Final Four Bound!!

Kentucky beat North Carolina today to make our 14th appearance in the Final Four!! The last time my Wildcats made it to the Final Four I was a sophomore at BYU (1998) - the year we beat Utah for the National Title. So, it's been awhile. And I'm pumped!! Guess our coach's 31 million dollar contract is paying off.

Here is our family celebrating in our Kentucky Blue!! And yes, even the kiddos have Kentucky paraphernalia (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Krebs). And after this tournament, Emma is well versed in yelling "YES!" "DARN IT!" "GET THE REBOUND" and "NICE SHOT!". I'm so proud of my little Kentucky fan in training.

I thought you'd NEVER ask to read about Kentucky's history... THANKS.

Kentucky owns placement in college basketball's pantheon of elite programs — not only because it's second in the history of the NCAA with seven National Championships, or fourth in Final Four appearances, with 13, but because it's the winningest program in the history of college basketball.

The Wildcats are tops in the NCAA both in all-time wins, with 2,050, and winning percentage, at 76 percent.

Some would argue Kentucky deserves to be placed above North Carolina, Duke and UCLA based on those numbers, along with the level of obsession held by its fan base. The Wildcats' prominence can be compared favorably to the Buckeyes' stature in football.

Only two games away from winning the National Championship!! COME ON CATS!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CATS!!!!

My team upset the #1 team in the country tonight!!

Gotta love March Madness and gotta love the Kentucky Wildcats!!!

There Was A Little Girl

There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good

She was very, very good

But when she was bad

She was horrid!

Emma and I have been reading nursery rhymes lately.

This one seems to fit our little girl just right. She is a VERY pleasant child MOST of the time, but heaven help you if you are in her way when she is not-so-pleasant. Horrid doesn't even touch it.

Here are some updates and stories on Miss Emma.

• Her current obsessions are her "little plastic princesses", My Little Pony, Tinker Bell and her 5 fairy friends, and the book "You Can't Go to School Naked".
• She ran up to me yesterday, gave me a huge hug and said, "Mommy, thank you so very much for taking me to Costco and to Play Group". My pleasure, little friend, my pleasure.
• Emma refers to me as "Tam"when she is not referring to me as Mom. It is absolutely darling.
• She still LOVES LOVES LOVES reading. At any given time, on any given day, you can find her in the position shown in the picture below. Emma loves to be read to, but she also loves to read (loose use of the word) the books to us and she loves to read on her own. A girl after her Mother's heart. It makes me SO happy to see her enjoy books as much as I do.

• When she found some of her books out of order, she yelled, "why are my books messed up? I AM SO FURIOUS!"
• Emma has a very strange speaking habit of using "ya" instead of "you". It is so funny and puzzling. I am really not sure where she picked it up. We definitely do not use it in our home. But, at any given time I hear her say "Mom, I love ya", "Daddy, where are ya?", "I'll miss ya" or "Can I help ya?".
• I was sitting on our front porch watching her ride her tricycle in the beautiful Arizona weather. She came and sat down next to me and said, "I could get used to this". The line is from "Tangled". But funny nonetheless.
• Emma had a few accidents of pooping in her underwear. With a new baby, I just could not handle changing poop out of my toddlers pants. It didn't seem right. So we tried to take away her princesses as punishment, but this didn't seem to help. And wouldn't you know it? Those parenting books actually help sometimes. I decided to take the POSITIVE approach and reward her for keeping her pants clear of poop. She went in the toilet and kept her underwear clean for a week, each time earning stickers on a chart, and earned a Tinker Bell doll. Many times a day she would count how many stickers she had earned and how many stickers she had left to earn. She would come up to me and say, "Mom, do you want to count the stickers with me?" She was SOOOOO proud of herself when she earned the reward. For a solid week, she told everyone she saw that she earned a Tinker Bell for pooping in the toilet. We haven't had any problems with the poop thing since. Thank you Tinker Bell!! The picture below is Emma with her chart and reward. Her smile says it all.

• I think that she will one day appear on the "Hoarders" show. She loves to collect and hoard things. It is a bit unusual. While at play group, a friend brought some toys for all the kids to play with. Emma collected ALL of the toys, piled them on a chair, and then proceeded to become the "tyrant of the toys". Wouldn't let any other child look at, or heaven forbid TOUCH them. They weren't even her toys. It was so frustrating to have "that child" at play group. I wasn't sure how to deal with it after asking her share 10,000 times - so we just left early.
• Emma loves to learn the Arizona freeways. She knows that Greg takes the 202 to work. She was very confused when we took the 202 to Mesa - and asked if we were going to Daddy's work.
• She thoroughly enjoyed Valentines Day. She would tell everyone she saw "Hi! Happy ValentiMes day". When her friend Alex tried to correct her, she fought with vigor that it was indeed Valentimes Day.
• Emma LOVES her baby brother. She is so proud of him - and shows him off to anyone who will listen. As soon as she wakes up she wants to come and talk to Grant. She loves it when he smiles at her and says, "Yeah, that's a nice smile bubbers!!".

• Emma was diagnosed with pneumonia the Friday before Grant's blessing. It was sad because she was fairly sick the entire time my family was in town. I feel lucky that overall my children are healthy. This is one of the first times Emma has had a fever since her birth. We knew she was REALLY sick when she refused fruit snacks and Girl Scout Thin Mints. Her favorites.
• While my family was here, we sat around the kitchen table with a bag of Oreos. Aunt Laura was teaching her the "cool way" to eat Oreos, which involves about 6 steps. Emma carefully listened as Laura explained all of the steps. Then Emma grabbed her own Oreo and quickly retorted, "watch how I eat an Oreo" and popped it in her mouth. No funny business with chocolate at our house - we just SHOVE them in. :)
• While eating green peas for dinner, Emma proclaimed, "I LOVE peas Mommy... that is why you love me". I didn't realize my love was predicated on the little green veggie, but I guess so.
• We have been doing "School Time" every day (or ALMOST every day) after her nap. We do a variety of learning activities for about 30-45 minutes to stretch her brain and skills. She has started to write her letters and get so excited when she gets one right. After learning to write G, E and T - I told her she could write her first word "GET". She was very excited and wouldn't erase the board until Daddy got home to show him her letters and word.

• Emma loves to help with Grant and likes stay very involved in his feeding. If he cries, she quickly tells me that I need to feed him. This morning, she saw my nursing pads on the dresser and said, "Oh No! Mom, you forgot to put these on! You better put them on or your milk supply will get low." WHAAAAAAA??? Who knew nursing pads could increase of decrease my milk supply?? La Leche League will certainly want to know this tid bit. :) Any why is Emma concerned with my milk supply?? Not a thing gets by this little girl... she must have over heard Greg and I talking about it some time.
• She wanted the "My Little Pony" video while she was sick. I tried to get one at WalMart and Target, but it was not at either store. She turned to me and said, "Don't worry Mom. My Daddy will get it for me". Complete and utter faith in her Father. Pressure's on Greg!

Thankfully, Emma's good behavior greatly out weighs her naughty behavior...

And we are so grateful to have her funny little personality around our home.

Here are a few of the professional pics we had taken right after Grant was born.

A Baby and his Blessing

Baby Grant is so loved.

Last weekend we gathered together with friends and family to celebrate his baby blessing... and use it as an excuse to PARTY it up.

We had a perfect weekend. My Dad flew in Friday afternoon and Chuck & Em drove from Provo and got in around 2 am Friday night/Saturday morning. We definitely stayed up until 2 to greet them. I couldn't miss it!! But, DANG, it has been a long time since I've been up that late. (baby feedings aside) Don't worry. We had Scrabble to keep us awake.

Wanna know what we did Saturday?

See picture below.

No really.

We sat on the back porch enjoying the GORGEOUS weather and talking for about 4 hours. The only reason we left the porch was for a BYU Basketball Game.

** We interrupt this post to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to the Kentucky Wildcats and the BYU Cougars who have entered into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. Could it really be happening? My two favorite teams playing well in the BEST sports tournament known to man?!? WOOT WOOT!!!!**

We just enjoyed spending time together this weekend. And it was perfect.

Grant's blessing was Sunday. It was a tad hectic getting both kids ready for the blessing alone, with Greg in meetings, but we barely survived and made it to church with 5 minutes to spare.

Greg gave a BEAUTIFUL baby blessing and promised many wonderful opportunities to our precious Grant. Best of all, he was blessed to be a peace maker, which we DESPERATELY need in our home of sassy and not-so-peaceful women. In the Priesthood circle were: Greg, Glen Krebs, Chuck Krebs, Grandpa Hancock, Grandad Adams, Rob Gardner, Zac Lorenzen, and Jeff Adams. What a magnificent group of men.

Please disregard my chubby face. I think blessings add 10 pounds... right???? I wouldn't have put it up, but you just HAVE to post a picture of the family.

We had the whole gang over for a huge lunch after church. We crammed into our little townhome and spilled onto the patio - but it was SUPER fun .

Oh and this little one? She had pneumonia the whole weekend (more on this next post). Poor thing. Just had to include this obviously sickly picture of the big sister. She came home early from church with Grandma Krebs and Aunt Laura and proceeded to sleep for 4 hours. Here she is after that glorious nap and dressing herself.

Cousin Taytum holding Grant.

Here are some of my favorite shots of our little lad. The outfit was borrowed from Jeff & Holly Andersen. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I had Emma's dress sewn to be a replica of my wedding dress and then Grant's outfit got borrowed. I'm telling you - the second gets jipped. I admit it.

Oh well. He still looked handsome. Hair piece and all.

And while we are on the topic of baby blessings...

Yesterday, Grant's cousin Tate Raymond was blessed. They are a month apart in age. Uncle Jamie was coming into town from Texas, so it was a perfect time. Jeff and Michelle did Tate's blessing in their home and it was a marvelous evening.

Tate and Grant.

BCF. Best Cousins Forever.

You think his vest is darling? I thought that's what you were thinking.

Our dear friend Courtney actually knitted it for him!!!!!! Isn't it AMAZING??? I think he looks absolutely precious in it. She made Emma a gorgeous dress. Such talent.

So fun to have Jamie in town!! And it was his birthday to boot, so we got to celebrate x 2. Double the dessert and double the fun!! That's what I'm talking 'bout.

A much better picture of our foursome.

Grandma Adams and Grammie Lou bonding with Grant.

The baby's bring so much joy and celebration!

It's always fun when Grandma comes...

Grandmas are the BEST. Wouldn't you say?

My Mom came to Arizona for the week leading up to Grant's blessing on Sunday. We were SO happy to have her visiting!

We spent time at the Museum for Youth in Mesa where they have a WONDERFUL Fairy Tales exhibit right now. If you have a girl in your home ages 2-5, you simply must go. Dress ups galore. Emma was in heaven.


We also spent time reading books, playing at parks, canning 40 pounds of chicken, attending dance class, eating/cooking too much food, watching Tangled (for the 4th time in the theater) and just enjoying lots of Grandma Krebs time.

My Mom always stays with my Grandma and Grandpa Hancock when she comes. One evening we were having dinner at my grandparents home and invited Greg's Mom to join us. I said excitedly to Emma, "Isn't it so fun that you get to eat dinner with TWO Grandmas tonight?" She looked at me very confused and said, "No Mom, I get to eat dinner with THREE Grandmas tonight, because Grandma Hancock will also be there."

This kid doesn't miss a thing.

THANK YOU GRANDMA KREBS for making our week one to remember!

Our Little Man

Grant is such a precious little bundle. We are SO blessed to have him in our family.

He just had his two month check-up and is healthy and growing well. He weighed in at 11 pounds 12 ounces, 23 inches long, and a 15 inch head. Our doc loves to compare him to Emma and says that he is longer by an inch and weighs less. Don't need doctor stats for that - Emma looks like a BEEF in her two month pics.

He is still the sleeping champion. I seriously thought Emma was a great sleeper (and she was) - but he is putting her to SHAME. He has been consistently sleeping 8 hours every night since the middle of February at 6 weeks old. Sometimes he will give us 10 hours. Bless him.



He loves his big sister - and she can generally get him to smile - or wince - if she is getting a little TOO close.

The other day she asked if she could read to him (right after his nap). She opened this book and started the most DARLING dialogue. "Grant, do you see this ball??" "Isn't that a good ball??" He smiled the entire time.

We enjoyed a night out on Saturday to the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization concert. As luck would have it, we ran into comp tickets and my Mom was in town to babysit. SWEET!!! This was one of our first dates without the little guy, so I thought it appropriate to put him in this t-shirt.

And here he is with great grandma Hancock. Our kids are so lucky to have time spent with their great grandparents. What a unique opportunity. I only knew one of mine.

Flower Girl

Emma and I made some flower clips for her hair this week.

She insisted on wearing all 8 of them at the same time.

Who am I to stop her?


This flower girl sure loves her Daddy.

Greg proposed...

EIGHT years ago today! February 28th, 2003.

What's that you say? Come again? You're DYING to hear the story of our engagement? Well...... OK.

I wish it were something straight from a Jane Austen novel - but it's not.

In mid-January 2003 I basically had a nervous break down (from a Stephen King novel) - in which I cried HUGE alligator tears - and told Greg that if he did not propose soon we would have to end the relationship. I was in love and I just couldn't wait around for Greg to take his sweet time in making the next marriage move.

Greg obliged and admitted that he had been thinking of marriage, but had just failed to bring up the topic. Thanks buddy. The wedding plans ensued and Greg picked out and ordered the engagement ring. We had our engagement pictures schedule for March 1st and by February 27th Mr. Greg had still not proposed. So, basically I knew something was happening on February 28th. It's not rocket science people. I needed the ring for the pictures - OBVIOUSLY.

Greg was hard at work making all of the proper preparations.

He took me to dinner at "The Compass Room", which sits atop the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Phoenix. If you must know, it is the ONLY revolving restaurant in Arizona and is truly a gorgeous site. The food was fabulous. We nervously ate our dinner and made frazzled small talk as we both awaited the upcoming event.

It was chilly that night, and as I went to grab my coat from the waiter, I noticed that Greg was gone. In his anxious haste, he had walked off without me and had made it to the elevator before noticing that I was missing. When we made it downstairs and outside, Greg again grabbed my hand and hustled me through downtown. (***sidenote*** - Whenever Greg is rushing around and leaving me in the dust, I now ask him if we are getting engaged again.)

We stopped inside a HUGE tent across from Symphony Hall, which is now where the Phoenix Convention Center resides. The tent was empty, except for a small crane, on which sat a dozen roses. Attached to each rose was a small card stating one reason why he loves me. I have kept those cards through the years. They read: you take care of me, you care for others, you have a strong desire to follow the Savior, you love me, you make me laugh, you have a beautiful voice, you are smart, you make me smile, you are beautiful, you are everything to me, you inspire me to be better, you are my best friend. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH... sweet, huh?

He then got down one one knee and asked me to be his wife for eternity.

I said YES! and the rest is 8 years of magical history.

Here are a few of the engagement pictures we took the next day...

I don't need a Jane Austen novel, because I'm living my own.

And it is SO much better than hers.

Happy Engagement Anniversary Greg!

I love you more than I did 8 years ago and will love you even more 8 years from now.