Grandma J and Emerson looking at the zebras

Mommy and Emerson looking at the elephants

Emerson on the carousel

Emerson's cool zoo hat and zoo-appropriate attire

Emerson with his zoo souvenirs (he loves his friend Tiger)

Emerson and all the girls got to have a fun day going out to breakfast at Ruth's Diner and then at the Hogle Zoo. Emerson actually didn't really care about anything obviously, but it was still fun to take him and the girls all had a fun time. And yes, the zoo was still a million degrees--just like everyone remembers it.

Itsy Bitsy Bouncer

Emerson's favorite accessory is his Itsy Bitsy Bouncer. It has little hanging spiders that you can pull to play music--specifically the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song. (I'd pretty much be terrified of the spiders except they're cheerfully colored, have no hair, have unrealistically rounded legs, big cartoon eyes, and smiles...they're actually deceivingly friendly looking.) Emerson thinks these spiders are his friends. He likes to smile and coo at them. He certainly didn't gain his love of spiders from his mommy, but I guess it's okay he thinks they're his friends because maybe it will help him and me later in life. I hate killing spiders! If I get brave enough I get a huge wad of toilet paper and/or a shoe to smash it and then I flush it down the toilet.

The bouncer has this awesome vibrator setting that lulls him right to sleep. He just loves his bouncer. It's the next best thing after Mom or Dad or Grandma J or Grandpa J or Uncle Scott or Aunt Ashley or Uncle Brad or Aunt Natalie or Aunt Stephanie. You can tell that Emerson is well-loved at our house and he really doesn't spend too much time in that beloved bouncer.:)

Money, Money, Money!

I just wanted to post these because they're funny. Apparently money makes Emerson really really happy.

Photo Shoot

Emerson had his picture taken by Sami Stanton, my friend from high school. She did such a great job! I'm excited to see the rest of the pictures. Click here to go to her website. (You can look at Emerson's preview if you would like.) She does excellent work and I highly recommend her!

Emerson's Girlfriend

Binky Buddies

Here Sadie is putting the moves on Emerson. Too bad he doesn't even know he has hands yet.

She's going in for the kill....

Denied! (But not because Emerson doesn't like her--he just flails sometimes.)

Our pudgy little man

Emerson had a special friend come visit him from Logan. Our bestest friends the Humpherys came down from Logan and visited us the minute we got home from Richfield! We were excited to reunite Emerson and Sadie. Sadie is such a petite, cute little thing. Emerson is 2 months younger than her and he outweighs her by about a pound. It's crazy though because Sadie can hold things and is able to use her hands, and Emerson is still blissfully unaware that he has said tools, so he just sort of moves them randomly, sometimes knocking out friend binky and smacking himself in the face. (He's still cute though. I'll give him a couple more months.) Sadie has purposeful movements and it kinda freaked me out because she's Emerson's size and he has not mastered purposeful movements at all. It was just hard to wrap my mind around the fact that she's older by a few months even though they're the same size. I love my chunky little guy. It was so great to see the Humpherys. We miss you guys! We miss watching movies and making treats and sitting around! ;)

Richfield Fishing Trip

Joe showing Emerson the delicious bass that he caught for him. (Actually, it was a trout)

The fish started thrashing around and its tail almost smacked Emerson in the face, so that's why I'm jumping away and screaming.

Joe thought it was so funny the first time that he came at me with the fish again!

Emerson enjoying his fishing trip.

Emerson and Uncle Michael

A couple weeks ago we went down to Richfield to visit Grandma Chris and go fishing with the Christensens. (Please notice, Kristie, the lack of possession on the plural form of Christensens.) It was a pretty relaxing trip. We got to stay with Grandma Chris and raid her candy dish. We also took her out to lunch (well...she ended up treating us, but that wasn't our intention!) at the Little Wonder Cafe. I don't know if anyone has ever been there, but let me tell you what a wonder it is! For dinner, you know how there's typically a choice between soup or salad? At the Little Wonder it's not a choice between soup or salad--you get both soup AND salad! Pretty cool. I guess it's not that cool, but it's so rare I just had to blog about it. We went bowling and to a barbecue at Ben's Aunt Ann's house Friday night, and then Ben got up early to go with the fishing party at like 6. Being a mom now and having to cart an adorable little baby around with lots of stuff, I can't just up and go at 6. He has to be fed, his things need to be packed, and let's face it, I don't like to look like crap all the time, so there are a few things I need to do to get myself ready. (Sometimes Ben needs a little help too, so I really have to care for all 3 of us. Welcome to Motherhood!) So Emerson and I got up a little later and decided to go up with Grandma Chris. But alas, fishing didn't go so well. Grandma Chris and Emerson and I were trying to decide exactly when we wanted to head up there when Ben texted me to say nevermind. Apparently it was freezing cold and even the fire they built couldn't keep them warm. So they came back and played games for a few hours and then when the day warmed up we gave it another go. Emerson and I had fun sitting in the car with Grandma Chris reading and watching everyone fish. I loved the fact that we could pull the car up pretty much to the shoreline so we didn't miss a thing from the comfort of our luxury vehicle. (Our Ford Focus is SO spacious.) Emerson was only allowed out of his carseat to eat and to see the delicious bass that Uncle Joe caught for him. (Thanks, Napoleon.)

Little Buddy

Brad and Emerson


Emerson trying to sneak into Uncle Brad's suitcase to accompany him to EFY

Emerson loves hanging out with Uncle Brad...and Brad loves hanging out with Emerson. I'll tell you why: Little Buddy helps Uncle Brad get girls. It's true. You should see them swarm around him when he so kindly volunteers to carry Emerson's carseat for me. I'm sure there are no ulterior motives--it just happens! How lucky for Brad!
So when Uncle Brad was packing for EFY, Emerson remembered his duty to his Big Buddy and snuck into his suitcase because he knew that Brad would never succeed in getting girls without him. Brad pretty much shot himself in the foot when he decided to take his Sunday shoes in the space that Emerson tried to squeeze in. Oh well, too bad for him. Emerson tried to be a good nephew, and he even packed light with just his binky...just remember that when you come home empty-handed, Brad.

Emerson's Blessing Day

All tuckered out after his big day

The four generations

Mommy, Daddy, and Emerson

On Sunday, June 1st we blessed little Emerson. It was a great day and we so appreciated all the family and friends that came to support us. We just felt so loved! I can't describe how wonderful it was to hear my little boy's blessing and how I just want the world for him! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa J for having a nice little get-together at your house afterward for your favorite grandson. He's so glad that the party and everything worked out after he was so stressed that everyone was having a good time. It's tiring being a little host! ;)

My Smiley Boy

Emerson's new trick is smiling. He finally does it while he's awake instead of just in his sleep! I think he has the cutest smile in the whole world. (I guess I'm a little biased though.) He's getting really close to laughing, too. You can tell when you tickle him that it's just trapped inside and one of these days it'll just slip out. I can't wait. :)

Guess Who Slept Through the Night?

Mommy did. Oh yes, and Emerson...who is really the one who decides how much sleep Mommy gets to have. I'm just so proud of my little guy for sleeping through the night at 6 1/2 weeks! He's just getting so big!

Farewell Logan

Emerson and his good friend Sadie Humpherys. He will miss her!

Melinda and Emerson

Ben and Emerson

Our crappy but sort of lovable apartment

On May 5, 2008 we said farewell to good ole' Logan. We were so excited to get out of our apartment, but when it was empty we were honestly a little sad. We had some great times in Logan and it was a lot harder to leave than I expected. We already miss all of our good friends there. I'm sure we'll come back to visit, though.

New House

Melinda, Ben, and Dad at the closing

Well, we did it. We purchased our first home. Where are the pictures, you might ask? Well they don't exist yet therefore I am unable to post them. When we took our trip out to Ohio when I was 36 weeks pregnant we found a house and have been going through the whole process of buying it ever since. We finally closed on May 9th after many complications and headaches. But we love it and we're excited about it.

A mere half hour after we signed on the house, Ben grabbed his packed bag and flew out the door to drive our gigantic moving truck out to Ohio with all of our stuff. We decided that it wouldn't be very much fun to haul Emerson on a 25 hour drive, and I wouldn't be much help since I'm pretty much tethered to him all day. So Ben's dad and brother drove out with him and his mom flew out on her way to Virginia. (Our house had to be cleaned up and worked on a little bit because it was a foreclosure.) So while they were there gone for about 6 days working their tails off I got to play the part of single mom (with a precious, helpful family of course.) We were so glad to get the house taken care of before we move out there for good in July and we really appreciated the Christensen's help. Oh, and as for the pictures...I requested lots of pictures from Ben, but he forgot to take even one! He did take a video with our video camera though, so I guess I'll forgive him.

Happy Graduation!

Our Little Family (notice Emerson's Utah State apparel)

The distinguished graduate

Our little family with Elder and Sister Perry

Ok, let's backtrack. In my stress and hurry to get moved out of our apartment in Logan, get moved into my parent's house, and taking care of a new baby, I neglected to post anything about Ben's graduation! I feel like a terrible wife. So here are some pictures from the day. Way to go, Honey! I'm excited for you now, but I can only imagine how ecstatic I'll feel when you're graduating from medical school and you're done with residency!

Tagged

1. Who eats more?
Ben does. (Phew! I'm glad I got tagged after I had Emerson because I think I definitely ate more during pregnancy. :) It makes for a good excuse to eat pretty much anything you want. I miss that. )

2. Who said "I love you" first?
Ben did. It seemed like it took forever though--probably because I knew I was in love with him by our 3rd date.

3. Who sings better?
I think we're pretty equal. Neither one of us is spectacular, but I have to give Ben credit because he tries to sing the different parts in Sacrament Meeting and I just sing the melody.

4. Who dances better?
Me...but it's really rather hard to tell because neither one of us can bust a move and it's pretty darn equal when dancing (swaying) to a slow song. I win this one simply because I think I hate dancing less than Ben does.

5. Who's older?
Ben by 2 years and 10 months

6. Who's smarter?
To be honest, I think we both have specialty areas...Ben could kick my trash in anything science or math related, but I'm a little better at English and managing children. :)

7. Whose temper is worse?
Mine, hands down.

8. Who does the laundry?
Well we have this beautiful dazzling laundry fairy that comes to do our laundry and then she leaves all of it nicely folded on the bed! Then all Ben has to do is put his laundry away. Isn't that nice!?

9. Who does the dishes?
I do most of the time, but sometimes Ben gets a surge of energy and preciousness and orders me to sit and do nothing while he does our dishes. Hopefully that won't be such a big job when we have a dishwasher in our new house!

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me.

11. Whose feet are bigger?
Ben's.

12. Whose hair is longer?
Mine. But when Ben's gets long he gets these cute little curls around his ears that he terms "Jewish curls". Little Emerson had Jewish curls when he was born. He was just missing a Yarmulke.

13. Who's better with the computer?
I think we're pretty equal at that.

14. Do you have pets?
No way.

15. Who pays the bills?
Ben works to pay them and I write the check.

16. Who cooks?
Me. Sometimes though Ben whips us up something Italian (which means it has spaghetti sauce in some form or another.)

17. Who drives when you are together?
Ben.

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?
Ben...but sometimes I treat. It's sort of silly though really when it all comes from the same bank account. I guess it's just the idea that he's paying that makes me feel special.

19. Who's the most stubborn?
Oh dear...we both have to choose our battles.

20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?
That depends. I think both of us feel like we're always the first to admit we're wrong so I guess it's probably 50/50...or 60/40 (me)...or 70/30 (me)...sigh...probably 50/50

21. Whose parents do you see more?
50/50

22. Who named your pet?
No pets.

23. Who kissed who first?
Ben kissed me because I was too tantalizing. At least I could exercise some self-control in our relationship.

24. Who asked who out?
Ben asked me out first, but I have to admit I had an agenda and helped things along to fit my own purpose. You see, we had creative arts class together with my brother Scott and I just casually mentioned that I didn't have anyone to go to the evening's event with because Scott had found a date. So Ben took the subtle hint and asked for my number and said that I could go with "them". Of course, being the girl that I was, I went home and consulted the roommates on who "them" was (were?). It turned out to be Ben, his best friend Ryan, his sister Brooke, and like 12 of her closest friends. I was relieved I didn't just turn out to be the 3rd wheel though. Ryan was a little dense and didn't move out of the passenger's seat when they picked me up at my apartment, so I was stuck in the back with the rest of the girls. I admit I was a bit miffed at this fact, but the seating arrangement did work out at the actual event due to the efforts of both Ben and me. We got to sit together and the other 40 girls were separated from Ben by Ryan and me. :) The rest is history.

26. Who's more sensitive?
Me.

27. Who's taller?
Ben at 5'10". I'm a mere 5'5".

28. Who has more friends?
Neither of us have any friends. Sigh... Just kidding we're equal cause all of our friends are married couples pretty much.

29. Who has more siblings?
Ben has 14 siblings and I have 4.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Ben does. But only because I LET him wear them.