Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy Anniversary

Today is Adam and I’s 4 year anniversary. We were just talking last night about what all can happen in just 4 years! Here is a recap:

1.We survived being apart the first 8 weeks of our marriage while Adam did internship #1 in St. Louis and I was working in Columbia. We literally got married, left on our honeymoon for one week, returned to our parent’s house for one night to move apart for eight weeks. We did see each other during that eight weeks but usually only on the weekends. Adam moved back to Columbia after it was over for two months only to move back to St. Louis for a second internship that this time lasted 10 weeks! It was extremely sad and difficult to be apart at the beginning of our marriage and when I look back on that now I still feel sad! I am glad that part is over! I hope we never have to live apart again. We are both still weird about going somewhere without the other person for more than one night. I think that initial period of being separated scared us for life! Maybe after a few more years of being married we will be ready for a vacation from each other! Adam is probably reading this and thinking he is ready for one now!

2. We moved three times in four years. First to a bigger apartment, then to St. Louis, and finally to our house. I think frequent moves are the key to staying organized. If you move every 12-18 months you are always getting rid of stuff and regrouping. We have now been in our house for one year and I can see the need for some regrouping and organization. Things are starting to get messy. I think I will just redo the closets and drawers as opposed to moving again.

3. We built (or had built) our first house. Though we did not do any of the construction ourselves, we did have a lot of decisions to make which was stressful enough. We did however (in the middle of tax season – are we nuts?) finish our basement. We did all the painting, insulation, hanging doors, and cleanup ourselves. This was a big step for both of us since this was way out of our skills area!

4. We both sold our beloved cars from college and switched to more family friendly autos. Adam let go of Old Hickory (a 1999 Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer that was completely unreliable but Adam still swears is one of the nicest cars on the road “back in its day”) and I traded in my mustang for a Honda Odyssey. Yes we are still in our mid 20’s and driving a minivan but I wouldn’t want anything else. That thing is so roomy! Adam likes it too though he is still embarrassed to ever drive it to work or let his friends know!

5. And most importantly, we had our baby girl Emma. She is without a doubt the best part of our lives. It is such an awesome thing to have a family of your own. We also are 9 weeks away from our second baby girl (another tax season baby!)

When Adam and I started dating in college seven years ago, I could never have imagined then what my life would be like today. GOD HAD HIS HAND ON MY LIFE! I know my parents and family prayed for me to meet someone just like Adam from the time I was born and he was definitely an answer to all of those prayers. He has the kindest heart, the most selfless attitude, and a great work ethic. He has a heart for God which was and is the most important quality to me (even at times when I didn’t think that was the most important quality in a husband, God knew it was and always reminded me). I love that when I tell Adam something that is really bothering me, he always makes an effort to fix the problem, whether it be with him or anything/anyone else. He also has a way of keeping me in line when I get crazy! He really is my better half! And, last but not least, I love watching Adam with Emma. Sometimes it just melts my heart. He always makes time for her and helps out with her. I would be embarrassed to say everything Adam does around the house and with Emma out of fear that it would make me look lazy!

Happy Anniversary Adam. I am praying that our girls will one day marry someone as special as their daddy!


Grandma Jarvis at Christmas

We only stopped by the Jarvis Christmas for a little bit on our way to my parent’s house Christmas Day night. I basically spent my few minutes there finishing off their food and pies so I didn't get to take too many pictures. There is only one photo of my Grandpa J who is 97 with Julie, Richard, and Emma. We did stop by his house later that weekend to get a few more photos.




Christmas with Aunt Julie and Uncle Richard

We came back Christmas Day night to spend some more time with Aunt Julie and Uncle Richard who were in town from Texas. They got Emma a van to go with her new dollhouse. She couldn’t figure out why her large baby dolls could not ride in it! Here she is struggling to get baby Lilly in the van.


Opening more presents…..

One of many card games…..

Christmas Morning

We drove home late Christmas Eve so Emma could wake up in her own house on Christmas morning. Santa brought Emma some exact replicas of Mommy’s doll furniture from when I was a little girl. They were in a bit better shape with some updated linens. Emma also got a kitchen set. Santa didn’t bring Emma any dishes so she basically cooked all her new baby dolls on Christmas morning. I guess Santa new Grandma and Papa were giving her some later that day! Hopefully she will not be trying this baby cooking on her new little sister!


Christmas Eve - Hull Family

We spend every Christmas Eve with my mom’s family at my aunt Caren’s house. There is always a ton of food, lots of craziness, and an entertaining $5 gift exchange game. Thankfully no one ended up in tears this year over our game (usually it is me; I have toughened up a bit!) Once again, there are a ton of people which equals a ton of photos!




Christmas with the Fever Family

Almost all of Grammy’s family from Bloomington drove to Missouri for a Christmas celebration. There are so many kids under the age of 12 it is crazy. Emma had a blast playing with all of her IL cousins.

I love this shot of Emma in her new pajamas that she got from Grammy and Pops!


When you have this many people in your family, you have to take a ton of pictures! Sorry for the photo overload!


Since Aunt Debby and Cousin Paul are two of Emma’s favorite people, I thought they deserved their own section! Emma talks about Debby and Paul all day long. Very random things make her think of them! In fact, she is sitting at her desk drawing a picture of Debby and Paul while I work on my blog!

Christmas Celebration #1

Our first Christmas celebration started when Aunt Ali and Cousins Ben and Natalie came to visit at Grammy’s. Uncle Mike couldn’t come this year because of his basketball coaching. Emma had so much fun with her cousins. She loves Ben and Nattie and was sad the day she woke up and realized they had went home. I wished they lived closer so they could play together every week!

Some shots of Emma with Ben and Natalie….


Opening presents at Grammy and Pop's house....



Uncle Eric and his girlfriend Erin were also there. I included a few photos of one of Adam and Eric's intense Nintendo games too!

Christmas Decorations

I thought I would post some pictures of our Christmas decorations before I took them all down tomorrow! The outside decorations were not worth remembering! Hopefully they will look better next year!





Monday, December 14, 2009

Winter Wonderland

Last week Emma and I were in Farmington so we took advantage of their Winter Wonderland attraction. It is such a neat place filled with a huge train display, lots of pretty trees, Mrs. Claus, and of course Santa! The downtown area looked really pretty too! We went with my mom, grandma, and cousins Natalie, Peyton, and Catherine. Emma loved Santa! I could not get a good picture of her with him because she would not stop staring at his candy bowl! She was devouring her candy cane (wrapper and all!) the whole way home!







Adam and I before his work Christmas party. It always makes you feel good to be around your spouse’s coworkers when you feel like a big cow! We didn’t go the first year because I was pregnant with Emma and I did not want people to meet me in such a large state and then last year we were out of town. So, we couldn’t miss another year and I had to go, pregnant and all. Despite my round belly, we had a good time!

And here is a shot of the little cutie pie before bed. Speaking of bed tonight is Emma’s first night sleeping in her new “tent”. This morning she climbed out of the crib and was banging on her bedroom door yelling for her Daddy. I battled her and the crib for three and a half hours this afternoon at nap time, and tonight, Daddy brought home the “Cozy Crib Tent”! Thank you Daddy!! (By the way, these puppies are hard to find so if you think you may need one in the future, you better buy it now!) You would have thought we set up a jungle gym in her room. She was so excited and kept asking to get in her “tent” so she could “camp”. (I had made up a big story about how she was now old enough to camp in a tent at night!) I will post some pictures of her in it soon! And praise to the person who invented the cozy crib tent!

Friday, December 4, 2009

San Francisco

After the wedding, Adam and I spent the next day in San Francisco. It is amazing how fast you can move and how much you can do when you are not toting along a toddler! We missed Emma terribly and were excited to come home to see her but it was still nice to have some time together, though most of the time, we just talked about Emma and how much we missed her!




Finally, here is a shot of Mr. “no trans fat, no partially hydrogenated anything, and no high fructose corn syrup” eating a giant chocolate chip cookie with a big glass of whole milk! Sometimes you just have to splurge!

Dave and Steph's Wedding - Dec. 1st, 2009

Our friends Dave and Steph got married this past Tuesday in California. It was held at a beautiful country club in the Palo Alto area and Steph made a beautiful bride. Dave will probably read this so I should mention that he looked nice too! We had a great time at the wedding. It is fun to see people you set up fall in love and get married. Adam told me not to get any ideas; one success does not mean that I have a career as a match maker!



Tree Decorating

Emma was quite the helper with putting up the tree. As of now, the broken ornament count is 2, and climbing I am sure. She has been pretty good for the most part when watched (when left unattended, even for a minute, she gets out of hand!). She loves to sit on the couch and tell you about EVERY ornament on the tree. She honestly tries to point out every “ball” and every “Santa” which takes quite a while since they are the main ornaments on the tree! I will post some pictures of the final decorations soon. I am still working on Scrooge, I mean Adam, for our outside decorations. He doesn’t find it “necessary” at this point in time!

Bath Time for Emma

I rarely take bath photos because I am usually getting ready myself while Emma is in the bathtub! She loves the tub and loves to go “schwimmy” so it is a great time occupier. Don’t worry, she is not held hostage in the tub all day long, just long enough for me to get ready! Here are a few shots of Emma demonstrating her smiley face.

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent the Thanksgiving in Farmington with all of my mom’s family. My sister Julie was home from Houston for the entire week and then Richard came into town on Wednesday evening. It had been a while since they were home so it was nice to have them for a longer visit. Emma’s vocabulary has really started going crazy, she is like a little parrot! She loves to talk about her Juju and Rich! She cannot quite say “grandma” so when she see’s my mom in pictures, she just says “mommy’s mommy”! She is close though because she did learn the word “Grammy” (Adam’s mom) this past week. I am sure “grandma” is not too far in her future. I told my mom she should have went with “Nana”!

For some reason, I have very few pictures from Thanksgiving (five total) and the ones I have are not of any quality. I must have been too busy eating! It is a common problem for me these days!


Christmas Card Photos