A Little Hope

35.5 weeks down... halfway to go

2012-01-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

It has been over a month since I last posted. If I don't post again for that long I will have a new baby by my next post.

These eggs expire after the baby will be born.

My doctor will induce a week early? Well, my emotional calendar is now set to Feb. 13th instead of Feb. 19th.

These are some examples of how my mind is working these days.

Make Believe

2011-12-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight while Henri was playing in the bath he had quite a runny nose so I got him a tissue. (Sidenote: Everyone knows I think Henri is amazing, but really, he is the best nose-blowing two year old I have ever seen!) After a few minutes he asked for a tissue for his "elphanent" (elephant squirt toy.) I envisioned myself actually getting up every 30 seconds for the rest of bath time to get a tissue, so I pulled a pretend tissue out of my pocket and handed it to Henri. He looked at my hand and then at my face and then back at my hand and took the "tissue." He then promptly "drop it in water. Oh noooo." This went on for quite awhile. When he would ask for another tissue I would ask him, "what do you say?" The correct answer would be "please," but he says, "kind voice." Good enough. He loved it when I would ask him for a tissue and then blow my nose. Although it is hard for me to watch him turn into a little boy I love watching him develop and learn and discover new things. So, this post is dedicated to a fun bathtime!

Henri's ABC's

2011-11-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

Charles was gone all week for work and when he got home on Friday Henri was in Heaven! He was so happy that his daddy was back! Even today on the way home from church he looked and me, smiled and said, "daddy, home." The night Charles got back Henri was pretty wound up for quite awhile, but he was really tired, so as the evening wore on he was pretty calm. One thing he likes to do with Charles is watch some children's music videos in French (Henri Des is the best!) and also recite the ABC's with a youtube video. Here is a video of Henri saying his ABC's in French, with a little help from dad.

I LOVE the end of the video!!! Doesn't he look so grown up??? Doesn't he sound like a little French boy???
I am so glad that Charles is home and that Henri loves him!

Thinking of Gipper

2011-11-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day and I have been thinking of my grandfather. I grew up next door to him and saw him almost every day. If I saw him walking down the lane I would run out and give him a hug. One of these days I had recently had a haircut. He said that he liked it and I told him I was going to cut it even shorter. He patted my head and said, "not too short."

Today, though, I have been thinking of him flying in WWII. I have been thinking of my grandmother, who let him go fight for his country, while she, pregnant, was left behind to write letters everyday and pray for him. They were both so brave! I have been thinking of their reunion. My Uncle Paul, who was nine months old at that time, recognized my grandfather from pictures that my grandmother had faithfully shown him. I wonder what my grandfather felt as my uncle walked to him at their first meeting.

There is so much I could say about my wonderful grandparents, but somehow it is hard to feel like I could ever truly express even a little part of how I feel. It is amazing to imagine that this example of sacrifice, that means so much to me, has been lived by so many.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Tricks, Treats and Big Boy Haircut

2011-11-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have to say that taking trick or treating this year was great! We hit about 10 houses and we were done. We came home and gave all of Henri's candy that he didn't eat away to other lucky trick or treaters.

Trying to get some treats from Daddy. Guess what? It worked!

Besides having fun taking Henri trick or treating my goal was to get meet and get reacquainted with some of our neighbors. Since we moved in and I got sick a week later I didn't meet a lot of our neighbors, and those that I did meet I felt like I lost any connections that I had made with them when I disappeared into our air conditioned house. So, in this way, trick or treating was a success. I was able to talk to two of the girls that I have met before and make some plans with them. I was also able to meet two new neighbors on the street (one of which are the street "grandma and grandpa" and are so nice!) It is so easy, as a member of the Church, to only make friends with other members. Coming to Texas, it was one of my goals to get to know our neighbors too and I was happy to feel like last night helped me get to know some of our future friends.

Henri also got a bug, which he likes quite a bit.

Check out his new haircut! He now looks like such a big boy! I love it, but at the same time I can't believe how old my little man looks!

(Oh yeah, I was the first to try to cut his hair, but it looked kind of funny, so Charles gave me a lesson on cutting little boy hair and he made Henri quite handsome! Good job Charles!)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Getting some "bon-bons" mid trunk-or-treating. Henri wasn't that impressed with the whole "storing the candy" concept. He was ready for sugar then and there!

We would kneel down whenever we gave him a bon-bon so when he wanted one he would start kneeling too. Pretty funny.

Happy Halloween from the cutest and bravest lion around!

It's a...

2011-10-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

We are all exciting to announce that this new baby is a boy!!! I am so excited. I loved seeing this little guy on the ultrasound. He was pretty active and kept kicking the ultrasound wand...little stinker! Just like his brother. I am excited for Henri to have a little brother and for Charles and me to have two little boys. I am excited to think about names and to use all of these cute clothes that we have again. (I know I keep talking about clothes, but I am so emotionally attached to them! It really broke my heart to have to put the clothes that Henri grew out of away.) I am excited and my mommy heart is happy!

Finding Out Tomorrow!

2011-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day! I have been VERY aware that for over a month now there was the ability to know this baby's gender through an ultrasound. I have been so excited to find out!!!

New pink clothes or cute blue clothes that I love so very much???

How I feel: I really would be happy either way. I want a daughter... someday. I also LOVE Henri's boyness and would really be so happy with another sweet baby boy. So, why am I so anxious to find out? I don't know, but I am.

Also, I am not bothered that my doctor usually likes to wait this long because when we had Henri's ultrasound at 18.5 weeks there were some spots on his heart that I didn't enjoy worrying about for a month before we had another ultrasound to see that they were gone. Hopefully waiting this long will eliminate situations like that.

I can't help but groan, however, when I read other pregnant women's blogs that say: baby (boy or girl) coming at the end of March! What? This baby is coming in the middle of February!

This pregnancy has been different from Henri's. I have been much more sick. (I am doing so so much better now, by the way! I am so relieved and grateful! About 18.5 weeks was when things started calming down this time.) Another difference is that I think that my stomach is actually smaller this time. I carried so far out with Henri- I was huge. This time I must be carrying closer to my body. Every single person who has ventured a guess has said girl. I don't know if they have taken into account that this time, not only have I been trying to keep up with Henri, but also that I just lived through Houston's hottest summer...ever. Really, I do think that the heat really exacerbated my symptoms. Thankfully, tomorrow will be in the 70's. I plan to spend all day outside! (Except for the ultrasound, of course!)

I am feeling like knowing the gender will help me get into the next phase of this pregnancy: I can think about names, I can think about clothes, I can think more about how things will be between Henri and this new little one. I can let myself dream a little more about everything.

My Morning

2011-10-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

The bad:

Charles can't make it for the ultrasound on Tuesday because of work and asked me to reschedule it.

The good:

Charles wants me to reschedule so that he can be there.

The outcome:

The ultrasound will now be on the 18th.

The bad:

Henri threw a fit this morning (he has been doing that lately) and after I put him in the crib he screamed for half an hour.

The good:

He is asleep.

The outcome:

I ordered "Love and Logic" from Amazon and now I am going to take a nap too.

Funny Boy

2011-09-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

Henri is so silly sometimes and I have been wanting to write down some of the funny things that he does.

This first one reminds me of a Mormonad:

While Charles was on a trip for work I was trying to step in to the father's role and play with Henri using his little soccer ball. Even though I was stationary I thought we were having a good time, but awhile after we started Henri got sidetracked by another toy. I pulled out my phone to make a call and Henri looked up and came over immediately and said (with a very serious, cute face,) "no phone, no phone." He gently picked up my phone and went over and put it away in a desk. So, after hearing in my head, "Isn't it about... Time?" I spent the rest of my night playing whatever game Henri wanted to play.

He has recently started telling me what he wants me to do. "Come on. Up." He also usually wants Charles to stand up if they are playing with any sort of ball and run up and down the front hall with him. Charles got him a new football the other day and Henri likes for Charles to say, "set, hike" (while Charles is holding the ball) and then they both charge into the living room. Henri is funny because he likes things to always go a certain way. In this game, for example, a ball is needed, but Henri never actually even touches it. He only prompts Charles with a, "..set.." and then just runs along beside his day squealing with delight.

One of the things that I find the most joy in is that Henri loves the routine of things. While getting into his carseat (which he now climbs into, thank goodness!) his little shirt will often ride up in the back and because the buckles are still behind him it is uncomfortable. After a, "hot hot" or a "help you?" I will pull his shirt down and bring the buckles in front to buckle him in and he will say, "better." (He also says, "hold you?" which is SO CUTE!)

My friend Drew told me this the other day. She does the music for the nurseries in our ward (I think there are three... Another side note: they just rearranged the nurseries, but before that happened they were just by age group and in Henri's class- 18 month to 2 years- there were 19 kids on the role! Crazy!) Drew has a little boy, Aiden, who is almost 18 months so she takes him around with her while she does music time. This last Sunday Drew handed out some ribbons attached to sticks for the kids to wave while they were singing. Henri noticed that Aiden didn't have one so he went over and gave him his.

Lest you think, as my parents do, that I completely blind to all flaws in my little boy I do want to say that I realize there are flaws. When I ask Henri to, "come here" he thinks that is his cue to give me a grin and turn and run. (That was cute the first two times.) The story with Aiden is particularly sweet since, although sometimes he is okay with sharing he usually isn't okay with sharing with Aiden. When we are playing with friends Henri has no sense of hunger or fatigue... which means when we get home from somewhere he suddenly realizes that he is starving and tired. You know what follows...

On to more cute and fun stories...

Another moment when I felt like I had a huge reward from being a mother:

A few weeks ago Henri and Charles took a walk to a park that is quite close to our house. On the playset there is a ramp that is too steep to be walked up, but has little foot and hand holds for climbing. Henri was going up that the whole time we were there. One time he slipped down to the bottom and said, "try again." It made my mother heart soar when I knew that he had learned that from me.

We have started a little car collection for Henri. He loves having several because he can line them all up and then rearrange them over and over again. One night he started to have a hard time getting ready for bed because he still wanted to play, so I told him that the cars each needed to "fait doe doe" (go to sleep.) Now, each night he lines the cars up just under our footstool in the family room before they go to sleep and says, "night night car" or "bonne nuit car."

On Saturday night I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast (which, of course, I loved) and we had some friends coming over afterwards to play games. Charles stayed home with Henri. I was sitting by my friend and after the broadcast mentioned that Henri would be in bed when we got back. As soon as I said this, I knew that Henri would still be up. I was right. I got back home and Charles told me, "He won't stop letting me play with him." I chuckled and went into the room for a few minutes. While I was in there I heard things like, "Come on" (from Henri) and "Ready, set, hike" from Charles and more running, screaming and laughing. I loved Charles attempt at calming Henri down.

Really, since Henri was born Charles has not been the "calming down" type of dad. At all. Even when he was a tiny baby I would still have to remind Charles to be calm, even if he was carrying him in to bed. This is now manifest at bedtime. After I get Henri bathed, fed, brushed, diapered, etc. I will tell Henri to go tell daddy, "Daddy, priere" Henri will hop up and run as fast as he can to wherever Charles his and shout, "Daaaddddy, priiiieeere." Then, they will have something of a race to the family room rug where we kneel down to say our family prayers.

A few nights ago Henri seemed particularly hyper and Charles said, "just let him play a little longer." but Henri jumped up from the prayer, gave me a hug, then ran as fast as he could to the stairs and started up them. So, Charles did take him up to bed, but I loved his enthusiasm for the routine (because I am sure it wasn't enthusiasm for bedtime.)

Also, Charles helped Henri say his first prayer last night. Henri mostly repeated the last word of each phrase and it went something like this, "...Celeste...cion...bonne journee...beni maman ...bebe ...aide ...avoir ...bonne nuit... bon reves...nom... Christ...amen."

Discouraged

2011-09-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today has been a hard day. I woke up feeling sick. Not just pregnancy sick, but sick with a cold. Henri has a cold too so I decided that we would stay home from church. Charles went, but I told him to keep his phone on him in case I needed him. My first text message went like this, (WARNING: do not read if you feel sick at all!) "Throwing up while holding Henri's poopy bottom in the air is not fun." The second, "...aaaand Henri just threw up too..." Charles didn't even get that one until he was home, bless his heart.

I have been planning on writing a blog post about how this pregnancy has been going. The title, "For Charles." The subtitle something like, "So that when I want to get pregnant when this next baby is six months old and Charles looks at me like I am crazy then I won't just think he is being insensitive."

Does this tell you how this pregnancy has been going?

This picture is the only documentation of the bruise I got on my cheek from passing out while Charles was at work. Also pictured is the reason for my smile. (Don't I look skinny? I have been on a diet.)

Okay, I am 18 weeks today and I feel tired. Not physically (well, yeah, physically too) but emotionally. I keep thinking to myself, "I don't know how much longer I can do this." It is hard that I am 18 weeks with only the occasional okay day, and really the only end in sight being February 19. So, after an uncomfortable day I cried. Not the pretty type of crying, with tears running down your cheeks, but the ugly type of crying with sobs accompanied by coughs and dry heaves and an extremely runny nose. Not a pretty sight. Since I need to get something into my stomach right before bed I have stayed up after Charles went to sleep watching "Drop Dead Diva" and trying to think of something to eat.

For the past few nights I have also been feeling some cramping. I was sitting on the couch worrying a little bit and wondering if I should reschedule my doctor's appointment from the middle of the week to tomorrow.

At that moment as I was looking down at my little bump I felt a distinct nudge. A little kick from this little miracle that is coming to my family telling me that everything is fine. Everything is fine with it. And that everything is going to be fine with me. I am grateful for this tender mercy. I really needed it tonight. I am grateful to remember that miracles do happen, even if they aren't the miracles that I have been thinking about. I am grateful to a Heavenly Father who is mindful of my needs and who will bless me so that I can endure my trials more cheerfully and faithfully. So, I have ended my day that has been full of tears of frustration and discouragement with tears of peace and joy and gratitude. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Henri Wants You to Know

2011-09-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

I hope he is that excited in 22 weeks!

I really really love this boy!

2011-08-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

Henri seems to be thriving here. Comparing pictures of when we first got here he looked so much younger, his hair was much shorter and straight. We went to his 18 month checkup (two months late) and he is now in the 25% for weight!!!! Wahoo! Thanks to everyone who has helped and prayed for my little guy who is no longer failing to thrive!

The best thing about the heat and humidity is Henri's curly hair. I can't bring myself to cut it.

Of course playing with his daddy is one of Henri's favorite things. Watching them has also been keeping me smiling.

I can often look over and see Henri reading through his books. The other day he had pulled out one of his toy boxes, poured out the toys, climbed in and settled down with a book. I got a picture with my phone, but couldn't get one with the camera. So, I have learned my lesson and keep the camera close.

House Pictures

2011-08-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

So, here are the rest of the house pictures:

Upstairs playroom

Downstairs formal dining that we are going to make into an office/library

Henri's room. There is molding about 3 inches below the ceiling and the ceiling is blue with clouds painted on it. On top of the molding there is a rope light, so you can just have that light on and it is really fun. I would probably not be brave enough to paint a room like this, but we are really enjoying it!

Guest Bedroom: We are READY for visitors. If you come and visit we promise that we won't let Henri climb on the bed while you are here.

Our Home

2011-07-19T19:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of our new house! We are loving it- especially Henri. He loves having more space to run around in!

Here is our master closet. Charles took these pictures after a specific incident that I will blog about later. (The title will be Wedding Ring: Stolen)

Kitchen and breakfast nook

Kitchen leading into hallway (which the laundry room is off of) and Dining Room

Backyard. We LOVE not having backyard neighbors and another thing I am really excited about is that behind the garage (which would be on the right if you are standing where we took this picture) there is quite a large space that seemed to be unusable....BUT I have been watching where the sun shines and that spot gets sun all day- PERFECT for my future garden! Also, I love watching Charles take Henri out after work and playing soccer with him, or running through the sprinklers. The backyard was one of my main concerns when we were house hunting and we are really enjoying it!

The Family Room: where we spend most of our time.

I have been having so much fun watching Henri with Charles. When he is home Henri just follows him around and copies everything he does. It is so apparent how much he needs his dad! And I am so grateful that he has such a great one!

So, that is really all of the pictures that I have right now, and although I probably won't have another post about the house itself I will try to work in more pictures later. We are enjoying our neighbors and our ward. Henri and I have fun things to do every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On the other days we have enjoyed going to the pool that is a five minute walk. I am excited for it to get cooler (not til October!) so we can walk around a small lake (only a seven minute walk) and play on the playgrounds (one by the pool and one by the lake.)

Charles is also enjoying his job! I am so grateful. Just tonight he said, "did I mention that I love my job?" I do miss Utah, the mountains, the weather, my friends and family, but we know we are where we are supposed to be and we are so grateful for all of the blessings that we have been given!

A Tribute to Wymount

2011-06-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

We have finally left our first Wymount home for good! It is a bitter-sweet time for me to be moving on from Provo, especially when I think back on all of the wonderful memories that we have from our time there. When I first signed up for South Wymount I actually cried because I felt like I could make anywhere a cozy home or Charles and I.... Anywhere, EXCEPT cinderblocks! . We moved in after class on the first day of winter semester. We had to borrow a truck that night to pick up a mattress (which sat on the floor until nine months ago.) Our first week we didn't have any furniture. We ate on a package of paper towels.

We borrowed a table from my brother and a card table and chairs from my parents. A few weeks later my Grandma Tigger heard about some couches that were in good condition that some neighbors from my parents neighborhood were giving away. She told them that we needed some!

The funny thing about these couches was that we hadn't even talked about what we were going to do about getting furniture, and we had been married for a month! Apparently we were too young and in love to think about such mundane things!
Now fast forward exactly two years and add couch covers, a rug, a diploma, an internship in Texas and a four week old baby. We moved back into our same quad after four months in Houston. We brought our little Henri back to a beautiful winter in Utah.

Four months of hard work later Charles graduated and we both walked.

Then we went back to Houston for the summer. Then back to Wymount, Quad 2! That's right..I went from crying because of cinderblock walls to only wanting to move back to Wymount! Now, nine months later we have moved back to Houston for good. Here are some of the things I love so much about Wymount:

The huge windows
The views
The playground in the quad
Tuesday night volleyball
Our wonderful ward
Only having to have one car
The beautiful nature all around us
The aquamarine and gold speckled countertops (seriously, I don't miss them, but I kinda started to like them)
The friends

The Friends: I can't really express how much I love and appreciate the girls in Wymount! There have been so many large and small acts of service that I have received. There are girls there that love my Henri, that have listened to me worry about him and have given me advice, that have just been my friend! I have loved our time in Wymount and I will always treasure the wonderful memories that we have made there!

Time Flies

2011-06-21T18:24:00.001-07:00

Wow! Life has been so busy since Charles graduated! First, we went to Idaho City where we:

went hiking

played in the forest

had fun in daddy's go-cart

hung out with Grandmaman, Grandpapa and Tante Annabelle

and basically looked cute.

Two days after we got home we drove to California for our first vacation with just our family.

On the way there we stopped at Hoover Dam to see the huge bridge there. It was really cool.

We also saw this cool statue. We touched its feet for good luck.

In California we watched the fountain

played in the courtyard

chased "birdies"

hung out at the beach

cuddled up in a beach towel

surfed

pulled all of the beach accessories in the wagon

(Henri was my favorite beach accessory)

worked hard pushing the wagon on our shell hunting walks

gave hugs

watched sunsets

and looked cute.

We love Huntington Beach! Thanks to both grandparents for these fun trips!

Here is one of my favorite stories from this last month and a half: Driving to and from Huntington Beach we stopped overnight to stay at The Mulberry House in St. George. This house belongs to y Grandma Tigger and we love it there. The last time Henri and I were there was in January while Charles was at a conference. When we arrived there again Henri went into the room where I had slept and went over to a crib that he could barely see into and said "tckie tckie" (tickle tickle) and pointed into the crib. Then I remembered that there was Raggity Anne doll that was in that crib that Henri and I took out to tickle back in January! I couldn't believe it! Then he started saying "quack quack" and wanted to go and play with the ducks that my Grandpa Gipper had carved. That was special to me because I feel like Henri has a special connection with Grandpa Gipper, who passed away 12 years ago. Also, when we were on our way home from California and stopped there again it was late at night so we carried a sleeping Henri up to his room. When he were about to put him down he started saying "quack quack" in such a persistent voice. It was so cute! So, here is Henri with Grandpa Gipper's ducks.

Henri and the birds - by Charles

2011-05-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

While at the beach, Henri found a new hobby, to chase seagulls. Henri spent the majority of his time slowly walking through the sand in hopes to come close to a seagull. Though the seagulls are acquainted with humans, they were not so sure about this little mischievous creature lurking after them. After chasing two or three seagulls at a time, Henri suddenly discovered a massive group of seagulls in the distance. The following three shots are of him getting closer and closer to the seagulls, until...

Mothers - by Charles

2011-05-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

5) They make us cakes for our birthdays

My mom makes a rich chocolate cake for everyone's birthday without fail every year, yummy.

4) They make cute babies

Have you seen Henri and I? Well, I admit that I am long past the cute stage, but take a look at Henri!

3) They are patient with us and our hobbies

I don't know a mother who doesn't dedicate their lives to going to their children's sporting events, or cancel their plans to stay at home then their little ones are sick. As we grow older, we pay our mothers and wives back by taking up ridiculous hobbies, like RC planes and fishing (said with sarcasm)...I guess that is why we need a day dedicated to mothers--to remind us to open the "thank your mothers" box.

2) They can change dirty diapers without gagging.

Enough said

1) They encompass the meaning of love

Mothers sure have a way of showing love. I have witnessed the love of a mother from the perspective of a parent for the past year and a half of Henri's life, and cannot describe to you the profoundness of their love, neither the extent to which mothers will go to ensure the well being of their children. I have learned much of love, and see that I have yet much to learn. We love you mothers!

Congratulations Charles!

2011-04-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of Charles. He graduated with his Masters of Science in Civil Engineering on April 22. He is one of the hardest workers that I know and I am so grateful for him!

During the festivities Henri was interested the interesting new "at."

I was feeling a quite reminiscent of our time at BYU. We have had so many wonderful experiences here.

When we move to Texas we are really going to miss views like this!

Thanks BYU for all of the great memories!

Four Generations

2011-04-26T10:12:00.001-07:00

This last week Grandma and Grandpa Hope came to visit. We also had a special treat to be able to spend a few hours with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Hope and Aunt Sylvia. We took this opportunity to take a picture of Four Generations of Hopes.

Great Grandpa Bob, Great Grandma Marion and Aunt Sylvia

Henri had fun playing as well as showing off.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and so grateful for Henri to be able to have such wonderful examples surrounding him!

While the Cat's Away...(in Moab)

2011-03-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

...the mice will play! Yes, that is a Wendy's bag on his head!

He jumped right in!

My little monkey

And while these guys were having tons of fun I was running my first race: the Canyonlands Five Mile Race. I ran the whole way and finished in just under an hour. I have asthma so I don't think that I will ever get much faster, but I do think that I can go longer. I was training for the half marathon, but got injured while training, so I still have that unfinished goal to achieve one day.

Jane, Megan, me,Melissa, Becky and Jennifer. Jennifer also got injured while training so she ran the five miles too. The rest of these awesome girls finished the half.

After the race we headed off to a beautiful hike called Island in the Sky.

Me and Jane, our sister-in-law Becky and her sisters: Melissa and Jennifer

We had such a fun girls weekend. It was great to spend time with these amazing women!

Dough Boy

2011-03-09T21:49:00.001-08:00

I think I might send these to Lehi Roller Mills

This is my favorite

A few days later...

In Papa Lon's words: I may be biased, but that doesn't mean I'm not right.

Love this little monkey boy!

Good News, Bad News

2011-02-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't been blogging very much about what is actually going on with us. Why? Here is one possible answer: I am tired. And I feel discouraged about things that I have already vented about on this very blog.

At last month's weight check-up (yes, we go once a month) Henri was off of the charts and still dropping. I don't know which is more upsetting: Henri not eating and dropping on the charts, or Henri eating and dropping on the charts.

Also, we have to give him a bath every day and then smother bag balm all over his body (including in his hair) and now all of our clothes have grease stains on them that I can't get out.

Also, his chocolate pediasure (which he drinks instead of milk) stains too, so if something doesn't have a grease stain on it, there is probably a pediasure stain.

Also, the doctor suggested that if he ever wakes up at night I just get up and feed him. So, not only am I getting up most nights once (sometimes twice) with my 15 month old I can just see all of the sleep-training that we worked so hard on going down the drain.

Well, we just went back to the doctor for another weight check and (here comes the good news!!!) Henri is going back up on the chart and is now just under the 5% for weight. THANK HEAVENS!!! So, here is the good news: I feel like all of the frustrations listed above are no longer frustrating!

Also, just a few minutes ago Henri woke up from his nap really early. I went in and his binky had been thrown out of the crib. So, I got him out and attached his binky to his clothes and just cuddled with him for a few minutes. His little body was warm against my chest and he cuddled up to me. My heart started burning with the love that I have for this little boy! The feeling of a warmth coming from inside and out was so wonderful. What a blessing he is to our lives! These are the moments that turns all of the exhaustion, dirty clothes, stinky diapers, bumps and bruises into things that I feel happy and blessed to deal with.

Charles' Favorite Picture

2011-02-04T09:28:00.001-08:00

Book List

2011-02-02T12:53:00.001-08:00

Lately in my life there has been quite a bit of discussion about books, reading books and goals for how many books to read. My mom ended that discussion by laughing and saying, "Why would you make a goal for how many books to read. That is like making a goal to breathe!" Which, in our family is true. All of my siblings usually have a book that they are reading. Often, during an informal meal at the Clayton household there will two or more people with a book in front of them (in Charles' case, the most recent car magazine.)

After I got back from my mission I signed up for a "goodreads" account, which I LOVE because it helps me find books to read. I like reading my friend's ratings of books and I like rating the books myself. I have put up a list of books that I have/am reading this year and here is my booklist from 2010:

The Riddle and The Rune by Grace Chetwin..... 3 stars

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.... 4 stars

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.... 4 stars

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.... 3 stars

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, read by Tim Dale.... 5 stars

Rebecca by Daphne du Marier.... 4 stars

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura C. Schlessinger.... 3 stars

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.... 3 stars

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld.... 2 stars

Specials by Scott Westerfeld.... 2 stars

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.... 4 stars

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.... 4 stars

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.... 4 stars

Mrs. Mike by Freedman, Benedict.... 4 stars

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.... 4 stars

Alliance by Gerald N. Lund.... 4 stars

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.... 5 stars

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery.... 5 stars

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.... 5 stars

You can probably tell what my frame of mind is: I want to be entertained, and during my limited "Emily time" I don't want to think too much and I definitely don't want to be sad! So, any of these books that have 4 or 5 stars are definitely recommended! And, of course, I am always looking for books to add to my "to read" list, so if anyone has any good book ideas, please let me know!

Day at the Beach

2011-01-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

We are having a fun time at Papa's house in Huntington Beach. It is so nice to have somewhere warm to go to break up the cold winter!

Here are some pictures from Henri's first visit to the ocean. I am pretty sure that he will forevermore yearn for the sea!

with Papa

Yes, I did eat sand, and yes, even though I am freezing cold I did not want to go back inside!

A Very Merry Christmas

2011-01-12T17:31:00.001-08:00

Wow! Our Christmas Season was so busy! First, we spent a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas on Greer Lane with the Claytons. We tried to make sure that Henri wasn't that spoiled, but that didn't work out. Surprisingly, though, Charles came out with the most presents in our family.

Not a present for Henri, but he sure would have loved it! Our neighbor used our house as a hiding place for this teddy bear.

Henri getting to know Santa. This one is a family treasure carved by my Grandpa Gipper.

Don't worry, Henri did get some fun presents. This is his favorite:

Doing what he does best: crawling in and around small spaces.

Watching Osie open her presents is one of the highlights of family get-togethers: she is very enthusiastic!

On the day after Christmas we headed up to beautiful Northern Idaho for a ski trip with the Hopes. Here is Henri hanging out at Tamarack ski resort.

Ready to ski... maybe next time

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Hope we got two awesome days of skiing in!

Of course we played lots of games

And while we were there it snowed...

and snowed...

and snowed...Really, it snowed a lot! Here is Daniel's car after a week.

Charles found this huge icicle...

then left it so that everyone knew that we were there.

We topped off the vacation with an awesome New Year's Eve party!

We are so grateful for our families and the blessings that we enjoy so much. We are thankful for our Savior: the reason that we celebrate this Christmas Season!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

We went up to Idaho City for Thanksgiving. Because of the big storm we really were in a winter wonderland. It was cold (outside... we were nice and cozy inside) so all of the snow stayed on the trees. It was so beautiful!

Look at these crazy icicles

Henri got a new coat and ski bibs from Grandmaman and Grandpapa for his birthday so we got to go out and play in the snow. Baby ski bibs are so cute!

Charles got to show off his plane (notice his improved flying skills, as well as the beautiful mountains.)

Of course we ate some amazing food (Thanks Isabelle!) and the girls watched four of the Harry Potter movies while the boys played their boy games (Acquire, Lord of the Rings Risk and a computer "take over the world" game.)

Charles and I played some Nintendo (Mariocart) and Henri wanted to join in so we gave him his own paddle. After a few minutes he started copying our reactions to the game (screaming with excitement, saying "Noooo" when we got hit by shells, etc.) Pretty funny.

While we were there we also took some family pictures. It is pretty amazing the last family pictures we took were when Henri was only six weeks old! Here is this year's edition:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think...

2010-11-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

he is allergic

to cats.

My Baby is One!!!

2010-11-26T20:32:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my sweet baby is one! He has been such a sweet boy and we love him so much. For Thanksgiving Charles and I were both grateful for our Henri.

On his first birthday he weighed 18 pounds 3 ounces, was 28.5 inches long and had a head circumference of 45.5 inches. He is still crawling and doesn't show much interest in walking. Yesterday he stood up by himself in the middle of the floor for the first time. He has three teeth on the bottom and on the top. One more on the bottom has just poked through, but since you can't see it we will be able to enjoy his little three-toothed smile a little longer. He gives great hugs by laying his little head down on your shoulder. He has his own sign for "no." He loves to play with his soccer ball and he likes to explore. He doesn't put everything in his mouth like other babies, but if he does put something in his mouth it probably isn't food. His birthday cake was the first thing that he has eaten like this:

Happy Birthday Henri Charles!!!

This is my Life:

2010-11-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

Monday: took 10 minutes to eat a cheesit

Tuesday: Ate breakfast at 9 and refused to eat again until 6:30 for dinner

Wednesday: A few bites every meal

Today: a bite of muffin, two gulps of melted ice cream, a bite of pasta, and a lot of feeding me graham crackers

There is Beauty All Around

2010-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

It's official: We are moving to Texas! We are excited and feel very blessed. At the same time we love it here in Utah and are trying to take advantage of the beauty surrounding us. Charles thinks that he has never seen such a beautiful fall. Now the mountains are covered in snow and I love them! I have never appreciated them more now that I know I am leaving them. I am also reading the Anne of Green Gables series so I am reminded to just drink in the beauty around me!

Halloween

2010-11-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween week was jam-packed with parties and activities. It started a week ago at our ward Halloween Party.

On Friday Henri and I went to Gardner Village with some friends from the ward. We saw witches...

and explored all around. So he would be warm Henri wore is bear outfit.

Saturday we went to visit Grandma Tigger and met some cousins on Greer Lane. Sam, Henri, Grandma Tigger, Molly, Will and Osie

Henri's costume was inspired by his relationship to Grandma Tigger. He is the 101st member of her family. So, he is the "101st Dalmatian."

Saturday night we went to our Chris and Erin's party...

Where Shelly came as Cruella Devil. Eeeeek!

But we made it home with our little dalmatian, safe and sound!

Hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

11 Months and Telephones

2010-10-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Henri is 11 months! I can't believe it, and to tell you the truth it kind of breaks my heart. I can't believe my sweet baby is almost a year old! How did that happen?

Getting a good picture with Winnie the Pooh is a lot harder at 11 months than at 3 months. I think he is trying to bite the bear's nose.

He may look like me, but the look on his face definitely comes from Charles.

Today I snuck a few pictures in while he was playing with my phone

I am not sure how I feel about this... he did it for the first time a few days ago, but it sure is cute!

My Sweet Baby

Cute Cousins

2010-10-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

Our Bear Lake trip in August consisted of a lot of fun time with our fun cousins.

Henri with Molly Grace at the cabin

Molly sharing the bread

Changing her mind

Swimming with Osie at Sweetwater

Love this little face!

And, for a few minutes while Henri wasn't chasing his ball around he was interested in his little cousin Jake

height of the cheesy smile phase

Did I say "little cousin Jake?" I meant cousin Jake who is HALF of Henri's age, but is just as big. Cute little buddies holding hands

We love our cousins!

Conference Weekend

2010-10-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Conference Weekend. Charles' brother Daniel came to stay so, in addition to watching Conference on Saturday, the boys played tennis and "Lord of the Rings Risk." (If you have any desire to play "Lord of the Rings Risk" please call! Charles is desperate for players!) On Sunday Daniel tried to go to the sessions at the Conference Center and Charles went to translate so Henri and I headed up to Sandy to hang out with the family. Here are some of the things we did:

Relaxed in matching Grand Canyon T-shirts

Listened to Uncle Thomas play the guitar

Henri LOVED it!!!

Played with cousin Ksenia

And, in general, was just silly

I loved Conference. There seems to be a feeling of coming home when I listen to these men who are prophets of God. I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have! Henri's favorite part of Conference was, of course, the music. Every time the choirs started singing he would stop what he was doing and crawl over to the TV to get a better look. I hope my little boy always appreciates that blessings that he has!

Buttered Bananas

2010-10-21T21:47:00.001-07:00

I have not been doing well at being consistent at blogging. I really want to be, but it has just not been working out. I blame the dishes. I have been wondering why I no longer have any free time at all, and after some thinking I realized that I spend a significant portion of my time washing the dishes. One day we will have a dishwasher... one day...

At least Henri will hang out in the kitchen with me.

One of my two favorite dishwashers.

On to other news. I took Henri back to the doctor last week for another weight check. I found out the the "calculate" button on his last weight check wasn't pushed, so his chart showed the latest date, but the weight from the last visit. If that doesn't make sense, it means that, although he is still below the fifth percentile in weight, he isn't actually still dropping on the percentile chart. That was a relief. Last time was pretty discouraging for me because I feel like my whole life is spent trying to get him to eat. Sometimes I turn on a movie. I give him ice cream two times a day. I feed him with a medicine dropper. I let him make a mess. I make banana bread and pumpkin bread (which definitely doesn't help me when I am trying not to eat lots of sweets!) Yesterday I bought a lot of fatty things I wouldn't normally buy at the store for him to try. I spend time looking at the labels of yogurt trying to find the one with the most calories from fat. I even butter his bananas!

So... we will keep working on it!

Eating fresh peaches at great Grandma and Grandpa Hope's house

Well, that is all for the buttered bananas, but I can't just post one event per post because I am so behind. Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to the Aquarium:

In front of the Penguins. I love his little face... the picture doesn't really do it justice, but this is his new smile that is so big it takes all of the little muscles in his face to pull it off.

Crawling through the tunnel with Jeremiah.

Closest we got to a group picture: Eden, Joe, Kelsey, Jared, Jeremiah, Steven, Henri, Emily

We were happy we had a fishy shirt to wear at the Aquarium!

Little Walker

2010-10-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Our amazing friend Reba sent us home with this awesome toy yesterday. Lucky Henri!

This also comes in handy because yesterday I took Henri to the doctor for a weight check. He is continuing to fall on the weight chart, despite my best efforts. Consequently, I have an appointment with the "failure to thrive" specialist next week. She is going to do "an in depth analysis of his development." So, this week we are working on his development! Like... walking, and talking.

He certainly has a lot of energy for a "failure to thrive" baby. Thanks to all the girls in my ward who listen to me worry about this constantly! Also, thanks to Reba for the toy (and being one of the utmost listeners!)

Charles' Airplane

2010-09-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year Charles got into building model airplanes. He LOVES it. Here is his latest (and largest) plane. We got out to fly it for the first time yesterday. Also, enjoy the beautiful mountains!

Once again... Mass Update through Pictures

2010-09-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

In the middle of August we said goodbye to our friends in Houston...

(Our amazing Sally, who kept me company and helped a ton with Henri and cleaning- just to give you an idea-she killed the last cockroach that I saw in Houston because I was too emotionally tired to do it myself. She is with Christina's cute girls: Abbie, Macy and Kate.)

...and packed up to go home to Utah...
... where Henri's skin is a million times worse and he breaks out after every mealtime.
Henri and I made our way to the "One True Lake" to have a great time at Clayton week...
...where Henri showed us that he is a true water baby.

We also said goodbye to our Janers, who is spending the semester in Siena, Italy. In all of both of years at BYU (5.5 for me and 3 for her) we have only been in Provo together for a total of three semesters!

Then we welcomed home Charles from Houston, and moved into our new apartment in our old Wymount ward.

Now, Charles is settled in school and Henri and are settled into the apartment. We are having so much fun with our friends here in Provo and we are enjoying the beautiful weather and nature.

We're Back!

2010-08-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Henri and I made it home and here is a picture to prove it. Henri and cousin Peter with Papa.

Summer of Soccer

2010-08-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

This summer we have watched a lot of soccer! We watched most of the World Cup games on the weekend when we could get together with the Jones'. Charles loved every second of it. I could handle a game a day, but more than that was not really interesting to me. I will say that because of Charles I have come to enjoy watching entire games, and not just highlights. He really loves soccer and so his knowledge and excitement help me understand and appreciate the game more.

This is the last day of the World Cup. Henri is wearing his Real Madrid jersey in support of Spain, and we had to show off Charles' latest present to Henri: his first soccer ball.

Last week we went to the US Allstars game against Manchester United. This was really exciting for Charles because Manchester is one of the most well-known clubs in the world. I also loved seeing Landon Donovan. Watching him live (especially always being able to see the whole field and not just shots of it) made it obvious how good he really is.

I am pretty sure that the player on the top is Donovan

Reliant Stadium was huge: the biggest stadium that either of us have been in. Being at a soccer game is different than any other sporting event. It has an entirely different energy about it. I would recommend that anyone should go to a live soccer game. Real Salt Lake is fun to watch. (Sidenote: while I was in labor with Henri we watched the end of the Real Salt Lake vs. the LA Galaxy game at the hospital. It was the national championship and Real won... it was awesome.)

Matt came with us to this game as well, while Aimee stayed home and watched Henri.

Charles was not insensitive to the fact that soccer is his thing and not mine, so the weekend that the World Cup was over he surprised me with tickets to Wicked. It was the perfect way to end the World Cup!

8 Months and Other Milestones

2010-07-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Henri was born eight months ago last Friday. I know I keep saying this, but I can't believe how fast time flies, while at the same time it seems like Henri has always been a part of our family. He is a little munchkin! He army crawls all around and every day he uses his knees more and more. He has a pattern to his crawling. First he crawls to the doorstop to check it out, then moves on to the barricade to the kitchen to see if there are any weaknesses (more about that later!) Then he makes a sharp left turn and crawls under the table to tickle any feet that might me under there, or just crawl around among the legs of the chair. He has fun crawling through tight spaces.

After that he crawls to his carseat, then back to the front window and his toys.

This week there have been a lot of milestones for Henri. First, the other day I just went into the kitchen to wash my hands and I came back and found this:

He had figured out how to pull himself up. He reaches both of his hands to the top of the violin case, then scoots his knees up under him, and then stands up on his feet. Two days later he had another milestone- here is what happened. We had a new stove installed in our apartment on Friday and that same day our washer broke, so Saturday the repairman came to fix that. The point is that our apartment was really gross and dirty. Well, Saturday afternoon Henri entertained himself while I vacuumed the whole apartment and the hall outside, swept and scrubbed the kitchen floor and cleaned the kitchen. While I was finishing up he started to get a little anxious and was upset that he was barricaded out of the kitchen. I was almost done disinfecting the kitchen counter so I was just trying to finish when he started screaming! He had climbed over the violin case and fallen face first on the wooden floor. So, this is the first time that Henri has gotten hurt. The plus side was that my non- cuddly baby just wanted to be held or a few minutes.

This brings me back to the barricade issue: the violin case no longer works, so I have been using an empty diaper box. Henri is getting quite efficient at pushing it out of his way. He also likes to play with it. Why is it that even though he has lots of cute toys his favorite thing to play with is a cardboard box?

There are other places that we have had to be creative to keep Henri out of trouble. Since he loves cords we are currently blocking all of the ones that he can reach with a large toy, two pillows, a tub of toys and a bumpbo. Last week he used his newly acquired skills to get to at least one set of cords.

Now there is a towel hanging down from behind that table. It is working fine for the moment.

Other things about Henri right now are:

He still doesn't have any teeth. I guess the last five months he just had random cranky days and wasn't really teething!
He is a picky eater. I guess picky isn't the right word... disinterested really works better. His favorite food is bananas.
He weighs 16.7 pounds.
He has started playing a game with me where I will stick out my tongue and wiggle it and then he will stick out his tongue and wiggle it. Then I will smack my lips and he will smack his lips, then I stick out me tongue and he does too... I LOVE it!!!
Even though he is still good natured he is started to show a little attitude. He will scream to let us know when he is displeased.
He is still sleeping well, but this last week he has been waking up after about 8 hours instead of 11... I think he is going through a growth spurt.
He is babbling all of the time! Sometimes he yells, not because he is mad, just because he can. And sometimes he whispers. I think that is so cute!!! He has been saying "dadadad" for about three months. Most of the time he is just talking, but sometimes I get the feeling that he really is referring to Charles.
In church (and other times) when the hymns are being sung Henri joins in. That makes Charles and I laugh and laugh!
He is pretty good at waving his arms to the beat of any music that he hears. He really will wave his little arms fast when there is a fast song and slow when there is a slow song.
When people don't notice him and smile and coo at him he gets this expectant look on his face and I just know he is thinking, "Okay, when are you going to tell me how cute I am?"

We are having so much fun with our sweet, silly Henri.

Three Years Ago...

2010-07-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

My nephew Sam ran through the security at the Salt Lake airport to give me a big hug. I remember the security guard stepping forward nervously, then realizing it was a three- year old kid running toward a sister missionary who was on her way home.

So, I left Toronto three years ago today. It feels like it was forever ago while at the same time I can't believe how quickly time flies. The picture below is with one of my favorite boys, Joshua. We met him just a few days after he arrived in Toronto from Ghana. I remember sitting on a mattress on the floor while we taught his family the first lesson because that was the only furniture they had.

I remember sincerely believing that when I was done being a missionary I would never be cold or uncomfortable again. While that isn't exactly true, I am grateful for the life that I have now as well as my time in Toronto.

For the Grandmas and Grandpas

2010-07-19T18:13:00.001-07:00

This is Henri army crawling today. He is getting faster and faster!

Enjoy!

Austin/San Antonio

2010-07-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

Over the Fourth of July we took a 'spur'(haha) of the moment trip to San Antonio and Austin. We went with our dear friends Matt and Aimee and we stayed over at Aimee's aunt's house. First we went to Austin where we visited the Texas State Capitol Building, U of T and the History of Texas Museum, where we met our other friends Wendy and Justin. On our way to San Antonio that evening we stopped at a huge outlet mall (which is apparently the most visited tourist spot in Texas) where Charles wouldn't let me buy cowboy boots because, "Where would you wear them?" (Uhhhh.... rodeos at Bear Lake!!! was my answer)

A friendly squirrel at the Texas State Capitol.

Matt and Charles with a view of the U of T stadium

Taking a break on the U of T campus.

Henri loves his daddy.

Of course while we were at U of T they took out the soccer ball and both got wet in the fountain.

Henri was such a good boy... without any naps in his crib for two days, poor thing.

The next day in San Antonio we visited the Alamo and the River walk. It was fun to learn more about the history of this area. Also, in case we had forgotten we were reminded that we were in Texas. The Riverwalk was so fun! It was lined with shops and restaurants and was so green. I am sure we will go there whenever we visit San Antonio!

With Matt and Aimee in front of the Alamo

Looking at fish

On the River walk.

Thanks to Aimee for being the trip photographer!We had a fun time. As a new mom the word "vacation" is taking on a slightly different meaning, but it was fun to add this quick trip to our list of interesting adventures!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-04T17:49:00.001-07:00

God Bless America!!!

Instead of going to bed...

2010-07-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is what we did tonight:

Henri had just had a really big dinner and was about to be put in bed. The little face at the end of this first movie screams: "Stop, stop, I am going to be sick!"

So, did we stop? No.

We were laughing so hard! I guess our laughter is louder than Henri's, but he was laughing really hard too. You can hear it better a little later in the movie.

(sorry about the poor video quality: this was taken with our older camera.)

Henri and Charles really missed each other! They were both really excited for Charles to come home to us.

A few Notes

2010-06-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Charles is out of town this week. He is in Corpus Christi, which is where Hurricane Alex is going to hit in about 12hours. Luckily, he is coming home in 7 hours. He said that if the airport is closed then he will just make the 8 hour drive home. I am coming to understand that hurricane season is just another reason why life here feels like a different culture.

Here is another reason: it is hot. Really hot. People here don't even go swimming in the middle of the day... they go in the morning, or wait until evening.

These pictures of Henri in the pool are from a few months ago. I guess he would have been about 5 months old. Now he is moving around and he looks so much thinner to me! How can my baby already be losing his baby pudge? I don't like it, not one bit!

Why is he getting thinner and thinner? Well, getting all over the apartment pretty easily now... he is somewhere between army crawling and crawling. He gets up on his knees and rocks himself forward and then does a few army crawls. He loves crawling under the chairs and tables.

Also, he continues to get taller and taller.

Also, this is his usual feeling about food: there are too many other things to do, see, hammer and chew on... I mean, besides baby food.

I have resorted to sometimes turning on the TV to hold his attention while he eats. I only do this when I am really desperate. Is it okay if it is something really worthwhile, like "Peter Pan?" He should be learning songs like "I Gotta Crow," right? Actually, my new resolve is to just not fight him anymore. So, if he doesn't want to eat, then he doesn't have to eat. I stop worrying about his weight when I talk to my sister-in-law about my niece who is 2 1/2 and weighs three more pounds than Henri. I guess when they start worrying about Alta then I can wait another two years and start worrying about Henri.

We also continue to try and have fun adventures on the weekends when Charles is home. This is kind of a new "culture" type thing for me because growing up my dad worked six days a week and most holidays when we were home. When it wasn't the "busy season" (Spring) then he would take us up to Bear Lake all of the time. But when we were home, he was working. So, since Charles gets the weekends off it is fun to find stuff around where we are to do. We have taken a trip up to College Station to visit Texas A&M, gone to the Houston Zoo (which Henri didn't care about at all,) and lately, watched lots and lots of soccer. (I am still recovering from my disappointment with the US/ Ghana game.) We also stopped by the car show that is held every Saturday in the grocery store parking lot up the street. It is really a pretty intense car show. There are about 6 or 7 rows of the lot full of old vintage cars.

Here is Charles and our friend Matt enjoying sitting in a very expensive car

We kept teasing Charles about his outfit. It was super hot so he wanted to wear shorts, but he had gone golfing that morning and his arms were fried, so he wanted to wear long sleeves. He forgot to change before when went out into public.

Henri continues to be such a good little baby. He hardly ever cries and is so happy and fun. He is sleeping well... 11 hours at night and still takes three naps during the day. Because of that I am feeling good and that makes the momma happy too. Happy wife: happy life, right?

To Charles...

2010-06-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

Even though you hate changing stinky diapers...
Even though you like to go get Henri the second he makes a peep even though he could stay in his crib for another half hour...
Even though you "accidentally" wake him up before you go to work
Even though when you get home and you know perfectly well that Henri is taking a nap, but still demand, "WHERE is my little boy?"
Even though you can't seem to stop yourself from tickling or hanging him upside down to get him to laugh just before Henri's bedtime...
Even though you can sleep through his crying...

Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and dad. Happy Father's Day!

Getting Ready for June 11 and the Beautiful Game

2010-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

World Cup Season is here!

The above video is K'Naan's "Waving Flag." Feel free to listen to it while you read a post about the beautiful game!

The World Cup starts this Friday. Our household is getting ready for the big event. It is a month long. Do you realize that is longer than the Olympics? Some of the things that Charles has been doing to get ready include:

Playing soccer twice a week. His feet were really hurting and he couldn't figure out why. He took apart his shoes and found that the part that you screw the cleats into was broken into several pieces. Those shoes lasted a year. He got them last year for his birthday so this year he got some new ones.
emailing everyone that he think might be interested to invite them to be in his group for the ESPN bracket. I have overheard him telling one of his friends on the phone who, I am guessing wasn't interested, "I will send it to you anyway."
planing and scheming: mostly with our friend Matt. They are figuring out what games must be watched in full and figuring out when to watch them. Matt and his wife Aimee (who will probably keep me sane this month!) just moved in to a cute new house. Matt justified getting satellite and DVR, "because Charles needs it!" Also, I heard Charles tell Matt regarding going over to their house to watch some games, "we will need to come during the week." Notice, it is a statement and not a question. I am guessing Matt didn't notice that.
playing K'naan's "Waving Flag" whenever possible. This is not the official World Cup Theme song, but somehow there is a lot of confusion about that. The official song is actually Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" I like "Waving Flag" better. Charles informed me that it was the most played song on the radio in Switzerland for several months. It is my new ringtone.
Getting Henri's soccer jerseys ready for wearing. We recently got a "I love Soccer" onesie from Grandmaman Isabelle to expand the section of his wardrobe that will be suitable to wear for the next month!
Watching endless youtube videos that show "the best of" goals in history. He gets excited when he sees one that he remembers watching. He has been showing me on famous goals that I should, as his wife, be informed about. He tells me that he gets "chills" from watching these goals!

And here is a boy who claims to like the World Cup as much as I like Le Tour de France or the Olympics "times one hundred!" I don't know about that, but he is really excited!

I would like to finish the post with a story about how soccer really is an important part of Charles' life. A few weeks ago we had a ward picnic at a park that we had never been to. It was in a really big, beautiful park with a road that wound through it. I had a map of where our ward was meeting and was looking down at it trying to figure out where to go while Charles was driving. He started turning into a parking lot. This confused me because I was pretty sure we weren't that close to where we were supposed to be going. When I looked up I saw a group of guys playing soccer. I asked Charles, "where are you going?" He had a confused look on his face and then a look of realization came over his face and he replied, "Oh, sorry." Basically, he had seen some soccer going on and had forgotten what we were doing and automatically turned towards the ball. Needless to say, he is really excited to watch the celebration of the beautiful game!

Nap Time

2010-06-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

This image has been censored for the sake of modesty:

Six Months!!!

2010-05-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Our baby boy was SIX MONTHS old yesterday! I can't believe it! The time has gone so fast. Henri is such a joy. He is always smiling, laughing, moving, kicking and looking. He still hardly ever cries... he just lets us know when he is hungry or tired. He is so cute and now wherever we go all of the cute little Texas ladies coo over him. He loves the attention and coos right back.

Five months

Six months

We love our handsome little baby boy!!!

For Jane and Explanation

2010-05-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

I have been posting a lot lately. Partly because my little sister Jane just got very very painful shoulder surgery. She had the surgery on Wednesday and is only now beginning to even function. (By that I mean she can now do things like watch movies and talk on the phone! Yeah, it was pretty bad!) Anyway, she likes looking at our blog. Her motto for me is, "post daily." I don't blame her because who wouldn't be cheered up by this cute face!?!

Yes, it is exciting that we can now get him to smile at the camera.

Also, I have been wanting to explain how I got the name for our blog: "A Little Hope." A year ago on Mother's Day we announced that we were expecting our little Henri. It was the perfect day since we got to talk to Charles' brother Daniel who was serving a mission in Armenia, and we got to talk to Jane who was serving a mission in Toronto. That next week in my Dad's (who was a great writer to all of his missionary kids) email to Jane he wrote, "It will be nice to have a little Hope around." So, now we do have a little Hope and he keeps us laughing and happy. Just what Hope should do!

Hhhhmmm....

2010-05-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to this morning!

Thank goodness it only lasted for a few minutes!

Happy Mother's Day!

Arches

2010-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

On our way to Houston we decided to take a quick stop at Arches National Park. When we pulled up to the entrance to pay for our visit we were surprised to find out that it was "National Park Week" and we could get in for free. Awesome. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the day.

"Balancing Rock."

These were some of my favorite formations: "Three Gossips" to the left and "Sheep Rock" to the right.

We took a little hike up to a lookout point for "Delicate Arch." This is how Henri got up and down the trail. Lucky boy! Several people on the way up and down asked Charles if he would carry them too.

Delicate Arch

We also saw this van.

As usual, I would like to end my post with an adorable picture of Henri.

It is Instinct

2010-05-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

I guess Henri has already figured out that Nalgene bottles are a hot commodity in the Clayton Family.

It's Over... kinda

2010-04-30T10:01:00.001-07:00

We are graduated! Well, I have officially been done for over a semester, and unofficially been done for almost a year, but it was still fun to walk. Charles, on the other hand, was having a hard time enjoying the graduation experience since he had signed up for his grad school classes just a few days before walking (and, as of now is already four days into another class.) But, we both did it! I now have a BA in English and Charles has a BS in Civil Engineering.

I walked with Charles in the School of Engineering Convocation. It was really fun to be able to do that with him. I have never really had much interest in Graduation (I am sure that is thanks to my big brothers,) but Charles encouraged me and I am so grateful that he did. He went first and the announcer read his name. Then I went and it was announced, "and walking with her husband, Emily Hope, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in English." I really quite liked that part. It was also amusing that it was announced that I had a Bachelor of Science in English. (It wasn't the announcer's fault, that was what was on my card.)

I know it is kind of silly, but we got Henri a little cap and gown to wear. I have found that my desire to be cool is totally gone when it comes into competition with getting cute pictures of Henri.

So, now we are back in Houston for another of Charles' internships. We will be here for four months, and then... yep- back to Provo for more school! Charles will finish his masters degree in Civil Engineering April 2011. He said, "We can dress Henri up again for next year. Oh wait... he will have grown out of his outfit by then!" I suggested maybe a little brother or sister of Henri's could wear it next year. I thought it was a funny joke, but Charles didn't even laugh!

See Y'all Later!

2010-04-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

We are officially back in Houston for four months!

Vacuum Fun!

2010-03-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Just one more reason it looks like Henri will be in Engineer and not an English major: He loves watching the vacuum. Plus more cute pictures for good measure.

Other reasons why he will more likely be in Engineer: not interested in smiling for the camera, just figuring out what it is; less interested in the toys on his swing than looking at where the noise is coming from that makes his swing move.

Ward Easter Activity

2010-03-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we bundled Henri up and hung out outside for awhile at the ward Easter Activity. Then, we had a photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites:

Charles rolled his ankle at his last soccer game so he sat out on Volleyball, but I played while Charles took Henri.

Tennis Intramurals

2010-03-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

This semester Charles and my little sister Jane were on an Intramural Tennis Doubles team. They took second place and, of course their team name was "Team Henri."

Four Months

2010-03-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Henri is getting bigger! Although he isn't too chubby he is very tall. We figured out that he has grown an inch every two weeks since he was born! Here is his four month picture.

Soccer Jerseys

2010-03-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

Henri's collection of Soccer jerseys is growing! This first one was given to us by the Hulme's (Charles' cousins and also the doctor that delivered Henri... they took us in as part of their family in Houston) and is from Madrid, Spain.

This one is from Charles and was brought home from his Mexico trip. It is fun to take Henri to Charles' soccer games in these cute jerseys!

Sidenote: Have you noticed that Henri is not smiling in any of his pictures? It is because he is fascinated by the camera and so whenever he sees it he just stares. He is a pretty serious little boy, but he is also very happy and, in real life, smiles a lot!

Baby Shower

2010-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

On February 20 my Aunt Chick, Aunt Chris and Grandma Tigger threw a baby shower for our sweet little Henri. It was so fun to see so many of my cousins and aunts and we got some great clothes, toys and got a jogging stroller too! We had so much fun at Grandma Tigger's house!

Henri with great Grandma Tigger. She is turning 90 in August and is so amazing!

There were five great grandkids of Grandma Tigger born within a month. Here are three of the cousins: Joseph Jackson, Alice Clayton and Henri Hope.

Grandma Tigger with the babies

Thanks everyone!

Baby Blessing

2010-03-29T15:39:00.001-07:00

On February 14, 2010 Charles gave Henri a beautiful baby blessing. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the father, or an important person in the baby's life gives them a name and a blessing. Henri's full name is Henri Charles Hope. After the blessing Charles sat back down by me and asked, "Did I give him the right name?" Yes, he did and it was a special day for our little family.

In front of our church in Wymount

At Grandma Grace's house after the meeting.

Dr. Laura and Jeffrey

2010-03-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I am relieved that Charles is home from Mexico where he was doing some watershed modeling with one of his engineering classes. I was talking to my brother Jeff about it a few days ago and I said something like, "I am glad I can hand him the screaming baby and go on a walk or something." Jeff's reply was, "you shouldn't. It's not like being at work all day is more fun than being with a screaming baby all day." I have been thinking about that a lot (especially after handing a screaming baby to Charles while I went running just a few short hours after this conversation with my brother!)

Coincidentally I have been reading "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" which goes right along with the topic in hand. My mom gave me the book a few years ago. (The card on it said, "from Charles" in my mom's handwriting.) It seems that the last two years I have been explaining to Charles how women are extremely different than men, while not giving much thought to how men are extremely different than women. Well, I think the most interesting thing is that really, what Charles does want is for me to be happy. I have found that concentrating on that alone has made a big difference for me. The past few days when I have wanted to tell Charles something that I think he should be doing differently I have first let go of my frustration (really let go of it and not just burying it) and doing something different for awhile, then later, we can talk about it in a very non-confrontational way. It has been great! I do have to say I haven't read the whole thing, but I am enjoying it. It is refreshing to read something that is honest instead of trying to be politically correct- especially when it comes to feminism! Well, those are a few of my thoughts. I definitely recommend this book for every wife.

Giggles

2010-03-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it is official. Henri has taken over the blog. But, let's be honest- that is why we started a blog: so that people who are not around get to see Henri at his cutest. The most important person who is not around this week is Charles. He is in Mexico with a class doing watershed modeling.

So, for Charles: here are Henri's giggles from today.

Love you Daddy!

Three Months

2010-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Henri is three months (and a half already!) Sometimes I look at him and can't believe how fast he is growing. The other day I got to hold a three day old baby and I was overwhelmed with how small she was! Even though Henri was never quite as small as she is, I still can't believe how three months has changed him!

Just a few days old

Two weeks

Two months

Three months

Winnie the Pooh looks a lot smaller!

Our Concerned Boy

2010-03-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

His first reaction was to look around for the person.

The Wide World of Toys

2010-03-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

In the past three days Henri has learned to reach out and grab things. It is amazing to see how fast he learns to do something. It may seem little, but considering that a few weeks ago he didn't even know he had hands...

Sometimes he just gets a little frustrated when he can't stuff both hands (and whatever is in them) into his mouth at the same time.

Fun Weekend

2010-02-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago the Hopes came down from Idaho to visit. They came for Henri's blessing, but before that we had a fun weekend. We went out to an authentic Mexican restaurant, had skookies, went hot tubbing, and had a pizza party with Charles' aunts and uncles.

Henri with Aunt Annabelle in his room. We LOVE the quilt Jojo gave him for Christmas!

Somewhere between the hot tubbing and the pizza party Henri had a blowout. I had taken the outfit that was in the diaper bag for such occasions out a few days before. That outfit had been in there for weeks and it didn't fit him anymore. My mistake was that I didn't immediately put in a new outfit, so I then forgot about it. Well, after Henri's clothes became unwearable Charles created a makeshift onsie from his blanket. Here is the outcome:

It was so fun to hang out with the Hopes, we can't wait until we get to have more fun when they come in April!

Ode to the Best Visiting Teacher/Frustration!

2010-02-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

Our little Henri has been sick for almost two weeks now. He has been very congested and is waking up again in the night. For the most part he has still been his cheerful little self, but, of course I worry about him. My friend and neighbor Reba (who is the most awesome visiting teacher EVER!) is a nurse and she came over a few times to check Henri out. She told me to call any time during the day or night. Yesterday she told me that the night before her phone rang at 2 in the morning and she jumped up so fast and ran to the phone because she thought something was wrong with Henri. It turned out to be her mom, who is in Spain and forgot that it was so early. When Reba was telling me the story we were laughing to hard, but now whenever I think of it I want to cry because we have so many people watching out for us. (This, by the way was not the frustrating part of my story.)

Well, going back to Reba helping with Henri: she told me that if certain things happened to take him in. One of those things was inconsolable crying. That happened yesterday. Henri was crying for several hours and so I made an appointment. He then cried for several more hours until the appointment. As I held him I could feel his on his little back that his lungs were rattling and he was so congested. At 4:15 we headed across the street to the Health Center. He literally stopped crying right as we walked out of the door. We got to the doctor's office and I put him down on the examination table and he started smiling and cooing and being his usual cute self. AND, miraculously his congestion: GONE!!! Wow, I felt silly. To make things more embarrassing, the doctor was the same one we saw two weeks ago... and two weeks before that! Well, what can I say, I am a first time mother. The doctor's diagnosis? A viral infection and he is probably teething. Teething at three months!

Henri and Me

2010-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

I want to write down a little bit about my day to day life hanging out with Henri so I don't forget what kind of baby he is. The other day I was visiting with my neighbor in Sandy, Wendy Morgan. I told her that Henri was a good baby and then when she was talking to him she would say, "No, you aren't a bad baby!" It was so funny because, of course, there aren't really any bad babies, but I must say that Henri is really a very very good baby. This last week he slept through the night three times. This is why I had the energy to make some really yummy Swiss bread called tresse:
No, this isn't really my bread, but it really did look like that. I just didn't really have time to get a picture before all of the loaves were eaten out of. I was pretty happy that it turned out because last year I tried to make it and it failed miserably. I think it turned out better because I have figured out how to use yeast.

Anyway, back to Henri. Last night he went to sleep at 11 and woke up at 7:30. I fed him and put him back down until 10. The sleep felt so good! Henri has been on a pretty strict schedule, which Charles and I have both loved. He eats every three hours and after he eats he is awake for about an hour and then when he starts to get a little fussy we just wrap him up, give him his binky and put him down. Last week he started crying a little bit before his naps, so we had to make a few adjustments, and now he goes down just fine again.

He is pretty funny about going down for a nap when people are over though. I used to think that he couldn't sleep because of the noise, but now I am not so sure if he doesn't just want to be around where the party is. He will usually go be in his crib for a few minutes, but then he lets us know that he wants to come out, so Charles usually gets him and then he will be happy to be out with everyone until he falls asleep in Charles' lap.

When Henri is awake he does not like to cuddle. He is "as stiff as a board." Our friend Reba was holding him a few days ago and she came over and said, "Emily, he doesn't bend! Not even at his hips!" It is true. This is his usual awake position:

He is strong and can really hold himself out like that for several minutes. He likes to practice standing up on our laps and can hold his own weight while we are just helping him for balance. He is definitely a roller: he rolled over when he was four weeks and five days for the first time. Our friend Megan Warren came to visit and asked how he liked "tummy time," and she sat him down on his stomach. Immediately he rolled over. Then she put him back on his tummy and he rolled over the other way. His favorite time to kick is when I am changing his diaper. He smiles and talks to us and just kicks his little feet- it sometimes makes it hard to get a diaper back on.

When is has a full tummy and isn't tired he is so fun to just sit and talk to. He will stick his little tongue out and coo back to you. He started making this noise in his throat that made Charles and I laugh and laugh at. He kept doing it and then would look at us to see our reaction. So funny! He also gives me this very serious face, flexes his whole body, puffs out his little chest and I just feel like he is saying, "Look how strong I am, Mom!" He is usually smiling and has even started to smile when we go in and get him from his nap, or in the morning. I try not to sit and talk to him for too long at those times because it doesn't take him very much time to remember that he is hungry.

He also has a little stubborn side to him. From the first week he was born when I would sit him on my lap to burp him he would squirm for a minute and then push his little legs and arms straight out and "hhhhmmmpphhh!" at the same time. It was so funny. Now, if we don't put him in bed quick enough after he starts fussing he will give us these high pitched squeals. Every time we hear them we can't help but laughing and then Henri will just look at us as if to say, "that was not the reaction that I wanted!"

I love being able to stay with my little Henri. It is so amazing to see his little personality come out and watch him change so quickly. We think he is just the greatest thing! My dad likes to ask me how the cutest little baby that there ever was is doing. It is true: if you give me a minute I will tell you how cute I think little Henri is! We love our little Henri Hope!

First Haircut

2010-02-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

On Friday we gave Henri his first haircut. I wasn't loving the monk look and since we are supposed to smother him from head to toe in aquaphor twice a day I thought this would be easier.

Before

At first I felt sad to see my little bald Henri, but now I am glad that we did it. It does make taking care of his skin easier. It is also fun for me to look at his cute little round head.

Two Months Old!

2010-02-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

Cute smile

I love my boys!

Big Brown Eyes

Shopping Shock

2010-02-01T14:12:00.001-08:00

Beautiful McCall, Idaho

As promised here is my McCall shopping story: Charles and I went on a walk around the lake on New Year's day and visited some cute little shops around McCall. I saw the cutest red coat (except and even cuter red than the one in this picture!!!) in one of the shops. I looked at the price and said to Charles, "It is only $55." He smiled. I smiled. And we walked out. When we got back to the condo I told Isabelle about the coat and she said, "You should get it! Let's go!" It was almost five so we rushed back to the store. It was so fun because I felt like the coat was already mine and I knew I would love it forever. When we got there it was just as cute as I remembered. I looked at the price tag again: $54.90.... wait... why is there another 0? $549.00? No! It can't be! I looked around at some other items to see how they were priced. I knew that the last 0 was meant to be there when some hats that were on a nearby table were $49.00. Well, I knew that I would feel silly, but I had to ask the lady at the cash register. Yep: $549.00. But, she informed me that it would last forever. Really? Do I look like a person that will be convinced by that? Anyway, I couldn't get over it. I am still not over it: thus, the blog post. It has been nice to comfort myself by wearing my red high heels and using my red kitchenaid.

Last picture of McCall

Why am I not surprised...

2010-01-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

*during their (Jane and Charles) intramural tennis match Jane calls to me, "Em, I can literally see Charles' skin on the court!"

*later that night after I share some hesitation as he is tending his wound with toilet paper and masking tape Charles informs me, "It's just like a Band-aid, but cheaper."

Christmas in Idaho

2010-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Look for my favorite Christmas present.

Wow! We have had a busy month! Henri is seven weeks today and we have officially been back in Provo since last Sunday. We left Houston on the 17th of December... so what have we been doing since then? We spent a fun week on Greer Lane. I was mostly trying to get some rest, organize baby clothes and make desperate (and pretty unsuccessful) attempts at Christmas shopping. Then we headed up to Idaho City for Christmas. This was the first time the Hopes got to see their first grandson so Henri was the focus of the holidays.

Grandmaman and Grandpapa Hope

Aunt Annabelle

Fondu night

Charles with his neighbor Tyler. Tyler and Katie got married a week after we did and had their little boy Lincoln three days before Henri was born.

Henri smiling with Grandmaman Isabelle

Hope Family Picture

A few days later we packed up again to head up north to the beautiful town of McCall. It was really a winter wonderland. The trees were frosted in ice and there was enough snow on the ground to make you just want to curl up by the fire with some hot chocolate. The important events in McCall consisted of skiing, sledding, Settlers, Empire Earth, carac, raclette, and, of course, Henri.

Henri is a very serious baby

My doctor told me that it is important for babies to cry. They need to work out their lungs.

Settlers is better than of Empire Earth

Empire Earth is not as good as Settlers

Hanging out with Uncle Daniel

I had the best New Year's Day. For the first half of the day I slept. In the middle of my nap I fed Henri and when Charles came to get him he brought me in a hot cup of cocoa. Later in the afternoon Charles and I left Henri with Grandmaman Isabelle and took a walk by the lake. We had some fun shopping adventures (see later posts) and then I got to go back to the condo and cuddle with Henri. It was a great way to start the New Year!

My Favorite Christmas Present

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Growing Up! Three Weeks

2009-12-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

In the words of his Aunt Laura and Uncle Nelson: He is very advanced for his age!

It is pretty amazing to think that in three weeks he went from THIS:

to THIS:

Our little Henri is growing up so fast! He is the best baby ever. He has been really easy to keep on a schedule and he only gets up once at night. If he is crying it is easy to figure out what he wants. He is so sweet and we think he is the cutest thing we have ever seen.

I have meant to update the blog more frequently since there are family members who haven't met him yet so I am sorry. Today Jane texted me and told me to update the blog since she checks it every day. So, here are some more pictures of our darling little (getting bigger!) Henri.

Houston Snow Day. Charles got to come home early and they shut down the schools because there was a chance of snow.

Henri in his coming home outfit a week later: It is getting a little tight on him!

Hanging out with Daddy

There is one part of Charles that I hate: his elbows. This is why: because he sleeps with them sticking out and is always elbowing my head. I guess Henri takes after his Dad.

Henri with Aunt Janie

This picture is for you Megan and Andrew: Henri's first game of Settlers. I love the expression on his face. He looks very into the game!

I just like this picture.

Henri's face is getting more and more chubby:

Getting ready for church

Henri is very good at looking up at whoever is talking to him. I just love it when he does that!

For the past few days Henri has been smiling more and more. I am convinced they are real smiles.

The above picture is when he is three weeks old. We are loving having Henri in our family and excited to come home and introduce him to the rest of our family!

The Last 5 Days

2009-11-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

The last five days have been quite the adventure. Here is the rundown: Tuesday night came home from the hospital:

Henri ready to go home:

His going home outfit:

Just leaving the hospital. These are the flowers that Exxonmobil sent:

Arriving at our apartment:

Charles showing Henri the moon on the way in:

In the middle of the night on Tuesday night I developed an epidural headache. These headaches are caused by a nick in your spinal column that allows spinal fluid to leak out. Getting my epidural took so long because the doctor couldn't find a good space, so he had to go in several times which is probably why I got the headache. These headaches are not uncommon, but the chances of getting one are small. I was asked if I would get an epidural again and the answer is yes. The hardest part was that on Tuesday I wasn't really able to take care of myself or of Henri. I think I had to kind of start the recovery process over and Henri got his first taste of formula. I am happy to report that since then Henri is doing a great job with his feedings.

My dad, Papa Lon, and sister Jane came in on Wednesday so we have had fun just hanging out and relaxing. Papa Lon noticed that Henri wasn't getting a lot of time in his basinet since there are so many admiring fans around to hold him. A few minutes later Charles put Henri into the basinet and moments after that Henri was then in my dad's arms. There is no damage done there as well since he is a great sleeper! I have been up with him twice during the past two nights and he has slept through the rest of the night.

We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the Jones' in our ward. Their family used to live in our stake, so it was fun to talk about all of the connections that we have. One of the sisters, Lisa, was even in several classes with Michael and Jeffrey at Oakdale Elementary.

Here are some more cute pictures of Henri:

He really is a great baby! He doesn't cry very much and likes to just look around when he is awake. We can put him in his crib at night when he is awake and he will just look around and eventually go to sleep.

Charles is half Swiss so he is speaking to Henri in French while I speak to him in English. It is fun for me to hear what Charles talks about to Henri (like the World Cup) and it is helping my French out a lot as well.

Our cute baby Henri:

Our Little Hope: Welcome Henri Charles

2009-11-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Henri Charles is finally here and we are so grateful and blessed. Here is the story:

We were scheduled to be induced, so our ride to the hospital last night was quiet and peaceful.

9 pm: We were settled and I had recieved cervidil (a medicine to help get me ready for labor)

We both got several hours of sleep until...

4 am: some pretty intense contractions started.

5 am: I got the epidural. This was a hard process for me and what was supposed to take around 2 minutes took 3/4 of an hour! Charles wasn't allowed in the room, but I had a great nurse who held my hand all the way through it. By the time the epidural was all finished the doctor, the nurse and I were all drenched in sweat in our 60 degree delivery room! It was worth it though because after that I felt great!

Two hour nap.

just before 7 am: Got started on pitosin (a medicine to get labor going.) 7 am: my wonderful doctor, Dr. Hulme (also Charles' 2 cousin once removed by marriage... is that right Sherri?) came in to check on me. I was 3-4 centimeters dialated.
Another 2 hour nap.

9 am: 7 centimeters dialated.

catnap

9:30 am: fully dialated and Dr. Hulme called.

9:55 am: Dr. Hulme arrives

9: 58 am and a contraction and a half later: our sweet little Henri Charles was here! He was born at exactly 10 in the morning.

Henri weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. While they were cleaning him up I could see a little chub on him! Because he was a pretty big baby and he came so fast I have been pretty uncomfortable since the epidural wore off, but now (about 12 hours later) I am feeling much better. Here are some pictures of our sweet boy.

First family photo:

Henri and Mommy:

Henri and Daddy:

Henri and Dr. Hulme:
Henri and Grandma Grace:
Henri with his eyes open :

Pink Nails!

2009-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

I painted my toenails last night. I admit it isn't the best paint job ever, but I am quite proud of myself. It took a lot longer than usual because I had to wait for some nails to dry before I went on the next, but I had the time last night when I couldn't fall asleep. So, I watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which is always fun and pampered myself a little!

Halloween

2009-11-07T23:31:00.000-08:00

This Halloween Charles and I didn't do much. If it weren't for some good friends we might have not done anything very Halloween-y at all. That night we went to our friends Jenn and Kenny Kunz's home to play games (one of our favorite past times since we have been here.) The treats above were my contribution to the holiday. Charles painted the faces on them (I especially like the blob.) I think they turned out pretty cute, but it is hard to compare to Bakerella!

Friday night we were also saved by some friends from being Halloween Scrooges. Matt and Aimee Jones (some of you may know Matt... he is a year younger than I am and grew up in my home stake in the 5th ward. He also went to Hillcrest until his senior year. Going along with this side note: his dad was just released as bishop in our Texas ward and I have to say that he, and the rest of the ward have taken very good care of us!) I am going to start the sentence over: Matt and Aimee invited us over to carve pumpkins.

I was shocked that the pumpkin in the next picture really was smaller than my stomach!

Matt and Charles (who looks quite Texas-y in his borrowed sweatshirt.)

Aimee and me with our finished products

I did a regular jack-o-lantern because it is tradition and I usually follow tradition. I would like to especially highlight Charles' pumpkin: on the far left (your far left) there is a Texas flag, in the middle a ghost, and on the right a pregnant ghost (which is why he was pointing to that and my big tummy.)

Happy Halloween!

Alligator Park and Spider Alley

2009-10-28T12:40:00.001-07:00

This last weekend Charles and I went to a Brazos Bend State Park with some friends from BYU who are now living in the Houston area. Charles was particularly excited because this is the alligator/spider park. He has been wanting to see alligators since we got here and he has been checking any ponds that we come across to see if there are any lurking around.

As we started on the walk Robert (who had been to the park before) gave us some tips. If an alligator starts chasing you run in zig zags and, most importantly, just be sure you can outrun one other person. This was not comforting to me since at this point I am not in a condition to outrun anyone. (Aside: These animals are out in the wild and there are no cages. We were walking through their home and were literally a few feet away from these guys!) So, we went on our two mile walk and ran into 5 alligators. The walk also takes you through what is known affectionately as "Spider Alley."

Does my smile here look a little forced? It may be one of several reasons: 36.5 weeks pregnant, walking very far is quite uncomfortable, or we were surrounded by these lovely creatures:

Charles took these pictures and just to put things in perspective: I am pretty sure he wasn't using any zoom.

The above picture is reminiscent of one of my favorite movies of all time: "The Emporer's New Groove." Kusco says, "Okay, that was the freakiest thing I've ever seen," when he witnesses this exact scene in the jungle.

As we were almost done with the walk Charles spotted this alligator swimming along by us. Only his eyes are showing. When Charles pointed him out we both stopped to look. As we stopped he stopped too. "Charles, keep walking!"

Turn Baby Turn!

2009-10-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

36 Weeks and getting ready for the baby!

Well, four weeks left! Here is a quick baby update. Some of you may know that most of the time we have been in Texas the baby has been breech. So, we scheduled a C-Section for the 12th of November. At my last doctor's appointment, however, the baby had turned! For now, no C-Section. We feel that this is a huge blessing. I have three due dates: the 18th, the 21st and the 25th, so we will see when this little boy is going to come!

I am feeling pretty ready for to have this baby. I hear people saying how much easier it is when the baby is in your tummy, but I can't help but feel that this little boys is already controlling my schedule. He lets me know when to sleep, eat and use the restroom! I feel like I am getting a taste of his little personality. As Papa Lon would say, "he has two speeds: turbo and off." He gets that from his dad. He has also found his first toy: my belly button. A lot of pregnant women find that close to the end of their pregnancy their "innie" bellybutton turns into an "outie." Mine is still and "innie"... most of the time. Sometimes little boy will start kicking around and find where my belly button is and kick it out and in and out and in. Funny baby.

Mostly we are both grateful that everything is going well and he is growing and healthy! We are getting excited!

Houston Adventures

2009-10-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have been loving our time here in Houston. We have been doing a lot of fun activities and so I will try to give a quick update. We are living in Spring, which is a suburb NW of Houston. The Houston Temple is located in Spring and is actually about a ten minute drive from our apartment. It is beautiful! The first day that we arrived we couldn't get the keys to our apartment, so we headed out to lunch. We looked up the temple address because we didn't have anywhere to go and thought it would be fun to walk around the temple. Well, we put the address into our Garmin and after it calculated for a minute I told Charles, "I think this is wrong, we are less than a mile away." Well, we followed the directions and there was the beautiful temple and Angel Moroni welcoming us to our new home.

One of the first places that we visited was "Old Town Spring." It consists of two long streets of cute little shops and restaurants. We went after Charles got home from work, so everything was closed, but it was fun to walk around and see how quaint it was. We walked behind one of the buildings and Charles (the engineer) was quite indignant when he examined the foundation (or lack thereof) of this building. (Also, the picture at the top of the post of the "Texas Store" is from Old Town Spring.)

Our next adventure was the Houston Space Center. By the time we got there we realized we were closer to Galveston than we were to Houston! It was fun though. The Space Center is next to the Johnson Space Center for NASA, so part of the tour was going on a tram ride to NASA and seeing some of the things there. It was interesting to see the real places that the astronauts train and the command rooms. It was really really hot, which we noticed more because we were outside on a tram. One thing I learned: why they say, "Houston, we have a problem!" I just didn't realize that all of the command and technology stuff was in Houston, when all of the rocket ships and take-offs happen in Florida. Here is a picture in a replica of a space ship... if you look behind us you can see a guy floating in space.

The next adventure came when we went to the grocery store. (Side note: I love these parking spots!)

We noticed that there were crowds in a different part of the parking lot and so we went to investigate and...

...there was an old car show! There were probably 6 rows of fun cars to walk around and look at. We found out that they have this car show every Saturday evening, complete with DJ's and door prizes. It was a really fun surprise adventure.

Okay, here is the last update: our museum trips. First, we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We wanted to go there because they had an exhibit of Genghis Khan. Charles just finished a class at BYU that studied and read a book about Genghis Khan. It was fun for me to learn more about him and the advances he made in society and technology.

A few weeks later there was free museum day so we went to The Czech Center. It was fun to see lots of handicrafts that came from the Czech Republic.

Charles was especially impressed at how Czech the architecture was. The building reminded him of the mission home and church building in Prague.

The last museum that we went to was the Holocaust Museum.

These museums are always hard to go to, but we both feel like it is important to remember these events and to examine our lives and actions more closely and try harder to live the Gospel more fully.

Move #2: Houston

2009-09-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

This is Eden Brown. She was there for both of our moves helping to clean as well as keeping me going. Her mom is Reba, the best visiting teacher ever! I think she came over almost every day during the busy moving days. Charles and I had so much help from all of our wonderful neighbors at Wymount! We had tons of help cleaning (which totally saved me!) and moving furniture and dinner invitations and dinner brought to us! We had friends from Salt Lake come to help. Even Suzy, who I visit teach and just had a baby brought us dinner for two nights! Thank you to everyone who is so so kind to help us.

Here is a picture of Eden helping wipe down the walls. She really did do this for a long time on various occasions!

Here is another fun moving picture. Our neighbor Seth (who was moving his little family at the same time) came over to help move our couches into our study (storage for all of our stuff we didn't bring to Texas.) For over half an hour Charles and Seth tried to figure out any and every possible way that our couch could fit through our bedroom doorway. So half an hour of lifting, pushing, measuring and a broken thermomostat later we just realized that we had to call my brother Mike (who most of the family goes to when we are in a jam because he is the best) to come and get our couches in his truck and take them up to Sandy.

When we finally got going we were relieved that all of the packing and cleaning of the last four weeks was over! We didn't plan our trip because we decided to be adventurous and trust our Garmin to show us the way. It turned out that the route was just perfect! We stayed on highways almost the whole time so we were able to see beautiful countryside and not have to deal with traffic. We had a relaxing drive: we enjoyed scenery, each other's company and also Jim Dale reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Sometimes on the drive we were torn between trying to hurry, or stopping to see fun places as we were driving by. (I am my father's daughter and if we are going somewhere I usually just want to get there!) We drove past Arches Nation Park and kind of wanted to go, but because we didn't make up our minds before the turn off we just kept going. A few miles later there was an arch just off the side of the road, so we decided we could pull over for a minute and take some pictures.

Here is a picture of our good little Pontiac: it is full to the brim of everything that we brought with us!

When we got to Texas we drove along beside hundreds of windmills. It makes me happy to see windmills and they went on as far as we could see.

For our first night in Texas we stayed in Comanche. I don't think we will ever forget that place! We were first welcomed by the bugs!!! This did NOT thrill me and I could see the next four months flashing before my eyes: battling crickets and roaches until my belly was so big that I couldn't bend over anymore! I felt much better after we made it from the parking lot into the hotel which was very clean and didn't have any bugs. The next morning we went down to the "Free Continental Breakfast." (Both nights we called ahead to prospective hotels to make sure they were going to feed us!) That is when we got our true Texas welcome! Every person that was eating breakfast talked to us (not just to say hi, but to have a conversation!) Charles went and made us waffles with one of those machines that you put your own batter into and...

The waffle was shaped in the shape of Texas! It was amazing and really made us laugh. Since then we have learned a little more about Texas Pride. I think people (at least me) who don't live in, or have never been to Texas think it is something of a long-running joke... It isn't. It is dead serious. The Texas hospitality is also completely real. People at the store or the bank are so nice and interested in what is going on with you.

Our ward here is great. Before the move people would ask if I felt nervous coming to Texas and having our baby here, but I never really felt anxious at all. Well, coming here to our ward made me realize why I felt totally okay with this four month adventure: People were here ready to take care of us. I will definitely post more about the wonderful experiences we have had later. For now, here is one more picture of our Texas waffles for good measure!

Welcome to TEXAS!!!

Catching Up!!! California Trip

2009-08-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am slowly catching up... The next event on our list is the California trip. Jane got home from her mission on 24th of July, her homecoming was the 26th and they left for 9 days to Huntington Beach on the 28th. After the trip the family would only be home for two days before heading to Clayton week at Bear Lake. During that week Charles and I would be heading out to Texas... so, I had to go to Huntington with them, or I would hardly even see Jane!!! Right? I also convinced Charles to take a day off of school and come for four days. Besides the Fourth of July, this was his first break from school since February! (Even the week after winter semester was taken up for studying for and taking the FE.) I am glad that he took this much needed break! We had a lot of fun.
The first two days Mike and Becky were there with their kids: Sam, Will and baby Molly Grace. There was a day that I was alone at the condo with Sam and we had a fun time hanging out and we made brownies. Note: this was a distraction because Sam really really wanted to watch "Emperor's New Groove," which is a great movie, but was in the room where Will was taking a nap... so Brownies! Making the brownies took a lot longer than it usually does, but it was fun to just relax and let Sam do as much work as he wanted to. Egg ended up on the floor, but other than that there weren't any major mishaps.

Here is the end result: Happy, sunkissed, chocolatey Samo.

When Charles came the next day we spent most of our time at the beach. I actually didn't see Charles that much because he literally was in the water almost the whole time we were there. He wanted to take advantage of his break. The only time he came in he was just "switching tools" as my dad would say. The "tools" were the surfboard, the boogie board and the skim board. I was actually amazed at how long he could stay out, but it is probably a good vacation for us because I can sit on the beach and read and go out as much as I want (which wasn't a ton this trip... except to make sure that baby got to go in the ocean for the first time) and Charles can play as much as he wants.

Happy Boy!

Catching the wave.

Jane is home and ready to play!

Jane and Charles' board (the yellow one.) Papa Lon calls this "getting clothes washered."

Papa Lon and Charles out for more fun.

One of the best skimboard crashes. Charles' body is actually not touching the ground yet.

24 weeks. I think now my tummy is bigger, unless it is after we ate at Chili's...

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back!

The Return of the Siblings

2009-08-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

This past month Jane and Daniel came home from their missions! We are happy they are home and just wanted to say we love them!

Jane returned home from the Canada Toronto West mission on July 24, 2009 (two years and four days after Emily came home from the Canada Toronto East mission!)

Daniel returned home from the Armenia Yerevan mission on August 21,2009.

WELCOME HOME!!!

Lots of New Stuff....Starting with move #1

2009-08-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Apartment 91

Well, a lot has happened in the last month and a half! I will start with move #1. We moved from our little one bedroom apartment to a one bedroom with a study. It is in the same ward (by my request) and is only about a hundred feet away from our first apartment. While I was getting ready to move I felt a little sad to leave our first little apartment. When we first moved in I HATED the cinder block walls. I guess I still feel the same way about them, but I remember a morning sitting at our table eating and looking out into the courtyard and just feeling like I was so happy in this little apartment. Here are some fun memories from our first little home.

The Kitchen: If you look closely you can see one of the things I really did become attached to- the turquoise-with-gold-speckles counter top. This is combined with one of our favorite nights: Fondue Night!

Charles' Christmas present to me (December 2008): A New Bookshelf!

Setting up our new game, Settlers of Catan! (Thanks Megan and Andrew!)

One of our first Family Home Evenings: training the bonsai.

I think there was a storm and our screen fell off... so, instead of walking out of our front door (which might have taken an extra 11 steps) he decided jumping out of our bedroom window would be the best exit route. No one can accuse him of taking the easy way out!

Celebrating Swiss National Holiday and proudly hanging our Swiss flag. This, incidentally was the a year to the day that we first saw each other after his mission and my mission. It was a good reunion after three years!

Saturday morning breakfast on our patio. Eating on the patio in the summer is one of our favorite things!

We will miss our first little apartment and we will always have fond memories of our first little home together.

Bear Lake and the Fourth of July

2009-07-06T15:10:00.001-07:00

This last week Charles and I went up to Bear Lake for a quick get-away. It was so fun to be up there for the Fourth of July. We bought fireworks on the way up and Charles was so happy to shoot them off over the Lake. I felt better than I have in months... we were sleeping hours and hours and whenever we wanted a nap we took one, we relaxed on the beach, had plenty of LaBeau's shakes, and even got some work and homework done. I told Charles that I think I just need a permanent vacation.

We took pictures on the beach and I didn't realize how pregnant I looked until I saw them! Wow. I do like that Charles' tummy is still bigger than mine when he pushes it out.

I also love the Fourth of July. On Sunday we went to church at the Garden City ward. In Relief Society there was only seven minutes left for testimonies after the announcements because they needed to get ready for the second Sacrament Meeting. The meeting was packed! The chapel, overflow, gym, stage and classrooms were all full! The opening song was "America the Beautiful." I got about halfway through the first verse and then just cried for the rest of the song. I feel so grateful for America! I want our little boy to love America as much as I do. I hoped that I was transferring some of that emotion to him. It made me excited to teach him all about both his American culture and his Swiss culture!

Happy Fourth of July!