Jacob Ver Groves

He's Here!
Jacob was born Saturday, June 6th at 7:07pm.
8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long.
He is so little I can't believe it. I love it when he opens his eyes and looks at me. He has been perfect so far. Sleeps and eats and never cries. I hope that stays, but I know I may be just dreaming. :) And let's just let me dream okay. :)
He has lots of dark hair, with an old man hair line. :) Not a lot of hair on top of his head. :) He has super long fingers and feet with long skinny toes. He is really ticklish too. I think he is beginning to look more like Emma, just some features we can remember from her, but he is his own little guy. It is going to be exciting to watch.
The delivery went really well. So much better than Emma's. Not that I loved every moment, but it was good. I went really quickly and I only threw up 3 times. :) It only took 2 pushes and he was out. Amazing.
Emma is the proudest big sister ever!!! She was so excited to come up to the hospital and see him and "hold him". I hope the newness wears off a little, becuase the poor guy is going to be mauled! :) She just stood at the window as the were cleaning him up and watched him with her nose pressed right against the glass.
Daddy is one proud dad and loves having a little boy to hold. This morning at 5am we couldn't get him to wake up to eat, so we just touched every little part of his body and checked him all out. I loved touching his soft skin, it was amazing to just look at him in the quiet of the morning and marvel at his perfectness. After rubbing him down for a hour he finally woke up and ate. He was just so content and peaceful, we loved it! Much different than our vocal, active 3 year old! :)

Easter Message

Kyle got his Mission Call!!!!

Kyle got his mission call yesterday!!! I know!!!!!!
We all got together last night to open it!
He is going to the Knoxville, Tennessee USA Mission and reports on June 24th. He is really excited and I am so proud of him. He is such a great little brother. It has been so fun to watch him grow the past year or so.
Congrats Kyle!!!

Before - opening the call!

After the call!!! Yea!!!

Emma got to hold her little cousin Dimitri. (more than once) She loved it! She was all over him! "I want to hold that baby!" She would tell me. Poor guy! :) I can't wait for her little brother to come. It is going to be so fun!

Eric and Stephanie closed on their new house yesterday too! It was a big day! Congrats guys! AND Stephanie got into the WSU Dental Hygiene Program last week! SO AWESOME!!

One more shot of cute Dimitri. He has gotten so big! He is almost 2 months old. They are blessing him this Sunday!

Emma's First Hair Cut

Yesterday we got Emma's hair cut for the first time.
It was a hard decision to make, but her curls weren't so curly anymore and it was getting so hard to comb because it was so long. She asked our neighbor who cuts hair to do it for her and was so excited, so I just went with it. It turned out so cute. She isn't my baby anymore that is for sure, and now her baby blonde curly locks are gone too. :)

Emma before her hair cut!

See how long it is!? All her little blonde bottoms are going to be gone!

Getting her hair cut! She held still as well as a 3 year old does. )

Delena cutting Emma's hair! Thanks Delena!

After! I know it doesn't look much different, but it looks so much cleaner! Daddy didn't want too much cut off, and I still wanted to do cute things with it too. But here she is!

After!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Emma Updates

Here is my little Emma enjoying her Green Pancakes and Green Eggs and Green Grapes in her somewhat green shirt. :0) We don't have a lot of green in her wardrobe I found out this morning. What a fun day! :)



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Last night for our FHE activity we pulled out the butterfly kite Emma got for her Birthday from Trevor and let it fly. She loved it! It is a pretty cool kite. Love this time of year! It is finally starting to feel like spring! Yea! I even have one little yellow crocus that has bloomed in my flower garden, now that is hope! :)


The other day Emma brought some playdough into me in the computer room to "show" me. She had made a face with her playdough. I don't know if someone else had helped her and it was still in the can, but I was pretty impressed. And she was pretty proud. She layed it all out perfectly for me to see. I have a feeling Aunt Alissa helped her do this. :)



Here is my little girl with her backpack on. This was a great $4 investment! (Love Target clearance) :) She is so excited to go to Preschool in fall now that she is "three". She puts all her valuable toys - the ones she doesn't like to share, of course, inside and then tells me she is going to school and walks around the house with it on. So cute! Oh, and notice the balloon tied to the top of the backpack. Another treasure she has to take with her wherever she goes. :)

Boutique!

My friend April is having a boutique at her home on Friday, April 3rd. She is so creative and knows a lot of creative people, it is going to be really fun to come and browse. She even convinced me to put a couple of things in the boutique to sell.
If you are needing a girls night out, come along! If you want more information (like where it is and more details on what they are selling) please call me or email me. My email is on the left hand side of my blog. Hope to see you there!

Spring Fling Boutique

Come help us welcome in Spring with

Food, Shopping, Giveaways, Friends, and Fun!

Friday, April 3rd 6:30-8:30

Our Vendors Include:

(To pre order or place a custom order so it’s ready for pickup that evening, please visit websites below)

Sweet Ruby- Baby & Children Accessories sweetrubyblankets.blogspot.com

Scentsy – www.scentsy.com/saras safestcandles@gmail.com

Pampered Chef - www.pamperedchef.com dal.pass@gmail.com

Addie Jane Embellished Words www.ajembellishedwords.blogspot.com ajembellished@gmail.com

Beaded Watches

www.skye-thompson.blogspot.com

Bows, bow holders, tutus, wands & more www.thechicbowtique.blogspot.com

Photography

ashleymcfarlanephotography.blogspot.com

Simple Expressions Vinyl

www.chelseys-simpleexpressions.blogspot.com

Holiday Blocks

Decorative frames

Jewelry and dish scrubbies

First Trip to the Dentist

Emma had her first Dentist appointment this week. We went on Monday and she couldn't have been better! She loved to get her teeth "tickled" and all clean from "sugar bugs!". She got to watch The Incredibles in the chair while they did it and she was so good. I was so proud of her. Her happy personality came out and everyone there thought she was a darling, smart and polite little girl. Little do they know... :) The Sleeping "Loody" toothbrush was also an added bonus, plus she got a bouncy ball for being good.

First trip to the dentist tooth brush and all!

Emma being silly when I was trying to get another picture of her and her toothbrush.

Look at those clean white teeth! She thinks she is so funny! :)

Emma's Birthday!

Now Emma's Birthday was a total kid birthday and she had the greatest day!
It sure was long and she slept really good that night because of it and I am grateful for that.
She had her little friends over for a crown sugar cookie and once again I didn't even take a pic! What is wrong with me! But she had a great time. Thanks for coming everyone!
That night we had her Little Mermaid Cake and opened her Princess Scooter and her Cinderella Doll "that sings!" she would tell you.
On Saturday we went to the Groves' family for the combined birthdays of Rulon and Emma. Rulon's is on the 18th and Emma's the 20th. She was spoiled rotten and got some fun things! Thank you to everyone for loving my little girl and having fun with us.
It was a "Martha Speaks" party and we played some doggie games and had cake. A fun night for sure. Here are some pics that I actually took of the events. :)
It's hard to believe that Emma is 3 years old! She is so excited to be 3 because that means she gets to go to preschool in the fall! She got a backpack for her birthday and is walking around the house with it full of her toys as I type this. She is so excited. She is getting so big! I should go get a picture of it and I also need to get one of her riding her scooter. She loves it!

Emma with her presents, can you tell which one is the scooter? :)

Emma and her Little Mermaid Doll Cake - Mom sure tried to make it cute. :)

Happy Birthday to Emma!

Emma and her Cinderella doll! She loves it!

Her Martha Speaks coloring page. Looks good Emma!

Playing Pin the tail on Martha

Playing "doggie" by moving one doggie toy with your mouth from one bowl to the other.

Me explaining how to do it. :) Rulon looking at me like I was crazy! :)

Grandma made the awesome Martha Speaks cake. Thanks Grandma Groves!

Emma and her backpack! Mama did good with this buy!

Me and my sweetheart! Happy Birthday my little 3 year old! Where has the time gone?

Tyler's Birthday

I didn't take one picture of Tyler's birthday. How bad am I?
We went and saw Taken on President's Day. His choice of movie of course. It was actually pretty good and very intense. We went to dinner on his birthday (Feb 17th) to Red Robin - his favorite and then had cake with his family. He is a whopping 27 years old! :) I know, I robbed the cradle. And he reminds me of that all the time. I got him David Foster's new CD Hit Man and a Tent Fan for Camping and the Caulk Pro - yeah the one you see on TV. It's pretty cool. I can't wait for him to use it around the house...not that I got it for him for that reason. The poor guy had to go to the dentist on his birthday (he HATES the dentist) and it snowed like crazy so he shoveled a lot, so he said it wasn't the greatest day, but isn't that how birthdays are? Not the same as when you were a kid?

I love my hubby so much. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Happy Birthday Tyler!

Happy Valentines Day!

Here is my little Valentine Sweetheart.
I made her this little shirt for Valentines day with my friend April.
Doesn't she just melt your heart!?
Tyler spent last night at the Klondike Derby with the Scouts - it snowed all night long and is still snowing this morning, I bet he is having so much fun! ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Draper Temple Open House

When they announced the Open House for the Draper Temple, I was so excited and couldn't wait to take Emma. I don't know about you, but when I first had Emma, I wanted to take my baby with me to the temple. I feel so at peace and close to my Heavenly Father and Savior there and wanted to have my precious baby with me. I can't wait for the day when she is old enough and we can go. Until then, this was the next best thing.
She always wants to go with us when we tell her we are going to the temple. "I want to go to the temple!" she says. Well, this time, I told her "yes you can go!" It was fun to hear her talking about going to the Temple.
We went last Friday and it was a slow time I guess, because we got right in no waiting (a blessing with our busy Emma) and she loved it. It is seriously one of the most beautiful temples I have ever been in. It was fun to show all the pictures of Jesus to Emma and all the pretty lights. She loved the font too. We parked at a close by church and took a bus up to the temple. The bus was pretty exciting too. It was a cold day, as you can see, so here are some far way pictures of the temple.
Leanne, I wish you were still here in Utah so I could take you! I promised myself I would the next time there was a new temple in Utah! You would have loved it! I thought of you! If they ever build a temple in Texas, go to the open house!

Rewards for Emma

With the new year I wanted to do some new goals with Emma too. Plus I was really needing some help with her to get things done without whining and crying over everything. So I started a Sticker reward chart. It has done wonders!!!! She brushes her teeth by herself in the morning and makes her bed and says her morning prayers. It is good for mom to have the chart too, because then I remember to do those things. One day I was in the shower and I told her go and make your bed so you can get your sticker. I just mostly told her that so she would leave me alone. I got out of the shower and and looked in her room and she had made her bed all by herself!! I was so proud! She sure is getting big.

Emma's Sticker Chart!

Her first making of bed alone - GREAT JOB!

We also moved Emma to a big bed right after Christmas. If I could do it over again, I would have done a lot of things different - like never move her from a crib! :) It was no fun, but the pain is mostly over and she sleeps in it fine. It wasn't really getting her to fall asleep in it as it was getting her to stay asleep all night. Sometimes I felt like I had a newborn again! After much trial and error I finally got some advice from my neighbor who would reward her child if he stayed in his bed all night with a prize the next morning. The $1 or less for a prize is well worth a good nights sleep for me!! It also was the key. We still have some bad nights, but she doesn't get a prize the next morning, and that really hits home with her and she is doing much better.
Here are some of the more humorous pictures of her sleeping and her first bed making all by herself. Oh, she has only fallen out of her bed one time, and it didn't even phase her, she was still sleeping on the floor. Tyler and I heard the THUD! and went to see what it was, we couldn't stop laughing. :) I should have taken a picture!

The first night in her big bed. We were so proud and thought "That wasn't too bad". Little did we know... as always...

Emma falling asleep the wrong way.

Her daddy sleeps just like this with his hand on his face!

New Baby in the Family

James and Vicki had their baby boy on January 30th.
He was a little miracle, as they had a few complications. We are sure grateful he got here safely.
He is beautiful! He was 7 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.
They named him Dimitri James Zollinger Young. James and Vicki and baby are doing great!
Emma loves having a new baby cousin! She was devastated I wouldn't let her go to the hospital to see him. So when we stopped by when he came home, she was all smiles and ready to hold him. She is going to be a great big sister!

104 Years Old!

On February 2 Tyler's great Grandmother celebrated her 104th Birthday!
I know! Can you believe it? It's a good thing I got a few years on Tyler for he has longevity in his genes! :)
She is a darling 104 year old. We celebrated with her and went to Red Lobster. Her favorite. She always gets the coconut shrimp. She obviously still has good taste too. :) She immigrated here from Holland after WWII. When she talks she shares her Dutch with her English. I wish I spoke Dutch! ;)
Here is Tyler, Emma, Great Grandma Rynsburger and Tyler's mom, Michelle. Emma and Great Grandma are 101 years apart! Pretty amazing!