Two Going on Twelve

So here we are in the middle of June, bright sunshine and 93 degrees outside, and we're huddled inside watching Disney movies as the kids hack out coughs from their three-week-long cold. To be fair, it's actually been two colds with only one day of intermission (luckily on Stella's birthday) between. In spite of the unseasonable illness, however, we've found time to participate in some great summer activities.
We chased geese at the Wheeler Farm library day, an event at which literally seventy-five percent of the cars were either Odysseys or Siennas. Then we enjoyed Emerson's end-of-year preschool party at the park. It's so fun to see all of the preschool kids running wild and all of the teachers truly basking in it. Each year there's a water balloon fight to cap it off and one older sister of a girl in Emerson's class decided to exclusively target Tad who was in tie and all. It was great!
As previously mentioned, we've also spent lots of time in our back yard. A few weeks ago, Tad climbed up into a couple of our trees out there and hacked off some giant dead limbs with a hand saw. Then he chopped up the pieces and built a tee pee for the kids, which they loved for about one day. The tee pee was soon superseded by two natural pest control items -- a fake owl to keep birds out of our strawberry patch and a bag of ladybugs to eat the pests off of our garden and apple tree. After scattering the bugs, the kids (especially Emerson) monitored their presence each day, fearlessly picking them up and seeing how long they would crawl up an arm before flying away. Owlie (creative name, I know) the owl now multitasks as a bird scarer and a garden friend.
Last week we were also lucky enough to head down to Family Art Days at the BYU Museum of Art. There were SO many fun things for the kids -- water color painting, face painting, medieval dancing, story telling, and especially Grandma May. And Lisa got to see some friendly faces she hadn't seen in years and just enjoy the experience of being in that wonderful building. She actually felt the need to reconnect with the art museum community and is now searching for a way to do so.
Last Saturday we celebrated Stella's second (though by her attitude, you'd guess about twelfth) birthday with a back yard water party. Several of Stella's little friends (and, for Emerson's enjoyment, their older brothers) gathered in swimming suits on an absolutely perfect day to enjoy our little splash pool, the crazy sprinkler, bubble blowing, a water balloon toss/fight, a barbecue, and cake. The birthday girl spent ninety percent of her party splashing in the pool. Cousin Elle and Stella shrieked with Stella's friend, Emma as they jumped up and down and twirled around. Our cute friend, Olive (who's moving to Portland and no longer hanging out with us twice a week, sniffle sniffle), enjoyed her very first meat at the party -- and entire Costco hot dog! And Stella has not voluntarily taken off the princess dress-ups she received since the party. It's almost disturbing to see the degree to which she takes to this whole prissy princess role. Her new play stove/oven from her grandparents is now the home for Emerson's toy snakes. Thank you to all who came to help us celebrate out little girl.

Growing Like Weeds

These past couple of months have been really interesting. As we've been able to get out into our yard and really work, the world we rediscover each spring has unfolded itself miraculously before our eyes. First we loaded up on garden supplies at the IFA store and more than doubled the size of our garden plot. Emerson and Stella dug right in, literally. It never ceases to amaze us how fearlessly a four year-old boy can grab the wriggliest, plumpest worm or the fuzziest, bumpiest caterpillar. And unfortunately for these creatures, Emerson is learning valuable lessons about life and death in the process. After some hard work, some planting (and re-planting), our garden now includes several tomato plants, corn sprouts, cucumber (we hope), asparagus, LOTS of onions, a strawberry patch, and (hopefully) some pumpkins.
We have also dug into our seemingly endless list of home improvement projects for the season. After enjoying the lovely view of our neighbor's orchard through our downed back fence for months (despite Tad's repeated attempts to patch it until the ground thawed), we finally got the fence back up last month. This involved setting the posts in concrete and spacing them closer together to strengthen the fence, but was surprisingly easy. So any of you out there who are thinking of hiring a crew to build a fence for you -- think of us first! We'll bring the kids and camp out in your yard all Saturday and let our chaos spread like a weed.
Fortunately this fence rebuilding project allowed Lisa to assess both Tad's tool needs and his willingness to engage in tool-related projects. So for his big THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY last Sunday, Tad got "Three Saws for Thirty" -- a sawzall, a circular saw, and a miter saw. He was totally surprised due to a lot of sneakiness on the part of many. Thanks to all of you who contributed, we were able to get him some very nice saws and further entice him to conquer the looming projects. And a special thanks to our moms for throwing to nice birthday celebrations.
And on the subject of Tad's big birthday, I'd like to just take a second in this rambling update to express to Tad how truly lucky I feel to be his wife. I fell in love with Tad for two reasons: 1)his sparkling good looks and 2)his ability to really listen to and understand people. To this day, I am constantly amazed at the fact that all of my deepest, best conversations happen with this man I fell in love with over my deepest, best conversations to that point. The conversations just keep happening! And he's just so incredible at everything he does, from his job to his church service to his interaction with his children. He balances it all so well, despite pressure from all sides.
We really got to celebrate Tad's birthday well this year because there are also several May birthday's in Lisa's family. Kim and Kasey's little twins, Diesel and Elle, had their first birthday May 15, Kasey's birthday was May 17, and Lisa's mom's birthday was May 23, so we all had a huge combined party at the Baker compound. With the twins setting records for cuteness, we all gathered round to stuff our faces, open gifts, and beat a poor, helpless donkey pinata to death.
This month also included some fun firsts. Emerson got his first real bike, thanks to Aunt Kim's nephew, Harrison. The moment the training wheels were on, Emerson was off! He could spend hours pedaling back and forth in our driveway on his yellow "faster bike", pausing only occasionally to hop off and look for bugs, worms, and other "specimens" with which he is endlessly fascinated.
We also had our first yard sale, and while it wasn't exactly the blockbuster affair you may all expect us to report, it helped us achieve our yard sale goal of buying a new couch for our family room. Now we know that those of you who have sat on the dark blue Ikea loveseat that more closely resembles doll house furniture than real person furniture may wonder why we would ever part with such a gem of comfort and luxury. For those of you, we invite you to come over and test out our new, adult-size loveseat (yes, we can only fit loveseats down our stairs), and sinnk into the heavenly comfort of the plush microfiber cushions. It's so nice to actually have our bodies feel comfortable at the end of the day.
Tad also took a day off work to spend with the kids (giving Lisa the day off -- yahoo!) and take them to ride the Frontrunner Trax train. It's the commuter express that now runs north along the Wasatch Front from Salt Lake City. For Emerson and Stella, it was like being inside Thomas the Tank Engine's world, and Emerson continues to ask all of his friends if they've "ridden the Frontrunner yet".
Stella's important first was that she had her fingernails and toenails painted. It was also the first time Lisa painted her toenails in nearly a year, so there was excitement all around. Stella loves to show everyone her "pretty, white sparkly toes." And she has plenty of opportunity to show them to everyone because she insists on wearing only sandals at all times, which goes well with her strict standards regarding clothes. She prefers to only wear bloomers and a t-shirt with her sandals, whether it's forty degrees or eighty degrees outside. And sadly this is quickly becoming a scenario Lisa is more willing to accept because the alternative is that Stella wears her true outfit of choice -- her birthday suit. Every time she turns around, Lisa finds Stella naked running through the house, the back yard, wherever. Tad and Lisa comfort themselves with the thought that at least Stella is proud of her body and confident in herself.
To all of you and your children, be they clothed or be they naked, we send our love!

Our Journey Through the Desert

Miracle of miracles, for the first time in two years (that's right, since before Stella was born), we took a May family vacation a couple of weeks ago. Having been a new hire at Utah County for six months and then a new hire at Salt Lake County for six months, Tad had not been able to take a single vacation day for a year -- until this month! It's hard to say who was most excited about our trip to St. George, Tad and Lisa or Emerson. Emerson was convinced that we were actually moving to his "grandma's condo in the desert" where he would see snakes, frogs, and lizards running wild everywhere. When he realized our relocation was not permanent, he melted down.
Inexplicably, both kids were absolute champs on the drive, a remarkable fact considering that a thirty-minute drive around town is often enough to get them whining in the car. They watched dvds, stared at countless cows in the rolling pastures on either side of the road, and invented a game in which they take turns patting each other's head and saying "guggie". And once we arrived, the good behavior continued. Stella and Emerson shared a room by choice and actually stayed in their beds, went to sleep easily, and didn't wake each other up. There is hope for an eventual permanent room share!
The only kink in our trip happened moments after our arrival when Lisa leaned down to plug in the kids' night light and smacked her head on the edge of a piano. She sent the kids into a panic when they saw the blood coming from her eyebrow. Luckily, Grandpa Baker had equipped the condo with a great first aid kit, including butterfly closures, enabling Lisa to avoid InstaCare.
Otherwise, this was our most wonderful trip to St. George ever. We swam at the splash pool (both kids discovered the virtues of weightlessness when one wears a life jacket), visited a dinosaur dig site, ate some great food, and hiked multiple times each day. In the final wildlife tally, we encountered three lizards, lots of cool birds, and a scorpion at a proximity far too intimate for Lisa's liking. As Emerson was reaching for a hand hold on some red, craggy rocks, the little scorpion shot out from the very rock he was grabbing and Tad pulled Emerson back just in time.
After a quick, uneventful drive home, we moved on to celebrating Easter. We took it fairly easy, letting the Easter Bunny do most of the work. He hid lots of candy-filled eggs for the kids in our front room and even stocked their baskets with back-up candies. And just as Tad and Lisa were certain that candy was the only significant aspect of Easter making any impression on the kids, Emerson proved them wrong. While substituting for a great class in the Primary on Easter Sunday, Lisa sat behind Emerson in sharing time. When the leader asked if Easter was about candy, Emerson shouted out "NO!" Then, when the leader asked what resurrection meant, Emerson's hand shot up and he replied, "when we die and come back to life again, like Jesus." It's great to know some things are sinking in.
And on that note, we just wanted all of you to know that we are truly grateful for the redeeming power of Christ's sacrifice for us, no matter who we are, where we are from, or what we suffer as long as we believe in him. Happy Easter to all of you!

Spring's Around the Corner

It appears we're finally leaving the deep depths of winter behind as it now rains rather than snows every couple of days. Emerson joyfully keeps track of all of the birds he hears and sees and each crocus peeking its head our from the muddy ground, squealing with delight that spring is on its way. Our back yard is finally emerging from its snow blanket for the first time in months. Unfortunately this means the projects we need to conquer this spring are also revealing themselves.
These past several weeks we've had a new little friend spend a couple of days with us each week. Olive is a few weeks younger than Stella, is the daughter of some close friends, is as cute as her name, and brings a lot of fun. Emerson and Stella ask each day if it's an "Olive day" or not. They think of her as another sister and virtually dissolve in tears each time she leaves.
Which brings us to another reason to dissolve in tears: Tad was called to the high council for our stake (major calling for a Mormon) this past Sunday. Actually, we're really excited about it. Tad will have the chance to share his superior speaking skills while serving Heavenly Father and helping people in our stake. The only down side is that Tad now will be in the ranks of the usually much older men in the church, the High Priests, and will therefore not be able to attend meetings with the men in his same life situation. But Grandpa Lynn, Tad's 97-year-old grandpa, is flying in from Portland area to officially ordain Tad to the position of High Priest, so there are definite perks already!
In news for the less squeamish, Stella decided that at age 20 months, she's done with diapers. She insisted on using the potty for the necessary bodily functions starting two weeks ago and has already transitioned over to underpants, all on her own terms. We're so proud of her and know that she sees it as another opportunity to be like her favorite person, her big brother. Who are we to complain? There are plenty of less than desirable behaviors that have already rubbed off on this younger sib, so we're delighted to have some positive behaviors passing on. In addition, Stella has decided that the usual vocabulary for a girl her age simply won't suffice and continues to speak with such clarity and grammatical completion that we find our mouths hanging open in amazement on a daily basis.
Now if you'd like to have your mouth hang open in awe of our boy's cuteness, we urge you to watch him on Fox 13 news. Follow this link to see Emerson explore the Utah Museum of Natural History with his preschool pals, Luke and Jacob:
http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentid=5870564
Emerson's friend Luke's dad is a reporter for Fox 13, so he asked to use Emerson in a story about free/cheap places to take kids in Utah. It basically ended up being a feature on our boy, and you can click on the related links to see the other half of the story which also has some good Emerson (and a little Stella) clips.
We hope you all are well and wish you a happy spring!

Entering the Lap of Luxury

Well, if there was ever any doubt that Utah has real winters, skeptics only need check out this one to resolve their doubts. Today we're having the second snow storm of the week, with two more expected by Sunday. Now if this were an aberration this winter, we wouldn't have much to talk about. But it just so happens that the entire winter has been like this. This past Monday, for example, a storm blew in so quickly that there was sunshine one minute and fifteen minutes later tree branches were strewn on the ground on top of two inches of new snow. Of course Lisa happened to be on the way to the University to pick Emerson up from preschool at the time.

Which brings us to the next big piece of news (no, no new babies to report -- phew!). Last week we were able to replace our valiant, noble steed -- the 1997 Dodge Caravan which had served our family well until the last few months -- with a smokin' new ride. Now we realize that a 2003 Toyota Sienna minivan may not be what all of you lie awake at night fantasizing about (and at other points in our lives perhaps we wouldn't either), but Lisa truly dreamed of having this luxurious minivan. And now it's a reality! Please join us in welcoming "Dark Blue Rocket" (Emerson's official name for it) to the family. Lisa happened to be driving Dark Blue Rocket during the aforementioned snow storm and it performed like a champ!

And our final piece of what constitutes news in the depths of winter when children battle a seemingly never-ending series of colds and we consequently seldom leave the confines of our house: Tad grew a beard. No, not some pathetic attempt at a beard, an actual weeks-long successful man beard. In fact, it was a little too successful. Tad found himself stroking the beard constantly and loving it so much that he feared it might become his own "precious." He foresaw a life of church service that involved only scout master callings and he trembled with fear. So Tad's manly facial fur bit the dust earlier this month.