Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam!

I can't believe that my baby is growing up. Ethan has graduated nursery and will be starting Sunbeams this weekend. This is going to be a whole new adventure for Ethan.

2009.... What a Year!

2009 has been a good year for the Newman Clan. We've been extremely blessed. A lot has happened to us this past year, but the biggest, most life-changing event was the birth of Emma. She has changed our lives and we are very thankful to have her in our family. Below I listed some events that happened in our lives...

SCOTT...aka... daddy

• He continues to travel ALL the time. He has been to Europe, Canada, Mexico and all over the U.S.
• He was released as Ward Mission Leader and was put in as a Primary worker.
• Scott got a new digital camera that helped him rediscover his passion in photography.
• Scott continues being a wonderful husband and father.
  

ME... aka... Melissa or mommy

• I'm now a full-time mommy... No longer tutoring.
• I'm the personal progress guru in the Young Womens.
• This was my first year blogging and loving it.

Ethan... aka ... Bubba

• Turned 3 years old!
• Potty trained... almost! (still needs to do #2 in the potty)
• Learned to ride a bike!
• Can verbalize his wants and needs a lot better.
• Graduated nursery at church.
• Started a neighbor co-op preschool.
• Becoming more and more independent.

Emma.... aka... Little Princess

• Is now 6 months old.
• Sits on her own.
• Rolls with encouragement!
• Loves to put things in her mouth.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Christmas Fun with the Grandparents!

Christmas was a crazy day. After we had our own Christmas we packed up the kids and went to Grandma and Grandpa Newman's house. We opened presents and had a wonderful dinner.

Alyssa is playing with Emma...


Ethan posing "upside down."

Grandma Newman got all the kids new pjs... She also gave them clothes and a nice toy. She spoils her grandkids.

Later that evening we made our way down to Grandma and Grandpa Riddle's house. We munched on some food and opened presents. Here we are, waiting... so hard for a 3 year old.

Ethan found a perch... the arm rests of the 2 couches. He looked so cute up there.

Here is part of the family opening presents.

Ethan and Emma were very spoiled. Ethan and Emma got so much stuff on Christmas from everyone! THANKS EVERYONE! It was a fabulous Christmas!

Our Family Christmas

Christmas was a blast this year. Having kids definitely makes the holidays more fun. Ethan was really into everything this year. Decorating the Christmas tree, making cookies, seeing Santa, shopping, wrapping, setting out cookies and milk for Santa, Christmas music... did I miss anything... oh, of course "Santa coming to town."

On Christmas Eve we have a big dinner and program where we talked about Jesus' birth. This is Grandpa Riddle attempting to read a story about the Nativity.

Each year my mom does a picture project of the grandkids.... This year she made a video. Here are some of the kids watching some of the DVD. Ethan loved pointing out all his cousins and of course, himself.

What is Christmas Eve without opening up Christmas PJs?... So cute!

Before...

After...


This was Ethan's present to Emma. He couldn't wait to give this to her. This was the first present to be unwrapped on Christmas morning.


All season we've been trying to get Ethan to tell us what he wanted Santa to bring him... he wouldn't say anything but presents and toys. Finally as Christmas was approaching he started saying he wanted ... "A train, a boat and puzzles" Here he got a train from daddy.

Emma trying out her new toy. Thanks daddy!

When we asked Ethan to pose in front of the camera he always put the item in front of his face. Thanks, Grandma Caldwell!

This is how Emma spent most of the morning and day.... ASLEEP! Poor little girl got sick and wasn't feeling too well and wanted to sleep for most of the day. That's ok... Ethan enjoyed unwrapping all her presents along with his own presents and his parents presents too.

He was so funny after each present he would say, "Should I get another present?" We had to hurry to find out who it was for before he would unwrap it. He had more presents at his other grandparents homes too. Stay tuned for more Christmas fun!

Emma is 6 Months!

So very precious! We went to the doctor this morning and here are her measurements.

Height - 26.8" (78%)

Weight - 16 lbs. 9 oz. (53%)

OFC - 17" (65%)

Emma is growing and developing as she should... Here are some of her milestones...

• Roll over both ways (FINALLY!.. She just rolled over from back to tummy yesterday)
• Sitting up by herself
• Grabs her toes (LOVE IT!)
• Squeals!

Emma is a very happy child for the most part. She is starting to sleep better but still has a hard time at night by waking up about 3 or 4:00, but is able to eventually get herself back to sleep. Her naps are better, thank goodness! She smiles at everyone, but she is starting to play favorites. Her favorite is her big brother, Ethan... She always has a smile for him. Here are pictures of Emma that was taken this past week. She is so adorable!

Squealing!

Look at that face!

Drool!

So big!

Look at me! I'm sitting all by myself!

What are those on my feet?

So pretty in her Christmas dress!

My new favorite! Her scrunched up face smile... ADORABLE!

Merry Christmas!

Scott's 2009 Travel Update

So Christmas is approaching and so is the New Year... and that means Scott is done traveling for this year. So the results are in and this is every place he has been for 2009!

Herndon, Virginia (6)
New York City (2)
Dallas, Tx
Boston, Mass.
Schaumburg, IL
Toronto, Canada (2)
Mexico City, Mexico
Amsterdam, Netherlands (2)
Houston, TX (2)
Irvine, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Cary, North Carolina
Cleveland, Ohio
St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
Nashville, TN (2)
Atlanta, GA
Sunnyvale, CA
United Kingdom

If you ask Scott, the hardest trip would have been this last trip to England. He had two different sights he taught at and he had to figure out how to get from one place to the next. Also, his flight was canceled (to be uncanceled) and had to stay an extra day. Needless to say, this was the longest 4 day class he's ever taught. Thankfully he is on his way home today and will be here for the next 3 weeks!

These past few months have been hard. Scott has been gone a lot. We are blessed to have work. The bad economy hasn't effected our family, thank goodness. But the drawback is Scott is gone. He does provide for the family that allows me to be a stay at home mom. I'm truly grateful for Scott for this. The new year is starting and he'll continue his travels. Hopefully a new job will open up for Scott that won't require to travel so much, but until then, Scott has a job and he's working!

Curious George Overload!

I'm sitting here watching, once again, Curious George. Curious George is Ethan's favorite show! He watches it first thing in the morning and again in the evening while I make dinner for us. If you think that is enough, think again... lately Ethan has learned to play computer games on PBS and guess what he likes to play the most, yep you guessed it... Curious George. Oh, well... he does learn a few things from George, it could be worse...

Family Pictures

On Thanksgiving, our friend, Jessica, was nice enough to take our family pictures for us. I think she did pretty well considering, Ethan was freezing... There was about a foot of snow up where we went... and Emma had enough within 15 minutes... This first one is my favorite. You can tell Ethan is freezing, but we at least looked a little happy... well almost, Emma didn't give us a smile. Oh, well... she's a baby!

You can check out Jessica's blog http://whitedandelionphotography.blogspot.com/

My Little CUTIES!

Here are some more of my favorite pics of my little ones... I have to say they are just getting more adorable as they get older. Ethan is such a great big brother and it was his idea to have Emma sit with him on the rocking horse. Ethan is 3 and Emma is 5 months.

Head Scratching!

Take a close look at Emma's head... Those are scratches she gave herself. The other day while she was eating she was scratching her head and I had no idea how bad it was until I saw the blood. Poor little girl... Well, at least it doesn't seem to bother her.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

This weekend we pulled out the Christmas decorations and started decorating! It took ALL day! Ethan helped decorate the Christmas tree. It was so much fun watching him put the ornaments up. As you can see, the ornaments all made it in one small area of the tree. He loves the picture ornaments that we get each year. He loves to point out his "family" and mistakenly thinks his baby picture as being a picture of Emma.