Feeling Pregnant

I'm feeling bad that I haven't posted any Christmas pics. We had a wonderful time in Utah with Cederstroms South, and I have pics to post, but I am feeling pregnant and tired today. I will try and post them soon! Chant the mantre... only 6 more weeks... ONLY 6 more weeks... dang I have 6 more weeks?!?

Santa Baby...

Tell Santa what you want for Christmas...
I want a Bullseye flashlight and a Woody...

I want Wendy's Music Box and Polly Pockets...

Happy Birthday Emmett Michael!!

Happy Birthday Emmett!
In order to celebrate Emmett's Birthday we took a bunch of hats to the hospital for the babies that share Emmett's birthday. The girls had a great time giving the presents to the moms. Ella would hand a present to each mom and then say "it's Emmett's birthday today!" It was so much fun to see them so excited.

These are all the hats I made to take to the hospital.

We had 10 different gifts bags that each had a card, an angel, and a hat. We handed out 6 of these bags ourselves and left 4 bags and 5 more hats for the nurses to hand out.

I can't say that we did a lot for Emmett's birthday, but these few hours that we spent at the hospital were wonderful. We were able to share happy moments with some moms and their babies and still remember our own angel baby that watches over us each day.

Oh my angel boy, how we miss you and wish you were here. Watch over us and remember that we love you even if you only spent a short amount of time here. This was all in memory of you!

Letters to Santa

This week we have jumped head first into the Christmas spirit! We have our tree up, our wreath on the door... ok that's about all the decor we have up yet, but still.... When David left after Thanksgiving he gave the girls a list of things they are supposed to be doing. So far we have checked item number 1 off the list.

1) Write letters to Santa

Elena's belated birthday presents

Elena was so excited when she heard that Daddy was bringing more birthday presents with him when he came home for Thanksgiving. Since these are the only pics I have of her birthday (so far) to share here they are!

Elena loves her new boots. She wants to wear them everyday. The thing she likes most is that she thinks she can walk in knee deep snow now, because she has her boots on!

What does Elena spend most of her time doing these days? Coloring on the white board that Grandma and Grandpa Cederstrom gave her.

These shoes are soooo cute, and Elena loves them!

Elena's BEAUTIFUL Christmas dress! She loves to wear her Christmas dresses. (and that is from the kid that won't let me do her hair most times cause she "wants to look like a boy")

Ella at the dentist

Ella went to the dentist for the 1st time this month. (well, this is the first time that she let anyone do anything. Last time she wouldn't even let them polish 1 or 2 of her teeth)

This is Ella supporting her super cool shades while she catches some rays from the dentist light.

Ella was so brave! She let them polish her teeth, floss her teeth, put fluoride on, and take X-rays! (That's a big leap from last time.)

Ella holds up her bag of goodies that the dentist gave her.

IT'S A GIRL!!

I know for most of you this might be old new, but due to my pregnant brain that can't remember anything I was having complications logging into Blogger for awhile, so...

It's a Girl!!

This is the pic of our "gymnist" daughter. (yes, those are her toes touching her forehead)
Her adorable profile!

Her cute little face! Some people say they think this picture is creepy, but I LOVE IT!! I think that she looks a little like Ella.

Her long skinny feet. Another clue that she might look like Ella. Elena has small feet altogether, but Ella has always had super-long feet that are just as skinny as they are long.

With only about 3 more months to do, I can't wait to see this beautiful baby girl and hold her in my arms.

Coming to a kitchen near you...

Coming to a kitchen near you...

LASAGNA

Famous Food Critic Ella Jean Cederstrom says

"Mommy this is the best dinner you have ever made!"

So try "LASAGNA" in your house TODAY!

Here we go again...

For those of you who haven't heard...

We are expecting another baby in February 2011.

I have been waiting for so long to post these ultrasound pictures of our next baby. I'm not exactly sure why I waited so long, except after losing Emmett I just didn't want to tell people until I was pretty sure that everything was on the up and up.

The first pictures were taken clear back at the end of June. Dr. Leavitt asked to come in and get an ultrasound pretty soon after I got pregnant so that we could monitor this baby all the way along. After informing me that I made into her "book" with Emmett and not to do that again, took these pictures of our new baby and let me know that at the time the baby wasn't any bigger than a grain of rice.

The next picture was taken the first week in August at my first High Risk Doc appointment. For as little as the baby was I couldn't believe how much it was moving around and kicking. I don't know if you can tell in this picture but the baby kept putting it's hands up by its face too. I can't explain how nice it was to see a healthy moving baby even if it still was inside of me!

Unless Dr Leavitt decides to do another ultrasound before then, my next ultrasound is scheduled for October 19, with the high risk docs. Hopefully (unless the baby is shy like Ella) we will find out what we are having that day.

Visiting Baby Emmett

We were driving home from Idaho Falls today and Ella saw a Cemetary. Next thing she asked if we could go visit Emmett sometime, so we drove out to the cemetary for a visit.

Elena likes to pet Emmett's bear when we go. Hopefully she won't rub all the texture off.

It is always interesting the conversations we have when we are in/leaving the cemetary. Today Ella was asking me if Grandpa Gene knew her when she was a little baby. I got to explain that Grandpa didn't know them when they were babies, but Grandpa knew Ella, Elena, and Emmett in heaven before they came here to Earth. The girls got excited, not only to know they knew Grandpa before they came here, but also to know that they knew Emmett there.

Bear Lake 2010

This weekend we got to take our annual trip to Bear Lake/Pickleville. Friday night we spent at the one and only PICKLEVILLE PLAYHOUSE!!

Friday we got to see the show "Bandito rides again." I honestly think that my kids are two of Bandito's biggest fans. (even as I am writing this the kids are laughing saying "I wanna see Bandito) They laughed just as hard as all the adults even they didn't get half of the jokes. Ella's favorite part of the show was when the hero and heroine were playing the air guitar and singing to each other. Although most of the kids in the crowd weren't sure about him, Elena's favorite part of the show was the big pink bunny. (you have to see it) She thought it was hilarious when Bandito shot the bunny. What can I say my kids are morbid!

Saturday we got to go to beach. It was so much fun! We made two pretty awesome sand castles and spent a little time in the water. Check out these pics of our time at the beach.

I don't have any pics from Saturday night, but we got to eat dinner with Dave's family and go see the show "Crazy about you." For never seeing the show before, I couldn't believe how many of the songs I knew! Some of them included "I've got rhythm" and "Someone to watch over me." Who knew!! Ella LOVED this show!! It was full of dancing and Ella was glued to the stage. She even got a poster for the show to hang up in her room.

Here's to another fun weekend at Bear Lake. WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

OUR Peewee Princess

This year we decided that it would be fun to let Ella do the Queen Contest at the County Fair. Here at our fair the youngest age group is from 3 to 6 years old. I was a little nervous that Ella was going to be to shy to talk in front of people, so practiced as much as possible. (considering we decided to the contest a week before!) We borrowed an old mare that my nephew rides for Ella to ride and we were set!

Well... the horsemanship part of the contest didn't go quite as we had planned. Ella did great warming up the horse in the arena. I asked her if she wanted me to help her walk in to start her pattern, but she wanted to do it herself. Her horse walked into the arena, saw that it was empty and started loping straight across the arena. Before we knew it the horse switched directions and started RUNNING toward the gate. When she turned around she threw Ella sideways. LUCKILY Ella held onto the horn for dear life. The scene that unfolded before my eyes was a horse running straight for me with Ella holding the horn, both legs on one side of the horse, and visions of her falling flashing before my eyes! I guess she is stronger than I ever thought because she held on long enough me to stop the horse. We caught our breath, threw Ella back on the horse, and I lead Ella through her pattern. I don't think the judges were very impressed with the symmetry of my figure 8, but I did it anyway. When we got around to the judges, Ella was still crying, but she managed to answer all of the judges questions.

The morning Ella got up bright and early to go and have her personal interview with the judges. They asked her: What does the American flag look like? What cartoon character would you be? What color is your horse? and What breed is your horse? Of course I wasn't able to go in the room with her, so I'm not sure how she did, but she acted very confident.

Later that night she got to do her Presence and Composure, along with her "Speech." For their speech the Peewee Princesses were supposed to tell their name, their parents names, and something about their horse. Watch the video, I think she did a great job.

The following week I got to witness personally how much Ella's confidence grew just from those few days in the contest. Ella sold tickets for the rodeo and the fair BBQ and talked to everyone who bought a ticket. She even sat at the drug store for a few hours and sold tickets to total strangers. She did great!

When it was all said and done she got 3rd place in ticket sales (not bad for a 5-year-old when she was competing against the big girls!) and she won Speech! Of all of the things for her to win, she won the competition where she had to stand in front of a large group of people and talk!!! I was sooo proud! She might not have won a sash or a crown, or even the title but she made us proud. She will ALWAYS be

OUR PEEWEE PRINCESS!!

Congratulations Ella!! We love you!!

Memorial Day 2010

Happy Memorial Day!!

This memorial day weekend we went to the cabin and spent time with David's family. On Saturday we went to Jackson and had lots of fun looking in the shops. On Monday we went and visited cemetaries.

This is my Grandpa and Grandma Boyle's grave.

This is my Great Grandpa and Grandma Drake's grave

This is baby Emmett's grave.

I decided that I want to try and come back to Emmett's grave every Memorial Day and take a picture of our family. Because of Dave's choice of work, this might be difficult but we are going to try.

Baby Emmett and Grandpa Boyle's graves together forever!

Little Chickadee Preschool Graduation 2010

This year was Ella's 2nd and final year at Little Chickadee Preschool. She has had a really fun year and this week was Preschool Graduation. Here are a few pictures from graduation...

Ella has had so much fun with her teacher (and aunt) Danna. I think she will miss getting to hang out with Danna next year when she heads to Kindergarten.

Here is Ella with some of her friends from School at graduation.

CONGRATULATIONS ELLA!

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU AND HOW MUCH YOU HAVE LEARNED THE LAST TWO YEARS!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Vintage Pearl Giveaway

This site is giving away the cutest mother's necklaces for Mother's Day. Go and enter to win one!! Hurry fast it ends soon!

http://www.thevintagepearl.blogspot.com/

The "B" Pooch

"In 2008 a cuddly canine was sent to a estrogen filled house in Southeast Idaho. Imprisoned daily by his female task master for actions that are every dogs right. This dog quickly learned that if his tail was cut off he would be released into household battlefield. Today, still yelled at by the females, he survives as a shadow stocker of feline and men alike. If you have a noise, if no one else will protect you, and if you can keep him from jumping on you, maybe you can hire the B-Pooch..."

Easter 2010

This year we got to go to Grandpa and Grandma Cederstrom's for Easter. It was so much fun! We colored eggs, found eggs, and the Easter Bunny even came to visit!! It must have snowed a lot after he came cause there weren't any tracks... If only it wouldn't have snowed, it would have been perfect!

The Easter Bunny

Today we went to storytime at the library, and guess who showed up...

The Easter Bunny!!!

Macy wasn't so sure that she liked the Easter Bunny...

Elena even cried cause the bunny is soooo scary! "It's just a wee bunny!"

Ella was being her normal shy self, but at least she walked up to the Easter Bunny by herself.

Macy's Birthday Party

This week we got to go to a birthday party for the girls' friend Macy. They had so much fun playing, that I thought I would share the pictures.

A life not forgotten...

Usually I post my thoughts and feelings about Emmett on a separate blog that has become my journal. Tonight, however, I want to share my feelings with all of you.

One of my good friends from Bunko sent me this amazing blog www.agoodgrief.com. This blog has stories of people who have lost loved ones or those who are going through difficult trials.

Tonight I read a story and I felt as though it were my own words. The blog entry was titled "Untold stories." The girl was explaining how she was going to lunch with an old friend that had a daughter the same age as her little girl that had passed away. She was really nervous to see her friend, and was scared she would cry seeing her friend's little girl. Those of you who have lost a child will agree with me when I say that her friend did the most wonderful thing anyone could do. She asked her to tell a story about her little girl that had passed away.

Quoting from the blog entry, this mother wrote,

"I was breathless for a moment and then the floodgates opened. But simultaneously, I felt like I took a breath again, a real breath, for the first time since Lucy died... She was the only person to ever ask me that question. Two years later, she is still the only person that has ever asked me that question. “Tell me a story about Lucy…” And you know what? I don’t remember what story I told her. It was just such a relief to know that my daughter was not forgotten...Isn’t that what we do as parents? Tell the latest stories of our children? The hilarious things they say, the milestones they reach. They are part of our everyday evolving story and world. What hurts now is thinking of all the untold stories over the past two years that I cannot tell... I’m left with telling the same ones over and over again. And being asked to share them is like being told, “Your daughter’s life is still recognized, important, and special. She is not forgotten. Tell me all about her.” And that is what Karin did for me. She let me share a story of the past because I don’t have any of the present..."

Reading this was like an "Ah-hah" moment for me. For the first time I realized why I like to talk about what happened to Emmett so much. It is one of the only stories from his precious little life that I have to share. No wonder it means so much to me when I can share Emmett's story. No wonder it means so much to when people ask me how big my babies are and I can answer and tell them about ALL my kids not just the one's that I am lucky enough to have with me now. No wonder, talking about Emmett makes me feel better, even if I have to cry before I get there. How grateful I am for people like me who are willing to share their feelings in order to help others in the same situation. I have found so many wonderful people to share the joys and sorrows from Emmett's life with. Thank you so much to all of you who have allowed me to share my feelings and stories with you. I have grown so much closer to so many people that I love. Thank you so much.

A life not forgotten

EMMETT MICHAEL CEDERSTOM

December 4, 2009

6 lb 3 1/2 oz and 20 in

~He had long fingers and toes

~ His hair was lighter than the girls

~He was born at 36 1/2 weeks gestation

~He had elf ears just like his sisters

~ He looked just like my Elena Pearl's baby pictures

~His sisters love him and still ask about him to this day

~His daddy was soooo proud of him and loved him so much

~He Born into the Covenant and therefore eternally connected to his family

~Right before he died his father and Dr Leavitt gave him a blessing and reminded how much we love him.

~He IS and will always be our little angel

Our Washington Trip

Here are some videos from the Seattle Aquarium!

Happy Flowers...

Last week I was having a VERY bad day. I had started crying early in the morning and couldn't get myself to stop until I fell asleep later that afternoon. Dave went to his meeting and when he came home he had bought stuff to make fajitas for dinner, Andes mints to make brownies, and a pot of daisies to make me happy. He said that someone told him that daisies are the "happiest" flowers. What a good man I have for a husband.

Thank you Honey

for buying me my

Happy Flowers!!

Ballerina Girl

Ella got this new dance outfit for Christmas. She wore it to dance and everyone thought it was soooo cute! She is turning into my little ballerina girl!