Just Sitting Around

Well, it's been over a week since the last post, so I figured I should write something...

Emily and I have been fighting a naptime battle. Every day she tries to sneak into the baby's bed to sleep. Her loyal jingle bear hasn't been so loyal in this campaign though, since I am able to hear every time she drops it over the railing into the crib. My favorite was the time I parked myself inside her room, sitting against the door, and she attempted to tip-toe across the room with her eyes squeezed shut. If she can't see me, I can't see her, right?
I have found that the trick to getting her to stay in her own bed is to leave her on her own and then check in on her every once in a while to catch her doing the right thing. The praise is what keeps her in bed, not the reprimand for breaking rules.

Caleb is such a cute little cuddle bug! He learned to crawl while we were in Utah and has been following Emily around ever since. He has started pulling himself up to a standing position, but I don't expect him to walk for another couple of months at least. He was recently sick and also cut four teeth at the same time. That was not a fun couple of days, but now he is the proud baby owner of eight sharp teeth!

Joseph and I have been keeping busy. Joseph was asked to lead the choir for stake conference about a month ago, and that happened last Sunday. It made for a long day, having to be at the stake center an hour early and then staying to sing in both sessions. Luckily, we have a fantastic ward and at least four families offered to help with the kids during conference. We had been relying on families in the ward for the previous three weeks to watch them during rehearsals too, so I'd kind of thought we'd used up all of our resources. We were very grateful when someone offered to take them home during the second session and the kids had a great time playing at their house while we were busy. The choir numbers went pretty well, but we are glad to have that experience behind us.

Here are a few leftover pictures from our Utah trip.
Emily spent some time playing Rockband (Beatles edition - great fun!) and loved the drums. That's Joseph and my dad backing her up.

I loved this picture of Emily and my mom looking out the window. This and the last picture were cell phone pictures, and as bad as they are, my new (old) phone pictures are even worse. Thank goodness for the new camera!

This is me in 2004, before Joseph and I were even married, feeding the Bean Museum moose a tattoo. I believe I am holding a couple of insect collection boxes we were picking up for a couple of siblings in high school.Here are Joseph and Emily visiting that same moose
And baby Caleb with Uncle Nathan continuing the family tradition.

Here is Emily on the airplane as we were completing the last leg of the flight, coming back to Austin. I think she was ready to be done. Thank goodness we had a good friend with a big car to pick us up from the airport!

Here is Caleb sitting at his table after a meal, well supplied with toys to keep him busy. Emily takes good care of baby brother (and this proves she is related to Derek).

And finally, here is one of my favorite pictures of Joseph and Caleb at a friend's birthday party. Caleb is definitely a hair puller, but look how happy it makes him! I love that little guy!