Woof! Woof!

Emily is such a goof when it comes to things that she is afraid of. In some ways she reminds me of a dog. She is afraid of the blow dryer, and terrified of the vacuum. Every time I vacuum the house and I am not holding her even if she is in her high chair or johnny jump up she will scream and cry. Not her normal crying but more of a "Ahhh! Save me! Its gonna get me!" The instance I pick her up she stops and is just fine. For any of you who have a dog it acts pretty much the same.

The other day I found one of my old toys from when I was a little little girl. Do you remember the little wooden dog on wheels that you would pull around on a string, and it would make this really weird noise? Well, Emily is terrified of it. I pulled it out the other day thinking that she would just love it, and she at first just watched it roll back and forth, and then I started to pull it toward her and she would make a scream that sounded like "ahhhh!" I feel horrible because she was all shaky and it really made her upset to the point that if she even saw it she would start to cry. Hopefully she will end up just loving it.

Here Comes Santa Claus

We took Emily to go see Santa, and get her picture taken with him this past week. She did really well with only one baby meltdown. We purchased the whole CD of pictures and it was really fun to see the progression of Emily meeting Santa in the pictures. They started out with a very close examination of him, and then she started to cry. After I calmed her down we were able to get some really cute pictures with her cute little dimple grin. The Santa at the South Hill Mall was such a cute Santa and was such a sweetheart with Emily. I think we will go back to this Santa next year and shoot for the first week in December to avoid the lines.

I'm not too sure about this guy...

5 month pictures

When we were down in Utah my cousin took Emily's pictures for us. She did such a wonderful job, and caught many cute pictures and especially her cute little smile.

Thanksgiving and more

A lot of things have happened in the past month. Emily got her second tooth, she has rolled onto her tummy, and a few times from her tummy to her back. She has started to eat cereals and we are now introducing fruits and veggies. She is able to grab her bottle and get it into her mouth, and she puts herself to bed now too.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. We spent it with Nathan's family, and it turned out so nice. The food was delicious, great company, and Emily behaved for the most part. I made Yam Apple Casserole. It is a tasty mix of apples and yams in a yummy sweet mixture. It is a tradition in my family to have that at all the major holidays and this was my first time making it. Nathan and I spent the evening before going to the store, and he was such a big help constructing all of the layers.

You will probably think I am nuts, but on Thanksgiving my mom, cousin Robin and myself made our way to Michaels for the big pre black Friday sale. We were one of the first ones in line and we fought the 'huge' crowd to the cricut cartridges where we were able to fight to get the ones that we wanted. Actually it was the most laid back sale shopping that I have ever done. They opened a half hour earlier then they had posted and there was maybe a dozen people in line. Not quite a mad rush to the bins like last year. We were able to get everything that we wanted and get back to the festivities all within less than an hour. We did the early early morning sales too. Fortunately for me all of my shopping didn't take very long, and I did not have to stand in line for very long.

Poor little thing doesn't like the numbing gel for her teeth. I don't blame her because I tried it and boy is it horrible.

The first time we fed her rice cereal. She took to it really well.

I'm ready to go!

The little stinker went through this phase where she would suck on her pointer finger and her thumb every time we would put a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.

We got this little teddy bear from Nathan's aunt and little Emily just loves it. Her little face would light up whenever we brought it out and she would reach out for it.

Things to be Thankful For...

Reflecting on the Thanksgiving Season has helped me to realize the many things that I am thankful for. It is kind of sad that it takes a holiday for us to recognize the things that we are thankful for and to express our gratitude. This year my mother-in-law challenged us to keep a notebook where we right down 5 things a day that we are thankful for and each day that have to be different. This really helped me to start recognizing throughout the day the things that I am grateful for which has helped me to express my gratitude. My list started out with the big things and as the days went on I had to really think of what I was grateful for which helps me to recognize the little things in my life.

My list includes:
Nathan, Emily, Christ, the gospel, job, food/clothing, health, creativity, talents, rain, fall leaves, bed, electricity, warm water, holy ghost, zantac, luvs/diapers, music, eternal families, veterans, temple covenants, trees, cars, colors, relief society, my own bed, washer and dryer, weekends, genealogy, tums, nap time, indoor bathroom, vacuums, education, teething stuff, flashlights, shelter, heat, cell phones, books, memories, pictures, reminders, scriptures, conference talks, testimony, friends, good conversation, snuggling, alone time, good ideas, vacation, getting my chores done, clean house, getting to stay home, cleaning supplies, vinyl windows, Saturdays, family time, Costco samples, sound of rain, floral arrangements, hot chocolate, accomplishments.

This is a really good practice to get into, and I am going to try to do it sporadically through out the year.

Halloween

For Halloween Emily was a tiger. It was the perfect outfit for her because when she was younger her cries sounded like a cat, and we always called her our little kitty cat. She looked so cute. We were going to do matching family outfits, but we ran out of time. So Nathan and I just scrounged something up from around the house. Nathan ended up being a soccer player from Brazil, and I ended up being an Eagle Scout. Kind of lame I know, but I have our outfits picked out for next year and I am so excited! You will just have to wait to see what we end up being. We trick or treated at the grandparents house. She is a little bit young for trick or treating, but we wanted to at least go to the grandparents.

Cute little tiger with tail and all!

The two best dressed people!

Snow!

While we were down in Utah it snowed twice! On our last day there I took Emily outside to touch the snow for the first time. She didn't know quiet what to think. She just sat there and touched it when it was in my hand, but when I held her over it and she reached down feeling it on the ground she didn't like it too much making an "uuuhhh" sound. This trip was full of a lot of firsts- first plane ride, first snow, and.... first tooth!

Pretty much the day after we got to Utah her tooth started to push up, and by Monday evening it had broke through. Poor little thing was not feeling too good, but now she can't help but run her tongue of her gums to feel her tooth.

Grandma Nate

We have a running joke in our family in which my mom decided that she didn't want to be called Grandma, but Grammys instead. My brother said that we needed to have a Grandma in the family so he said that he was going to teach Emily to call him Grandma Nate. Well, on our trip to Utah Emily and Uncle Nate picked back up right where they left off. He is so wonderful with her. He is wrapped around her little finger.

The two of them took a nap together. It was so cute. I think they will always have a special little bond together.

In Memory of Hal Aveson Ludlow- My Beloved Poppy

The funeral for my Poppy was on Saturday. What a wonderful day in spite of the reason we were all gathered together. The funeral was wonderful- filled with a lot of memories about Poppy. I learned a lot about my Poppy that I didn't even know. He was such a special man who was very caring, thoughtful, honest, and always put the Lord first. I was touched to hear that Poppy's only regret was that he owed someone something. Back when he was working as a driver he purposely took a longer route that added an hour onto his commute. He felt horrible about it and told his employer about it and offered to pay them the hour that he took. I only hope that I can live my life in a way that my only regret is that I feel that I owe someone something. It was fun to hear all of the good memories of him how he always drove so fast- "like a bat out of hell" as his neighbor put it, and that he was a little forgetful and drove through his garage door twice! Us grandchildren sang a song during the funeral "Oh what Songs of the Heart." The graveside was wonderful my Uncle Hal dedicated the grave, there was a 3 gun salute, and some members of the Coast Guard were there. I have never seen a flag folded up close. It was really interesting seeing how crisp they were and how one guy would bend a corner really fast before they folded the flag. Makes you wonder if each movement symbolizes something. Thankfully through all of this Emily behaved really well and did not have a melt down. To catch a glimpse of his life I have included his obituary:

Hal A. "Flash" Ludlow 1925 ~ 2010 Hal Aveson Ludlow, beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, returned home with honor on October 20, 2010, surrounded by his family, after a valiant battle with cancer. Born in Salt Lake City to Ralph H. and Josephine Aveson Ludlow, he is preceded in death by his parents; siblings; Chess, Bo, Marge, and daughter Lisa. He is survived by his dear wife Inger, children; Kris, Karen, Terrie, and Hal, sister Joanne, and a numerous posterity. As a youth, he raised prize pigeons, and enjoyed his pet bobcat "Champ". He could shoot a basketball equally well with either hand, earning him the nicknames "Flash" and "Hot Shot Lud". He enlisted in the US Coast Guard after graduating from East High School, and served aboard ship honorably for three years during World War II. Following his service in the military he fulfilled an honorable LDS Mission to Denmark. Hal was married to his sweetheart Inger Pedersen Ludlow, in the Salt Lake Temple on October 12, 1951. After marrying, he worked for Pehrson Hardware, Ludlow Plumbing, and then retired form the LDS Church Security Department after nearly 20 years. His family and the gospel were always his highest priorities. He loved missionary work and would share his testimony of the Gospel with anyone, anywhere in the world, and his life was a living example of being the Lord's 'go-to-guy' he was dependable and could be counted on to do anything he was asked. He served faithfully as a ward clerk, teacher, home teacher, and Ordinance Worker in the Salt Lake Temple for 18 years. Hal and Inger served a two year LDS mission in the Stockholm Sweden Temple. Fearless, even in death, he always let his cares "roll like water off a ducks' back". His motto was "Okay, let's get going". Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ackerly, Dr. Hardman, Maryanne, Linda, Bonnie Lee, Clithane and all those who cared for him at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, IHC and Vista Care and other providers. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 at the LDS Willow Grove Ward, located at 8539 S. 2200 W., West Jordan, Utah at 11:00 a.m. Friends and family may call Friday, October 22nd at Larkin Mortuary, 260 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and prior to the service from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Interment will follow at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Emily's First Airplane Ride

On October 20th my Poppy (Grandpa) passed away after a long battle with Mesothelioma. We had to purchase tickets really fast to get down to Utah the following evening. Going through the airport with a baby is a little tricky. There is a lot of things that you have to bring including the car seat, base and stroller. Thankfully once we took off Emily fell asleep and stayed asleep for the entire flight. I was so afraid that her ears would not pop and she would be super cranky the entire flight. Going down to Utah we were on a little puddle jumper with only 20 rows and we just happened to end up on the very last row next to the bathroom. It was so funny because on take off and landing the stewardess pulled a seat out in the isle and was shoulder to shoulder with the rest of us on the isle. coming home we were on a Boeing 757 which has about 45 rows. The flight crew was late so we had to sit on the plane without any air conditioning for an extra 45 minutes, and luckily I was able to get Emily asleep. This plane was cool. I have never been on a plane that had individual TVs at each seat and you could watch actual TV during the flight. It made this flight go by much faster then the first one.

Grammys, Grampys and Emily in the Salt Lake Airport.

New Machines

I finally got my sewing machine and serger. For the longest time I have been wanting to purchase a new sewing machine, but I could not decide on what I wanted. With the new baby I decided it was about time to upgrade my 1925 singer sewing machine to something a little bit better. It did help that the ladies at work at the baby shower gave me money to buy a machine, and luckily with the fair there were specials so I was able to get both a sewing machine and a serger. So I am now the proud owner of a Baby Locke Lauren Series serger and a Brother XR-7700 sewing machine. Now if I just had the time and money to be able to make tons of projects.

Apple Juice

We have been giving little Emily apple juice to help her to be regular and the first time we gave it to her it was absolutely hilarious. She flared her nose, tried to get it out of her mouth with her tongue and was even gagging. I can't wait to see her reactions when she is able to try more foods. After diluting the juice she now drinks it full strength and just loves it.

My first wreath

I am into making wreaths for the different holidays now I have only made one so far, but it is really cute. I found the instructions on U-create, and thought it would be a super easy project. Wrong. It ended up taking me almost 2 weeks, and each rosette was kind of a pain, but after the 40th one made it got a little bit easier. Now I just need to find ideas for all the other holidays. I have an idea for Halloween. Just need to go and buy some black burlap and a wreath form. I am pretty excited. Until I get into a more permanent residence I think that wreaths will probably be my main decoration besides Christmas. If anyone comes across any cute wreath ideas let me know.

Snoqualamie Falls

Going to Snoqualamie Falls was the farthest away from home Emily has ever been. She did so well in the car between mommy and Grammys. She is so cute just sat there and talked to us the whole time. Unfortunately it rained the entire time we were there, and the trail down to the base of the falls is closed until like March of 2013, but we still had a really fun time.

Along with the falls we spent the afternoon with Grammys and Grampys at the outlet stores in North Bend and got her a ton of cute winter clothes. Just need to find a place to get her a winter coat. She is such a well behaved baby, and boy did it help that Nathan had the idea of feeding her in a dressing room. We had such a wonderful day out in spite of the rain.

Mile stones

Emily has had a lot of firsts this past week. October 1st Emily did her first real giggle she has done a lot of squeals and squeaks but she did an actual giggle. We have been trying to get her to do it more often, but with no success. The following night after putting her down for bed I heard her crying and went in to see what was wrong, and I couldn't find her face. She had rolled onto her tummy and was crying cause she was stuck. Alas she has not rolled over since. She has now discovered her feet and is constantly grabbing them along with her tongue. She is so close to blowing a raspberry. It is so cute when she sits there blowing bubbles and talking with an occasional glimpse of her tongue. Plus now she fits in 6 month clothing, but only in the length.

How time flies!

In the past month or so there has been quiet a few new things that have happened in our family. I found my old glow worm and Emily has just fallen in love with it. She just follows it around and stares at it so much. It is a little big at the moment for her to be able to play with it herself so I will have to see if I can find a smaller form of it for her for Christmas.

Emily did the Puyallup for the first time this year. Not sure how she enjoyed it. I think there was just too much stimulation for her and she ended up mostly sleeping the whole time, but it was a lot of fun. Boy is there a lot of stuff you have to take with you when you go anywhere when a baby is involved cause you never know what the weather is going to be like, if you will need a change of clothes, etc. No more doing what you want whenever you want, but it is totally worth it.

In September Nathan's brother Jason got married in the Seattle Temple. What a beautiful day- everything was just gorgeous! We are so happy to have Ryann as part of our family now. It is crazy but from all of the activities that happened that weekend it made Emily so very tired and grouchy never thought we would have to worry about something wearing her out.
Emily started to sit up supported this past month too. Since she discovered sitting that is all that she wants to do now. Just sit and look at everything.


I just love this picture of her I look at this picture and I just want to kiss those chubby little cheeks of hers. This past month she has liked to lay on her tummy for a little longer than usual.
It just seems so unreal that all of these big changes have happened and that she is going to be 4 months this coming month. Where has the time gone?

TV-aholic

Our little Emily just loves to watch TV! Its probably just all the bright colors and big movements that catches her attention, I hope. This picture is just priceless- like father like daughter. Nathan finally got his big screen 46 inch Sony Bravia after much shopping around, and they took it for a test run. when she saw all of the life sized pictures to her as you can see her jaw dropped in awe and she was mesmerized.

The Big 3-Oh!

Nathan had his 30th birthday at the end of August. It turned out to be a really fun day. Emily cooperated enough to where I could make Nathan a really yummy cheese cake he just loves cheese cake. Here is the recipe if you would like to try making it:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp flour
Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350. With mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; mix well.
2. Toss chocolate chips with flour; stir into cream cheese mixture. Pour into crust.
3. Bake 35 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched. Cool and top with glaze. Serve chilled. Store leftovers covered in fridge.

Chocolate Glaze: In small saucepan, over low heat, melt 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips with 1/4 cup whipping cream; cook and stir until thickened and smooth. Immediately spread over cheesecake.

It is the tastiest cheesecake recipe I have ever tried. Super rich, but it is his birthday only once a year.

For his birthday dinner I made him steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and sugared carrots. After dinner the 3 of us hurried out to Kent to the drive in movie theater where we saw Despicable Me and Toy Story 3. It was so much fun, and really worked out great with Emily because I held her during the first movie, fed her and then Nathan held her during the second movie. Just really chill and we didn't have to hurry back because of the baby. I really hope that Nathan had a fun birthday because I really had a fun time.

Newborn Photo Shoot

When Emily was about 2 and a half weeks old Jennifer Wilcox, who did my maternity shoot, did Emily's newborn pictures. Unfortunately Emily did not behave very well, and pretty much screamed the entire time. We did get some really cute pictures though. We had a lot of fun doing these pictures and the one with the bow was my idea and it is just adorable. Here are some absolutely adorable pictures of our wonderful baby girl:

At the very end of the photo shoot when we put her clothes back on she calmed right down and took some pretty funny shots. The photographer had to put this weird headband on.

This is the someone just took my binkie out of my mouth look.

Cute little toesies

Our cute little family

This is the only pose that worked, and it turned out really good. She is our little gift from God.

Blessing Day

The day after Scott and Kirsten's wedding we blessed Emily. She behaved wonderfully, and I wonder if that is because the wedding wore here out. She snoozed the whole night until it was time to get up and go to church. She looked so cute in her blessing dress that Sister Jones made for her.

When Nathan was blessing her he first named her Maija Lisa which is an honest mistake because my middle name is Lisa, but he caught himself and named her Emily Lisa. The blessing turned out wonderful we had quiet a bit of Nathan's family there, and my sister and brother-in-law were here from Texas. What a perfect day.

Emily in her blessing dress

Grandma Gray made Emily beautiful jewelery, and Auntie Anja bought Emily a gorgeous pearl bracelet because pearl is her birthstone.

Grammys and Grampa got Emily the cutest little heart necklace to remember this special day.

Wedding Day Bliss

Nathan's brother Scott got married on August 7th to a cute little spunky, fun loving, sweet girl named Kirsten. It was such a wonderful busy day. Little Emily did so well at the wedding. Actually she slept the entire time, and I mean the entire time from the time at the temple clear through to the reception that night. What was wonderful too was that she slept for 8 hours that night as well. Weddings are so much fun and it was especially fun for us because I got to experience again what Nathan and I had done a year earlier. The reception and luncheon were a lot of fun. Good food, beautiful decor, and wonderful company. Here are a few shots from the day:

4 generations!

The Gray Family

Snoozer baby

Our eternal family

My Silky...

At 6 weeks old I discovered my mom's slip. She was getting ready for church and I was on the bed next to the slip, and I got hold of it. Ever since that time I always have it with me. I sleep with it, eat with it and sit in my bouncy chair with it. It is my comfort and my lovey.

Emily is so funny because if she is just sitting there she has a grip on it with both hands, and she has started chewing on it. Her little fingers run through the fabric constantly. I'm just so glad that we discovered her silky so soon, and that if we place it on her face and she has a good hold on it she will calm down really fast. I am going to have to go to Ross and find an XL one so i can make a bunch of silkys for her.

Splish Splash!

Mommy and Daddy had not gotten a bath for me yet so one of my first baths around 2 weeks was in a pot placed in the sink. It worked really well for a while, but we got a bathtub for her now, and she is starting to get more comfortable in the water.

Our Life Saver!

We went to the doctor a couple weeks to go to address an issue with Emily. She has been going pale at certain times, but we did an EKG and chest x-ray and everything is fine with her. The doctor called us and asked how the prescription for her stomach was going. We were at a total loss because we never got a prescription. It is a form of Zantac, and I was a little skeptical at first because it is for acid reflux which I didn't think would do anything for her. Let me say that within a couple of days she did not require being held 24/7 and she doesn't cry all the time anymore! I am jumping for joy! Now she just sits there happily cooing, smiling, and trying to laugh. Today I was able to take a shower, eat lunch, and cut out 6 Christmas socks without her crying. I love being a mom now. Hopefully she will continue to be like this.

She is finally here!

Emily Lisa Gray was born on June 18th at 9:11am weighing 9 lbs 1 0z and 21.5 inches long. What an absolutely beautiful and perfect miracle in our lives. It is still such an awesome feeling to think that I am a mommy now. I just hope and pray that I am able to teach her what she needs to know over the years.

So I went into labor at 1:30 am on the 17th, but the contractions were so sporadic in time and length that I wasn't sure if this was the real deal. I made it through the day cleaning the house and working on a sewing project. The contractions really weren't that bad until about midnight when I timed them again and they went from every 7-10 minutes to every 3.5 minutes, but I still wasn't a hundred percent sure that it was happening. So I decided to try to sleep a little bit which I think I slept about 15 minutes before they were so unbearable I had to get up. Around 1:00 am. I woke Nathan up and I told him that I wasn't sure if we needed to go to the hospital until I decided that it was just too hard to handle anymore.

It was so funny because I was ready to go at 1 am, but it took forever to wake up Nathan and then we had to finish getting our stuff for the hospital, get dressed, and run the dishwasher. Thankfully St. Joe's is only 15 minutes away. When we got there come to find out I was already 6 cm dilated! So by the time I had the epidural I was probably dilated more, and then I had the baby at 9:11 am. Let me tell you I have never had anything hurt so much in my life!

Emily Lisa is such a beautiful little girl. She has my nose and her daddy's mouth. It is still such a strange thing to think that I now have a little girl!

Our Little Family

I discovered my thumb

My little hands have to be by my face at all times

I already have the lip pout down. Daddy is in trouble.