I. Heart. Swimming.

I have recently discovered something about myself. And after 30 (almost 31) years of living... I am pleased.

I really enjoy swimming. Not just recreational swimming. I really love swimming as a form of exercise. It is hard and I am EXHAUSTED when I'm finished, but I LOVE IT.

Greg and I have completed almost 6 weeks of training for our triathlon. It is going well and as part of this journey I have found my new swimming passion. I have always secretly wished that I could *LOVE* running. But I don't. I run 2 miles, 3 times a week for our training, but I don't like it. AT ALL. It is a means to an end.

I actually look forward to my swimming days and I love shoving my HUGE head of curly hair under my swim cap, snapping on my goggles, plugging my ears with plugs and jumping in the pool. I am not a pro, my form is horrible and I'm slower than molasses, but I enjoy it.

It's fun to see progress in my training, as well. When I started, I did 50 meters and literally thought my lungs were going to explode. I can now swim 300-400 meters with no problem and I know I'll continue to improve.

Now if the IPOD could just become waterproof...

CALIFORNIACATION - Family Reunion Style

WARNING: AN EXCEEDINGLY LARGE AMOUNT OF PICTURES

My grandparents, in their GREAT generosity, save up "time share points" for four years and then gather all of their children, grandchildren and great-grand children for a week of fun in the Oceanside, California sun! We had such a marvelous time!

For the first time in over TWO years, all of the Krebs Family was together again! As you can see, we wasted NO TIME in maximizing our fun factor. I just LOVE my siblings and wish we could all live in the same state or HECK would even love to live in the same side of the country. As this is not the case, we have to appreciate the times when we can gather together.

My brother Matt gathered all of the "adult" cousins together for an "adult only" lunch on the pier. We all agreed that the lunch title sounded a little dirty - so we tried to keep our conversation as raunchy as possible. No problemo. I have the GREATEST cousins!!

The 4 Krebs grandchildren just LOVE spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Krebs and they are spoiled rotten with love and kisses. Here is my Mom with cousin Aliya.

What can I say? I have the cutest brothers in the world. Sorry if you thought you were competing. John (and Chuck) are headed to BYU in the Fall and we are thrilled that they will be a short 10 hour drive from us. Can anyone say ROAD TRIP?

Oh yes, and Emma's hair is FINALLY long enough to put in pig tails. She doesn't even mind when I do her hair because she loves to say, "so pretty" when I'm done.

Grandpa Krebs and the boy cousins, Ben and Tyler. I could just eat up their sweet little faces. (No Ashlee, I won't ACTUALLY gnaw on your child's face or break skin.... GEEZ.)

The weather was a beautiful 65-70 each day, which made the outside air GORGEOUS and the ocean water FREEZING. Here are Greg and I taking Emma for a walk to the water, but once it hit her feet she would scramble to our arms for safety.

I guess we'll just have to FOREVER vacation in Hawaii for our beach time where the water is always luke warm. DARN.

Q: Wanna know how to make 4 squirmy grandchildren look in the same direction for a picture with great grandparents?

A: Have ELEVEN adults act like circus clowns / entertainers / IDIOTS!

A Krebs family pyramid. You'd think we were all professional cheerleaders with our poise, huh? Nope. You'd be wrong. Just a bunch of musical geeks.

OK. Really love the beach, but seriously... how could sand get in SO MANY PLACES that I SWEAR I never even touched with sand? At first I tried to keep Emma clean from sand in her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc... but after about THREE minutes of unsuccessful attempts, just let her enjoy her sand time. I think I am still cleaning sand out of her hair and won't mention it coming out in her diapers.

Luckily, Greg got to join us for 4 days and then had to leave to get back to a huge project at work. Our family vacations always seem to fall on the worst work times for him. I sure appreciate all of his hard work, so that we can play. But BOY do I feel guilty when he has to leave for Phoenix and lawyerly duties and Emma and I get to stay on the beach. Anyone else have this guilt complex? Does it eventually go away? Poor guy.

These 3 cousins were born within 4 months of each other. How DARLING is this picture? I know that this one will be in their wedding videos. Besides Emma being a toy hog, they get along rather well.

And we can't forget the fourth doll face. Big Ben is such a good cousin to the little girls. Countless times I saw him approach one of the girls with a toy he thought they would enjoy. Unfortunately, he does not show the same chivalry to his little brother. :)

A cousin walk to the beach on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The time share is about 1/2 mile from the beach, but it is a lovely walk along a pier with shops and restaurants.

Emma is still infatuated with her uncles. And who wouldn't be when they shower you with unconditional love and affection and doting? She seems very bored this week with ONLY Mom around for entertainment.

This little thing loves to get dolled up and was pleased as punch to wear the sunglasses and beach hat.

All because two people fell in love...

My cousin Jenny grew up in California and her Dad was kind enough to bring surf boards and wet suits down for the cousins to try out. They all had a BLAST learning how to surf and lots of them even caught such tubular waves, dude.

What would a beach trip be without burying someone in the sand? Glen started to get a little nervous when he realized he couldn't get out on his own. :)

And last but not least, some formal pictures taken after church on Sunday. It was a gem of a testimony meeting where we learned from a 9-year-old boy that if we find our friend tied up by a jump rope, we should let him loose. Yes, yes. I'd like to bear my testimony about that too.

A special THANK YOU to my dear grandparents who foot the bill for another FANTASTIC Hancock family reunion!!! What a wonderful week of memories!!

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Adams

Jeff and Michelle have tied the knot!! What a beautiful couple!!

Saturday was warm, but not as warm as it COULD have been. I only had sweat on 70% of my body instead of drenched from head to toe!

Here is Emma with cousin Taytum. Cousin Anna was also there, but I didn't catch any good shots of the three of them. Emma is starting to realize that her older girl cousins are pretty cool and desperately tried to stay as close to them as possible through the festivities.

Jeff and Michelle had these t-shirts made for their wedding luncheon attire. They really are so cute and we are thrilled for them!

They had a beautiful reception the night before that included dancing. The three little cousins cut some SERIOUS rug all night long. I got some great video footage, but it was hard to snap any pictures of all the great moves. When I had to PEEL Emma from the dance floor she was mortified and screamed "Dance, Dance, Dance" all the way out the door.

Unfortunately Emma had an ear infection and I had strep throat for the entire weekend, so we tried to say hopped up on as many drugs as possible and do our best to PARTY HARDY! Nothing can keep us down! :)

UFO (Unidentified Floating Object)

Our very own UFO! How exciting!

Until I realized I could in fact identify the object... as POOP.

I'll try not to tell you that she was desperately trying to drink the water.

Rear Facing Car Seats Until Age TWO?!?

Just some information I thought I'd pass along to all you Mothers out there. We had a class at church taught by a car seat safety professional from Phoenix Children's Hospital. She made us aware of the following information given by the American Academy of Pediatrics as of April 2009. As you can read in the "update" at the bottom of the article, it is not yet an official "recommendation". I'd rather Emma be cranky and frustrated than paralyzed or worse. Food for thought.

AAP Changing Rear-Facing Car Seat Recommendations?
Thursday April 2, 2009
Although the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and most other car seat safety advocates already recommend keeping baby rear-facing until he or she reaches the limits of the car seat, AAP may soon upgrade their minimum "1 year and 20 pounds" recommendation to two full years of rear-facing if possible. A recent AAP News release preps parents for the potential change, which is based on new research that shows toddlers are more than five times safer if they remain rear-facing until age two.

With rear-facing weight limits on convertible car seats up to 35 pounds, most toddlers should be able to stay rear-facing until at least age two. If the toddler is larger, the best option is to keep your little one rear-facing to the limits of the car seat. Rear-facing car seats are outgrown by the weight limit, or when there is less than an inch of shell above baby's head. A toddler's legs hanging over the car seat edge do not play into outgrowing the car seat at all.

Update: It appears that, though the new information about improved safety with extended rear-facing was made available in an AAP publication, and the information was directed at parents, the group is not updating their official recommendation right now. In an email to child passenger safety advocates, an AAP representative said, "A Parent Plus box in the April 2009 issue of AAP News appears to contain a revised AAP recommendation on how long babies and young children should ride rear-facing. However, Parent Plus boxes and AAP News articles do not constitute AAP policy." The email also says "AAP's recommendation has not changed at this time."

You can find the offical AAP press release here: http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

70 pounds of food LATER...

40 pounds of apples + 30 pounds of chicken =
22 pints of diced and cooked chicken breast
7 quarts of sliced apples ready for desserts
12 pints of applesauce
2 VERY sore feet from standing in the kitchen

No, I am not sponsored by "Kid to Kid" (children's consignment store)... but can I just tell you how much I LOVE THIS STORE?

Emma desperately needed some new summer clothes as the billion degree Arizona summer has hit us in FULL FORCE. Went to K2K and found all of these darling outfits and pajamas for $50. That includes the darling Fisher Price Farm pictured in the corner, which is now her VERY favorite toy of all time. I love ME a good deal, especially when they make my darling daughter look even darling-er. :)

Who needs toys for toddlers when your child prefers the INFANT stuff? Seriously child.

My daughter has become obsessed with shoes.

I mean truly obsessed.

She insists on putting them on FIRST thing in the morning, and when she sees another pair of her shoes lying around, she insists that I take off the current pair and replace them with her new find.

When she sees them on other people, she incessantly shouts, "shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, etc..." until you show her that she too is wearing shoes.

I am a VERY practical shoe woman, with various GENERAL styles to match most outfits and I have been known to super glue my shoes together to help them last yet another season. Where did my daughter come up with this obsession?

In this picture she has tried her feet in Daddy's shoes.

Pretty big shoes to fill Emma. In more ways than one.

Welcome Home Elder Chucky!

On Tuesday, in the span of approximately 12 hours, my sister, my daughter and myself flew to LA and back to Phoenix. Why, you ask? My brother, Chuck, returned from his 2 year LDS church mission in Fiji and had a layover in LA. How could we possibly miss an opportunity to see him before the rest of the family? :)

We told him that Laura was coming, so that he knew to expect someone at the airport, but we kept Emma and I a surprise! Obviously, from the picture below Emma was just BUSTING with excitement and energy. :) This was actually the only sleep she got all day, and it was for a whopping 30 minutes. Poor little thing.
Chuck was such an excellent missionary in Fiji! We are so proud of him and his hard work. But...it is sure nice to have him home now!!

He got all of the married couples these really cool masks with our name scratched into the bottom. Maybe it can be Emma's Halloween costume this year? She seems to like it!

It took Emma a bit to warm up to Uncle Chucky, but within 10 minutes she was crawling and climbing all over him while screaming, "Kuck, Kuck, Kuck". She sure is lucky to have so many fun uncles to play with her!

We are not able to go to Kentucky for his homecoming, but seeing him in LA, even for a few short hours was SO GREAT!! We now look forward to seeing him again at our family reunion in June! YIPPY!! For those few family members out there... here is the video of Chuck coming off the plane.

Got Piano?

Arizona pals -

Want this hot mama/talented/great with kids sister of mine to teach your children piano?

Act NOW and your dream could come true!

My darling sister, Laura, will be teaching ARIZONA piano lessons for young children starting in the Fall. She has a minor in Music from BYU and has been playing herself for many, many years. In addition, she is a teacher of special ed children and is really great with kids.
Check out her piano lesson blog for more information: http://www.laurakrebspiano.blogspot.com/

She is seriously so great and is a wonderful teacher. If you want your children (or children you know) to participate, better schedule quick because she is sure to fill up FAST.

We're EXPECTING!!

We're expecting... a tighter budget now that Greg's salary has been cut by 8%. His law firm cut the salaries of ALL attorneys so that they could avoid additional lay offs. Greg and I are very grateful that we still have 92% of his salary and feel blessed that we have listened to wise counsel and live well within our means so this doesn't hurt too horribly.

We're expecting... that Mr. Scorpion here will not be sleeping in our bed again. He took FOUR bites out of Greg two nights ago, but I smashed and smeared him to pieces to show him who was really boss.

We're expecting... many more years of wedded bliss. We celebrated our 6th anniversary last weekend by taking a getaway trip to my grandparents cabin. Here is my handsome hubby showing you just how HAPPY he is. (Really a fun little camera trick... try it some time... shake your head furiously back and forth and have someone snap a pic of you. Hysterical results.)

We're expecting... that little Miss THANG will just keep getting cuter. Although, she is at quite an adorable stage right now. Here she is belly laughing about something silly, I'm sure.

We're expecting... to complete a TRIATHLON on Thanksgiving Day this year. Thanks to the amazing ladies pictured here (thanks Alyson, Dixie and Jenny!)... we have become inspired to train for a sprint triathlon in November in Goodyear, AZ (400m swim, 2 mile run, 12 mile bike). We have 6 months, so PLENTY of time to get ourselves in shape. My sister Laura is joining our group prep and ANY of you out there are welcome to join the fun! If you have any tips for us and our training, PLEASE pass them along. We need all the help we can get.

We're expecting... that you all had WONDERFUL Mother's Day, as we did. Here is Emma pictured with my Mom, who I am eternally indebted to. We are also so grateful for Greg's Mom and the love she shows us. Greg bought me a NEW camera for Mother's Day, as you will remember our latest was a casualty to Emma's sippy cup. It is AMAZING! And so is my husband!

We're expecting... that Emma will need to fall off the swing before she realizes that she can not let go and reach for us, mid-stride. No more baby swings for this one, she wants the BIG swings only. YIKES.

We're expecting... that our garden is going to turn into a JUNGLE soon. I think I may have gotten over zealous with my planting and we may run out of room very shortly. Squash anyone?

We're expecting... to get an apology note (and insurance information) ANY DAY now from the JERK who ran into my car at Costco yesterday and just drove away with no note or information. Seriously, who are these people and how can they sleep at night? We should send our scorpion friend over to their bed. :)

We're expecting... a wonderfully happy day in June where we can see Jeff (Greg's bro) and Michelle sealed for time and all eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple. We just LOVE Michelle to pieces and feel so lucky to have her in our family!

WHAT?!? Why are you looking at me like that? What did YOU think we were expecting?