Our Vegas Drive-By

On our way home from Utah, we made a quick pit stop in Las Vegas and stayed with our friends Trent and Sarah Porter and their kids, Rowan and Holland.  Sarah did such a great blog post, that I decided to steal all her pictures and make them my own.  Thanks Trent and Sarah for an AWESOME visit!!!

It was so fun to stay with Trent and Sarah in their beautiful new home!  Such dear friends from our childless days in Tempe.  We are still working through our depression with therapists over their departure to Vegas.  Don't worry we send them the bill every month.

Saturday night we got to watch Sarah play in a tennis tournament.  I had never been to a live tennis match, so it was especially fun for me!  I think I could really get into watching the sport. Of course, Sarah is an EXCELLENT player and was super fun to watch.  I could just kick myself that I didn't snatch any pictures of her in action.  Guess we'll have to go back next time she plays!  She ended up winning her tournament so then we celebrated with some frozen yogurt.

Here are Emma and Rowan who enjoyed playing together "most" of the time.  Of course you always have your little tiffs now and then, right?  What good marriage doesn't have a few of those?  They are just perfect for eachother. :)

  And sweet little Holland, who we had never met.  She is such a smiley, happy, pleasant baby... just perfect for our smiley, happy, pleasant Grant!!

 It was so cute how Grant would sign and say "BABY!" Then he would scoot on over to this cutie pie and perform some kind of mating ritual call that sounded a lot like a monkey.

Chucky's Commencement.

My brother Chuck graduated from BYU last weekend.  He received his Bachelors Degree in Communications and will be attending Law School at the University of Kentucky in the Fall.   He is the 5th Krebs kid to graduate from BYU. And the 10th immediate Krebs family member (including my parents and in-laws). WOW. Thanks to everyone who pays tithing and helps fund our Krebs Family education!

To support him and help with Chuck and Emily's move out East, we made a VERY quick trip up to Utah.  My apologies to anyone in Utah we did not see.  We were there for 48 hours, 40 of which were spent packing, moving boxes and attending graduations.  We will be back in August for a family reunion and hope to see everyone we missed this time around.

My parents and Little Glen also drove out from Kentucky in my Dad's truck to help pull the U-Haul full of stuff for Chuck and Em.  Little Glen was AWESOME assistance at watching the kids while we helped box up the apartment.

I LOVE finding pictures on my IPhone that Emma has taken of herself.  I think they are so cute.  My poor kids were pretty bored while we were packing and attending graduations... so she spent lots of time with our I-gadgets.

Oh how dearly we miss these BEAUTIFUL mountains!  I just had to get a picture with Greg and Grant when I saw them from Chuck and Em's parking lot. 

My Dad had promised Emma that he would take her swimming at the hotel pool, so first thing Friday morning, before we could start packing at Chuck and Em's - we snuck in an hour of swim time.

The water was pretty chilly, so Grant was not sure at first, but once his body adjusted to the temperature, he loved splashing around.

Here are the boys after an INTENSE game of Tetris fitting all of those boxes together in the UHaul and truck.  Thanks to Greg's MAD tetris skills, they got 'er done. 

Then it was off to graduation.  BEST. GRADUATION. EVER.  Wanna know why?  Chuck graduated in the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC), but they were full when we arrived.  So we sat in the "overflow" theater, which had super comfortable seats, and there were about 10 other people in the whole place.  My kids could roam free, make noise, eat snacks, and nobody cared a bit.  It was seriously the best.  We did have to see Chuck graduate from a big screen projector... hence the crappity-crap picture, but it was a sacrifice I was definitely worth making.  Now if I can convince John and Glen to graduate in the same college, so we can do this again...

Yep.  This picture says it all.  Emma bored out of her mind, sitting backwards, making a grumpy face when I said to "smile" and Greg yawning while playing a game on his IPhone.  Classic.

HE DID IT!  Go Chucky!!! 

No, I am not pregnant, although this picture is so horrible, it could be deceiving.  I just thought it was so cute of the rest of the fam, I would throw it in.  Thank you PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) for my extra pounds.  I'm on a new medication now and I am really hoping it helps my body process carbs as something other than straight fat.  Ugh. 

Emma thought it was PRETTY AWESOME that there was a "Y" on the mountain.  So every time she saw it, she would let us know.  And for the record... she saw the "Y" A LOT of times.
Here is Grandma Krebs and Emma the "Y" finder.

Tried in vain to get a picture of the two boys together... Grant and Jackson.  This is the best we could do. Jackson was such a good baby while we packed and attended all the festivities.

Sweet little Jackson.

Thanks Mom, Dad, Glen, Chuck, Em and Jackson for a quick, but fun trip!

He walks!!

His precious, happy face says it all!!

"I'm FINALLY walking!!" - and just shy of 16 months old.

He has been taking a few steps here and there over the last month, but over our weekend in Utah  (post to come) he really took off!

He will crawl still, but only about 30% of the time.  I think he really enjoys his new found freedom and speed.

He layed down on the carpet this evening and grabbed a book to glance at while he was lounging.  Must be nice to be so relaxed all the time.

I tried to get a shot of the bump on his left forehead, but the flash makes it difficult.  He has had a perpetual bump on this side of his forehead for the last 2 weeks.  He keep re-injuring himself, in a variety of ways, and yet always on that side.  Strange, huh?

First he pulled our iron bar stools over on top of himself, then he fell off the fireplace, and most recently today Emma was standing on the side of a grocery cart and literally pulled the cart completely over on it's side, with Grant crashing down onto the grocery floor and the cart slamming on Emma's body.  It was frightening. 

And lo and behold... there was that bump again, same side of the head.  Different injury.

We love our little man and his new found freedom!

The Kids Updates

It has been awhile since I have updated on the kids progress and stories, so I thought I better write some of the gems down, before I forget!

Emma is 4 and 3 months and she is such a delight to have around the house (most of the time).  Her behavior has drastically improved from her 3-year-old non-sharing stage and with her maturity comes the ability to sass her parents even more when she feels spited. 

• Emma is constantly telling us that she wants 5 kids when she is a Mom, so that she can drive a mini van like her friend Whitney's Mom.  And she longingly stares at mini vans on the freeway, pining away for the day when we can also own one.  We keep telling her that our family may never be big enough to need one, but she is ever persistent.
• She was THRILLED when Spring Break was over, so that she could return to preschool.  She asked me every day if Spring Break was over yet.  And we did fun things every day!  This girl just loves preschool so that she can interact with lots of children.  Reminds me of myself.  I never wanted to miss school for fear that there would be conversations or social events that I would also miss.
• Emma was sad one day when a little girl would not play with her on the play ground.  (Emma is VERY troubled when other kids will not play with her.  Fate worse than death for this little socialite)  On the way home we talked about what she could do to work through this dilemma.  I suggested that she go find another friend or just play alone next time.  She thought for a moment and then said, "Mom, what would you do if JJ told you that she didn't want to play with you?  Would that make you sad in your heart?  Well, that is how I feel when my friends don't want to play with me."  I have to admit.  It made me stop to think that I can not flippantly give her advice without realizing that her feelings for her friends are as as strong as mine.
• She told me a few mornings ago that she wanted to be more "spontaneous".  I think she learned the word from a Tinker Bell movie, but boy did I laugh when she used it appropriately in a sentence.
• We are currently working on "learning to read in 100 lessons" work book.  We are about half way through and I can proudly say that Emma is doing an excellent job at easy reading.  She is about 3/4th through the phonics of different letters and she can read full paragraphs in our book.  We work on it each afternoon together with writing lessons afterwards and I am really impressed at how quickly she is learning.  She should be reading easy books by the time summer hits, and she still has one more year of preschool.
• I made her an educational CD with lots of learning songs that teach different concepts.  She learns exceptionally fast when learning through music (I think most people do) - but it has been fun to learn together.  Her favorite is "Fifty Nifty United States" and she can now name all 50 states in alphabetical order.  I learned this one as well.  :)  She can name the continents, the oceans, the planets, some of Europe and South and Central America, all 15 prophet and apostles,  Count by 5's, 10's and in spanish... and we are still learning.  This CD has paid for itself a million times over.  So glad I made it.  It helps make all of our driving around town more tolerable and productive.
• Emma gave her first Primary talk last month.  She was so excited.  We printed off pictures about the Prophet and Apostles and she memorized about 12 sentences worth of information to share with her Primary friends.  She was really proud of her efforts and did not even flinch when she marched up to the podium, grabbed the mic and started into her talk.  She definitely LOVES to be in front of people and performing.  Strangely familiar.
• When my friend Krisha told Emma that she was moving into our ward, Emma let out a GASP and said, "you have got to be kidding me!  That is so great!".  She is a little copy cat of so many of my expressions.
• When I ask her to do something (when she is in a good mood) she says, "sure Mom!  I would be delighted."
• She can be SO moody.  Some days she just wakes up on the WRONG side of the bed, and it is literally an entire day of belligerent behavior.  We had one such day yesterday.  Greg and I were at our wits end.  I had to leave stake conference 15 minutes early and bring her to the car so that she could scream her brains out without interrupting the rest of the stake.  When we put her to bed, she very calmly told us that she was going to behave better tomorrow.  She said, "I kind of had a rough day today, didn't I?"  Yeah.  To say the least babes.
• She will cuddle up with us in bed when she wakes up in the 6am hour and very sweetly ask Greg or I (mostly Greg) if she can hold his hand while she sleeps.  So sweet.
• She still LOVES and ADORES and IDOLIZES her father.  Every day is just one day closer to Saturday and Sunday when he gets to stay home all day with her.  She asks every night for the count down to Saturday.  When he had to go to work for a few hours last Saturday she was SO disappointed.  So he invited her to come along.  She brought the IPAD and the DVD player and watched videos while he work.  She was also introduced to the free fountain drinks at the law firm, which she thought were pretty amazing.  My Mom used to send us to work with my Dad on Saturdays and I still remember the free soda.  So incredible as a little kid that comes from a soda-free home.  :)
• Emma is very adoring.  To everybody.  She loves to give hugs and kisses and she LOVES to tell people how much she loves them.  She probably tells me at least 15 times a day, how much she loves me as her Mom.  It is always so sweet.  Today on the way home from dance, without any prompting, she said, "Mom, thanks so much for taking me to dance class today."  Melted my heart.
• She is still dressing up in princess costumes almost every day and LOVES to wear dresses.  Tom and Laura bought her a dress for her birthday in January... if she could wear it every day she would.  We have to put restrictions on how many times she wears it in a week.  She loves to look pretty and is very conscious about what matches and what does not.  I can VERY easily get her to switch her outfit around if I tell her something doesn't match.  She would rather DIE than go out in public in something that doesn't match.
• She LIVES for having friends over to play.  When we have to take them home she is very melancholy and tells me that her heart is always sad when she has to say goodbye to a friend.
• She still takes naps about 3 times a week.  I generally let her decide if she would like to stay up and play with me during the afternoon, or take a nap to play a little longer with Greg in the evening.  She knows when she is tired and will tell me that she is ready to take a nap that day.  It works out pretty well.  If she fights a nap, it's not a big deal, we just put her down to bed a little earlier that night.  She is still a champion sleeper and will frequently take longer naps than Grant.
• She is such an amazing big sister.  Really she is just wonderful to Grant.  She is great about sharing and always gives him some of the snacks she is eating.  Of course, he is not really stealing anything that she REALLY wants yet, so we'll see once he wises up and starts to take the toys that really count.  :)

Oh, sweet, precious, happy little Grant.  What a blessing of joy he is in our home.  He is 15 months old.  Greg, Emma and I just ADORE him.  He has been the easiest, most delightful toddler.  Besides his complete destruction of our home on a regular basis, we just love him.  We call him our human tornado, because in a matter of minutes he can cyclone through our cupboards and pull everything off of the shelf.  Mr. Destruction is also a nickname we use often.  I had NO IDEA how different boys and girls could really be.  NO IDEA.  Wow.  It is really amazing.

• He is signing using baby signs really well.  He can sign and say: dog, ball, car, dad, mom, please, thank you, train, eat, water, bath, book... and probably a few more I can't remember.  It really helps communicating with a toddler.  And I much prefer the singing over screaming fits.  Much prefer!!  It is great bc Emma remembers the signs from when she was a toddler and uses them with him all the time as well.  I think this has helped a LOT.  We also love the baby signing times videos, but he hasn't watched them all that much.
• He is obsessed with cars and balls.  OBSESSED.  He must sign and say those words at least 100 or 1000 times a day.  Such a boy.  I have to admit, it is very hard for me not to buy him every ball and every car in every store that we shop at.  He is so convicted about his requests.
• He loves to give kisses.  Generally they are open mouth.  It's delightful for those of us in his immediate family, but I think a little disconcerting to others.  Such a sweet, sweet little boy.
• He had a strong of 4 ear infections one right after another during the months of January, February and some of March.  It was not fun.  He was still a fairly good baby, but I knew he was hurting and it was frustrating to have the same illness come over and over and over.  The doc says that Emma was probably bringing viruses from school and passing them along.  UGH.  Glad to have the summer almost here, so that the colds are gone.
• He is STILL not totally walking.  The most steps he has taken is 5.  But he prefers to crawl and mostly does this funny school where he is sitting on one of his legs and pulling his body with the other.  I'm in no hurry, except that he really hurts his knees on our backyard rocks.
• He LOVES animals.  LOVES.  When we are outside he is on hyper alert for any sounds of dogs or birds in the neighborhood.
• When he hears the train come by our neighborhood, he gets super excited and signs and says, "train, choo choo!".
• He is giving me a head ache with his eating.  He has some kind of strange sensitivity to texture and still prefers his food pureed.  Maybe I waited too long to transition him to table food?  He just won't eat table food very well.  So frustrating!  I should not still be spoon feeding him baby food.  UGH.  I try all day every day to give him table food, which he refuses or spits out.  I'll keep trying.  He's got to give in some day, right?  I can't go with him to kindergarten with pureed carrots.
• He LOVES his Daddy and Sister.  Whenever they come into a room, he lights up and smiles from ear to ear kicking his legs.
• Grant generally prefers men.  He is happy to go and play with anyone... but if there is a woman and a man standing next to each other, he ALWAYS chooses the man.
• He is in a very difficult stage at church.  2 1/2 months until NURSERY!!  Crazy that it is so close.  Always seems that it will never come soon enough, but I am kind of sad to send my baby into nursery.  That is the point of no return!!
• He still smiles and waves at everyone he sees.  He is hardly ever grumpy, and when he is it is usually because I haven't fed him enough or did not lay him down in town for a good nap.
• We love our Mr. Bubbers!!! 

Our Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter!

This year was full of wonderful festivities and it is so special to celebrate with children.

We had the Easter Bunny come on Saturday morning, which meant that we got to spend a lot of time playing with basket gifts.  Grant got an array of cars, which he was thrilled with.

The Easter Bunny hid eggs throughout our back yard and Emma had a great time searching and finding them all.  Grant was not interested in finding eggs.

Saturday morning we went to a friends' home for a huge Easter party in their large backyard.  The first search was for small children and Grant finally got into the searching for eggs mode.  Once he discovered there was chocolate inside, he was especially focused. 

Here is Emma with her second load of Easter eggs.

Saturday we also colored Easter eggs.  Emma and Greg really love doing this! 

Saturday afternoon we also had a party with Greg's extended Adams family.  His grandparents set up an egg hunt for all the great grandkids and Emma even found $20 in one her eggs!!  Don't worry, I kept it in my wallet for safe keeping and it may or may not have paid for her baby sitter that night.  :)  We then ate dinner over at Greg's Mom's with his brothers and families.  We had a nice time!

We had to be to church by 8:00am on Sunday morning... so needless to say... Easter pics had to happen AFTER church and both kids were tired and hungry. 

Not our best Sunday Easter pictures.

Emma was really excited to help me make the rolls for Easter dinner.  She got all dressed up in her princess jewelry and we started rolling out the dough.

She even helped me cut out the crescent rolls and roll them up.  What an awesome (and cute) helper in the kitchen!!

Eating his Easter feast of cheerios and kiwi!  :)

At least he's happy about it.

We headed over to Aunt Sharron's home for our afternoon Easter dinner.  It was full of amazing food and great company.  Of course I didn't get enough pictures... but here are a few.

And yet another wonderful egg hunt for Emma.  She has been in heaven with all this candy searching!!  And we have more candy leftover than we did at Halloween!!

Hope your Easters were wonderful.  I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Savior and his life and more importantly his Atonement and Resurrection.  How blessed I am to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.