I won free concert tickets on the radio!!

That's right! You read correctly... I won free concert tickets on the radio! Pretty exciting, huh? In fact, they were selling for $30/ticket and I won TWO! Before you get too jazzed about my lucky streak, I must confess that I listen the KBAQ, Arizona's classical music station. So, the free tickets were to world renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. I have heard multiple amazing recordings of her playing and was thrilled when I happened to be listening to KBAQ when they were giving the tickets away. Luckily, I also have a husband who wasn't TOO disappointed that the tickets weren't to U2 or Jack Johnson and happily agreed to be my date.

The concert was last night and my wonderful sister Laura watched Emma for us! We walked in and realized we had brought the median age down by 40-50 years. The show started by dedicating the performance to the MANY patrons who had passed away in the past year. By the looks of the crowd, Greg and I were surprised none of them died during the concert. Anyway, the concert was FANTASTIC! Her tone and grace and style were amazing. So my plug? Give KBAQ (89.5FM) a chance! You could win free stuff! :)

Happy 85th Birthday Grandpa Hancock!

My sweet Grandpa turned 85 last Friday and by his energy level you'd thing he just turned 25! I am so grateful to have him as my Grandpa. He is always active, trying new things, cracking a joke, taking care of my Grandma, and helping others. He is truly a mighty man with a humble heart and I am blessed to call him Grandpa. The way he's going, he'll be around for his 100th! Grandpa is pictured here with 5 of his great-grandkids. How lucky they are to have him around!

On other Hancock news, we had a baby shower at Mimi's cafe for my cousin Ryan's wife, Jaida. My type of baby shower! No cooking and no clean-up! :) I spent 30 minutes on Friday evening looking at their nutritional facts to locate SOMETHING on the menu that I could eat on my diet. I won't point fingers, but a certain breakfast item (that I LOVE and have eaten SEVERAL times) has a whopping 74 grams of fat. It really helps me to look up the nutritional information BEFORE I go, so that I am not tempted by my hunger and cravings. It's also shocking to see what some of my favorite foods actually contain in calories and fat. And I wonder where my double chin came from? :)
Wanna hear something gross? Do ya? Do ya? This little angel climbed into my shower this morning, grabbed some of the hair that was stuck to the drain and promptly put it ALL in her MOUTH. I was seriously dry heaving. How gross is that?

What's in a WEEK?

7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds.

Sometimes I really wonder what I do with my weeks. It feels like I am always busy, but at the end of the day, I have nothing to show for it. Strange how that works.

Yesterday we took advantage of the Martin Luther King holiday and the GORGEOUS Arizona weather and went on a "hike". I use that term very loosely, because it was more of a "meander" through the mountains at a very relaxed pace. It was fun anyway and we were BASKING in the 80 degree climate. How could I hate a state so much in one season and love it as intensely in another? Anyway, here is the gang at the beginning of the hike. JJ, her neighbor friend Alexander, Emma in her FANCY hiking backpack, Greg and Aunt Laura. Good times.

The only thing I really complain about in our town home is the LACK OF STORAGE SPACE! It is seriously atrocious. What? People in 1978 didn't have "stuff" to store? Crazy builder. We copied some of our neighbors and had an attic access ladder installed. $250 later we have about 500 square feet of extra storage. VERY excited about this! The only catch? Finding things to store that will not MELT in the summer heat.
We started the process of "weaning" Miss Emma from her bottles and formula. It has been an experience and frustrating at times, but I think we are slowly coming together on this task. I would LOVE any advice you have on this challenge. When did you wean your babies from the bottle? How did you do it? What kind of protein did you feed your babies? Emma is not a fan of meat for some reason. We keep trying...

Thanks to my dear friend Brooke for sending this darling outfit for her first birthday!

Got in a fight with the pressure canner... and it won.

While giving a "hot water bath" (I kid you not, this is what the canning book calls it) to my tomatoes, I opened the pressure canner without realizing it had pressure in it. It scalded the entire front of my body. Burning on the stomach and breasts? Not a fun experience. I know I should have checked the pressure FIRST, but the "instruction book" told me there would be no pressure, and I STUPIDLY believed it. I tell you, I am not cut out to be domestic. Would have been easier to buy them at the store. In any case, I now have bottled tomatoes. So, if the world implodes today, come to me for your Vitamin C, Alkali Power and Lycopene.

More fun and joy taking care of this little gem. She is getting VERY mobile and I can barely keep up. She's not interested in walking yet, which is A-O-K with me. She has started copying our words and now says "baby", "uh-oh" and "no,no,no" VERY clearly.

I'm also down 4.2 pounds over the last 2 weeks. Weight watchers is treating me well. I would really love to see the weight come of quicker. But, I know slow and steady is healthier for my body and will likely allow me to keep it off. I've been exercising every day (I used to be a 3x/week girl) and I have really been trying to cram in those fruits and veggies. Greg is down 4.4 pounds. It is really nice to have a support through all of this.

Happy First Birthday Emma!

Dear Emma,

It’s hard to believe that 1 year ago, your father and I were holding you in our arms for the first time. What an absolutely unbelievable day. I was so apprehensive and nervous about child birth and you sure made me work for it! So many emotions flooded my heart. After 5 years of waiting and hoping and wishing, you were finally here and you were finally ours. Once all the family, friends, and nurses left the hospital room, it was just the three of us for the first time. What a special moment in time I hope to always remember. You were so small and nestled yourself right into us. In the evening, your dad rocked you in his arms. I looked over and there were tears swelling his eyes. Words can not ever express the love we felt that day. We feel so blessed to have you. We feel so blessed to call you our daughter. You were a miracle from the very beginning and there is not a day that goes by that we do not remember. You have changed our life in so many ways and have brought us endless joy. Thank you for being such a sweet baby, with so much personality and vigor for life packed in that 23 pound body. Thank you for the beautiful Spirit you bring into our home. Happy Birthday our precious angel. May we celebrate many, many more birthdays together.

Love,
Mom and Dad

First Birthday Party

We had a marvelous first birthday party with our little birthday girl. We celebrated the party yesterday, since we had lots of church stuff going on today. Burnt out from Christmas, this Mom decided to celebrate at Cafe Rio with a very small group of family/friends to keep it simple and budget friendly.

She loved the overdose on sugar.

We had such a great time with Greg's family.

And are glad JJ, Sharron and Laura could also join us!

Emma playing with all of her new toys! Boy was she spoiled!

Taking a leisure walk in Kiwanis Park with Dad today. What a birthday treat. Couldn't be happier.

Here is a video of the "first" cake binging... there are some cute dance moves toward the very end.

Where the Wild Things Are

We bought a season pass membership to the Phoenix Zoo last week. Actually, we split the membership with some friends and it came out to $53 for the whole year. Pretty good deal, huh? Something about buying this season pass, made me feel like more of a "Mom". Like I can use it to prove my motherhood. "Hey, look guys, it's really true... see... I have a year membership to the community zoo." Nevermind the baby in the stroller, just look at the schnazzy card I got. Anyway. Emma really enjoyed herself.

Emma loves anything that looks "soft". So when she saw this beautiful lion, she went nuts trying to get to it. Note to self: don't let daughter out in wild. Somehow I don't think this apparently "tame" kitten, would be so kind should a 23 pound baby come crawlin'. :)
Greg and I had an enjoyable afternoon with our daughter. And the best part about a zoo membership? When Emma gets tired, we can go home and see the rest of the zoo another day. Thank you to the cooped up, out of their element animals, for letting us come and gawk.

I did it.

WELP. I did it. I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting this morning. I have previously done the online version... but bit the bullet and took myself to the IRLTOEFFA (I really love to eat fattening foods anonymous) meeting. I feel good about it, too. I have always been a regular and enthusiastic excerciser... but FOOD is always my downfall. I was my perfect size when I got married in 2003, then started cooking yummy foods for my husband and packed on an easy 30 pounds. In 2006, Greg and I joined WW and I lost 35 pounds (Greg lost 65). I got pregnant in 2007 and now in 2009 I have found that 30 pounds again. UGH. I've tried doing WW online since Emma's birth, but I am a WEAK person and I need ACCOUNTABILITY and SUPPORT. I have good motivation, because we would like to try Invitro Fertilization again for baby #2 and the healthier your body is, the more likely it is that you will get pregnant. Oh, and I'd like to look really sexy in my skinny jeans. SOOOO... here's for another shot at Weight Watchers. I'll probably take you along on my weight loss journey here and there. I have done this once, I KNOW I can do it again.

Silly Greg... taking my picture when I'm not looking.

TOP TEN reasons we love spending CHRISTMAS in KENTUCKY

We flew to my home - Lexington, Kentucky - on Christmas Eve. We took the elevator from the gate level to the baggage claim. As the airport elevator doors opened we were greeted with 25 family members singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and other Christmas carols. At this point, I knew it was going to be a great vacation. :) We went straight to Matt & Corinda's home to open up Christmas Eve pajamas... which were this year, UK t-shirts! GO SANTA!

Here are top ten reasons we love spending Christmas in Kentucky.

#1 - Going through the Columbus LDS Temple with family. Laura went through the temple for the first time and we all got to be there together (minus Chucky on his mission in Fiji). What a special day!


#2 - SNOW!! We don't get much of this in Phoenix. Unfortunately, cousin Ben is seen here with the ONLY snow we got the whole week. Emma enjoyed the snow fall... until she realized it made her cold.

#3 - Visiting with old friends! Paul and Wyatt were great friends through High School. Wyatt is seen with cousin Aliya and Paul is with his wife Lorena. (Crystal, Leah and Caryn... thought you'd enjoy seeing these familiar faces. )

#4 - A trip to Corbin, Kentucky to meet up with Colonel Sanders and Lara & Greg Dahl. How convenient that Lara married someone from Tennessee? Very convenient indeed. We were able to meet halfway in Corbin, Kentucky. Home of the ORIGINAL Colonel Sanders Cafe. We followed that with a trip to Cumberland Falls. Called the "Niagara Falls" of the South. hmmmm... not sure if it deserves that title, but we enjoyed the company, nonetheless.

#5 - Seeing Uncle John get his Eagle. My brother Glen is holding the flag in this picture and the Mayor of Lexington is in between John and my Dad. We are so proud of him and his hard work!

#6 - Lots and lots and lots of wonderful time with grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles that spoil Emma rotten with LOVE and AFFECTION. Here is Emma with Aunts LJ, Amber and Corinda. This picture was take right before our annual Krebs Family New Years Eve Olympics. We literally played games from 5pm-midnight. This year it was girls v. boys. I hate to admit it, but the boys spanked us BAD. Oh well, we had fun anyway.

#7 - Uninterrupted time with Daddy. Emma is going to be SORELY disappointed when Greg leaves for work tomorrow and she realizes she is all alone with boring Mom.

#8 - Cousins, cousins, cousins!! Emma was able to play with so many cousins and loved every second. Ben loved giving Emma hugs and kisses and Tyler loved pulling her hair, which surprisingly she did not mind at all.

#9 - Christmas loot. After all, isn't Christmas about the GETTING? :) This year was a homemade Christmas at the Krebs, so most of the gifts we received were homemade. What a special touch. My parents made us a BEAUTIFUL quilt and a book of family pictures. My sister and I made a quilt for my parents and I compiled all of my recipes into one cookbook for family and friends. There were so many thoughtful gifts given. Before leaving for Kentucky, Greg and I exchanged our gifts. ONCE AGAIN, we bought each other the SAME gift!?! We did it last year with IPOD's and this year it was a Cuisinart Hand Blender. Strange, I know.

#10 - Spending time with family. We don't get to see my family much, except for Aunt Laura who lives in Arizona, all of my family is spread across the country. It is so nice to be together. I feel so blessed to have such a FANTASTIC family. We took some family pictures, which was VERY cold, but fun.