emerson quilting

been busy with this.

emersonquilting.wordpress.com

send me your quilts!

quilt for baby john

my sweet friend emily jones has gone through so much in the past year and i knew i just had to do something for her! she lost her wonderful husband john in an accident last thanksgiving and then brought a beautiful new baby into the world last month! she is an amazing woman. i wish i could do more, but i decided to make her this quilt for baby John to show her how much we love and care about her.

this pattern is so gorgeous. my sister-in-law Leigh can be thanked for that! those little strips were tough, but totally worth it.


i started the quilt before i knew what em was having. hopefully it's not too girly!


no, obviously it's not hand-quilted. a pro did all that work. it turned out perfectly.



love you, em!

yogurt goatee

birthday song

my baby is 1!!

River is turning 1 on the 8th of this month! i really can't believe it. it definitely doesn't feel like i gave birth to him an entire year ago, but here we are! River is walking and talking (in his own language) and totally adorable. we LOVE this guy.

this weekend, we drove to Encinitas to celebrate with our friends and family. i was, of course, stressed to the max and worried River's 1st birthday would be a disaster. but everything turned out perfectly, thanks to Spencer and Monika's much needed and appreciated help with the food and decorations and Laura's expert beak making for our rubber ducky cupcakes! and, of course, Logan worked like mad following my orders and helping me get everything done. thanks everyone! you are the best!!


the process. these things were not easy to make!


cute laura working on those beaks! she had mastered it by the last cupcake.


some decorations!


River and his favorite person!


River and second- favorite. I look shiny and tired. yikes!


interesting expression on Rivs. ha!


extreme close-up!! these beaks liked to slide right off. we need some better decorating techniques, laura!


can't go wrong with some Costco cheese pizza. Connie helping us out with that! :)


logan and laura checkin out the spread.


the food was great! even River, the world's pickiest eater, could attest to that. thanks monika!!


spencer, monika and sterling hangin out. oliver slept through the whole party!


enjoying his birthday cupcake.


CHOMP!


the boys chattin.


the ride home after a long, crazy weekend....

happy birthday, baby!

hoot

i just finished (well, almost- he still needs his bum sewn up) this little stuffed owl for River's birthday coming up. i really like how it turned out! it's the first stuffed anything i've ever made. i'm not gonna lie, though....he wasn't easy! that being said, i may not actually let River play with him. he would probably be destroyed within the first few minutes. he may just sit prettily on a shelf as decoration in Riv's room.


the eyes, nose, and feet are felt, and the green body part is Minkee that i texturized. i'm not really sure how to get his face un-wrinkly!


bum- not sewn up.


profile shot.


Hi, Hoot!

i'm a mom!

it's my very first official mother's day! woohoo!

thanks for letting me be your mama, Rivs, even if i do get a little annoying, sometimes.....

lizard friend

st. george has a TON of fun wildlife, and it's all right in our backyard! i have yet to get a good picture of the cute little road runner that frequents our neighborhood. but this guy totally smiled for me when i quickly snapped a shot of him. he likes to hang out on my window on warm days. which means he's there pretty much every day. i like him.

half-marathon

this post is a little overdue. but who cares. logan and i actually set a goal for ourselves and followed through with it! i know. whoa!! crazy! this never happens! training for and running a half-marathon was really great. i recommend it. and honestly, if i can do it, anyone can. anyone. we went from being pretty much non-runners to running 13.1 miles (actually, the Hurricane city people didn't calculate correctly. my Garmin said 13.2 when i crossed the finish line. i want my .1 mile back, jerks!!) in a little less than 4 months. it certainly takes some motivation, though. and by motivation i mean a shiny new pair of running shoes to help me out the door every day. anyway, my point is this: do it. it's fun!

one of our last runs before the race. River was not so fond of the hour-and-a-half training sessions we forced him into toward the end. but he put on his happy little angel face for us anyway.


my dad, laura, mom, and River camped out at mile 10 and took a few pics as we went by. it was great! but i kind of wanted a ride as they zoomed away to get a spot at the finish line. please pretend like you don't notice how scary and gross i look in these pics, k?

the older gentleman in the yellow hat happily passed right by us and said something like, "I'm, like, 70 and i'm faster than you punks. SUCKAAAAS." he was a really nice guy.


the last three miles were like death. i felt several very large blisters forming on the bottoms of my toes and my granny knees were about ready give out. but we never stopped to walk. that's an accomplishment in itself.

ugh. yellow hat man, again. just rubbing it in.


during the last stretch, aNOTHER dude who literally looked about 90 strolled right past us. again! what is with these guys?! i wish i had gotten a picture of him. or a video. he barely moved his upper body as he shuffled along. it was funny. but my self-esteem took quite a beating as he passed by.

aaaaand here we come, rounding the corner! i like this pic. i think you can really see how exhausted yet determined we are. we stayed together for the whole race, which made it much more fun. except it was even more fun when Logan decided he just HAD to use a port-a-potty at around mile 6 and said he'd catch up with me. too bad he didn't realize that i'm pretty much like lightening and couldn't catch me for several miles. he finally yelled out "eeeeemmilyyyy!! just walk for a sec! i'm cominnng!" haha! awesome.



crossing the finish line. we were trying to sprint at the end, hence the blurriness. cool action shot.



we finished in about 2:04, just over our goal. next time.

ah, the perfect post-race picture: me looking sweaty and scary, and logan blowing his nose. nice.


our cute supporters. River is like, "um, can we go now, please?"


we're done!!


i have realized that i never could run a full marathon. i think i could do it mentally. but i don't think my knees could handle it. i would probably OD on glucosamine before being able to do it. i do, however, feel that a triathlon is in my future. perhaps a half-ironman? we'll see....

maybe not

after deliberating, i think maybe i will just stay un-private for now. it's just easier for everyone. right? i don't really have anything to hide, anyway. so, lurkers, keep on lurking! :)

paparazzi

sometimes we take so many pictures of River that he just throws on the big shades and scowls at us like, "ugh. you guys are so annoying. i just want to live a normal life." seriously, Rivs.

belly laugh

River loves Gigi! Gigi is not a huge fan of River, but he doesn't seem to mind.

bouncy bouncy

fridge envy

now that i am married with a child, what do i daydream about all the live long day? my future home and how i want it to look!! is that silly? probably. but after living in apartments/duplexes for the past, oh, 8 or so years (on my own and with Logan), a girl can't help but start to get excited about the prospect of actually having a HOUSE all to herself! who knows where that house will end up being, but all i know is that i want one of these inside it.


is it possible for a fridge to be "sexy"? well, if it is, then this one by Big Chill is definitely sexy. i spend a LOT of time in the kitchen, not even necessarily cooking. i'd spend even more time in there just admiring this thing if i had one. ahem....i mean when i have one, thanks.

future athlete

as most of you already know, Logan and I are training for our half-marathon on april 24th in Hurricane, UT. after nearly 8 weeks of training, we are surprisingly still going strong and really enjoying it! i need to get some more pictures of us getting out there and workin it!

but for now, here are a few pics of another guy who is certainly enjoying riding along with us. he usually falls asleep during our long runs, but he always wakes up at the end looking so happy. it makes our runs completely worth it. :)

private

okay, guys. i'm going to go ahead and follow your lead and make this thing private. leave me a comment if you'd like me to add you on to "the list". don't be shy. i know there are those of you who lurk around here without commenting. i do it all the time.

i won't officially lock down for a few weeks, so there's still time!

thanks!

River is 7 months!

actually, he's well into his 7th month, so i should have posted this earlier. River is getting quite wild, and he isn't even walking yet! i'm scared. but i just adore him and that little face, so i don't mind. here are a few things Rivs can and likes to do lately:

-crawl like crazy! he actually began to crawl in his 6th month, but he has mastered it. he has now moved on to pulling himself up to standing and loves giving his mom heart failure each time he does so.

-he loves anything that has a soft tag or cord or ribbon to pull at and gnaw on. we're not sure how or why, but somehow, if the object has a tag or string, he will find it. if we're wearing a sweatshirt with a cord, he will chew on it until it's dripping with drool. yuck! and logan always has to toss his tie over his shoulder on sundays. can't tempt river! he also enjoys destroying books and magazines, so those have all been stored away for now. "NOOO, RIVER!! NOT MY MARTHA STEWART LIVING!!"

- River is loving squash and pears lately, but he recently had a little stomach bug and up came all of his favorite foods....several times, for several hours. after i panicked just a little bit, and rushed him to see the doctor, he was just fine. but he has become picky again and has to relearn his love for squash and pears. i can't blame him! poor guy. and poor me too. most stressful day of my life.

-River is working on some new words and says things like "guh guh guh" and "bah bah bah". i'm working on "MMMMAAAAMA" with him, but we're not quite there yet. just as long as that one comes before "daaada", eh River?

-I am very happy to report that River has been sleeping through the night perfectly for about a month now! i wish his naps were a little longer, but i'm not complaining. 7pm to about 7am is plenty of time for us to get some things done and relax a bit. he always wakes up so happy and gives us a big gummy smile when we go in to get him.

-River's hair is a beautiful shade of auburn. he gets some serious attention any time i take him out, especially from the elderly women and men. they always say, "oh, just look at that red hair!" every time. so funny.

We just LOVE this guy and we're enjoying every moment with him.




funny sleeping positions are quite common.



scratched nose.


enjoying his awesome new high chair!


just being cute. he knows how to get ya.


long, hard day.