My "Baby" is 2!!!

I once made fun of my brother for calling his 3 year old a baby. He said to his oldest daughter, "Can you get the baby?" "Baby?" I said, "Since when was a 3 year old a baby?"

Now I catch myself calling my 2 year old "the baby" all the time. To me she is the baby and unfortunate to her she probably always will be. Although my baby is nearly as tall as her 4 almost 5 year old sister and weighs about the same as her too! What can I say, she is and always will be my baby; a large one at that!

Well, "my baby", turned 2 on the 9th of January. An ache builds up in my heart when I think that my youngest and most likely my last child is no longer a baby. She's a toddler.

But just as quickly as that ache comes it is replaced with a feeling of pride. She is the cutest most remarkable 2 year old a mother could have. Am I biased? Absolutely!

Here are the things that make Emma...

• She is HUGE!!! Her belly hangs over like a muffin top! Seriously I think I am taking the "chubby babies, make the cutest babies" thing a bit too far! We got the "borderline" obese talk from the pediatrician. But I have no concerns as I watch this chubby thing fly on her feet.
• Okay so she doesn't quite fly but she runs pretty fast for a big girl and with gusto. She loves to move, move, move as she tries to keep up with her big sisters and brother. Her run is so completely unique as her hips do most of the action and her feet are just trying to keep up with them.
• Her smile is devious but adorable. She can be up to no good but when she flashes that smile I don't care. She can get away with just about anything so long as she is willing to throw that beautiful chubby smile my way.
• And that leads me to proving the fact that the youngest sibling gets away with much more than the older siblings do. She is spoiled but not just by me. Every single person in this family is at fault for this one. Especially biggest sister "Nan."
• When she was an infant I thought she was going to be our serious, stern child. We didn't have one yet, they are all quite crazy and silly. And she has followed suit. She has gone from serious to crazy silly!
• She loves to dance. When she feels the right beat she can't help but move to it. Even in the process of spilling forth angry tears she will start move those shoulders back and forth and the head will start to bob.
• She is into EVERYTHING!!! Much like her big brother was, child-proofing the house is always advisable so long as Emma is in it. She is adventurous, curious beyond belief and inquisitive. But those qualities make for a very smart toddler.
• Which leads us to that big head of hers. She has a huge noggin but it is full of brain. She is a very clever girl who can work the system. She also remembers details that astound me. She has an amazing memory so it is a good thing that head of hers is an adequate size to store all that information!:)

Emma we love you so much. We feel so blessed that we have your precious spirit in our family. Happy 2nd birthday!

Recap of 2011 and to a New Year

When I think of my life and how hard it could be I realize I am completely blessed in every possible way. I have married a wonderful man who made an incredible daddy. I have 5 amazing children who make my day busy, challenging but they achieve the task of making me smile each and every day. We are all healthy and we are all happy. Really can I ask for much more than that?!

Looking back on 2011 has made me grateful though that it is over. Although all the above still apply to my gratitude list we were definitely hit with some challenges. Various jobs, various insurances, high continuous medical deductibles, emergency room trips, surgeries, the hardest move I have ever had to make, leaving my beloved home in Virginia and my best friends, dealing with medical bills, loneliness, kids transitioning and no home to call our own.

I know things could be much worse but I do look forward to 2012 with renewed hope. I feel that through the trials of 2011 I have walked away with more appreciation, more gratitude and a renewed sense of focus on what matters most.

Hopefully as 2012 comes to an end you will find this blog full of wonderful, adventurous memories. Life has so much to offer and the Scott's are ready to capture it and enjoy it. I also wouldn't mind at all if this year brought a complete close to our lives in VA (a.k.a selling our home) and chance to put our feet securely on the ground here in UT (a.k.a buying a new one here in Utah!).

Here's to the memories of 2011 and the possibilities of 2012!

Mormon Lake

Taking in all the family togetherness we have had lately we felt it only fair to get a little loving from our awesome AZ family. So after some diligent planning on my sister-in-law's part off we went to Mormon Lake Lodges to meet up for a New Year Party!

It was absolutely beautiful. The area is surrounded by Ponderosa Pines and SNOW! It was warm but full of snow!!! You can't often say that! It was a perfect weekend.

I thought this was interesting when I was researching Mormon Lake Lodge, I couldn't find anywhere on the website about where the name or the history of Mormon Lake originated. It was all history on the Lodge and Saloon! So when I checked in I asked the woman at the front desk the history of Mormon Lake. With her head down as if in shame, NO KIDDING, she proceeded to tell me that some Mormon man came here with his family in the late 1800's and started up a cattle ranch. Come on people is Mormonism so foreign, weird and unknown that you can't put the true history on your website nor know some good facts about the family that originated the very place that is providing your income!!! Seriously, if you feel weird about Mormonism please ask me about it or click on the temple button. Loads of info and I promise it will replace your weird feeling with one of acceptance. And now I will proceed to move off my soapbox and let you enjoy some awesome family pictures loaded with fun!

Christmas Time!

One day a few weeks ago we were driving to a family christmas party and I heard the song, "I'll be home for Christmas." I can't tell you how many times I have heard this song and wished it were true for me. It has been a long time since I have been home for Christmas. Although we have developed some fun traditions of our own and have deeply enjoyed the Christmas veg that we embark on as we do nothing that day but sit around the house and soak in the Christmas, there is always this longing for me to be home.

But this year I was finally home for Christmas. I felt emotions building up and the gratitude sink in as I realized that Christmas is all about family. Whether it is just being with my own little family of 7 or my large family of 21, that is what it is truly all about. And this year I am grateful to finally be here with my family, extended family, the whole lot!

For Christmas Eve we made up some Gingerbread Houses. I paired them up and left out 3 because as super as I want to be I was not about to make 11 Gingerbread Houses!

Christmas morning was chaos as usual but we spent it in good company with Aunt Angie and Uncle Tony and Papa and Grandma! Having an audience just makes it that much more enjoyable.

Playing Catch-up

Blogging has become a tad bit more uncreative and unproductive now that I have left my battery charger for my nikon in VA. Now I have to solely rely upon my husband's iphone to do what my nikon used to. Sadly enough it doesn't and now I have to wait for my busy hubby to connect his phone to the computer and download all the pictures from it. Which in the blogging world seems to take ions especially when you got stuff to write about and journal. So here's to playing catch-up until the nikon battery charger is safely back in my hands.

So to sum up the rest of Christmas break here are a few pics! We finally purchased the pass of all passes and went to trafalga to celebrate. It is a fun place with laser tag (my first time ever, it was so fun and I realized I rock at it), miniature golf, bumper cars, arcade, speedway, and an indoor play yard for the little ones. Here are a few pictures. I thought Harvey had taken more but here we go again with the downfall of not having me in charge of the camera!

Here is Carson on the climbing wall! Go Buddy!

An added plus to being in Utah is we get to go everywhere with cousins. Here is cousin Tanner making his way up the wall.

My monkey Madison up the wall in a flash!