Random Monday :)

Life is good. 

I'm trying hard to spend time with all my friends and family in Utah before we leave for Georgia (even though I should probably be doing responsible things like packing, cleaning, paying bills, etc.). 

I've realized I've become one of those obsessed-with-their-baby moms whose blog posts contain nothing but pictures of their little one. Oh well---my excuse is that it's for the grandparents (but truly, I am obsessed with this little girl. She's adorable. I'm loving her little smiles these days).

I'm amazed at how busy I am with just the simple tasks of the day. 

I have what I call The Big Five:

Read Scriptures

Make Dinner

Exercise

Maintain house cleanliness

Get out of the house once

It's a REALLY good day if I get all of these done in the midst of feeding, playing, and sleeping Emery every 3ish hours. One reason I'm grateful for Emery is that having her is really teaching me to focus on the basics---the things that really matter. I don't have time to do many of the leisure activities that I used to (though somehow I seem to make time for blogging. I think 'cause it's therapeutic). I have to pick and choose the things I'm going to get done everyday. Along with The Big 5, I'm learning that it's most rewarding to invest my time in people---my husband, talking to my mom or dad on the phone, spending time with family, having dinner with friends, making things for people, etc. 

Ultimately, I'm discovering that...

A simple life is a better life.  

Have a great week!

The Steph Nose?

Well, I think I've discovered that Emery just doesn't look like me very much. I see lots more of Pete in her. However, I'm fairly confident that she was the unfortunate recipient of my flat nose :) Oh well. Maybe my eyes too?

Ultimately, she's her own unique little person...it's just fun to look at old baby pictures and try to see resemblances.

Baby Steph.

Aside from the nose, I don't think I look a thing like Emery as a newborn.

But maybe there's some similarity in us as we get a bit older?

(Top 2 photos: Steph

Bottom 2 photos: Emery)

The Pete Lip

   

Top: Emery
Bottom: baby Pete

While perusing old photos today, I found some nice look alike photos of Emery and Pete. I think Emery definitely inherited her dad's mouth and his plentiful hair at birth (though I think it looks like Pete had even more than her!). As she gets older though, I think she has started looking like me a bit more. Picture post on that coming soon :)

Top: baby Pete
Bottom: Emery

Four Generations

"Generations pass like leaves fall
from our family tree.
Each season new life blossoms and grows
benefiting from the strength and
experience of those who went before."

I'm so grateful for the love,courage, and examples of these righteous women!  I appreciate them even more as I learn about all the hard work that being a mom entails. I hope I can pass on the wonderful values that I have learned from them to my little Emery.

Happy Mother's Day :)

Letter to Emery (8 weeks)

Dear Emery,

You are nearly 8 weeks old now! I can't believe how big you're getting; you're almost 10 pounds by now. Much has happened since I last wrote.

As you can see...the double chin is coming in nicely :)

First of all, you made your first road trip to Nyssa! With two feeding stops, our trip only took about 8 hours instead of 6.5 (I believe your dad took advantage of being the driver and made up for lost time if you know what I mean). Your dad left us in good hands with the Jensen family for the week while he flew around the country trying to decide where to go to Physical Therapy School. How nice it was to just hand you over to Grandma and Grandpa on a couple of those mornings and get an extra hour of sleep!

Your Easter outfit! Headband made by me and
adorable bunny gown from Grandma Hoyt

In Nyssa, you learned a new skill---smiling! You're still working on it a bit, but it's definitely there and makes my day to see it. Hopefully one of these days I'll catch it with a camera. You also got to meet your Baxter great-grandparents!

Emery and Baxter Great-Grandparents

Your family sure loves you lots! It was especially fun to watch Uncle Nate (who's almost 5 years old now) interact with you. He was convinced that petting your head was comparable to petting his fluffy kitty, Zurk. He said things like "I just looooove Emery," and "I think that Emery thinks I'm her best friend." Luckily, we convinced Nate and Grandma J to make the drive back to Utah with us. Not only did Grandma drive the whole way, she also succeeded in reaching Nate's McDonalds chicken nuggets daily quota, stopping for all my bathroom breaks, and making sure we were getting you fed. We even stopped in Burley and met your Jensen great-grandparents! I wish I would've gotten a picture. Hopefully you get to see them again when you aren't as fussy :). Great-grandma Jensen gave us one of my favorite books: Love You Forever. Both me and your dad read the book to you last night (dad did the reading parts, I did the singing parts).

We borrowed this cute flower from Aunt Mallory while she was at school :)

Love this little face :)

This past Sunday, your dad and I made an attempt at taking you to church. You and I were both bathed, dressed, and ready to go (which is no small feat), but 1:00 sacrament meeting just happened to fall at your feeding time...so you ended up being hungry and we spent the hour feeding in the car. I'll let you know in the future how attempt #2 goes!

One thing that you've been struggling with the past few weeks is feeding. You've been super fussy and grumpy and it takes about an hour to get you to eat for only 10 minutes or so. It's been a frustrating experience for both of us! This week, I went to the lactation clinic to see if they could help us, and it turns out I have a LOT of milk  (which I was definitely aware of) and a pretty hefty let-down reflex (sorry if that's TMI). No wonder you've been fuming mad---you've essentially been trying to drink from a fire hose! We got some help and are doing a little bit better. We also visited the pediatrician and got some Prevacid for you because it seems like you've been having some reflux that makes you uncomfortable. I really hope that you start eating better, because right now it's virtually impossible to nurse you in public. Since you and I will likely be making a plane ride to Georgia in a month, this is kind of stressing me out.

Today your dad and I tried to ask how you felt about living in Georgia for at least the next two years, but you didn't seem to respond much, so we're assuming it's okay :) A plus for you is that you will get your very own room! You won't have to sleep in the living room/kitchen area or nap on mom and dad's bed :)

Well, time continues to go by quickly and I'm still amazed at how much there is to learn as a mom! I'm hoping you start sleeping more at night and eating better. Keep smiling away :)

Love,

Mom

Final Decision :)

The Hoyts are headin' to the South!

Atlanta, Georgia to be exact.

Pete will be going to Physical Therapy School at Emory University for the next 3 years

The building where Pete will attend classes

Initially, we were pretty set on going to University of Washington. 

It had lots of nice perks.

    close to family

    cheap

    long summer break

Really, it seemed like the most logical decision.

Most everyone we talked to about it agreed that it would probably be the best choice. 

We started this week out thinking we were going to Washington. 

Because it just made sense. 

Then on Wednesday, Pete said he wasn't really feeling that good about Washington 

(and this is a big deal, because he loves Seattle; loves UW).

We started feeling better and better about Georgia. 

We struggled though, because it just didn't seem too logical.

     far away

     expensive

     HOT

     HUMID

     Starts in one month 

After lots of pondering and praying, we both felt good about Emory. I guess sometimes you just have to go with what you feel is right, even if your logical side doesn't seem to quite understand yet. I'm so grateful for the Spirit and the fact that we can receive revelation in our lives.

School orientation starts June 9th, so we don't have much time to get down there!

Luckily, when Pete flew to Atlanta last week, he checked out lots of different apartments. Today we decided which we wanted to live in, called to make sure we could still get it, and filled out our application. 

So, if all goes as planned, we'll be living in a 2-bedroom apartment here: http://postproperties.com/mycommunity.aspx?community=207400

Initially, we were really excited about possibly renting a house 15-20 minutes away from the school. How fun would it be to not live in an apartment anymore?! Also, the houses we were looking at were actually cheaper than the apartments. However, after considering transportation to the school (possibly buying another car if we chose the house, or riding the free bus if we chose the apartment), we realized that the overall cost of living in a house would be about the same as renting the apartment. Maybe after a year we will decide the house is the better way to go, but for now we feel really good about the apartment---close to other grad students, 2 minutes from the school, and free bus to campus (thus leaving me and Emery with the car).

Atlanta, GA temple!

Overall, I feel peaceful about the decision and excited about this new adventure. It is a bit overwhelming, however, to think of moving somewhere I've never been before, to be so far away from family, to be packed and ready to go by the end of this month, to say goodbye to friends and family in Utah where I've lived for the past 5ish years, and to do all of this with a little baby I'm still getting used to. 

Whew. 

Deep breaths.

Georgia here we come!

(by the way...anyone know the process for getting RN license in GA?)

Belated Easter

I know I'm a little late...but I still wanted to say Happy Easter.

 (To read one of my favorite Easter talks, click here)

As per tradition, we did a quick egg hunt on Easter morning.

the husband looking for his basket...

Emery's basket
(she napped through the whole hunt and couldn't care less...but I still had to get her a little something:)

Isn't it interesting how much life can change in just one year? 

Flashback to Easter 2010.

I'm grateful for all the reasons I have to celebrate new life this Easter season :)