The Kemp Fam

Pictures

2012-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures today... finally! Here are some of my favorites.

Katie is 2.5 weeks old and time is flying!

On a side note, this is officially the "one thing" I got done today. Having a newborn, ~~some~~ many days are way less productive than usual, and I'm ~~okay with~~ embracing that.

(And if I really wanted to keep it real, I would tell you I'm still in my PJ's...)

PS. it's a circus act trying to take pictures of two kiddos. But man, are we in love with these girls!

Ignore the smooshed, crying face, haha.

I think I like the "out-takes" as much as the (comparably) good ones...

Spontaneous head banging.

First of many bored-face pictures

Found my slippers and decided she needed to "go shopping"

Teased with the binky one too many times

Life is good! Loving being a mommy of two more and more everyday.

Katie is HERE!!!

2012-02-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful baby girl joined our family (all of 12 days late) on January 23, 2012 at 4:04pm. She weighed in at 9lbs, 2oz and was 22 inches long. Her full name is Katelyn Talei (means "precious" in Fijian- where Jeff served a mission) Kemp

We have loved every minute of having her in our home and family. The sweet spirit that a newborn brings is almost tangible. Our home is very blessed by her presence.

Emily has been an awesome big sister. She is a nurturer/mommy and has been nothing but loving toward the baby. Only a few times has she told me that I don't want to hold the baby, that daddy wants to hold the baby and I want to hold her.

Life is good. I LOVE being a mommy and wife.

laboring at home, haha

heading to the hospital

family of 4 :)

Daddy and girls

Girls with Nana

Arriving home

Katie has a pretty intense gaze... her "game face"

Sweet baby

Here's the story, for those who are interested (by the way, lack of sleep = mushy fog brain/trouble with words... so sorry this is long and not well written)

Sunday night the contractions began 7 min apart, but were not painful. At 10pm we headed to the New Orleans airport to pick up my Mom. (talk about perfect timing!) Not planning to be induced, we didn't know when the baby would come/when my mom should come-- she had already bumped her flight once when I didn't have the baby at a week overdue. I think on some level my body knew that Mom would be here, that everything would be taken care of and that it was time to relax and have this baby!

We all slept great Sunday night. Not sure if the contractions let up or if I just slept through them. I woke up Monday morning and right off the bat they were 3 min apart, lasting about 45 seconds to a minute. They were a little uncomfortable, but manageable with breathing and pushing my lower back into the wall. We timed them for a while and then called labor and delivery to let them know we'd be coming in. We still took our time packing the final things and getting out of the house- I think we finally left around 10:00am.

We arrived to the hospital and they checked us right into a room and began setting up a birthing tub, since I planned to labor without an epidural and really wanted to have the option of laboring in the tub. Everything went really smoothly. The room had a really relaxed atmosphere, lights dimmed, I was very comfortable. I spent most of the time standing and walking/swaying and then leaning over the bed with each contraction and Jeff would press firmly into my lower back/hips. I spent some time bouncing on the birthing ball and leaning over the bed. Jeff was my support through the whole thing and I appreciate him so much. I couldn't have done it without him!

So we labored from 10:30 to about 2pm and the time went really fast.We were pretty much left alone except for every half hour or so when I had to hold the portable monitor over my belly for 5 min. The staff was very calm and quiet and respected our wishes for a relaxed atmosphere.

I was 5cm when I arrived at the hospital and could have gotten in the tub at that point, but I wanted to save it for when I really felt like I needed it. By 2pm I was getting mentally and physically tired and having a harder time relaxing between contractions. At that point I was around 7cm and I was getting close to transition, even though I didn't know it. Getting into the tub was amazing. The warm water felt so great and was just what I needed. I had a smile all over my face that I couldn't hide and kept raving about how great this felt and how I was totally converted to birthing tubs. Jeff was equally relieved to see me so comfortable. Contractions were still intense and took my breathing/concentration, but I was able to sit back and relax and float around (haha!) in between. That hour of labor was great.

3pm transition definitely hit. Things got way more intense and I had a hard time staying on top of the pain. This was the hour where I disconnected from everything around me, even Jeff-- when i think back on it I just picture a big concrete, dark, empty room, facing a black wall, on my knees and praying. It's hard to put into words, but the physical pain and intensity of transition took me to a place where I've never felt so vulnerable, and to a level where I had never been before-- where there was absolutely nothing else but me and God and nobody could help me but God. I have felt dependent on God before, but never this focused of a need, as if
I'd crumble if He didn't help me. I prayed a lot. Because of this I think this was the most spiritual part of childbirth for me. I know it sounds dramatic, but it's truly what I experienced. (I'm interested if other natural birth moms have felt similar?)

A little before 4pm I was checked again and the midwife said I was totally ready, dilated and that if she broke my water the baby would be here very soon. I was unsure what "very soon" meant but told her to go ahead. Because there was meconium in the fluid I had to get out of the tub to push, otherwise I could have had a water birth. I sat on a birthing stool, Jeff behind me and the midwife cross-legged on the floor in front of me. Pushing was intense, but not so much painful as just intense and rewarding at the same time. It was much better than transition for sure! I won't lie, I was moaning and groaning and shaking like a dying cow (Jeff said it wasn't that bad, but I'm a little embarrassed looking back on it) In a matter of around 10 min/5 contractions, Katie was born. What an immediate feeling of physical relief and emotional disbelief and joy all at the same time!!

Recovery has been SO much better this time around! I feel like I've been able to jump back into things much quicker. Aside from losing a lot of blood and being pale/a little weak I have felt really great.

I think this experience has pretty much converted me to natural birth, especially birth tubs! The birth tub was SO amazing. If you have the chance to labor in a tub/have a natural birth I say go for it! My motivation to have a natural birth was to avoid a c-section-- I almost had to have one with Emily because I had an epidural and was flat on my back and she was not engaging even after lots of pushing. I felt delivery would go much more smoothly if I was able to be upright and mobile. But there are a lot of reasons to have a natural birth-- you just have to find your reason and go for it! You can do it. Jeff and I prepared a lot reading and listening to a lot Hypnobirthing stuff. I wouldn't say I had a Hypnobirth per se (I didn't stay deeply relaxed throughout and I didn't listen to any prompts/scripts during labor), but I definitely used the relaxation, visualization and breathing techniques. Also the Hypnobirth philosophy gave me the confidence that my body could do this and overall helped me be really relaxed and free of fear.

SO, YAY for babies! Life is good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

This was a our first Christmas on our own. With baby #2 due so soon we stayed here in Baton Rouge and while definitely missed being with our families, I think we can say we still had a great Christmas.

We cut out and painted salt dough ornaments to put on our tree. Can you spot the the 2 elmos, the octopus and the pregnant lady (Jeff's handiwork!)?

On Christmas Eve we went to the bonfires on the levee. From what I gathered nobody really knows origin of this tradition. Some people say it's to light the way for St. Nicholas but I think it's just a good excuse to play with fire! Every 100 ft or so was a bonfire and some of them were setting off fireworks too.

Emily by our little tree on Christmas eve.

The baby Jesus ornament was Emily's favorite.

Christmas morning...

Emily ran right to the tricycle from Nana and Papa

...then she opened the dress up box from Santa.

She never waivered in her request for "projects and dress-ups" this year.

We went to church and then came home to open presents.

The bow on the belly was Jeff's idea. Almost 38 weeks and counting!

Jeff's parents gave Emily this doctor kit and she loves it!

Jeff got a mandolin from his parents.

He already sounds pretty good since the fingering/strings are the same as the fiddle.

I was so impressed with Jeff- he picked out some perfume for me on his very own.

We ate our Christmas feast while Emily napped.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

2011-09-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Emily turned two on the 19th!

Birthday morning- Emily found a bag of Lucky Charms- she loves picking out the marshmallows, so we let her do so to her heart's content! Hey, it was her birthday.

Birthday breakfast waffles with a candle- for practice :)

Skype with family while opening presents.

Birthday dinner strawberries, mac n' cheese, and chicken "muggets" (all Emily's favorites)

We had a little get together for cake and ice cream.

Singing Happy Birthday!

Emily's four other two-yr-old friends were here. Annie, Halle, Lane, Emily, and Afton. (I love Lane's expression in this picture- she was telling Halle not to shake the jar of candy!)

Best picture we could get of the bunch. I love these girls!

We sure love this little girl!

I know

2011-07-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

I know, I know we are terrible at keeping this blog up to date! Maybe someday I'll be better at it... Until then, here are some random pictures from my phone that make me laugh.

Emily just woke up from sleeping in the car and had to go potty. I love this face/hair!

We were at the mall we saw this guy dead asleep. When he was still there when we passed again 15 minutes later I couldn't resist taking a picture with him (don't worry, he was breathing). When's the last time you took a picture with a stranger? Gotta love some random and spontaneous fun!!

Loving Louisiana!

2011-06-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been too long since we've updated our blog. A lot has happened since we discovered pita magic (see previous post) so we thought we owed it to all of our faithful blog readers to post something new. You were probably sick of reading about pita magic anyways (no discredit to the m

agic of the pita).

The month of May was historic for Baton Rouge and the flooding of the Mississippi river. This picture on the left shows the flood water about 1 week before the river crested. The next day the levee was closed off to prevent any terrorist attacks. I know the picture doesn't really show much other than some flooded trees but this is the hillside where we take the church youth ice block sledding. The water is probably about 20 ft deep. The shore of the river is usually a ways on the other side of those trees. Here's a picture of some hot babes I found hanging out at the levee!

Also exciting in May was Amy's 29th birthday. We had a great day! For breakfast we had homemade egg mcmuffins at Amy's request.

I had to go to the clinic as usual but when I got off a friend of ours came over to babysit while Amy and I went and played tennis. We initially were planning on going out to eat but decided it would be more fun to go do something together. We had rotisserie chicken to put on buns which was yummy and then we played all the tennis we could handle.

What Amy didn't know was that I had invited over a bunch of our friends for a little surprise party when we got home. I actually kept it a surprise this time (I am usually horrible at keeping secrets). The candles seem to be getting more and more smoky each year!

More recently we celebrated our 3rd anniversary! Time has gone by fast. I have to admit that I can't imagine marrying a better gal! I really love my wife. She's a wonderful person to the core and the most beautiful woman in the world. All of you reading this can keep your opinions to yourself because I know I got the one and only. As for celebrating our anniversary we did the most appropriate thing I can think of-we went to the temple. It was where we were sealed for time and eternity. Nothing better than going to a place that reminds us of the covenants we have made. Afterward we went out to ice cream and watched some lightning in the distance. All in all, life doesn't really get any better.

Emily is really going up fast. We sure do love our little girl. She is really good at taking care of her babies. The other night we put her to bed with her little baby and they slept together all night. She's a little nurturer. It seems like we are always laughing at something she does. What a wonderful, little, bundle of joy!

Pita magic: an answer to life's most compelling question

2011-03-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you stay awake at night pondering upon the mysteries of the pita...

I mean, it's not a pita unless it has a pocket; and it doesn't have a pocket unless... how do you get a pocket-ed bread anyway? Well, you take this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peppys-Pita-Bread/Detail.aspx (you don't have to have a bread machine, like it says) and...with a really hot oven, and a few minutes the dough goes from this:

To this.

You watch these puppies puff up and you might as well be watching magic.

It might be the top-ten highlight of my baking career.

Did I say it's really cool?!

Am I a nerd?! Maybe.

But do you see the pocket- that's all air in there! The pitas flatten out when they cool, but the pocket is STILL there! Amazing. I do not lie, this all happened in my very own oven.

Homemade pita and homemade hummus, totally worth it.

Miss Piggy-tails

2011-03-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I had my doubts, but lo and behold there is (just barely) enough hair!

Is it only me, or is there something about pigtails that just makes the world seem right?

Emily dances

2011-03-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Aunt JuJu visits!

2011-02-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

We love having company! Jeff's sister, Julie, came all the way across the country to see us (well Emily, really- Jeff and I are just a bonus, right?)

Emily loves Aunt JuJu and has been totally spoiled with attention-- on demand early morning book reading, "num-nums" (treats), etc.

The mighty Mississippi

You haven't been to the South unless you've had crawfish, gator, jambalaya and gumbo.

At the park

State Capitol

Today we took a swamp tour and saw herons, gators, nutria, and snakes.

We love you, beautiful Julie! Come back soon!!

Silly side

2011-01-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

Emily is developing a sense of humor and it's so fun! She really loves to laugh and to make others laugh. She recognizes when things are funny or silly. Even when she slips or tumbles she'll freeze for a moment, look at us, and if we say "oops!" in a silly voice she'll bust up laughing. Anyway, tonight she thought it was pretty funny to put her thumb or fingers in her mouth and pull them out with a pop. She brings so much laughter and joy to our family.

Snow

2011-01-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

A redesigned blog to capture the joy

of our many snow-tastic adventures

had while visiting our families in CA and WA....

Oh winter, we love you.

ENJOY!

Slow down, baby!

2010-11-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

I knew babies grew fast, but I never realized how fast until I had one of my own. These little stinkers grow right before your very eyes!

And if you need proof, check out these pictures of Emily, taken each month from 0-12 months.

Ahhh, savor the moments...they go too fast. Anyone else feel like singing "Sunrise, Sunset" with me?

Homemade bread secrets from Grammy

2010-11-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

These are my Christensen Grandparents... both amazing people I could brag about all day. Recently my Grammy shared an awesome bread baking tip with me (on facebook) that I want to pass on to all my bread-baking-buddies out there. Here it is, in her own words:

"Let me give you another hint on bread making that I have learned (and they said you couldn't teach old dogs new tricks). Now days when my bread has raised the required times and is ready to be put into the pans, I warm my oven to 179-200 degrees and when I get the loaves into the baking pans, I then put the pans into the warm oven. I then watch it closely until the bread is about 1/2 inch above the pans and then I just leave them in the oven and turn the oven up to 375 degrees and set the timer to 35-38 minutes and that's it until the timer goes off. I get a much more even grain to the bread....no bubbles under the crust, no big pores. It works great for me."

I tried her tip today when I made bread and it worked great- I'm going to do this from now on. By the way, here's my bread:
But check out Grammy's homemade bread. PERFECT!
Next I'm going to see if she knows why my bread came out cracked near the rim/top. I'll keep you posted....

It's fall y'all!

2010-10-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

We've had a festive "Halloween" week... carved our pumpkin on Wednesday, went to the LSU "Boozar" (Em was great at grabbing candy from the bowls) on Thursday, and attended our ward party/trunk or treat tonight. I sewed Emily's bumblebee costume last week so she was set. Today at the last minute Jeff and I decided to dress up, so after a trip to the dollar store/Walmart we were all set as Crazy Medical Physics Grad Student and his "lovely" Research Subject.

Other good news: The weather has turned a little cooler (i.e. 50's at night...)- so it's finally feeling a little like fall! I may have to pull out a jacket soon! Brrrrr....... ;)

PS the top right picture is Jeff and Emily in the trunk or treat "haunted trail"- it was pretty mild, so she wasn't scared, but I like the look on her face and Jeff's "blood-red" pupils!

BOOOOOOOOOooooOOOoOOooOoOOOOooo to all of you!!!

Friends

2010-10-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

There is something so adorable about these two little one-year-old pals. Emily sure had fun spending the day with Halle. We went to the park and they took turns pushing each other in the dump truck and played in the sand.

So happy to be reunited after their naps.
Good sports in the not-so-double stroller

These girls make a great team for scouting out the neighborhood dogs. If a dog barked, Halle would bark too, "Ow, ar, ow, ar, ow, ow" and Emily would say, "Doddy, doddy!"

Dance party!

At bedtime I asked Emily, "Was Halle here today? You had fun with her, huh?" And Emily climbed down off my lap and wandered through the house looking for Halle, saying, "Haah-ee, Haah-ee." How fun to have a friend!

Pudding Cheese

2010-10-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Emily + Chocolate pudding= Nonstop cheesy grin

Need I say we LOVE this little girl?!

One Man's Junk... a novel

2010-10-11T20:03:00.001-07:00

One night last week when Jeff, Em and I were out running we saw these 2 chairs and a bench on the side of the road being THROWN AWAY with some other "junk". Great! We had been wanting some outdoor/seat furniture for our porch.

So I drove back over there, just to look and see if it was worth bringing home... The chairs and bench were missing the cushions but they were sturdy and unique. Before I knew it I had everything all rigged up and I was driving everything back home (in one load)!
I pulled into our parking lot, beaming over my ingenuity... I tied the bench on the roof and through the windows using pants and shirts (and even shoes for extra grip) that were in the car waiting to be dropped off at Goodwill. Yes, I have no pride when it comes to this sort of thing (in fact, I kind of have fun with it). I drove home with my hand out the window, holding onto the bench. Luckily it was dark and only about .5 mile from home.

So we tried out the furniture and decided to keep the bench and post the chairs on craigslist... first I thought about posting them for $20 or 30... then I thought, why not $50... well, I ended up posting them for $100... and guess what- people actually called!

Long story short, we sold it all (including the bench) to a really nice guy and his wife for $150! This same sort of thing happened earlier this year when Jeff found a golf set out by the dumpster and ended up selling it for a pretty penny.

Now that you've read this do you think we're totally tacky (it's okay, we can still be friends) or do you get excited over this kind of thing too? It's not "dumpster diving"- it's "re-lifing". Just think, those chairs were headed to the landfill but instead someone is enjoying them and I have a new chunk of change in my pocket.

So, what have been your great "side of the road" finds?

Happy Birthday, Dear Emily!

2010-09-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe Emily is already one!! Her birthday was last Sunday- it was a looong day at church with extra meetings, but Emily was a trooper. We had friends over that evening for cake and ice cream.

Emily's pal Annie brought her a present...

...which included some cute pink shoes that matched hers.
Anne led us in an impromptu "guess-the-paint-color" game. (do you like the garland? ... free paint sample cards from Walmart!)

Emily was pretty somber when it came time for cake.
Poor girl hadn't had much of a nap...
But that's nothing a little sugar can't cure! She polished off her little cake and definitely got her second wind.
Of course, what's a birthday without a little jam fest? (You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy!) Emily was so cute- she heard the music and would wave her hands, dancing and smiling.

I think she enjoyed her birthday!

Running as a Family

2010-07-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite family activities is to go running together. Jeff and I have enjoyed running together ever since we met- (back then we admittedly ran a lot faster because we wanted to impress each other!)

Provo Riverwoods 10 mile- The first race we ran together-
and the first time Jeff put his arm around me, haha!

But now that we're old and married and don't have to impress each other, I'm glad we still run together. Of course Emily is always along for the ride in the jogging stroller- which adds a whole new element. If you run, you know how fun it is to pass people- well it's a whole new level of satisfaction to pass someone while pushing the stroller.

4 mile family fun run

Recently we ran a 2 mile race on the levy and Jeff pushed Emily in the stroller and we all crossed the finish line in 13:30. Emily was first in the baby division, I was second for the women, and Jeff was second in his age division. Afterward when Jeff went up to get his medal the announcer saw him and said, "Hey, stroller guy!" Yes, Jeff is more than happy to be "stroller guy"- but watch out, he's a fast stroller guy!
Anyway, running is a great family activity!

Melon Bellies

2010-07-15T11:28:00.001-07:00

So my husband loves watermelon- I just never knew how much until we moved here to Louisiana where the watermelon is as sweet as candy! Jeff has been in hog heaven. We bought this 35 pounder two days ago and he was giddy- let's just say that even though good ol' "Leeroy" was only with us a short time, he was very loved- he even was buckled up in a seat belt for the ride home from the produce stand. We chopped him open yesterday and he's already half gone today, no joke. That's got to be some kind of a record!

Emily at 9 months

2010-06-19T12:50:00.001-07:00

We love her so much! She's doing all the normal baby stuff for this age, crawling, standing, waving bye-bye, cutting teeth, eating finger food, etc. and of course a million other cute Emily things that make us the proudest parents ever. We love this little girl and can't imagine life without her!

posts posts posts

2010-06-09T21:10:00.001-07:00

I just published 3 posts.

I guess that's really just an FYI for you, Juicy, since you're the only one who notices and loves me enough to call me out when I don't post for a month. So read your heart out... but there will be a quiz the next time I talk to you on the phone!! :)

Love you all!

2 Year Anniversary!

2010-06-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

*Warning: non-sappy souls need not proceed

2008

20092010

I started to try and put my feelings into words, but decided to stop since that would just leave you
A) bored
-or-
B) extremely depressed
(because you "would realize you'll never be as in love as us"- quote from Jeff. Man, I love that guy!)

....

But, since I always like to hear about other peoples' traditions
I will tell you about a favorite tradition we've kept on each anniversary
of taking a family picture in front of the nearest LDS Temple-
and I think it's fitting-
it reminds us of the day we were
sealed for time and eternity
the day we made promises to one another and to God
bound on earth and in heaven
a reminder that with a whole lot of love & the Lord's help
we can have a celestial marriage
and a forever family.

What an amazing blessing!

Gators and Tabasco!

2010-06-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

There's a place not too far from here from here called Avery Island/Jungle Gardens. This place is awesome- think up close alligators (no cages- out in the wild), beautiful walk-through gardens, a gigantic oak tree, tons of birds, an 800 year old Buddha statue, the Tabasco Factory, samples of Jalepeno ice cream, photo op by a giant Tabasco bottle, etc. Very worth it! I would recommend checking it out if you live in the area (btw- in my opinion, the Jungle Garden driving/walking tour is a lot more exciting than the Tabasco factory, so make sure you go when the weather is good).

Washington Trip

2010-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

The end of May found us in Washington (again?!) for 10 days during Jeff's semester break. The travel was generously sponsored by The Ma n' Pa Kemp Co. in exchange for us painting the barn while we were there... turns out it was rainy the whole time we were there- a few sunny days, but not enough to dry out the barn. Oh well, maybe next time!

We took a drive to the west side of the state and spent a few days in Tacoma watching the high school state track and field meet (Jeff's dad is the distance coach and Max the foreign exchange student and also some cousins were competing). We also got to check out downtown Seattle, eat clam chowder, and take in the sights. Seattle is pretty nifty.

... Okay, it didn't rain the whole time. One sunny day the 3 of us headed out into the woods to split some firewood. Life doesn't get much better than when you're outside in the fresh air doing some good physical labor. On days like this Jeff asks, "Why don't we just drop out of school, move out in the woods and live off the land?" And I totally agree with him. Don't worry, we're staying in school and plan to contribute to society. But we still enjoy entertaining that hypothetical situation and pretending for an afternoon that we're characters right out of Little House on the Prairie or My Side of the Mountain..

Three "rahs" for Jeff!!

2010-05-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hooray! The semester is over!

Jeff deserves a ginormous pat on the back!
He was such a diligent student all semester long and
worked REALLY hard these last two weeks and...
he finished! And he finished well.

So we're very giddy over this three week break
before summer semester starts.
We look forward to spending a lot of time as a family!!!

April's simple pleasures...

2010-04-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

I feel like I owe the blog some pictures since
it's been a while since I've posted anything other than monthly Emily updates!

There's nothing earth shattering here... so don't feel like you're missing out if you don't read the headings!.... Our life is pretty simple and that's the way we like it.

Over spring break we went to WA and CA. Emily learned how to do patty-cake and will now clap her hands when we say "patty-cake, patty-cake" It's one of my favorite things she does.

This one makes me laugh.
If you look closely you can see a dejected drake who resigned to pecking with the turkeys.
(Poor guy was repeatedly chased off the pond by another drake- they were courting the same hen)

Emily went swimming (or shall we say "floating") for the first time. Love a chunky baby in a swimsuit!

Jeff relaxed his brain and got hooked on Eragon over spring break. Poor guy had to put up with me calling him dragon boy every time I saw him reading it. Sorry honey, I'm sure it's a good book!

We've been teaching Emily how to share, haha.

We planted a "garden"-- really just some starts in pots-- green beans, zucchini and peppers.
This has been so fun, though... "Garden post" coming soon.

I got spit up on. Not that neat, not that uncommon. But just thought I'd keep it real.

Jeff and Emily discovered their funny reflections in our pot lids...
... which led to a pot-lid-reflection family photo shoot!
(We had fun!... maybe it was a "you had to be there" kinda' thing?)

Louisiana craw fish boil season!
Our friends in the ward were kind enough to invite us to join in on some tasty craw fish.

We had a great watching Emily and Halle play together.
Emily is lucky to be surrounded by a whole handful of other baby girls in our ward. It's so fun.

I tried my hand at making some baby food
It's so $imple I don't know if I'll ever go back to
spending my pretty pennies on the store stuff!
It's as easy as cooking, pureeing, and then freezing in ice cube trays.
So far we have done banana/pear, sweet potato, sweet potato/apples, and peas.
When it's time to eat we warm it and add some rice/oats if we want.

And that's a wrap!

Emily at 7 months

2010-04-19T19:02:00.001-07:00

Another month has flown by... sigh. Babies really grow too fast.
Emily is so much fun to have in our family. We love her to pieces!

She still LOVES those thumbs,
so it's only fitting that this is the only smiling pic I caught!

Happy April Fools!

2010-04-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

6 Months Old!

2010-03-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Emily at 6 months:19lbs 6 oz, 27 1/4 inches long, both around 90+%.
We absolutely LOVE having her in our family!

Rice Cereal

2010-03-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Milestones, milestones!

On Saturday Emily got her first try of rice cereal.

We're obviously not in a big hurry around here, but since Emily is almost 6 months old we thought it was time to start letting her live a little! Actually, we're afraid she's underweight so hopefully this will put some meat on her bones (haha!)

Anyway, we had fun capturing her expressions...
And here's the video.
Looking back I realize the brew was probably a little too thick and cold for her liking.
Oops! Haha, our poor little first child guinea pig. Jeff and I love being parents!

"Jeffrey Roger, you're in so much trouble!!"

2010-03-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

"What?" he says in disbelief, "I thought three minutes would be WAY under-doing it!"

In case any of you were wondering:
When crunched for time,
!!No!! you can't throw a mound of cookie dough
in the microwave for 3 minutes,
go jump in the shower,
and expect a nice little treat to be there when you get back.

Well, we got a good laugh out of it. That is, once we could breathe again after ridding the apartment of the putrid-smoke-spouting-microwave and smoldering cookie! Yes, that's oatmeal cookie dough turned charcoal in a matter of 2 minutes. The plate broke from the heat I guess...??

Oh, Jeff, you're c-r-a-z-y!!! But that's why I love you!!!

(PS- I love the irony of Jeff wearing his BYU Alumni, AKA "I'm a college graduate," shirt... but don't hold it against him-- physics majors don't have time for Home Ec classes!)

Zonked

2010-02-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

I love Emily's new preferred position to fall asleep--
she's always done the thumb-sucking, now she's added the hand over the face.

Ahhh, baby sleep... so peaceful...
makes me want to
...stretch...
...YAWN...
...anyone else think a nap is sounding pretty good right now?

5 months old!

2010-02-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

We have a 5 month old!

(at Mardi Gras parade)

Wow, we can't believe how fast time is flying and how constantly Emily is changing. Here's a video I took today of Emily showing off her recently discovered squealing skills. She's got a great set of vocals! Lately she'll squeal just because she likes the hear herself make noise (it's so high pitched it honestly hurts our ears, so let's hope this is just a phase)! She also likes to blow raspberries and make ba-ba-ba sounds. She rolls both ways and is getting close to scooting. She still loves her thumb, especially when sleepy and she sleeps 8-9 hour stretches at night. She's learning to play peek-a-boo and will pull the blanket off her face. Oh, and she has two little bottom teeth halfway in!

She is so fun to have in our family. We love you Emily!

SNOW!

2010-02-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

Snow again in Baton Rouge!
We had big white flakes coming down for about two hours this morning-
just enough to stick to the cars and rooftops.
It's so funny how even
a skiff of snow
around here will shut everything down-
most of the schools/government offices called the day off this morning (LSU stayed open).
We took Emily out to feel a few flakes coming down and
she smiled!
Looks like good little girl is going to like the snow,
just like her mommy...
then again, maybe she'll LIVE FOR the snow,
just like her daddy. :)

This spot reserved for...

2010-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

... a post about disc golf!
Oh, have I got a lot to write about disc golf, but I think I'll wait until after Jeff plays in the doubles tournament on Saturday... GO JEFF!

Tourists in our own town

2010-02-04T17:57:00.001-08:00

Well, this was actually a few weeks ago, but it was neat, so I don't want to forget it. We took a little family outing to see the USS KIDD a WWII Destroyer moored right here in Baton Rouge. According to the website, this ship is one of the best restorations around. We were pleasantly surprised at how authentic yet hands on it was-- i mean there were zero "no touching" signs :)

In the Galley.

Jeff and Emily try out the anti-aircraft gun.

Combat Information Center

Radio RoomSonar Room

This here is what it looks like. I'm all about saving space, but this is a little too functional for me.

Good times had by all! Wish we would have taken our families when they were here. Oh well, they'll just have to come back!

Oh, My Sweets!

2010-01-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

i had fun this morning learning about ISO, aperture and shutter speed and then experimenting with my Canon A590 (nothing real special- just a great little point and shoot camera with option to do manual settings)

Video of Emily

2010-01-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

Emily loves to lie on her back, hold her toes and gargle/sing with the saliva in her throat. She's a keeper!

I'm a can-do Mama!

2010-01-12T20:55:00.001-08:00

And now for a proud "can-do" mother moment. Maybe some other moms out there will appreciate my ingenious damage control! Emi was starving about an hour into our sewer fiasco (see next post), so I went upstairs to feed her. As I propped her up to burp, she had her own overflowing-plumbing issues, which manage to shoot over and out onto our bedsheet... ! I had no water (let alone time) to clean it up right then, so I wrapped a (clean) diaper around the rolled up sheet mess and let it simmer, wiped up and changed my sweet baby faster than a Nascar pit crew, put her in the swing on high, and ran back downstairs to address the flooding mess! Go moms!

What a Waste (haha)

2010-01-12T20:05:00.001-08:00

Sunday evening at home...playing cribbage...hear a glug-glug from toilet....yikes!! SEWER backup!! (debris-free, but still smelly, water!)...!!!... grab towels... don rubber gloves...begin to mop... talk to neighbors=flooding also... okay, nobody use water!... call landlord.... keep mopping...visting teacher shows up to visit... uh, this isn't a good time... call city, will send someone soon... visiting teacher returns with 20+ towels... keep mopping.... water stops coming.... report from city: "problem in sewage line fixed"... lysol our floors... sigh of relief...

Problem returns!... ahh! start mopping again!! ... call city again... go to bed... 2 am mop some more... towels running low... new guy comes in morning... fixes different problem... problem fixed!... go to laundromat to wash about 30 towels... return home, feeling clean... lysol floors...

Neighbors flush.... our problem returns!!.... Ahh, start mopping again!!!.... call plumber guy back... finds different problem... fixes problem!!!!! Hear glug-glug-glug in toilet... yep, problem fixed... lysol floors...

So, yes, there were a few blockages in the sewage line servicing our apartment buildings... as soon as we were told the problem was fixed, the flooding would return and we were back to square one. It was an eventful, stressful near 24 hours trying to keep our apartment mopped up. I had to keep my public health side in check and try not to freak out over the smell and potential pathogens!! But with towels, rubber gloves, and lysol we survived and now our house is back in order again!

A (not so) warm welcome back...

2010-01-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

We got back to Louisiana during a near-record cold snap across the south!!! Brrrrr!!! This last week was 20 degree lows and barely above freezing during the day. And our apartment walls must be made out of cardboard, because even after running our heater like crazy, the downstairs never got above 60 for the whole week! The upstairs was nice and toasty. Here's my love thawing out our frozen pipe with the hair dryer. FUN!!

Vacation in WA

2010-01-12T19:31:00.001-08:00

After CA we headed to Washington for a week, where Emily was definitely the center of attention and all three of us were spoiled rotten. We had a great time seeing family and friends, playing games, going out to eat, watching Avatar in 3D (pretty good!), making predictions for 2010 (and getting a good laugh out of everyone's 2009 predictions), eating lots of good food, sleeping in, playing hockey on the pond, and of course staring the "stunning" baby! Always a good time that goes by way to fast!

A Dose of Emily

2009-12-26T17:13:00.001-08:00

This little gal gets cuter and cuter every day!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T16:43:00.001-08:00

The last 2 weeks have flown by! Here are some of the highlights from our stay here in CA: Games, food, tree decorating, disc golf, bowling, basketball, talking to Elder Taylor in Bulgaria on Skype, playing the Wii, wiffle ball, walks, naps, exchanging homemade presents, introducing Emily to family who hasn't met her yet and more food!

SNOW??!!!

2009-12-05T14:14:00.001-08:00

Crazy as it is, it snowed here last night! Just goes to prove that Jeff and snow share a special connection. I bet he could go to Hawaii and the snow would follow him there too. None of the snow stuck last night, but we enjoyed watching it fall. Now we're really in the Christmas mood!

A Shout Out To My Einstein

2009-12-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

I came over to the computer and saw this on the screen. This is a problem from Jeff's take home final. I don't know about you, but just reading this stuff makes me feel kinda' queasy and carsick. Go ahead, read it- it's not for the faint of heart. Facing this on a final would scare the socks off me!

But my husband, on the other hand, eats this stuff up. He's amazing. He's smart. And I sleep easy at night knowing that the man by my side could calculate scattered electrons, solid angles, uncollided scalar flux, and all sorts of stuff. Ain't no stray electron radiation garbage gettin' me without gettin' past Mr Einstein first! .... but in all seriousness, I want to say how grateful I am to Jeff for being so diligent and brave and for getting a great education. Thanks for all your hard work in school. I love you, honey!

Betcha' Never Seen a Thing Like This!

2009-11-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here's Jeff's new trick:

Who knows what this instrument is called?

That's my girl!

2009-11-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

Here is Emily's new trick:

Sleeping Contest

2009-11-27T21:41:00.001-08:00

My two favorite people in the worldare sound asleep. I'm starting to think they're having some sort of a competition. Aside from coming up for air, neither one has budged for the past hour and a half. As you can see, Emily is still in her car carrier (I don't move sleeping babies unless I have to) and Hubby is on the couch (I couldn't move him if I had to.) Jeff is the World's Deepest Sleeper and can sleep through pretty much anything! Maybe Emily has inherited his talent?? Maybe she's an ambitious two-month-old set on stealing Daddy's title?? Anyway, I would usually play round-up and get them to their beds, but tonight I'm tempted to leave them be and see who wins....

Random Post

2009-11-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

Jeff said I should post something on the blog, so here you go:

1) Emily has been such a good sleeper lately. She'll go down very easily around 8pm. She usually finds her hand or thumb to chew on or will babble some sleepy talk to herself until she falls asleep- no crying! I know this may change, but for now, we'll celebrate it!Smiley girl when she wakes up. By the way, today she had her 2 month appt- shots and all- three sticks and one oral. She did very well and we both survived her "10 second long- red faced- I'm so angry I can't breathe cry" She's a champ.2) Jeff is a good Daddy!!!
3) We are a happy family

Two Months Old!

2009-11-19T15:52:00.001-08:00

Well, time to get back on the blog train. Today Emily is two months old! She is so fun to have in our family. Some of her recent milestones include: sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night, taking a bottle, smiling a lot more, making eye contact and cooing, moving hands more smoothly, finding her fingers to suck on, taking a pacifier, lying on tummy and lifting up upper body, holding head up a lot longer, looking around a lot more, and adding more variety/expression to her cries (but fussing less than the first month)

It's so neat to watch her develop and change at what seems like a daily rate. I can't believe how fast babies grow!

My Beautiful Family!

2009-09-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

I sure am grateful for my beautiful family! Amy is a wonderful mom and baby girl ______ is phenomenal. I walked in her room the other day to find her changing her own diaper. She learns so fast! We wish! Our daughter is just a sweety. I love it when she just sits down wide eyed looking at the world. It is fun just to watch her. Earlier tonight Amy and I went for a walk with baby in the pouch. Little girl likes that pouch. Every time we put her in the baby carrier she is out. Life is great!

More Baby Pictures

2009-09-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

We just couldn't resist putting up more pictures of our baby girl _______. You can fill in the space with the name of your choice for now. Come to find out, at least in Louisiana, you don't have to have a name for your baby for 6 months before you start getting in trouble. Hopefully the name comes soon!

Here's the pictures (not in any order):

We love our baby girl! Actually we can't get enough! It's almost a problem because we all need sleep but no one wants to sleep because we'd all rather watch baby sleep.

These are our friends the Mangums. They were kind enough to bring us dinner Monday night so when we got home from the hospital Monday night, we had a warm meal. They are our super heroes-with a baby less than a month old, they are out bringing us dinner (their daughter's name is Annie-also in pic above)

Leaving the hospital!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's just the beginning of hauling who-knows-what for the kids!

We have really appreciated having Nana here to help out. She is a wonderful support especially because there are a lot of things that I just don't know about that Nana does.

More Pictures (ie-yes we're crazy about her)

2009-09-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

This morning around 8 she decided that it was finally time to get some sleep. The funny thing is that no matter how tired Amy and I are we can't help but sit and stare at her. There are so many little things about her that we adore.

Baby Girl Kemp!!!!

2009-09-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

We decided to name her Baby Girl Kemp because that's what her little bracelet says. Easy enough-if you don't pick a name, they do it for you although I thought they might be a little more original than Baby Girl but it's all good. We'll love her anyways!

The first night went great! Well, it depends on your definition of great. I hit the wall around 2am and was dead to the world but Amy stayed up with baby for most of the night. I think she got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep. Baby didn't sleep much but she sure loved to be fed. She's getting an A+ in sucking reflexes!

Sure I am biased but that little girl is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. She got that from her mother. Thus far we have decided she has my (Jeff's) horizontal brow crease versus Amy's vertical brow. Her nose appears to be a mix. She has a little dimple which she gets from her momma. When she makes a fist she hold her thumb inside her fingers-something I did/do. She has Amy's cold feet. This was determined after we discovered baby girl likes to have her feet held to keep them warm. Her toes are long-that's just due to being 10 days past her due date (the long finger nails too). And so far, she loves to eat and pass gas-she is her daddy's daughter.

We are grateful for this beautiful addition to our family! We are also grateful for our wonderful family and friends who are so supportive! And her name is.....................probably announced on the next blog post!

She's here part II

2009-09-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

She's here!!!

2009-09-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

Aw, mushy!

2009-09-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

This guy is the best husband in the world. (Not just because he's willing to try on my baby headband flowers.) He's just 100% goodness through and through! I love you, Jeff!

> 41 weeks!

2009-09-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm not terrible happy about the title of this post. But really, I'm not going to complain. I'm still feeling well and baby is still healthy. Apparently I just have a very hospitable womb.

We had an ultrasound today and baby got an 8/8 for the things they score like movement, amniotic fluid, etc. It was so fun to see her- she was sucking away on her arm, we saw a glimpse of her face (I'm predicting some chubby cheeks!), and she even threw us a thumb's up (just joking). And as a bonus, the technician verified that yes, she is definitely a girl and no, she hasn't been in there long enough to grow a full set of teeth, haha.

While the ultrasound was fun and gave us a little boost, we are obviously even more excited to SEE HER IN REAL LIFE!!

Here's the 41+ week baby belly, just for the record. I figure the next picture of the belly will be when we're headed out the door to the hospital!

You know you got a bad haircut when...

2009-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

... you have to let your husband fix it!

Yeah, I was too lazy to ask for recommendations on where to go get my haircut, so I went to the place down the street. Well I learned my lesson. Let's just say I was lucky to get myself outta' that chair as soon as the hairstylist finished the second "let's hack at this thick hair and see if it happens to be even when we get to the other side" and just before she misinterpreted my "layers" comment as a request for straight across bangs. I could go on...

Anyway, Jeff was kind enough to trim off my "rat tails" as he called them. I had to take a picture because I thought it was too funny.

Hurray for 40 weeks!

2009-09-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, no baby news from Baton Rouge today-- not that I was actually expecting her to come on her due date (although it would make an awesome b-day). But still, I feel like giving a hip hip hooray for 09/09/09, for making it 4o weeks, for the fact that baby will be here soon! Life is good.

Here's the latest nursery project- bought some plain wooden disks, paint, and little wooden animals (already painted) and created these decorations:

Still not set on how I want to hang them (what you see is a duct tape test run) But they were fun and easy and cheap (like $1.75 each) to make. This pic also shows the basket liners I made and the fabric I want to use for the changing pad sheet.

Dreaming of baby

2009-09-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

We're having a nice, quiet Sunday today. Here's my hard working man taking a nap. I think the position of his arms/hands is great. He could have fallen asleep while saying a prayer, but I really think he's getting ready to....
.... hold one of these! (nice photoshop, huh? haha) Jeff is going to be such a good Daddy. Oh, we're excited for baby to come. I don't think either of us realize how soon she will be here and how much our lives are going to change! Did I mention we are soooooooooooo excited!?!?!!

Here is a pic of the belly at 39.5 weeks! (sorry 'bout the poor quality- my photographer was sleeping)

Sew Proud

2009-09-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to sew the bedding/decor set for the nursery... call me crazy, but I think I have a few good reasons: 1) It gives me something to do while waiting for baby 2) It's cheaper than the sets you can buy 3) Hopefully it will be just as cute and 4) I get to practice sewing!

Today I tackled the crib skirt. I discovered this is not as simple as it sounds..... 4 hours, 2 needle sticks, one bumped head, and about 15 conference talks later I emerged from what was beginning to feel like sewing prison with this crib skirt that actually looks decent!

Hopefully my patience and determination hold out long enough to make a valence, simple quilt, and maybe a bumper...

Happy Father!!!

2009-08-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

Alright, the title was just to get you interested in the blog post. According to Amy, who loves her dough, I am the father of this beautiful "dough baby" so we thought it would be funny to do a little false advertising for a future event. We definitely are anxiously anticipating the arrival of our little one. We still haven't made a final decision on a name but I think that it will end up being Elise (or Elyse).

Before the rising of the dough

Amy really does make an awesome BBQ chicken pizza. She added some caramelized onions and cilantro to it this time which added some awesome flavor. We were able to make two large pizzas out of the dough, sauce and chicken we had so that means we'll be eating good for the next couple of days.

I will be honest and say that I bring the lunches that everyone else at school is jealous of!

This Sunday Amy and I spoke in our ward sacrament meeting on the power of covenants. It went really well. Amy put in a lot of effort preparing her talk and it paid off. She did a wonderful job! A number of people expressed appreciation for what was shared. Amy was quoted by the bishop in another meeting. Another lady called in the afternoon asking about a reference Amy had used in her talk and then later on this evening another guy in the ward called thanking her for her talk. In Amy's talk she mentioned her early commitment to obedience and said that she wouldn't do homework on Sundays even if it meant an early morning for her on Monday. The guy said before her talk, he had some homework planned for later on in the afternoon but Amy's talk reminded him that he used to live by the same principle and that he was grateful for what she shared because it strengthened him. Yep, I got a great wife! It's easy when you're married to the most wonderful woman in the world. I don't know how Layne and Cheryl raised her but they did a great job! I'm thankful!

Hopefully our next post will include baby!

N'Awlins!

2009-08-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

On Friday we decided to head to New Orleans (just over an hour away) just to check it out, since it might be our only chance before Jeff starts school and baby gets here.

We were only there for a few hours because it started to pour and we called it quits early, but it seems like there's plenty to see and do down there, so we look forward to going back. We spent all our time in the French Quarter. It's a very interesting place- I spent most of my time just looking around and trying to figure it out, but I don't think you can. New Orleans is definitely it's own place with a culture and history unlike anywhere else.

We're not in Provo anymore...

My impressions on how to pronounce New Orleans:
N'Awlins-- The born and raised, thick accent through and through's say it this way
New Awlins-- Those with thick accents
New Orlins-- This is how I hear it most often

Or say it your own way, but definitely don't say New Orleeeeeeens!!

St Louis Cathedral
Here's the outside of St Louis Cathedral and Jackson square- this photo is from the web- it didn't look like this when we were there, because like I said, it was pouring!
We were excited to try some of the food, so we ordered a sampler type dish- it took us a few minutes to figure out what was what- but here ya go clockwise from top: Red beans and rice, Gumbo, Jambalaya, and Crawfish etoufee. Yum!

We also got some beignets and Cafe du Monde- these are a simple, deep fried dough served with powdered sugar. They're the official donut of the state of Louisiana.

And finally here's Jeff on the famous Bourbon street. I took a different photo with a better view, but upon almost posting it I noticed there were some profanities in the signs, so I decided to spare you those and try to keep this G rated!

Well, that's all for now. Okay, one last picture: Jeff and I both got colds since moving here. Jeff had a pretty bad cough one night, so here he is at 3am under our homemade humidifier (pot of boiling water and a sheet). The indoor air here is actually pretty dry because the A/C runs a lot...

We love Craigslist!

2009-08-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

I love Craigslist! I've always loved finding a bargain (my financial motto is "never pay full price") and Craigslist is just the place to find some great stuff at a great price.

We moved here without a kitchen table and without a couch. Last week we found what we needed on Craigslist. We found this neat 1960's Drexel Heritage walnut table with 6 chairs for $150. It's very pretty and functional and from the research we did online it might be worth quite a bit more.

We also got a microfiber 1 yr old couch and loveseat for $100 total! What a steal! They are clean and really comfy. The guy we bought them from was moving and just wanted to get rid of them. Here they are in our living room, which is still quite bare. Time to look for some bookshelves/tables!

Oh, and we finished the un-wallpapering and re-painting of the upstairs bathroom, so here's the "after" shot:

Man vs. Wallpaper

2009-08-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

This has been the week of cleaning, unpacking, and looking for furniture since we moved here with so little. When we moved in there was old, dirty, ugly wallpaper in the downstairs and upstairs bathroom. Some of it was already falling off the wall, practically begging me to tear it down, and before I knew it I was tugging, then pulling, scraping, spraying, sanding, buying paint, taping, etc-- it was all out war. The wallpaper didn't go down without a fight and it turned into a much bigger, 3 day project than we anticipated, but it looks SO much better!

Downstairs wallpaper

Jeff did a lot of work. I sure love this guy!

Downstairs bathroom after:
Here's what the upstairs wallpaper looked like before:Upstairs bathroom- halfway there! I'm sure Jeff has a gigantic grin under that mask.
More pictures to come...

We'll sign off for today with a pic of us having our first dinner that we cooked here in Baton Rouge. Can't beat camping chairs and a cardboard box table :)

Baton Rouge adventure begins

2009-08-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

HI YA'LL!!!! We made it to Louisiana!!!

First impressions: it's muggy (we are REALLY glad we went through the trouble of selling our other car and getting one with A/C), thunderstorms every day- one right above us right now in fact, seems like everyone has an accent, groceries are more expensive (milk for $3 to 4.50, what?), gas is less expensive, LSU logo everywhere (Geaux Tigers!), everything is green even without sprinklers (we saw grass springing up in the middle of the road), people are friendly, I hear a lot of yes ma'am, yes sir. This picture is crossing the Mississippi on the way into Baton Rouge- that's LSU stadium -- it's HUGE!

Things are going really well! I'll be honest, the first day or two was a little rough- our aparment smelled like a dog and then our power was cut-- obviously two things we didn't expect. We spent Friday night on an air mattress in our hot, stinky apartment, waking up every hour or so due to the heat, smelling the dirty doggy smell, bemoaning our fate (at least I was moaning, Jeff is Mr Optimistic and was handling things a bit better than I) and trying to fall back asleep. It sounds dramatic, but the situation wasn't pretty, at least not what we expected!

But Saturday, things turned around-- our landlord agreed to replace the carpet downstairs to take care of the smell and the power came back on unexpectedly when we had been told it would have to wait til Monday (they must have taken pitty on the pregnant lady).

So life is good. We went to church today and everyone is really friendly. There seems to be a lot of young couples going to school or recent grads and then a lot of older couples. Not a lot of families with primary/youth age kids. Did I say everyone is REALLY friendly? Two other gals are due to have babies in the next month and one had a baby last month, so I feel like I fit right in.

Pictures of the apartment to come in a day or so once the downstairs floor is done and we've unpacked. But here's what the entrance looks like:

Hello World!

2009-06-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

This is my first official blog post ever in my life time! Probably not far from the last one either. I married a wonderful wife to write informative blog entries that will tell the whole world what's going on with the Kemp family! As for me, my job is to make sure the ice cream is never lonely, that there is plenty of red meat in the freezer, that the mountain bike doesn't get too lonely, that the beautiful pregnant lady is happy and that we will have somewhere to live in Louisiana when we move in a couple of months. Other than that, my life is pretty plain and simple!

Being married to Amy is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She's a great wife and takes great care of me! I'm the lucky one in this relationship!

Other than that, life is normal.

-if you liked this posting good. Make sure you enjoy it because it will probably be a while before I write another one!

Every woman should know...

2009-06-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

To all the ladies out there, just a friendly reminder about cervical cancer prevention:

To prevent cervical cancer women over the age of 18 should get regular pap tests even if they have had the HPV vaccine. See www.cancerutah.org/prevent for more information.

Take care of yourselves!

-Amy

Catching up on May

2009-05-25T20:21:00.001-07:00

Time to catch up the blog. Here's what we did the month of May....

1) Watched Maddie and Max for two nights!!Movie time with Uncle Jeff.
Bedtime stories!
At the Bean Museum!
Max is one sharp 4 year old. He told me he was trying to spell "new t-shirt."

2) Went turkey hunting in Washington! The boys, I mean MEN, each got a turkey!
What a good lookin' guy, that Jeff!

Okay, to be continued....

Exciting Times!

2009-05-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

April 23rd was a great day! In the morning we went to our 20 week appointment and found out we're having a GIRL! It was so neat to see her move and stretch! She is growing right on track, so the due date stays 09/09/09.

Later that day Jeff graduated from BYU with a bachelor's degree in physics!! I am so proud of him and for all of his hard work. Physics is definitely not an easy major, but Jeff totally conquered the challenge!

Just for fun!

2009-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

There's something online called morphthing.com where you can morph any 2 faces you want. So I couldn't resist trying....
Jeff + Amy

Not a bad looking little kid in my opinion. So, five years from now we'll have to check and see if our real kid looks anything like our little morphthing!!

2009-04-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

This blogging thing isn't as hard as I thought it would be! I wanted to try uploading a picture. This is a photo from our wedding day. We were sealed for time and eternity in the Sacramento temple on June 7, 2008.-- the absolute best day of my life and the best decision I have ever made! Jeff and I are extremely are happy and falling more in love every day. As corny as that sounds, it's true. Marriage is great! More later... lunch break is over.

We're Bloggers!

2009-04-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hello World! Time for the Kemp family to start a blog. Stay tuned...