kind of duck walk, and says "whatever -- that's the teenager gangster." He always ends up laughing hysterically.

Stella is in the process of learning to read after she came to me and asked me to teach her. Hard to believe she just turned four last month! She had a great garden tea party birthday which had to be moved from the garden into Grandma May's house (many thanks, Cheryll) due to inclement weather. This is truly an unfulfilled wish from my childhood that luckily Stella shared. There's something magical about a bunch of little girls wearing tea party hats and fairy wings and concentrating completely as they carefully pour their "tea" into tiny cups.

Atticus is a whirlwind of chattering activity. He never seems to stop talking or moving and he loves to play with his expressions to get reactions from people. During church he wanders up and down the aisles and sits with anyone who seems interesting, male or female, young or old. He's currently fascinated with all trucks, diggers, and trains (luckily we have plenty toys left from big brother).

It's racing season for me and Tad. I ran my first half marathon in a few years and set a personal best of 1hr 50min despite sore quads and no sleep the week before. Tad just did a bike race up Big Cottonwood Canyon (the one canyon he'd never ridden) Saturday and did much better than he thought -- only 1hr 29min. He does another race in August and I do mine in September. We'll keep all of you apprised of the results because I'm sure you won't be able to sleep well unless we do.

Back from the Slack

2010-04-20T16:32:00.003-06:00

Hello, everyone! I've been a super blog slacker and now I'm trying to redeem myself. The latest:

1. We took a really fun trip to St. George and ended up having an impromptu family reunion involving Caroline, Justin, Afton and Cheryll. We also got to spend some great time with our friends, the Moores and the Hayes. Snow Canyon was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and we found some new yummy places to eat.

2. Atticus has been a walking champ for almost two months now. He turns on the gas when he hears the bathroom door open since that is easily his favorite room in the house. But ramps or inclines still make him a little tipsy. He loves to say "this," "no no," "dada," "mama," "ball," "up," "daga" (doggie), and some other words that I would remember if he weren't my third child.

3. Emerson and Stella are truly in the throes of a love-hate relationship. Luckily it's mostly love and they play these great imagined-scenario games for hours together. When it's the hate relationship, though, they literally hate EVERYTHING about each other. My favorite complaint from Emerson as he was grumpily emerging from bed one morning, "Stella has such an ugly way of breathing." But they really are amazing and Stella loves to say prayers in which she thanks Heavenly Father for the United States of America, the President, the Holy Ghost, etc.

4. We've had some tragedy with extended family, and while I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk too much about it on a public blog, I just wanted my family to know how thankful I am for how they've handled it. Sometimes tragedy truly does bring out the best in people. Kevin, my biggest brother, is an exceptional person and I love him so much.

Happy Birthday Atticus!

2010-02-11T09:40:00.004-07:00

Well, it's official -- Atticus is one year old! I can't believe it's gone by so fast and I know that's what everyone says, but it's really true. He says "Mama" and "Dada" and "no no" and crawls all over and walks all over (on his birthday really taking lots of steps without help) and yet I still expect him to be a little lap baby who needs to be held and nursed all the time. He's so sweet and snuggly still, regularly holding absolutely still for a back scratch an nuzzling his face into our chests as we put him down to bed. We had a little party for him at each grandma's house and then a little cupcake party with a few friends. He decided chocolate cake is a great face and body paint as well as a wonderfully squishy substance for molding.

Otherwise life continues to roll along as usual, only a severe longing for the end of this gray and smoggy winter to end growing more intense by the day. Emerson and Stella are thriving, learning and growing so fast that we can barely keep up. As I was reading to Stella last night, she turned pointed at the word orange, looked at me and said, "That's a bossy 'r' so it's going to say 'or'." Emerson's ability to sound out and write words is amazing, and we can't believe how clearly his penmanship has gotten. In the last couple of weeks we've had a few sunny days when they could play outside without coats and they've cherished every chance to soak up the sun. It makes a really beautiful picture, these curly-headed cuties stooping over to scratch in the dirt as the afternoon sun reflects off their faces. We are lucky.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-10T11:06:00.005-07:00

We've had a wonderful month or so. First, we headed down to St. George for a little pre-holiday chill out time. The kids got to play with their cousins who happened to be down there at the same time, and they particularly enjoyed a little red-rock hike together. Emerson did a four-mile bike ride with dad, I did some good running, and we visited our wonderful friends the Moores.

When we came home, Tad's siblings got in town from California and Washington state. Emerson and Ethan discovered hours of mutual lego-building bliss and went to a Jazz game, Stella got her fill of Sullivan and Karina, and Karina got to play with both of the babies almost as much as she wanted. Afton is truly an amazingly cute little girl and it was so fun to see more of her. Of course it goes without saying that we had an absolutely delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Cheryll's, followed by some great pie at my mom's house. We had some darling family pictures taken, thanks to Cheryll's thoughtful gift of matching sweaters and dresses for all the grandkids and to her neighbor, Roseanne's skills with a camera.

The following week, Stella had her first preschool program. I showed up to watch and noticed a peculiar pinkish tint to her hands as the kids all waved during their first song. Then as Stella took the mic (completely unabashedly as the first kid up), I realized that her face and hair were purplish. My darling little girl had decided on the program day to smear her face and hair with paint during class and despite the teachers' best efforts at scrubbing, she remained pigmented. What more fitting way to capture this stage of her life than to show her covered in paint, singing her heart out and eagerly jabbering into the microphone?

Earlier this week we got our largest Christmas tree yet -- too bad our front room doesn't grow with our trees. After we'd trekked to the lot in sub-freezing temperatures, dragged the tree inside and gotten it standing, we decorated it as a family. For the first time ever, our kids (the older two, anyway) were actually more of a help than a hindrance. They loved decorating and seeing the ornaments they hadn't since last year. And today we got to see Emerson's kindergarten Christmas program. It was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen, all those kids singing, reciting poems, and playing instruments in unison while wearing hats they'd personally made. Emerson really enjoyed it and was so proud of himself.

Atticus has decided crawling isn't really his thing, except for very short distances. He's more of a walking man and he's decided to work on it for hours each day, much to my back's detriment. He has two little teeth and loves to make this little scrunched smile face to show them off. When I scratch his back or tickle his neck, he goes completely mellow and just soaks it up.

We hope you all enjoy this Christmas season and want you to know that we know He is our savior and redeemer. We are so grateful for his life and his sacrifice for us and enjoy this time of year when we can reflect on our blessings. Merry Christmas!

Halloween Birthday Mountain Fun

2009-11-02T14:55:00.005-07:00

As you can see, the kids have had a fun month. Halloween was just absolute fun craziness resulting in ridiculous amounts of candy. Stella was Tinkerbell/Fairy Princess/Fairy/A Fairy Tale depending on how she felt. She got so into the character, twirling and striking a pose at preschool when it was her turn to tell about her costume. Emerson was Optimus Prime, but this picture represents the only time he was willing to wear his mask. His parade at school was so fun to see, especially since little sister paraded with his class, holding the hands of several classmates. Atticus was a reluctant Yoda who was more than happy to attend all of the chaotic celebrations.

Emerson turned SIX -- ahhhhh! He had a really fun party at the pool where he and his buddies wrestled energentically on an inner tube. He's reading like a champ, loving kindergarten, and absolutely exploding with energy at all times.

Stella had her first parent-teacher conference (hillarious since it's preschool) and it was a pure delight for Tad to attend. Her teacher basically told Tad that Stella is just pure joy, that she plays with boys and girls equally, participates in every activity, and makes everyone feel good. Seeing her in action in class definitely brings a smile to our faces.

Atticus is on the verge of crawling and is truly frustrated by it; he's constantly trying to reach things and bonking his head and face as he throws himself toward them. He truly is a bottomless pit when it comes to eating and he babbles and babbles all day long. His latest joy is grabbing Emerson (the long-suffering big brother) by either side of the face and literally sucking on his nose, cheeks, etc. as he squeals delightedly.

Disneyland Bonanza

2009-10-09T14:55:00.004-06:00

Thanks to Grandma and Aunt Caroline, we just enjoyed a fun and crazy trip to Disneyland with the extended May family. We had two fun-packed days in Disneyland, including a character breakfast at which Stella nearly dissolved when she met both Snow White and Jasmine. The kids loved Splash Mountain (which Stella got to ride with a little help from some rolled-up socks crammed in her shoes), the Monorail, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, and the Jungle Cruise. Here is where we edit out Stella's disastrous first day which included a shiner from a tumble off the hotel's bunk bed, a scratched other eye due to blowing debris, a bloody nose from rubbing said irritated eye and face, and a three-hour nap in the stroller amidst Disneyland chaos. Why did it take us several hours to request Tylenol at the first aid station and thereby return our little girl to normal? I have no excuse.

But back to the good stuff. Tied with Disneyland for cool-ness is the beach we visited thanks to Aunt Caroline's super planning. Little Corona beach was perfect -- great waves, sand, tide pools, scenic beauty, and very few people. Emerson fearlessly picked up sea snails while Stella

fearlessly dodged waves with Tad. The kids

had so much fun with their cousins and aunts and uncles that they were literally in tears as we left California for home. Shortly thereafter we parents were nearly in tears as we realized our flight home was delayed three hours and we wouldn't get home until nearly two a.m.. But traveling with Tad and Cheryll was truly a blessing and between stair-racing games and good storytelling we somehow made it through with relatively few freak-outs.

Biker Bonanza

2009-09-23T15:37:00.003-06:00

Two weeks ago Emerson was miles away from being able to ride his bike without training wheels. He hardly even rode well with training wheels a month ago. Then he decided to take off the trainers and one day we were out in the front yard when I looked up to see him riding like a pro. Less than two weeks later he's cruising so fast it's unbelievable. We spend hours each day on his

new bike (an early birthday present). Stella also got a new little cruiser bike but has yet to catch the biking bug.

Back to School

2009-09-04T20:49:00.010-06:00

A month of firsts! Tad did his first bike race, a 10-mile course that rose 3,300 feet in elevation. He had an awesome time of 1 hr 6 min and is already looking forward to his next race in October.

Stella started preschool, loving that it's finally her turn to stay and enjoying special lunch dates with Grandma Baker. I can't believe she's this big -- how did that happen? She also started her second session of dance lessons and is either a shining star or a puddle on the floor as she awaits her turn.

Emerson started kindergarten and the evidence that he loves it is that he now wakes up at 6:30 a.m. and bolts out the door when it's finally time to leave. He's informed us that he's already building his new "team" of friends. It still doesn't seem right that he has to be at school each morning, that he's actually doing assignments, and that I can just drop him off and he'll go in by himself.

Atticus has been a rolling fiend this past month, moving across the floor or down the aisle at Sunday school.

He started solid foods and so far seems to enjoy pumpkin and smearing his face with the new medium.

I ran a 5K on Monday and finished in 25 minutes, finishing 3rd overall (2nd for women) with my friend. Of course it was a VERY small field of runners, but I'll take what I can get these days. I'm loving this harvest time and coming up with fun new ways to prepare squash and tomatoes. But my head and heart are still aching over the fact that Emerson and Stella are now at school. I want to scream, cling to this special phase I've been in, stop the clock from moving any further, and yet I love to see them growing and blossoming. I suppose that pretty much sums up what motherhood is all about.

Best kid argument this month happened as we were getting in the car to head to school. Stella commented on a potent and funny smell. "That's my fart," said Emerson. "No it's not," countered Stella. "Yes, it's my fart! It is! It is!" Emerson insisted. Don't try to limit his dreams, little sister.

Lagoon, Cousins, Swimming

2009-07-28T15:18:00.010-06:00

The title of this entry makes me smile because it's so perfectly summer. I'm really enjoying this summer because the kids are just blossoming like crazy. Atticus finally has a schedule day and night, Stella is starting to write letters and is dancing like an angel, and Emerson is figuring out how to spell words on his own and playing number games.

We've had a fun and busy month in July, starting with our stake's Lagoon (local amusement park) day a couple of weeks ago. Despite the hundred-degree temperature, it was really fun. Emerson and Stella rode all kinds of rides with their church buddies and even got to go in the water park with Tad. Atticus and I spent the afternoon in search of slightly less roasting locations where I could attempt to nurse him semi-covered as I literally dripped sweat on him. But he was a champ and the older kids could have stayed all night.

Last week Tad's brother, Tim, and his family came into town. Caroline, Tad's sister, was also able to come in town with her darling little baby, Afton, to enjoy the fun. We had a fantastic time, hitting up the zoo (with Dalan, Tim's brother-in-law as our family photographer), the dinosaur park in Ogden (an awesome experience I highly recommend to all with dino-enthusiast kids), the local pool, and the mountains for a fun hike. We also crammed in a LOT of eating, both at favorite restaurants and family barbecues to celebrate Pioneer Day. The barbecue we hosted at our house was capped off by a neurotic Crosby attacking the largest firework, picking it up in his mouth, and running around the yard with it as we all screamed and dodged. All of the kids got along superbly, switching off playmate combinations in fun and flexible ways and Emerson was so sad to say goodbye to his cousins that he literally broke down sobbing. Three days after their departure, Stella is still asking if our cousins will be there whenever we go anywhere. Cousins Karina and Sullivan were so sweet to Atticus, kissing and holding him at each opportunity. What angels!

Swimming is our new favorite activity this summer. I say new because until this summer Emerson and Stella loved our little wading pool more than the big real pools and neither would ever allow his or her head to go under the water. With the beginning of our swimming lessons, they both decided, for some as yet undiscovered reason, that they were ready to go for it. Now Emerson is jumping in, going down smaller slides, and bobbing all the way under. He's constantly giving me the thumbs up sign during swimming lessons. And there is nothing cuter than Stella furiously kicking her little legs as the swim teacher guides her around the pool.

Twirly Tutu Party

2009-07-07T21:21:00.002-06:00

Three years ago last month, our sweet Stella arrived. Her bright, beautiful eyes and natural inquisitiveness captured our hearts right away. She is an amazing sister to her two brothers, endlessly cooperating with Emerson's imaginary scenarios and forever giving love to Atticus. We feel like she has arrived at her third birthday suddenly and are constantly surprised by all she can do. When she tosses her head just right so that the curls fall back from her face, looks into our eyes and demurely says, "Sweetie, we're just going to do dress-ups now," our hearts

just melt. We celebrated her third birthday Saturday with a twirly tutu party in preparation for the dance lessons she started the following week. There is little in this world more adorable than watching six little girls assemble tutus, put them on, and then join hands and dance. Stella was on cloud nine as she danced with friends, at pizza, opened some truly special gifts, and blew out candles on her Princess Aurora birthday cake.

Emerson had his last day of preschool last month as well. He'll start kindergarten this fall and after being at the same preschool since he was two, he's a little nervous to leave his buddies behind and venture to a new school. To help him maintain some continuity with his buddies, we had Emerson do another soccer session with them and with Tad as the coach. For some u

nknown reason, Emerson decided that he's completely excited about chasing the ball this time. He gets multiple kicks each game and cheers his teammates when he's on the sideline. Tad is, as expected, an awesome coach. The kids all love to give him five after scoring a goal and they are somehow undefeated after six games.

Atticus is a perpetual motion machine, with his left leg being the driving force. When he's nursing, he kicks his left leg; when he sits in his bouncy seat, he kicks his left leg to bounce; when he's lying on a blanket, he thumps the floor with his left foot. But when he's in the bathtub he uses all four limbs to splash with such intensity that the parent bathing him ends up soaking wet. The other night we let him have some snow cone ice (his first solid experience) and he absolutely adored it, smacking his lips and grinning like a cheshire cat.

Tad's biking development continues. He's now become the canyon master, climbing at least one canyon per week in addition to his daily ride to and from work. He also finally proved his manliness in the automotive arena by successfully replacing the starter motor on his car in just over an hour. In May he and a friend also turned lumberjack and sawed down the giant dead maple trees in our front yard. The transformation is really great. Tad's also been assigned to a homicide case at work and is learning new things all the time.

I'm finding life as the mom of three really great -- not to say it isn't challenging. I just feel more confident and like I can find ways to make things work pretty well most of the time. Emerson is frequently my little helper and his help is essential. In June I had some varicose veins surgically removed and so have much less pain than I've had in six years. And after a bout of food poisoning, I'm loving running again and can't wait to get up to longer distances. I'm also enjoying our garden so much. It's such a challenge to figure out how to solve the various pest, water and sun problems presented by our various plants and I love going out in the morning to find a new zucchini or butternut squash has seemingly appeared over night.

We also celebrated the Fourth of July as well. It was so much fun to participate in the Millcreek bike and family parade, play at the park afterward, and have a great barbecue at our house that evening. Tad's brats have never tasted better and it was so delightful just to take time to talk to everyone and see the kids run wild in their bathing suits around the back yard. The highlight was definitely when Stella stripped off her suit and peed on the big pine tree in front of everyone. Ah, that's my girl.

Whirlwind

2009-05-28T13:32:00.016-06:00

This past month or so has been a fun, albeit busy one. Do I even need to say that, though? Aren't all of our months busy? Anyway, we made a crazy dash down to St. George. It all began with a decision reached at about 6:30 p.m. to leave at 8:30 p.m. rather than the following 8 a.m. The theory was that all of the kids would of course sleep in the car the whole five hours and we would have the whole next day to explore and have fun. Well, Atticus cooperated beautifully, sleeping the entire way, allowing us to drive straight without any stops. Emerson and Stella, however, decided that sleeping in the car was only cool for about an hour and a half. While Emerson simply stared blankly into the darkness surrounding the car, Stella decided to lead a revolt from the back seat of the van. The steadily rising whine threatened to rouse Atticus, so I spent the last hour and a half of the drive literally in Stella's car seat with her on my lap, telling her stories.

But this did allow us a full day of fun the next day. We headed out on the paved trail next to the Virgin River and counted 27 lizards in just over an hour. We also discovered a wonderful free splash park in the middle of downtown St. George and proceeded to go there every day of our vacation. The kids could splash, cool off, and burn off energy while we sat in the shade watching all of the fun. We went for lots of walks, Tad did some good biking, I ran a little, and we caught up with some old friends, Dan and Angie and their adorable kids.

While we wished our stay in St. George could have been longer, it was fun to come home and check on our garden. We went a little crazy this year, relocating the garden to a sunnier spot and more than doubling its size. Tad built an awesome redwood barrier around it to keep Crosby out and we planted lots of seeds: cabbage, cauliflower, watermelon, cucumber, beans, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and tomatoes. So far everything has sprouted and we've even got little green tomatoes already! The kids love to check it every day, closely inspecting the plants and making sure the ladybugs we released are keeping the aphids off.

Emerson finished his first soccer season on a positive note. When he started soccer, he cared very little and didn't quite understand that the ball was his friend. When the coach spoke, Emerson generally ignored everything, and sitting on the side meant grass wars with his buddies. By the final game, however, Emerson was totally engaged -- kicking the ball several times, throwing it in bounds when asked, nearly scoring a goal, and cheering for his team even when he sat out. His team even finally won a game! But the true prize for Emerson was that he got a "real trophy," which he proudly displays on his shelf.

Stella has decided that singing in the car is her true passion. No matter what song we listen to, she can sing along (or in a call and response style at least) at the top of her lungs. Her personal favorites: Clash City Rockers (The Clash), These Days (Nico), and 1234 (Feist). Life is an endless series of questions for Stella. "Why did Maleficent make Aurora prick her finger?" "Did Jesus have long hair?" "Is that guy being stupid?" "Why are you wearing a ponytail?" When I take her and Atticus running in the stroller, it's question time for Stella because she knows she can talk to me then entire time and I must answer.

Atticus is the jolliest little guy! At three months he's smiling and laughing like crazy, grabbing toys and trying desperately to get them to his mouth, and nearly fitting his entire fist in his mouth. He already wants to see everything Emerson and Stella do and thrills them when he smiles at them. I've lost track of the number of rolls he's accumulated and he continues to adore nursing to the exclusion of bottles.

Tad was the recipient of one lucky birthday present this month. He's been riding an old road bike to work since last fall and as he was riding it one day, a defense attorney he knows pulled up next to him in his car with a super fancy road bike on the back. The next time Tad saw him, the defense attorney asked if Tad would like to buy his "old" road bike. Tad responded that $3,500 for the three-year-old bike was completely impossible for him and the defense attorney said he'd let Tad have it for under $1,000. So a few days later, Tad rode home on his new sweet ride at a final cost of only $750! This has completely changed his biking life and he's now obsessed with riding the canyons around our valley (he's already done two). Lucky guy!

Blessed

2009-04-29T16:26:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics of Atticus and the two other babies blessed on the same day he was, Ruth Snow and Elana Mayer. Oh, it's fun to have this little chubby guy around! He coos and "talks" to us while smiling.

New Roof!

2009-04-14T14:23:00.008-06:00

When we moved into our house two years ago, we knew we eventually needed to replace the roof. After two years of debating how to do it, trying to come up with the money, and dreading the expense, we finally got our roof redone last week. And despite having to go all the way down to the rafters and put on new boards, the crew we hired did it in only a day and a half! Sometimes it really helps to have a small house. What's more, they did an awesome job, leaving us with a beautiful new roof with good venting and totally cleaning up after themselves (I only found a few nails after they left). We also got our gutters done, which only took two hours total! So, if you need referrals for roofers and gutter guys who are really good, reliable, and inexpensive, give me a call.

More importantly, we also had a lovely Easter weekend. The kids did a really fun egg hunt with Grandma Baker's ward in the huge, beautiful yard behind a neighbor's home. Everyone loved it, especially since they divide up the kids by age so no older kids get to hog all the eggs. Emerson, it appears, is moving out of the simple belief in holiday characters stage. At the egg hunt, a member of Grandma's ward was wearing a big, fuzzy Easter Bunny costume. When we said, "Look, Emerson, it's the Easter Bunny," he replied, "No, that's just some guy in a dumb suit."

Later, he observed a zipper on the back of the imitation bunny's costume and said, "See, you can see it's a suit right there. And look, he has shoes!" Oh, dear.

We also blessed Atticus in our church on Easter Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful day and I take it as a miracle that we were able to all get decked out in our Easter finest and make it to church 15 minutes early! Atticus was one of three babies being blessed that day -- I and two other friends of mine in our ward had babies within 19 hours of each other. Since Atticus was the youngest, he was the last to go, but miraculously none of the three babies cried.

Tad was able to convey some special words from our Heavenly Father in his blessing and it was truly a spiritual occasion. We had so many friends and family come to the blessing and our little gathering afterwards and we want to thank all of them for sharing our special day.

Atticus continues to grow like he's in a contest. By his two-month appointment last week, he weighed in at 13 lbs. 4 oz. -- after getting down to 7 lbs. 9 oz. in the hospital. He generally sleeps pretty well and is truly a mild, smily guy most of the time. He especially likes to smile at me at 4 a.m. when I'm trying to handle our feeding session in a businesslike, though bleary-eyed manner. I can't resist him and each time I get sucked into a smiling conversation back and forth. Magical!

Stella continues to love all things princess, particularly her Cinderella cell phone, on which she pretends to have long conversations with Dad, Uncle Tim, and others. She truly is Tad's little girl, completely sharing his sense of humor. She calls everyone silly names like "Duckhead." The other day, she, Tad and Emerson were in the back yard doing some cleanup. She crossed the yard to the sandbox and upon reaching it triumphantly pumped her arms up and down above her head while

shouting, "Yes, yes, yes! I didn't step in any dog poop!" And she loves to push Emerson's buttons, deliberately messing up a word in a song just to get on his nerves.

Emerson is currently immersed in the worlds of Bionicles (Lego-made gladiator creatures that can be reconfigured several ways) and Magic Treehouse books. No, he's not reading the books on his own. We read to him after he reads the chapter headings. He starts soccer next week and loves his uniform, number 11 on the maroon team. He's excited to start Kindergarten but is starting to realize his preschool friends won't go there with him and his Grandma won't be there to check on him (both realizations frequently accompanied by tears).

That's the update for now!

The Coconut

2009-03-20T15:44:00.004-06:00

I can't believe Atticus is now more than five weeks old. And yet it seems like he's always been a part of our family. Emerson and Stella are such champs and love to be involved in bathing, changing, and even nursing him. And it's a good thing they like the nursing thing because that is definitely what Atticus wants to do all day every day. Which is why he's chubbing up quickly and why Emerson calls him the coconut (something small, round, and full of milk). Unfortunately Atticus got his first cold this past week, so any semblance of routine he was developing is now gone. But he remains pretty mellow despite his very stuffed up nose and consequent grunting piggie sounds. He really seems to enjoy his sibs and loves being in the baby carrier awake or asleep.

They Might Be Giants

2009-03-12T15:41:00.005-06:00

For any interested kids or parents, we've been listening to They Might Be Giants' kids' albums, Here Come the 123s and Here Come the ABCs for quite a while now. But we only recently discovered that the band did podcasts for kids with animated videos to go along with the songs. Now here is where you infer that our kids have been sitting in front of our new computer watching videos online for hours on end since the little guy was born. And you'd be correct. But at least they're watching educational stuff like this (and The White Stripes Seven Nation Army video while literally headbanging). Here's a link to the youtube video for "Zeros" and you'll see that there are at least 15 other videos as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pySVYytRs

Now your kids can become vegetables too. Happy viewing!

2009-02-13T20:09:00.004-07:00

It may have taken us a few days, but we're finally getting around to officially welcoming Atticus to our family! He was born Tuesday morning at 10:40 after a very quick labor. Lisa's water broke at 7:00 am and not a moment was wasted thereafter. While Atticus wasn't due for two and a half weeks, he arrived healthy and happy, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 21 inches. He is an absolute clone of Emerson, making him so adorable that's it's hard not to devour him. He seems to want to set world records for nursing sessions and is truly sweet. Both sibs are doing wonderfully, involving themselves most curiously in all of the details of baby raising. Tad was able to take a couple of weeks off, so we're just enjoying this chance to settle in calmly to a new family dynamic.

Feeling Groovy

2009-02-03T09:45:00.004-07:00

We just thought you might enjoy Stella's musical stylings. Here she is singing Simon and Garfunkel's "Feeling Groovy." Yeah, she's got soul for a two year-old.

Rolling Along

2009-01-19T14:54:00.005-07:00

Life just amazes me. I can spend all of this time preparing for something, thinking it will never come because there's still just so much work to do, and suddenly it has come and it's over. Christmas was definitely that way this year. With all of the preparation, I thought it would simply take forever to get ready and now it's already a month later. The kids had another wonderful Christmas, so by extension the rest of us did as well. Dinosaur and princess paraphernalia somehow fill our house up even more now. Emerson loves to tell everyone about how lucky he was to get two microscopes! Stella can't get enough of her princess art kit and dress-ups and has somewhat permanently assumed the identity of Aurora. By some miracle, they both love sharing their "new" room (Tad finished the closet and built-ins), and they actually sleep really well through each other's noises. Most of all for Christmas, we just enjoyed the chance to have Caroline and Justin in town and to visit all of our local relatives as well.
Another project that came and went at lightning speed demonstrates our tendency to cram too much in at busy times. What better thing to do at the busy holiday times than refinance our home? But after seeing the interest rates available and how much money we could save, we couldn't resist. So before our appraisal, we had to finish up all of our house projects to the best of our ability in just a week and a half. Kids were totally neglected (thank you, PBS), meals consisted of way too much fast food and caffeine, and I definitely did things no woman at my stage of pregnancy should be doing. But with alarming speed, the appraisal came -- and went well! Hooray!
Our final project that is progressing at an alarming rate -- our third child. I'm already less than two weeks away from where I was when Emerson was born, just over three away from where I was when Stella was born, and I have the giant basketball belly to prove it. And yet I still can't believe the amount of stuff that I "should" get done before the little guy arrives. I have the sneaking suspicion, however, that like all of the other projects and events that have come rolling along lately, this one will reach completion (whether I'm ready or not) and the birth will be over sooner than it seems. We'll keep you posted.

Emerson's Favorite Christmas Song

2008-12-22T16:01:00.004-07:00

For your viewing pleasure, here is our boy in his favorite outfit, singing his favorite Christmas song (something he does ten times a day), and keeping pretty good rhythm all the while. Merry Christmas!

Eight Years

2008-12-19T13:56:00.002-07:00

Eight years ago, Tad and I got married. We were both only 22 years old, we had only known each other for a year and a half, had only officially dated for five months, had no money, were a history major and an art history major, and were totally smitten with each other. Our journey together has taken us from BYU to upstate New York as VISTA volunteers, Boston for grad school, SLC for law school, parenthood twice (and an impending third time), and through miles of emotional and spiritual maturation.
As much as I love to think of those early days, of the intensity and sweetness of our love then, I would never trade it for what we have now. There is nobody in this world who understands the whole of me (and accepts it unconditionally) the way Tad does. I have no idea why I get to be lucky enough to have a companion who is as totally loving as Tad -- it's certainly not because I deserve it. He views my imperfections with a smile, tolerating my impassioned rants, my nagging, and my overall spiritual inferiority with what never feels like mere tolerance. There is nothing that I approach in which Tad doesn't demonstrate absolute confidence in me, something I need so much. And he's there . . .he spends time with me, with our kids, with our friends, and working on our house, despite his many commitments.
I have a hard time thinking about Tad as a dad without getting emotional. The tenderness, kindness, compassion, patience, and total love with which he treats them is an example to me and an enormous advantage to our kids. He always backs me up with them, always complements my efforts with them, and dotes on their every development while understanding their limitations and idiosyncrasies. I could not have lucked out more. I love you forever, Tad.

First Online Endorsement

2008-11-26T13:36:00.002-07:00

I don't usually endorse products on this family blog, but we found a book we like so well we thought we had to share it with our friends and family. It's called The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child by Alan Kazdin (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0618773673). Now before you jump to any conclusions, I'll beat you to it -- of course my kids are "defiant". They are children, after all, and that certainly goes with the territory. And perhaps that's why we like this book so much -- Kazdin understands that to be a child is to be defiant and therefore to be a parent is to understand how to deal with it effectively. Kazdin is no novice or crackpot; he's the director of the Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic at Yale and has been researching for 30+ years. So the book is based on legitimate research and is brief, well written, and even funny.
I'm sure all of you have perfect children, but you may just want to check this out anyway.

Yes We Can!

2008-11-05T13:56:00.012-07:00

Usually I leave politics out of our blog, but with how amazingly historical lastnight's election results were, I do have to comment. No matter who you are, no matter what your political persuasions might be, I think we can all agree that the election of Senator Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is truly remarkable. If you're like our family and have been reading about and rooting for Obama for years, you're doubly excited at the results. But I think all of us can see the path of this brilliant man's life, see his humble beginnings, and feel a sense of hope that our children truly can become anything they want to be.
In other news, we've had a busy month. Emerson turned FIVE!! Each time I say it, it still sounds crazy. We had his third dinosaur-themed party which was also his first drop-off party. At first, I thought I must be crazy to invite over seven of Emerson's friends and tell their parents to just leave, but it turned out great. They did a dinosaur stomp (stomping candy-filled balloons), a dinosaur freeze-dance contest, and made their own pizzas. Somehow the kids all behaved perfectly and didn't even cover our floor in pizza toppings. Much thanks to both grandmas for cool gifts and lots of help, and to all friends who gave such cool gifts! Now the only question is how many more dinosaur parties lie ahead.
I think we had our most pumpkin-centric October ever. First we carved pumpkins (way too early, but the kids were excited), the kids loving the goopy feeling of scooping out the seeds with their bare hands. Then we got to visit a pumpkin patch with Emerson's preschool class. It was so entertaining to see the kids run through the hay maze and try to lift their weight in pumpkins. We're so lucky that Emerson's preschool teacher is so adventurous. Both kids also decorated pumpkins at our ward Halloween party as well, so our porch is home to a little pumpkin colony whose precise arrangement changes each time we go through our front door. Surprisingly the sturdy squashes also survived Stella's impromptu game of projectile pumpkins.
Both kids definitely had ample opportunities to wear their Halloween costumes this year as well. Stella (Cinderella) and Emerson (Spinosaurus) attended our ward's Halloween party with all of its fun games and activities and perhaps the cheesiest magician of all time. We also went with Grandma and Grandpa Baker to their ward Halloween Party, a fun tradition that the kids look forward to each year. Their stockpile of candy was therefore quite large before the actual holiday even arrived. Sadly, Stella had had a nagging cough/sinus infection for more than two weeks by the time Halloween arrived and Emerson came down with a horrible cold the day before. So we had to miss out on Emerson's preschool party and spend the day resting so we could do some trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. As an extra treat, Aunt Caroline came over for our stew dinner (which we served in pumpkin-esque bread bowls the kids helped me make) before heading out with us for trick-or-treating. Lots of kids were out in our neighborhood and the warm temperatures made it so even our sick little guy could completely fill his treat bag.
Now we're hunkered down in our house as it snows like crazy outside and we pray for this ridiculous cold to finally leave our family. Believe me, I've given a whole new meaning to the term "stay-at-home mom" over the past couple of weeks. But it's getting increasingly pleasant to stay in our house all the time because Tad has made such progress on our projects. All of the bookshelves/closets are framed in and we've begun dry-walling. So give us a few more months and it should actually be functional.
On a sadder note, Tad's grandpa, Juan Lynn, passed away in October at just shy of 99 years old. He was truly an inspirational person, an example of faithful dilligence and kindness who personified the name his great-grandchildren gave to him, "Grandpa the Great." After such a long and healthy life, his death leaves us sad but grateful to have known him and confident in where he is now.

Boys V. Girls

2008-10-07T11:41:00.003-06:00

So today was the big day I know you've all been waiting for. Sorry if everyone had trouble sleeping lastnight due to the excitement, but we now officially have the answer. Drum roll, please. . . It's a BOY!!! And, more importantly, HE appears at first assessment to have all of the necessary body parts in tact. I'll post an ultrasound pic soon, but I couldn't get the cd images to work. But let me assure all of you, there was no doubt on this diagnosis.

Adulthood

2008-09-30T21:28:00.005-06:00

I'm so grateful for my life, for the love by which I'm surrounded and the endless ways in which I seem to be blessed. But I still feel like I'm playing at this whole adulthood thing, still feel amazed at the thought of having three kids, a mortgage, student loans, a husband with a "real" church calling, and being thirty in a couple of months. I frequently find myself wondering when all of these real, adult things happened -- in a good way, I think because the journey has largely been so smooth and relatively painless.
The past couple of weeks, however, have felt all too adult as Tad and I have taken on some pretty major home repair/renovation projects. In an attempt to make Emerson's bedroom larger/add a closet and shelf space in order to make it a share-able space for him and Stella, we tore apart the wall separating his room from our family room. It's always seemed way too thick and we found out why -- the concrete footing that separated the old basement from what used to be a crawl space and is now our family room is still in place. That's right, four feet high and eight inches thick, and completely un-removable because not only is it load-bearing, but it also is in the only precise location where a load-bearing wall can exist. But two good things came out of it -- Emerson and Stella shared her room for several nights (most of them by choice rather than necessity) and it was adorable. Also, we're now adding a bunch of built-in shelving in our family room in addition to the closet in Emerson's room.
The second and much more ridiculous project all began with a funky under-the-kitchen-sink smell that we had noticed since our last "professional" plumber visit. The curse of our home ownership story has been our waste water pipe, a fat lead sucker that has had several holes in it over the past year. So Tad decided to replace the apparently offending section of our waste water pipe, the T under the kitchen sink. It was a little ambitious because it's embedded in concrete, but it's amazing the confidence a sawzall and a do-it-yourself plumbing store can bestow. As the Saturday progressed, however, it became apparent that the entire pipe, from below the basement ceiling all the way through the roof, was crumbling and needed to be replaced. Still undeterred (and unwilling to hire yet another incompetent plumber), Tad sought some advice, climbed up on our roof, and spent several hours literally cutting, chipping, and finally pulling the nine-foot section of pipe out. Incredibly, the all-new pipe works much better than our old one ever did -- not a single leak and our disposal and sink actually drain better than they ever have. And the best part is that Tad's superman work probably saved us about $1000.
On the non-adult front, both Emerson and Stella rock the house. Lately Emerson loves to set up his "office" in his room, getting a lamp, an ornament for his desk (usually a dinosaur), pens and paper, and working on his "reports". On Sunday during sacrament meeting, the pew at church was his desk and he wrote three "reports", each a letter to a member of the family. With a little help from mom, he wrote "Dear Dadde I miss you when Im at work," "Stella always bothers me when Im at work," and "Crosby I know its your first time coming to work with me." It took almost all of sacrament meeting at it was awesome!
Stella continues to literally prance through life, walking on her tip toes and saying, "It's wonderful. . .wonderful." She'll sit still for as many books as I'll read to her, she loves to wear her sunglasses, and she deliberately provokes her brother (ah, a true little sister) by calling him names and growling, then turning away with a sly grin as he erupts. He has yet to understand that the reaction is what it's all about for her. But she adores Emerson and still asks for him every time he goes to preschool.
Baby May #3 (we'll know the gender next week, hopefully) continues to progress well. I can't imagine this one is anything but a boy because the natural order of both Tad's family and mine (as well as Tim and Kirse's) predicts this. At this point, however, I think it must be a large hamster that loves to wiggle and push out right on top of my bladder. Not exactly the lovey-dovey mommy-baby image you might expect, but this is my third and reality beats idealism this time around. I'm expecting great things from this one because he/she demands that I spend at least one hour each day reading with my feet up (at least I'm telling myself it's the fetus and not my laziness).

Yellowstone Is Amazing!

2008-08-26T13:28:00.010-06:00

We Salt Lake City Mays joined forces with the Vancouver Mays and the California Kings and ventured up to Yellowstone earlier this month. Lisa had never been and she and the kids literally spent months preparing -- checking out library books, looking at websites, and pretending to be Yellowstone animals. Kirse's siblings put us up in great style at their houses in Idaho Falls our first night and we'd like to offer them a special thanks.
There was some concern that the reality of Yellowstone wouldn't live up to the hype, but it more than did! On our first day in the park, (after immediately seeing several elk on the side of the road) we drove straight to Old Faithful, which happened to be due to erupt within minutes. We watched the whole splendid event from a great vantage point and the kids (particularly Stella) just adored it. Next we hiked a trail that started near Old Faithful and took us past multiple geysers and hot pots. Emerson and his cousin, Ethan, held hands the whole way and marveled at all the names for the various features while Stella unexpectedly enjoyed riding in the jogging stroller the whole way (a welcome surprise when burning death lurks disguised on either side of the trail). We topped off our first day with a hike at Fountain Paint Pots where some of the geysers and mud pots have been turned green or pink by algae and bacteria. It was like a mysterious lunar landscape that we could hardly believe was earthly.
Day two involved some brilliant planning by Kirse, making it possible for us to encounter a whole herd of bison roaming and resting on either side of the road. At one point, a bison pair crossed the road immediately behind our car and the male turned his head, looked at our car, and gruffed. Emerson and Stella were thrilled! And the close encounters didn't end there; when we arrived to hike the mud volcano trail, bison were on either side of it, at one point crossing at a nearly uncomfortable proximity. It was on this hike that Emerson made his top two comments of the trip. When he and Ethan were strolling along next to Caroline, Emerson turned to his aunt and said, "You probably don't want to hold our hands because we're going to talk about gross stuff." As soon as Caroline let go, Emerson turned to Ethan and said, "So what about T-rex poop?" While watching a bison standing next to a small geyser, Emerson remarked, "He's standing there so the geyser will hit him in the butt." Oh the humor of a four-year-old boy!
We also got to see both the Upper and Lower Falls, images of Bierstadt and Moran paintings flashing through our brains, particularly at Artists' Point. On our way out of the park that day, we saw bald eagles and more elk, in addition to the trout we'd seen in the river during our lunch picnic.
Our final day, we didn't explore Yellowstone but stopped at a couple of fun places as we drove home. First we visited Big Springs, which consisted of a gorgeous pond and stream where we saw a giant trout and a muskrat swimming in the water (launching a weeks-long obsession with all rodents for Emerson). Then we stopped by Mesa Falls, a gorgeous water fall with gray cliffs cloaked in verdent, cascading ferns. It was a perfect way to cap off the visual extravaganza that was our trip. And once again, we were completely blown away by what excellent little travelers our kids were; they slept well in strange places, were champs on long car drives (with very minimal dvd viewing), and excited about both the sights and their cousins the entire time.
In other news, Lisa had her second prenatal doctor's visit. After a little hunting, the nurse was able to find the baby's heartbeat for several glorious seconds (with the speakers turned up so loud that Stella still thinks the baby's heartbeat is a deafening boom). Perhaps it's Lisa's innate paranoia, perhaps it's the fact that she didn't have to take any confirmation pregnancy tests at the doctor's office, but until that moment, Lisa had started to wonder if this pregnancy might all be psychosomatic. Feeling better at an early stage and being forced by the needs of her already existing children to ignore most symptoms had literally made her forget, at times, that she was pregnant. But all hopes and joys were restored as Lisa heard that little heartbeat.
Preschool started back up for Emerson yesterday, reminding us that summer truly is coming to a close. How did it go so fast? And while our little guy loves going to preschool, we're somewhat sad to have him gone again three mornings each week -- we can't even think about kindergarten next year. So now we're again cherishing each afternoon of splash time in the back yard when Emerson and Stella bask in the sun. And we're finally enjoying all the fruits (or vegetables, as the case may be) of our garden -- super-juicy tomatoes (making excellent salsa) and crunchy cucumbers -- and anticipating the ears of corn that actually grew, apples that weigh our tree heavily (Lisa sees the near future in this plight), and pumpkins for which we still hope. We hope you all are well and send our love.

Eggs Frying on the Sidewalk

2008-08-02T16:05:00.004-06:00

Remember in the dead of winter when you're yearning for the heat of summer, longing to feel the roasting sun on your skin for even a few minutes? Well, let's just say that after several sweltering, virtually rainless weeks, we're no longer as jazzed about 98-degree temps. And yet somehow the kids, apparently immune to boredom, still want to splash in our tiny pool every afternoon. Despite our best efforts on the sunscreen front, the deep brown tans have taken over as the hair has lightened to its summer blond.
It's been so fun, though, to do some summer activities and exploration. At the end of June, the kids took swimming lessons together at Fairmont Pool. I know what you're thinking, and yes, Lisa is somewhat crazy for signing up a two-year-old. In her defense, imagine the meltdown tantrums eight days in a row if Stella had to watch her brother get in the pool while she couldn't. We rest our case. While Stella's boldness in the pool did not diminish (as Lisa had hoped it might) with the cautioning efforts of swimming teachers, Emerson's boldness (as Lisa had hoped) definitely increased; at the start of swimming lessons, he wouldn't allow his ears, eyes, or head to get wet. Now he rolls around in the water, gladly going under and dipping all body parts. We're still working on jumping in. But by some miracle, somehow both Emerson and Stella passed!
The Fourth of July was fantastic! We started off by going to the East Millcreek Children's Parade with Grandma and Grandpa Baker. As the parade consisted of people chucking handfuls of candy to the spectators, both Emerson and Stella were fully captivated. By the time we were done, we had filled Emerson's bike helmet and Lisa's bag to the brim. The greatest part of the parade -- when you're tired of it, you just stand up and join in, kids on bikes or in strollers, and toss out any of your candy that you want to get rid of (thank heavens). In the evening, we ventured up Millcreek Canyon for a picnic and a short hike with Crosby. It was so cool and refreshing up there that it required some coaxing to get us back down.
Our second awesome hike of the month was up the Dog Lake trail in Millcreek. We made it about three-quarters of the way before serious hunger set in for the kids, but Emerson hiked all the way up and ran down. Stella enjoyed the jogger stroller and Crosby indulged his instinctive urge to jump in all water he sees. He seriously is a perfect dog, coming each time we called him, putting himself in between the kids and any strange dogs, and absolutely loving his trek up the mountain. He seems to have virtually no limit in terms of endurance when it comes to hiking.
Lagoon (or, as Emerson calls it "little Disneyland") was another great adventure for our family. Because it was our Stake's Lagoon Day, all of Emerson and Stella's little neighborhood buddies were there. So the unexpected fear Stella demonstrated on the first whirling and swirling ride with Emerson disappeared when she went on the next ride with her friend, Whitney. Emerson became the ringleader of his little buddies, inspiring them to conquer even the menacing "Puff the Magic Dragon" roller coaster. It was obnoxiously hot, but so worth seeing the kids' indefatigable excitement.
Our Pioneer Day celebration was fun, too. We trekked out to Liberty Park to enjoy the general chaos of the parade. Floats are mysterious and fascinating things for a boy who must understand all of the physics of the mechanical devices he sees. The marching bands with all of their trumpets were also exciting to our trumpet-tooting boy. Stella particularly enjoyed the horses and cars, but especially loved the extra attention afforded by Grandma Baker, Aunt Betsy, and Aunt Kim.
We also ventured up to Dean's grave in Honeyville with Grandma May a few weeks ago. The cemetery there is so beautiful with the mountains behind, and Emerson enjoyed reading names off the head stones, especially the old ones with ancestors' names on them. The stone house built by James May, who crossed the plains as a pioneer, still stands and a May (we think) still lives in it. This also fascinated the kids. As a special treat, we also ate at Maddox -- a culinary delight enjoyed by all.
One truly amazing development this month -- Stella and Emerson have started (and will continue, knock on wood) to play together daily for hours on end without major conflict. Usually Emerson wakes up in the morning having decided which creature he will be for the day and which similar but smaller and less frightening animal Stella with therefore be. Watch out if you mess up and don't call Emerson the appropriate creature -- and stay on your toes because it changes throughout the day. The kids' favorite game to play together is "Yellowstone", in preparation for our upcoming trip. They make a bed of blankets on our family room floor, pretend to sleep, and wake up ready to see geysers, hot pots, hot springs, bears, and wolves. They pretend to be testing out different pools of water to determine the temperature before plunging in, imagine that bears are chasing them, and pretend to be various creatures themselves, searching for nuts and berries.
Both children have become so inquisitive that we find ourselves answering at least a dozen questions each hour. Emerson must understand the motivations of each character in any shows he watches, how every device works, and what different body parts do and are called. Stella asks endless questions about the songs we sing to her, constantly asks why she can't do this or that, and forever requests assistance in removing clothes.
Now for those of you who didn't read the entire blog -- shame on you!! Because our big news is saved for last. . . The third May baby will be joining us next February! That's right, Lisa is pregnant (about 10 weeks)!!! We're amazed and excited, somewhat doubtful about our ability to handle three little wigglers, and truly grateful. Love to all.

Two Going on Twelve

2008-06-18T14:26:00.004-06:00

So here we are in the middle of June, bright sunshine and 93 degrees outside, and we're huddled inside watching Disney movies as the kids hack out coughs from their three-week-long cold. To be fair, it's actually been two colds with only one day of intermission (luckily on Stella's birthday) between. In spite of the unseasonable illness, however, we've found time to participate in some great summer activities.
We chased geese at the Wheeler Farm library day, an event at which literally seventy-five percent of the cars were either Odysseys or Siennas. Then we enjoyed Emerson's end-of-year preschool party at the park. It's so fun to see all of the preschool kids running wild and all of the teachers truly basking in it. Each year there's a water balloon fight to cap it off and one older sister of a girl in Emerson's class decided to exclusively target Tad who was in tie and all. It was great!
As previously mentioned, we've also spent lots of time in our back yard. A few weeks ago, Tad climbed up into a couple of our trees out there and hacked off some giant dead limbs with a hand saw. Then he chopped up the pieces and built a tee pee for the kids, which they loved for about one day. The tee pee was soon superseded by two natural pest control items -- a fake owl to keep birds out of our strawberry patch and a bag of ladybugs to eat the pests off of our garden and apple tree. After scattering the bugs, the kids (especially Emerson) monitored their presence each day, fearlessly picking them up and seeing how long they would crawl up an arm before flying away. Owlie (creative name, I know) the owl now multitasks as a bird scarer and a garden friend.
Last week we were also lucky enough to head down to Family Art Days at the BYU Museum of Art. There were SO many fun things for the kids -- water color painting, face painting, medieval dancing, story telling, and especially Grandma May. And Lisa got to see some friendly faces she hadn't seen in years and just enjoy the experience of being in that wonderful building. She actually felt the need to reconnect with the art museum community and is now searching for a way to do so.
Last Saturday we celebrated Stella's second (though by her attitude, you'd guess about twelfth) birthday with a back yard water party. Several of Stella's little friends (and, for Emerson's enjoyment, their older brothers) gathered in swimming suits on an absolutely perfect day to enjoy our little splash pool, the crazy sprinkler, bubble blowing, a water balloon toss/fight, a barbecue, and cake. The birthday girl spent ninety percent of her party splashing in the pool. Cousin Elle and Stella shrieked with Stella's friend, Emma as they jumped up and down and twirled around. Our cute friend, Olive (who's moving to Portland and no longer hanging out with us twice a week, sniffle sniffle), enjoyed her very first meat at the party -- and entire Costco hot dog! And Stella has not voluntarily taken off the princess dress-ups she received since the party. It's almost disturbing to see the degree to which she takes to this whole prissy princess role. Her new play stove/oven from her grandparents is now the home for Emerson's toy snakes. Thank you to all who came to help us celebrate out little girl.

Growing Like Weeds

2008-05-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

These past couple of months have been really interesting. As we've been able to get out into our yard and really work, the world we rediscover each spring has unfolded itself miraculously before our eyes. First we loaded up on garden supplies at the IFA store and more than doubled the size of our garden plot. Emerson and Stella dug right in, literally. It never ceases to amaze us how fearlessly a four year-old boy can grab the wriggliest, plumpest worm or the fuzziest, bumpiest caterpillar. And unfortunately for these creatures, Emerson is learning valuable lessons about life and death in the process. After some hard work, some planting (and re-planting), our garden now includes several tomato plants, corn sprouts, cucumber (we hope), asparagus, LOTS of onions, a strawberry patch, and (hopefully) some pumpkins.
We have also dug into our seemingly endless list of home improvement projects for the season. After enjoying the lovely view of our neighbor's orchard through our downed back fence for months (despite Tad's repeated attempts to patch it until the ground thawed), we finally got the fence back up last month. This involved setting the posts in concrete and spacing them closer together to strengthen the fence, but was surprisingly easy. So any of you out there who are thinking of hiring a crew to build a fence for you -- think of us first! We'll bring the kids and camp out in your yard all Saturday and let our chaos spread like a weed.
Fortunately this fence rebuilding project allowed Lisa to assess both Tad's tool needs and his willingness to engage in tool-related projects. So for his big THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY last Sunday, Tad got "Three Saws for Thirty" -- a sawzall, a circular saw, and a miter saw. He was totally surprised due to a lot of sneakiness on the part of many. Thanks to all of you who contributed, we were able to get him some very nice saws and further entice him to conquer the looming projects. And a special thanks to our moms for throwing to nice birthday celebrations.
And on the subject of Tad's big birthday, I'd like to just take a second in this rambling update to express to Tad how truly lucky I feel to be his wife. I fell in love with Tad for two reasons: 1)his sparkling good looks and 2)his ability to really listen to and understand people. To this day, I am constantly amazed at the fact that all of my deepest, best conversations happen with this man I fell in love with over my deepest, best conversations to that point. The conversations just keep happening! And he's just so incredible at everything he does, from his job to his church service to his interaction with his children. He balances it all so well, despite pressure from all sides.
We really got to celebrate Tad's birthday well this year because there are also several May birthday's in Lisa's family. Kim and Kasey's little twins, Diesel and Elle, had their first birthday May 15, Kasey's birthday was May 17, and Lisa's mom's birthday was May 23, so we all had a huge combined party at the Baker compound. With the twins setting records for cuteness, we all gathered round to stuff our faces, open gifts, and beat a poor, helpless donkey pinata to death.
This month also included some fun firsts. Emerson got his first real bike, thanks to Aunt Kim's nephew, Harrison. The moment the training wheels were on, Emerson was off! He could spend hours pedaling back and forth in our driveway on his yellow "faster bike", pausing only occasionally to hop off and look for bugs, worms, and other "specimens" with which he is endlessly fascinated.
We also had our first yard sale, and while it wasn't exactly the blockbuster affair you may all expect us to report, it helped us achieve our yard sale goal of buying a new couch for our family room. Now we know that those of you who have sat on the dark blue Ikea loveseat that more closely resembles doll house furniture than real person furniture may wonder why we would ever part with such a gem of comfort and luxury. For those of you, we invite you to come over and test out our new, adult-size loveseat (yes, we can only fit loveseats down our stairs), and sinnk into the heavenly comfort of the plush microfiber cushions. It's so nice to actually have our bodies feel comfortable at the end of the day.
Tad also took a day off work to spend with the kids (giving Lisa the day off -- yahoo!) and take them to ride the Frontrunner Trax train. It's the commuter express that now runs north along the Wasatch Front from Salt Lake City. For Emerson and Stella, it was like being inside Thomas the Tank Engine's world, and Emerson continues to ask all of his friends if they've "ridden the Frontrunner yet".
Stella's important first was that she had her fingernails and toenails painted. It was also the first time Lisa painted her toenails in nearly a year, so there was excitement all around. Stella loves to show everyone her "pretty, white sparkly toes." And she has plenty of opportunity to show them to everyone because she insists on wearing only sandals at all times, which goes well with her strict standards regarding clothes. She prefers to only wear bloomers and a t-shirt with her sandals, whether it's forty degrees or eighty degrees outside. And sadly this is quickly becoming a scenario Lisa is more willing to accept because the alternative is that Stella wears her true outfit of choice -- her birthday suit. Every time she turns around, Lisa finds Stella naked running through the house, the back yard, wherever. Tad and Lisa comfort themselves with the thought that at least Stella is proud of her body and confident in herself.
To all of you and your children, be they clothed or be they naked, we send our love!

Our Journey Through the Desert

2008-03-28T10:38:00.000-06:00

Miracle of miracles, for the first time in two years (that's right, since before Stella was born), we took a May family vacation a couple of weeks ago. Having been a new hire at Utah County for six months and then a new hire at Salt Lake County for six months, Tad had not been able to take a single vacation day for a year -- until this month! It's hard to say who was most excited about our trip to St. George, Tad and Lisa or Emerson. Emerson was convinced that we were actually moving to his "grandma's condo in the desert" where he would see snakes, frogs, and lizards running wild everywhere. When he realized our relocation was not permanent, he melted down.
Inexplicably, both kids were absolute champs on the drive, a remarkable fact considering that a thirty-minute drive around town is often enough to get them whining in the car. They watched dvds, stared at countless cows in the rolling pastures on either side of the road, and invented a game in which they take turns patting each other's head and saying "guggie". And once we arrived, the good behavior continued. Stella and Emerson shared a room by choice and actually stayed in their beds, went to sleep easily, and didn't wake each other up. There is hope for an eventual permanent room share!
The only kink in our trip happened moments after our arrival when Lisa leaned down to plug in the kids' night light and smacked her head on the edge of a piano. She sent the kids into a panic when they saw the blood coming from her eyebrow. Luckily, Grandpa Baker had equipped the condo with a great first aid kit, including butterfly closures, enabling Lisa to avoid InstaCare.
Otherwise, this was our most wonderful trip to St. George ever. We swam at the splash pool (both kids discovered the virtues of weightlessness when one wears a life jacket), visited a dinosaur dig site, ate some great food, and hiked multiple times each day. In the final wildlife tally, we encountered three lizards, lots of cool birds, and a scorpion at a proximity far too intimate for Lisa's liking. As Emerson was reaching for a hand hold on some red, craggy rocks, the little scorpion shot out from the very rock he was grabbing and Tad pulled Emerson back just in time.
After a quick, uneventful drive home, we moved on to celebrating Easter. We took it fairly easy, letting the Easter Bunny do most of the work. He hid lots of candy-filled eggs for the kids in our front room and even stocked their baskets with back-up candies. And just as Tad and Lisa were certain that candy was the only significant aspect of Easter making any impression on the kids, Emerson proved them wrong. While substituting for a great class in the Primary on Easter Sunday, Lisa sat behind Emerson in sharing time. When the leader asked if Easter was about candy, Emerson shouted out "NO!" Then, when the leader asked what resurrection meant, Emerson's hand shot up and he replied, "when we die and come back to life again, like Jesus." It's great to know some things are sinking in.
And on that note, we just wanted all of you to know that we are truly grateful for the redeeming power of Christ's sacrifice for us, no matter who we are, where we are from, or what we suffer as long as we believe in him. Happy Easter to all of you!

Spring's Around the Corner

2008-02-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

It appears we're finally leaving the deep depths of winter behind as it now rains rather than snows every couple of days. Emerson joyfully keeps track of all of the birds he hears and sees and each crocus peeking its head our from the muddy ground, squealing with delight that spring is on its way. Our back yard is finally emerging from its snow blanket for the first time in months. Unfortunately this means the projects we need to conquer this spring are also revealing themselves.
These past several weeks we've had a new little friend spend a couple of days with us each week. Olive is a few weeks younger than Stella, is the daughter of some close friends, is as cute as her name, and brings a lot of fun. Emerson and Stella ask each day if it's an "Olive day" or not. They think of her as another sister and virtually dissolve in tears each time she leaves.
Which brings us to another reason to dissolve in tears: Tad was called to the high council for our stake (major calling for a Mormon) this past Sunday. Actually, we're really excited about it. Tad will have the chance to share his superior speaking skills while serving Heavenly Father and helping people in our stake. The only down side is that Tad now will be in the ranks of the usually much older men in the church, the High Priests, and will therefore not be able to attend meetings with the men in his same life situation. But Grandpa Lynn, Tad's 97-year-old grandpa, is flying in from Portland area to officially ordain Tad to the position of High Priest, so there are definite perks already!
In news for the less squeamish, Stella decided that at age 20 months, she's done with diapers. She insisted on using the potty for the necessary bodily functions starting two weeks ago and has already transitioned over to underpants, all on her own terms. We're so proud of her and know that she sees it as another opportunity to be like her favorite person, her big brother. Who are we to complain? There are plenty of less than desirable behaviors that have already rubbed off on this younger sib, so we're delighted to have some positive behaviors passing on. In addition, Stella has decided that the usual vocabulary for a girl her age simply won't suffice and continues to speak with such clarity and grammatical completion that we find our mouths hanging open in amazement on a daily basis.
Now if you'd like to have your mouth hang open in awe of our boy's cuteness, we urge you to watch him on Fox 13 news. Follow this link to see Emerson explore the Utah Museum of Natural History with his preschool pals, Luke and Jacob:
http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentid=5870564
Emerson's friend Luke's dad is a reporter for Fox 13, so he asked to use Emerson in a story about free/cheap places to take kids in Utah. It basically ended up being a feature on our boy, and you can click on the related links to see the other half of the story which also has some good Emerson (and a little Stella) clips.
We hope you all are well and wish you a happy spring!

Entering the Lap of Luxury

2008-01-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, if there was ever any doubt that Utah has real winters, skeptics only need check out this one to resolve their doubts. Today we're having the second snow storm of the week, with two more expected by Sunday. Now if this were an aberration this winter, we wouldn't have much to talk about. But it just so happens that the entire winter has been like this. This past Monday, for example, a storm blew in so quickly that there was sunshine one minute and fifteen minutes later tree branches were strewn on the ground on top of two inches of new snow. Of course Lisa happened to be on the way to the University to pick Emerson up from preschool at the time.

Which brings us to the next big piece of news (no, no new babies to report -- phew!). Last week we were able to replace our valiant, noble steed -- the 1997 Dodge Caravan which had served our family well until the last few months -- with a smokin' new ride. Now we realize that a 2003 Toyota Sienna minivan may not be what all of you lie awake at night fantasizing about (and at other points in our lives perhaps we wouldn't either), but Lisa truly dreamed of having this luxurious minivan. And now it's a reality! Please join us in welcoming "Dark Blue Rocket" (Emerson's official name for it) to the family. Lisa happened to be driving Dark Blue Rocket during the aforementioned snow storm and it performed like a champ!

And our final piece of what constitutes news in the depths of winter when children battle a seemingly never-ending series of colds and we consequently seldom leave the confines of our house: Tad grew a beard. No, not some pathetic attempt at a beard, an actual weeks-long successful man beard. In fact, it was a little too successful. Tad found himself stroking the beard constantly and loving it so much that he feared it might become his own "precious." He foresaw a life of church service that involved only scout master callings and he trembled with fear. So Tad's manly facial fur bit the dust earlier this month.

Wonderful White Christmas

2007-12-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

This Christmas felt like a magical dream; a soft, powdery Utah snow fell on Christmas Eve, we had our first Christmas snuggled in our cozy home, and we were surrounded by loved ones and family.

Tad and Lisa were able to approach their Christmas preparations with muscles kneaded to supple, stress-free perfection after their anniversary celebration of a couple's massage. The Japanese spa was a perfect zen experience involving a steam room, a warming room, scented lotions, and some serious pampering. So Santa was especially jolly this year.

Of course the kids had weeks of Christmas preparation that we won't recount in too much detail. Suffice it to say that they made the cutest Family Home Evening Joseph and Mary (with Crosby playing a restless sheep/donkey) we've ever seen and they positively stuffed themselves with various treats dropped off by neighbors and loved ones.

The true festivities kicked off on Christmas Eve at Grandma May's house with a wonderful dinner and our traditional celebration. We read the special Christmas book that Tad and his siblings grew up reading each year, sang some Christmas carols, and opened one present each. Tad even got the fire going to bring the special warmth we so enjoyed.

Magically, Emerson and Stella somehow even avoided the usual Christmas morning overload grumpies. They both slept really late, waking so hungry that they actually enjoyed a big breakfast before tearing into the gifts. Emerson's first priority was opening Crosby's gifts. Over the weeks, Emerson had been closely monitoring the status of each family member's stocking and immediately noticed a giant bone Santa had brought in Crosby's. Grandma May joined us for the gluttonous gift-opening, a truly ridiculous bestowal of presents on two kids we can't help but spoil. Then we leisurely headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Baker's house for a delicious feast, some excellent visiting with family, and even more gift opening. In the final analysis, the toy tally was too great to recount in total, so we'll just mention a couple of highlights. Stella received the first "girl" toys in our house -- three baby dolls, a purse, and a grocery cart with groceries. Emerson raked in a lot of loot -- a roaring/walking dinosaur, two remote-controlled tarantulas, and a giant train set.

We thoroughly enjoyed all of the updates we received from our friends and loved ones over the holidays. So many of you are doing such amazing things and raising such beautiful families. We feel so blessed to know you and hope you have enjoyed the spirit of the Lord this season as we have.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2007-12-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

After a parched fall, we've really gotten pummeled with some great snow storms this December. It's crazy to shovel the walks at our own house and we're loving building snowmen and various nefarious snow creatures in our own back yard as Crosby, the ultimate snow dog, bounds like a deer through the snow drifts.
One of our favorite snow activities, however, has been taking Crosby to "Dog Mountain," Emerson and Stella's name for Tanner Park's off-leash area. It is truly magical to walk down a tunnel of snow-covered branches as our kids giggle in delight at Crosby and his canine friends bolting back and forth.
Another truly special event was bringing our first Christmas tree home to our own house. At the tree lot, Emerson was the consummate professional, critiquing and evaluating each specimen until we found the perfect tree. And amazingly, we actually got the perfect tree for once! It looks just beautiful, but it has also actually stayed alive really well. And, as you can see, the kids had a lot of fun decorating it (something they continue to re-do each day).
Tonight Tad and Lisa celebrate their seventh anniversary with what we're calling "Japanese Night." Lisa's parents are taking Emerson and Stella overnight (something the kids CAN'T WAIT for) while Tad and Lisa head out for some delectable delights at Kyoto Japanese restaurant. Then we'll engage in the truly indulgent as we partake in our first real massage, an HOUR-LONG couple's massage at Kura Door Japanese spa. It'll be interesting to see if we can really handle such pampering.
We hope all of you have a peaceful and beautiful Christmas with your loved ones!

Thank You Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

It's so fun to see the kids experiencing and learning about our holiday traditions. And with both grandmas living here and the Vancouver Mays in town, we had plenty of family fun time to engage in those traditions. During Thanksgiving prep night at Grandma Baker's house (an annual tradition of stuffing bread chopping), Emerson and Stella discovered The Lion King for the first time. Of course Emerson couldn't get enough of Scar and Stella tried to keep pace with her ferocious roars.
Our Thanksgiving was a gut-busting division between the Baker and May households, with excellent food at both. It's so nice to enjoy all of the traditional Thanksgiving food and Grandpa Baker's annual Thanksgiving program. We're so lucky to have so much family close by (and decent metabolisms that can cope with the culinary consequences).
Tad had his first days off work since our Disneyland trip last February, so we hit up all of the essential kid fun locations with the cousins: Hogle Zoo, the Aquarium, Temple Square Christmas lights, Trax trains, and randomly the Southtown Mall carousel. And despite the abundance of Thanksgiving food, we managed to squeeze in trips to most of our favorite restaurants as well. We hereby declare it a successful family visit! Thanks to all of our family, especially Ethan for being the ultimately patient older cousin and Uncle Tim for being the pied piper of children!
In non-holiday-related news, Tad tried his first felony case this past month. He acted as second chair, but was fortunate to both give the opening statement and examine two witnesses. It was a fairly complicated case due to the nature of the charges, so Tad felt a little nervous about the opening statement. As it turns out, he had no need to be; the jury returned a guilty verdict in only twenty minutes (less time than it takes to read the jury instructions). In addition, Tad has received compliments from multiple judges and fellow prosecutors on his performance and we feel truly blessed that he enjoys his job almost every day.
Stella continues to blossom. She has more of a risk-taking element to her personality than Emerson did at this stage (e.g. she sits on the stairs and leans forward to make us think she's about to fall). Her verbal skills truly amaze us; she can say Emerson's name perfectly, combine several words ("I want a hat") with ease and identify all major shapes. But the only shows she'll watch for more than ten seconds are Wallace and Gromit shows.
Emerson is such a gift to us. He and Tad are reading Harry Potter together and he's now counting down the days to Christmas. He totally idolizes his cousin, Ethan, and is enjoying learning more about numbers at home. His newest cute-ism comes each night when he insists on having Mom come in his room and repeatedly kiss and hug him until one of them cries for mercy.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T14:51:00.000-06:00

How many opportunities did you have to go trick-or-treating when you were a kid? Sure, we had the parade and hubbub at school, but other than that there was just plain old neighborhood trick-or-treating. With how many fun Halloween events Emerson and Stella attended, I'm surprised their costumes are still in tact.

First, of course we carved pumpkins. It's so exciting that Emerson is old enough to really understand and participate in these little rituals. We even toasted pumpkin seeds, which he and Stella gobbled up like candy. But of course the favorite part was lighting the candles in the pumpkins.

Next, we attended Mom and Reed's ward party at the Durham Ranch. It's really become a fun family tradition and we're so impressed with the generosity of the Durham family who hosts it. Then we attended our ward's party, which was really fun. Families, the Primary, the Nursery, etc. take over rooms in the ward building, decorate them, and hand out candy and prizes to the kids as they trick-or-treat all over the building.

Then we actually braved Boo at the Zoo with our friends, the Schipaanboords. It was really fun and not nearly as crowded as the first time we went, thanks to Jamie's good sense in getting us to meet there early. The animals were active, the kids were excited, the company was exceptional, and a good time was had by all.

Emerson's preschool had a great Halloween shindig on the big day. Emerson paraded all around in his costume, collected obscene amounts of candy from preschool parents, and literally stuffed his face with tootsie rolls (for some reason this year's candy obsession -- who ever thought a human would cry when receiving a Snickers bar and discovering it was not a tootsie roll?). That afternoon, we trick-or-treated at Tad's office and once again the candy accumulation was obscene. Emerson's policy of eating the candy upon receipt made it difficult for him to express his heartfelt thanks to the generous people at Tad's office.

And last night, we again felt truly lucky to live in our neighborhood as we ventured out for the real trick-or-treating experience. There were so many people out and so many friendly faces at the doors on which we knocked. Tad and Emerson even went for extra treats after Stella and I headed home. Emerson preferred to say, "Happy Halloween" rather than "thank you," so we also hope that all of you had the fun Halloween season we did.

NY Visitors and Birthday Fun

2007-10-17T14:34:00.000-06:00

We were delighted when Jean Rose and Deb Clark came out to visit us two weeks ago. Tad and I worked with them very closely as AmeriCorps volunteers in 2001-2002 in the Albany, NY area. We absolutely adored our time working with them but had been unable to go visit, so they traveled all the way to SLC to see us and meet our kids for the first time. We showed them around the city, the canyons, and various fun restaurants. Thanks so much for coming, you guys.
Last weekend Emerson celebrated his fourth birthday. He had an awesome rocket party with egg (planet) dyeing, rocket cookie frosting, and fun rides in his seven foot-tall, red cardboard rocket. He got so many wonderful gifts that I think we'll have to build another room onto our house! He's very excited to be such a big boy, but his parents aren't quite ready for it.
Stella started asking me "WHY?" a couple of weeks ago. If I ask her to stop doing something, she looks at me, scrunches up her face, and asks the dreaded question in a sing-song voice. She's also started asking, "happened?" when something happens to me -- but she only does it if she can put her face right up to mine.

Fall Fun

2007-10-01T15:21:00.000-06:00

Things here in SLC are going really well for our family. We purchased a house in the Brickyard area in May and have since been continuously involved in fix-up projects. It's actually really fun for us after renting for so long. Emerson and Stella especially love playing in their sandbox in the back yard, tending our garden of tomatoes and jalapenos, riding bikes in the driveway, and simultaneously getting out every toy they own in our play room.
Emerson is loving preschool this year, especially since his teacher loves field trips. He loves all things boy -- sword fights, rockets, wrestling, and dinosaurs -- but also really enjoys art projects that involve stamps, scissors, and drawing himself in heroic situations.
Stella's name definitely fits. She's constantly awing us with her luminous personality. At 15 months, she's able to communicate almost every need (and endless observations) effectively. She loves to do anything Emerson does, loves to dance and draw, and loves to be outside.
Tad is loving his job at Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, especially no longer commuting to Provo. He's learning the workings of the juvenile justice system and enjoying being downtown where so many of his buddies work. He's also become an avid runner, a habit our new dog, Crosby, benefits from as well.
I'm keeping busy with the kids here at home and am loving it. Now that I'm back in a good running groove, I have a good outlet for stress as well! I love taking care of our house, participating in a great book club, and working with the Cub Scouts in our church.