Emerson's Piercings and Facts in 4

Last weekend we got Emerson's ears pierced! She was a champ. The thing that bugged her the most, was me holding her head down. She cried for a second when they clipped each ear, then she was back to smiling and coo-ing. She is SUCH a happy baby, and looks SO cute with her little diamond studs. Think I like having a girl? Yes. But I love my boy, too!!

My Aunt Leann made this adorable onesie tu-tu. We went out Thursday night, and I took her out in it because....well....because I can. :)
Spring is here!! I hope the weather becomes a little more consistent, and let's us enjoy Spring before jumping into Summer. Because right now....it is WONDERFUL! We made it to the park a few times this week.

LASTLY, my mom tagged me in a "facts of 4" post, and I've been meaning to post this, so here ya go:

FACTS in FOUR

Four Shows I Watch:
1. Chuck
2. Vampire Diaries
3. Modern Family
4. Life Unexpected

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
1. My Family
2. My Religion
3. Photography
4. Advertising

Four Phrases I Say A Lot:
1. "You STINKER!"
2. "1.....2......3"
3. "I know!" (Craig Ferguson accent)
4. "Love you, bye."

Four Things I've Learned from the Past:
1. Patience is a virtue
2. The importance of "being a Pollyanna", as my mom said so many times growing up.
3. Can't cuddle enough
4. Hard work pays off, one way or another.

Four Places I Would Like to Go:
1. Costa Rica
2. Australia
3. NYC
4. Hawaii (could never go enough!)

Four Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to "How to Train a Dragon" with my little family (overall, a GREAT experience)
2. Chatted with Carrie when she and Hadly came by to see Emerson
3. Went to Double Dave's Pizza buffet
4. Searched for something particular online.

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to:
1. Law school graduation!
2. Photographing J&S's summer wedding!
3. Consistent Spring days
4. Packing up (not that packing is desirable, but that means we get to purge and get rid of some things!)

Four Things I Love about Winter:
1. Holiday Music
2. Holiday Movies
3. Fires
4. Scarves

Four Things on My Wish List:
1. To qualify for the Boston Marathon
2. To make a studio in our home when we move
3. A vacay with the hubby
4. and #4, I'll keep a little more private

Four People I Tag:
1. Kristen G.
2. Lauren M.
3. Ayrel J.
4. Lindsay I.
5. Tanja D. ---I had to add Tanja! When I was filling this out, I forgot my old neighborhood sister is a fellow blogger!
HAVE A GREAT EASTER!!

El Paso Part V: El Fin

To wrap up posting on our El Paso trip, here are just some random pictures we took all week with family. Oh, and I'd like to give my oldest brother, Tanner, a shout out for his 30th birthday! We love you, brother!

Below: Stone and Chloe. Think the strawberries were a little sour maybe? These two were best buddies this trip. Chloe called Stone JoJo all trip long (not sure why?? We think she calls all little boys JoJo). Stone said, "Chloe! It's not JoJo. The name is STONE." haha.
Below: Eating rocks and apples. Yummm.

You all are familiar with Danny (below). He and Stone are also best little buds. Here they are watching Shrek in their capes. They're all about Spiderman and Superman when they are together. I watched these two, plus Chloe, plus Emerson, one afternoon while the boys went to a movie. The two boys wrestled and pushed eachother off of Grandma and Grandpa's bed. They both left with bruises, but they laughed the whole time. By the end of the trip, it looked like we had abused Stone.

Below: Grandpa Jessup ropin' Stone in the bed of Cliff's truck.Below: My Jessup family, whom I love love love.


Below: Jordan and Rachel's boy, Gavin. I just LOVE this boy!! His cheeks are so scrumptious.







Below: Charee (or Chloe Mama, as Stone would stay) and Chloe. Beautiful girls!

Below: Emerson with her GREAT Grandpa Espinoza, and Grandma Jessup. Marcy looks so pretty, don't ya think??
Four generation shot:

We had a BLAST in El Paso. It was a busy trip, filled with lots of family, things to do, and people to see.

El Paso Part IV: Emerson's Blessing!

When we heard that Tanner and his cute family were going to be in El Paso the week of Cliff's spring break, we knew we had to head over for some quality family time. We decided to delay Emerson's blessing a few weeks, and do it in El Paso so that our families could be a part of the special day. Then, Jordan and his cute family decided to head over for the occasion, and then my cousin and his wife, Mark and Jacki, decided to head over last minute from AZ. AND, my cute cousin, Drey, came with my mom. In our church, a baby blessing is basically a father's blessing, and it makes the baby a member of record in the church. It's a special occasion, and it happened to be on my 25th birthday!

The morning actually started off a bit stressful. It was the first Sunday since we have had two kids that we were actually ready for church EARLY! ...that was until we couldn't find the keys to the car, which happened to have Emerson's white bloomers and white bow. After frantically searching for some time, we saw them on the front seat of the car (oops!). Thus, I had to make due with what we had in her suit case, and make a cream bow and bloomers do justice. We barely made it on time to church after the fiasco (and perhaps a few tears out of frustration on my end). In the end, it turned out to be a perfect day. AND, in addition to all my family being there, my BFF, Shannon, and her sweet mom, came to church for the special day.

Her blessing dress is kind of special. It was actually a dress my mom's cousin made for me the night I was born. I found it in a box, just before Emerson was born, and decided I wanted her to wear it on her blessing day.

AND, notice her pink toe nails! I did take the polish off that night so that her cute little toes/toe nails could breath. I just couldn't resist on a special day. :) I turned to Shannon in church, and said, "Can you believe I painted her toe nails??" ...to which she replied, "YES!!"

My side of the family!

Below: Here is the bow that was locked in the car!


Below: My ladies! Rachel (sis-in-law [jord's]), Jacki (cousin-in-law), Me, Charee (sis-in-law [tan's]). I love these girls!!
Below: Stone and Chloe were jumping off this table over and over again to Clay, AKA Uncle Bubba.

Above: My cousin, Drey.
Below: It was my 25th birthday that day, Rachel's 25th was a few days before, and Tanner's 30th is this Sunday. SO, we got to blow out some birthday candles together.

Below: Money shot of the trip! While we were blowing out the candles, my stinker of a 2-year-old was in the Jessup's side courtyard doing THIS:


What the heck?! He's gone outside before (at the park, and on the side of the road on road trips)....but this?! What the heck? I love Chloe's face in the first picture. It's like she knows he'd doing something naughty. Ooooh, this is just the start, huh??

El Paso Part II: The Ranch

The Jessups have a ranch two and a half hours outside of El Paso. I hadn't been since Cliff's return from his mission, and Stone had yet to ride a horse. Perfect formula to make a trip to the ranch with Kevin (Cliff's dad). We had a blast (sore butts the next day to prove it), and Emerson even got a turn on the horse.

El Paso Part I: Desert Cookout

We just got home from a fun, busy Spring Break. We got to see ALL of my family and ALL of Cliff's--rare occasion to see everyone at once.

At the beginning of the week, we headed out to the desert for a cookout with my Dad, Lisa, Tanner, Charee, and Chloe. Stone and Chloe are just too cute for words. They reconnected this week, and Stone just loves her! They were quickly best buddies.

Is this not the cutest thing EVER? They held hands all through the desert on their adventure, and LOVED watching the train go by down below every so often.
I love this picture below of Chloe using the binoculars. ....especially because they are backwards.
Before you call CPS, these kids are not at the edge of the cliff. It just appears that way.
Below is Charee witching a well. Cliff and Tanner were showing her how it's done. And this is real stuff, people. Cliff's family witched their well at their ranch.

I just LOVE the beauty of the desert, and I always love heading home to El Paso.

Come back to see the rest of our trip! Which may or may not include Stone peeing in a fountain.

Our Bierded Boy

We just got back from a GREAT Spring Break in El Paso, and while I work on several posts from the trip, here is a little something that has been sitting in queue, and that I meant to post a while ago...

Stone has become quite the conversationalist. He asks questions, expects answers, and he will pester you until you give him a legit answer. Here are a few things that stick out in my head recently:

*A few nights ago, I got out of the shower, had my wet hair down, and he looks at me and says, "Mommy....you're so pretty."

*Cliff was sitting down in our massage chair one night, and Stone came out from his room (he was supposed to be sleeping), and said, "What are you doing, Daddy? I want the chair." So Cliff was trying to wiggle out while moving his things out of the way, and Stone said, "Hurry, Daddy!" Cliff looked at me and said, "sheeeesh!!" ...to which Stone replied, "I heard that, Daddy."

*He loves to play "this little piggy" with Emerson's toes, and if she's crying, he starts to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

*Marcy got Stone a remote control car, and Cliff was playing with it. Stone wanted his turn, but Cliff wasn't done. haha. SO, Stone said, "Daddy! Don't waste my batteries!"

*A while back, Stone said, "Mommy, I love her [Emerson]. You love her. Daddy loves her. We all looooove her!"

He continues to be a wonderful big brother, and a great helper. He's still in his terrible twos, but I think we're on the down hill with that (knock on wood).