A's Big Day

I've been meaning to write every detail of Annabelle's blessing day down, but first I wanted to make sure I had beautiful pictures to go with it: so Sunday I put her back in her dress and had a little photo-shoot.
First of all, I'm in love with her dress. My mom did an amazing job crocheting it!! Yes. By hand. I cannot even express how much I cherish that dress. Next to our wedding blanket, it's very very dear to me.
She looked so beautiful on her blessing day! And it was especially special because so many people came that love her, including her favorite Grandpa Tracy! That, in and of itself, made the day perfect. We loved having you there dad -- and we're counting down the days til we get to see you (& co) at Christmas!
I love you, dad.



It was also a super special day because beautiful MADISON LYNN was blessed as well :) And she looked absolutely adorable in her dress and bonnet -- I'm so glad Annabelle has such a close cousin! We hope for them to be best friends.
Since we planned a joint blessing, we also got special permission to have our own little meeting after church. And for history's sake, I'd like to list everyone that participated (Annabelle's gonna read this blog when she's older, right?!)
Brother Vlaardingerbroeck conducted (I promise I didn't make that name up!!), Grandpa Dave said the opening prayer afterwhich Jake gave Annabelle her beautiful blessing. The Spirit was so strong, and it was one of the very few times I've ever heard Jake get choked up - so sweet. I was sorta worried Annabelle would jabber through the whole thing ("All this attention at once?!"), but she was very calm and quiet and fell straight to sleep as soon as she was placed in my arms. Then Danny gave Maddy a beautiful blessing. And then my biggest fear took place: Public Speaking!!!! (We decided it'd be nice to have the mom's bear their testimonies)... which turned out to be great. I got to bear my testimony with my sweet girl in my arms, and couldn't help but feel Heavenly Father's love for both her and I. We are so blessed to have her.
K, then Ashley bore her testimony, Grandpa Tracy said the closing prayer, and we can't forget Aunt Julie -- she played the prelude and hymn music (very beautifully! Thanks for doing that so last-minute)

After the meeting ended, we had a super yummy dinner thanks to THE QUINNS!! Without them, everything would've been a mess, but thankfully they're angels from heaven and took care of everything I didn't think of -- which was pretty much... everything :D
It was so fun to see so many family and friends. Sadly I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would've liked, but here are a couple.





And here are her post-blessing day shots:





We love you Angel-Girl and are so happy we get to call you "ours" ...

Annabelle Lately

She's 4 months tomorrow -- WHAT?!
And this is what she's been up to ;)

Sitting up:


And standing up:



Ever heard of a 4-month old walker?! :D ... Me neither. It's really just good camera timing ;)

Sneak Peek

I know you (my family) is dying to hear about the baby blessing, but I don't have a whole bunch of time and don't know that I'll get it posted before we leave for Oregon tomorrow. So here's a couple pictures to tie you over.
I will say it was a beautiful day, and really really special - and a lot more emotional than I thought it would be!!
This baby girl makes us so so happy - we've been so blessed.

Meeting Grandpa Tracy for the first time:

Tom and Tanya did so much to make everything come together. We love you guys!

Beautiful blessing day. Wishing Grandma Lisa (& co) could've been there too.

Skinny Emma = Happy Emma

News Headline: Emma Van Wagoner's running a half-marathon! Saaaay whaaat?
That's right. And the amazing Natasha Peatross is helping me do it.
Meet Natasha:



She's beautiful, smart, adorable, and seriously the sweetest girl you'll ever meet. And I love her so much.
This morning was day 1 of training: Running in the canyon.
Our goal was to run 2 miles. However, a 1/4 mile into it I thought I was going to d-i-e! (Gosh, it is so embarrassing how outta shape I am) But wonderful Natasha walked with me until I felt I could run again. Which would be never, except she's excellent at mind tricks:
N: "Let's run to that tree up there, and then we'll take another break."
E: **running running, panting panting** almost there.
N: "We can make it to the bend up ahead, come on."
E: **mmm, I guess...**
N:"Well, look, that pavilion isn't too far off, let's run to it and then we'll really stop.
E: **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**
N:"Hey, there's another pavilion, let's go!"
(at this point I'm literally screaming out loud.)
E:**NAATAASHAA!!**
N: "Put stress on your body, it can take it! It will adapt! That's what Jillian Michaels always says."
E:**I haaaate Jillian Michaels!!**
N: "OK, that's good."
E:**bent over, seeing stars**
(** = my thoughts. Running and talking? Not.Possible.)

Meet Natasha. She's my favorite:


And together, we're running a half-marathon in August. With baby on board :)

The Head Grab

So my babe's been doing some funny things lately... like making this face:
when she just can't take it anymore. It's been cracking.me.UP!
Here are a couple more drama shots:

Sometimes, just one ear:

And sometimes she gets distracted by those funny things sticking out of her head, and tugs on them:


Pretty funny, right?
Well, she's been doing the "head grab" since Thursday, and we've been really entertained by it. Until she did it pretty much non-stop last night, so we got worried. And I started feeling like a terrible mom: What if she had an earache and has been trying to tell us this whole time and we've just been laughing? And I've been taking pictures of her pain? I AM HORRIBLE! So I called the nurse asap and made a late night appointment.

Here's how that went:


= all smiles.

Our girl's fine. 100% healthy. She's just giving us a peek of the d-r-a-m-a to come. And I love it.
Three months and she's making this face when she's upset:


**yikes**

You're Makin' My Dreams Come True!

Ladies and Gentlemen.... An incredible discovery has been made.

But first, let me tell you the incredible story that makes this discovery so... incredible.
It takes place in Germany. With Lauren. Sitting on my bed. And meeting our cousin Scarlet for the first time. (That in and of itself is pretty amazing -- meeting your 21 year old cousin for the first time, and shortly thereafter realizing she was the filling to that big hole in our hearts. We love you Scarlet!)
Anyways, here's the story: Lauren loves Quark. And was eating it on my bed when we met Scarlet. And Quark is German. Incredible part: I FOUND IT HERE. IN AMERICA! And it's delicious.

Greek Yogurt = Quark.

And I'm in love.

Same Phone

This post is mainly for Lauren, because we have the same phone.
So, did you know you could do this with your camera phone??

There are cool borders for your photos:

The B&W feature:

And then awesome hairdo's in case you're having a bad hair day! Brilliant!


I really had a blast figuring out these features yesterday. (And I was bored during Annabelle's nap time, it's like: WAKE UP! Play with me please!!!)