More pictures at last!

We've been gone for a while, with Julie's family reunion at Hebgen Lake outside of Yellowstone National Park. But now that we're back and settled, we have more fun pictures to update with!

Wearing a sweater knit by Grandma Eris's co-worker

Emery looking so sweet!

Joseph enjoying the pool

Emery in her bathing suit

Playing dress-up with Aaron's things

Bison at Yellowstone

Old Faithful

Yellowstone Wipeout!

Julie and Joseph in the 3-legged race!

In her reunion shirt, at Hebgen Lake

Looking stylish in her headband and bow made by her aunts Stephanie and Stacie

Emery in her beautiful blessing dress, made by her Grandma Eris

Long awaited photos!

As promised, the digital camera has been located, as well as the cord needed to upload pictures. So here they are. These are from back in May in Missoula up until last Saturday. p.s. Emery update at the end of the post

Joseph wearing his big brother badge!

Emery relaxing in California

Joseph playing in the pool with Aaron

Preparing for a long needed haircut from Grandma Eris

Sitting so still

After a long hike at Lone Pine in Kalispell, MT

The happy hikers! (Mckenna-7, Jadalin-9, Joseph-2, Cadence-4)

There are more photos coming. We just got our computer set up, which is where we like to store all our photos. It's hard to get a cute photo of Emery for now unless she's sleeping because she just stares at the camera. But we'll post some more soon.

As of Emery's 2 month appointment, she weighed 11 lbs. 2 ozs. and was 24 inches long. For her head size and weight she is in the 50-75th percentile. For her height she is in the 95+ percentile. She is now wearing 3-6 month clothes. Unfortunately they don't really fit her belly, but lengthwise they are perfect. But I'm sure she's going to keep on growing quickly. Her face is really starting to fill out. We'll post some Emery pics real soon!

Where have we gone??

It's been a while since our last post, and with good reason. After Aaron officially finished school, we packed up our things and went to California on vacation. While we were there, Aaron got an interview with Glacier High School in Kalispell, Montana (his hometown and tourists dream) for an english position and a spanish position. Long story short, Aaron got a job there. It's just below full time, and he will be teaching english and spanish (awesome!). We stayed in California for a total of 2 weeks (during which Aaron was back here in Montana for 1 week doing his interviews and packing up our apartment and putting it in storage). We then packed up what little we had with us and drove back to Montana and up to Kalispell. We are going to be living in his brother's basement. It's quite the spacious arrangement, with a room for us and Emery, a room for Joseph, our own bathroom, living room and family room. They are super generous to share their home with us. Joseph is in heaven being around his cousins (Jaddie 9, Mckenna 7, and Cadence 4). We can tell he's happy knowing that we aren't leaving again. The past 2 days he gets distressed at nap and bedtimes because he thinks we're leaving. When we tell him we're not going anywhere and we'll see his cousins when he wakes up, he perks up a little bit. Emery has been handling the changes like a champ as well. Her sleeping schedule was a tad bit off, with all the time changes, but it seems like she's already getting back on track. Just last night she slept from 10:15 pm to 5:00 am. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures to post. For one, the camera is missing (but I think it's just at the in-laws here in Kalispell), and the cord we need to upload the pictures is in storage. But we'll be getting our things out of storage in about a week and a half, so after that we'll have a huge post just for pictures.

In an Emery update, she is now 11 pounds (we think) and healthy as ever. She's getting rolls on her legs, and plumping up a tiny bit. She's really long, so it keeps her middle from getting pudgy. She has an appointment in 2 weeks for her 2 month, so we'll get her official numbers then. She's really starting to get interactive and smiling pretty often. Once we find the camera, we'll get a picture of it!

We are so excited about Aaron's new job and about our new home. We are still super sad to have to leave California and our friends and family there. But we're sure to visit and keep in touch (even better than before!). Thank you to all those who have been so supportive and understanding during this crazy time in our family's life. Your love and friendship has made all of these hard decisions easier for us to make, and has made the changes easier on our kids. Thank you!!

3 weeks later

Well, I've been a slacker and have waited quite a while before adding more pictures. Things have been pretty busy since Emery was born. Aaron's mom stayed with us for a week after she was born, then we had a week alone, and then Julie's parents were here for 5 days. They just left last week. Then over the weekend we went to an 80th birthday party for Aaron's grandma. So, that's what's been keeping us so busy (aside from adjusting to having 2 kids).

Aaron is now done with his student teaching. His attention is now fully devoted to job hunting, applications, and interviews. We'll let you know when we have any solid leads as to where Aaron will be working. Julie also officially graduated from BYU, as of April 21. She now has a bachelor's degree. Woohoo! Anyhow, here are the latest pictures. Sorry, we don't have many. Emery really just loves to be swaddled, which doesn't make for the cutest of pictures. I'm sure as she starts to have more awake time we'll get some more.

In her super cute dress Aunt Stacie gave her.

Playing dress up at Grandma Denney's house

Complete with a murse (man-purse).

Joseph knows how cute Emery's clothes are. Unfortunately they won't be able to share.

Wearing the super cute shrug Grandma Eris made her.

Emery Salem

Finally...the details! Julie woke up 1 in the morning on Friday with contractions. These ones were different from the ones she felt the week before, so she knew something was probably going on. She waited until 3:30 and woke Aaron, so he could hang out with her. By 6:30 the contractions had been 5 mins. apart for about 2 hours so Julie was pretty sure this was going to be the real deal. We wanted to keep busy and keep Julie moving. Aaron's mom was on her way down to take care of Joseph. Until she got here we went and had donuts at our community center, and started some laundry. By the time Diane arrived, the contractions had slowed down. Julie called the doctor and talked with him a bit about what was going on. He said if the contractions picked back up (we were planning on going for a walk now that Diane could stay with Joseph) and stayed consistent, to go to the hospital. So we went for a walk at a path right next to the hospital. After 45 mins. the contractions had picked back up a bit, but not significantly and we were feeling exhausted, so we headed back to the apartment to rest. Julie had accepted the her labor might just die down, and was okay with it at this point. After laying down for about 10 minutes or so, Julie's water broke. Once she was sure she hadn't just gone to the bathroom on herself, we headed off to the hospital. At this point, Julie was only 2 centimeters, but was fully effaced and Emery's head was very, very low. Once her IV was in and entrance questions answered, we headed off to the tub. Contractions were continuing to pick up since the water broke. Julie was only in the tub for maybe 30 minutes, but the contractions got intense really fast, so we headed back to the room for some pain assistance. Julie was a bit hesitant about an epidural possibly stalling labor, but she knew she needed some help. So, she got an intrathecal (sp?) which is a temporary epidural that wears off after a few hours as well as a catheter for the epidural so she could have it when the intrathecal wore off. At this point, she was dilated to 5. (maybe 2 hours have lapsed since getting to the hospital) After getting the pain meds, Julie was feeling super (As anyone who has had an epidural after enduring labor can attest to. You become one happy camper.) Her doctor came in, and checked her and she was dilated to 9. He had her do a practice push (Keep in mind, Julie had never pushed before, not getting that far in Joseph's labor) and the head started coming down. So he got ready, and we started pushing. It took less than 30 minutes and Emery was here! Pushing was by far the most satisfying part of the labor and delivery because Julie was able to endure it without pain, and her doctor said she did absolutely awesome for never having pushed before and of course that made Julie feel great. Emery was born at 5:47, 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 21 in. The cord was wrapped around her neck, but not tightly. She didn't cry. They roused her and got her woken up a bit more and she finally cried, but it was so soft. (and still is)

Emery is just an amazing baby. She's easy to please, sleeps great, has a soft cry, and is just so darn cute. Her birth was absolutely amazing to experience, and such a contrast to Julie's first experience. The recovery has also been night and day from last time. Julie feels absolutely great! Joseph has been doing fantastic with this change. Not once has he seemed surprised or out of sorts that we have this new person at home. The first thing he wanted to do was hold her and kiss her, and he still does. We're sure things will continue to change and we'll have adjustments to make, but for now things couldn't be better. Thanks for all your well wishes and congratulations. Here are some pictures of the newest addition!

At the hospital

First bath

She really likes to suck on fingers

Just too cute

Proud big brother

Well, hello there

Since she was sleeping on his bed, Joseph gave her his bedtime necessities: binky, towel, and two toys

Our precious lady