Emma Update

Emma has grown and changed so much in the past few months. She's like a sponge for knowledge and everyday I'm amazed at the new things she's learned. It's a privilege to have a front row seat and I'm so grateful to be her mom.

Emma is a million wonderful and unique things rolled into one, super cute, package. She's determined and oh so stubborn. She's my little "miss independent" and yet, a major mama's girl and  my constant sidekick. She loves people and thinks about others often. She asks nearly every morning, "Where'd daddy go? Where'd grandma go? Where'd grandpa go?" until she's learned where nearly every person she knows is. She likes to be around people and loves to be the center of attention. She is always making us laugh which is her favorite thing to do. She is very friendly and can be heard loudly greeting everyone we pass at grocery stores. Emma is also really good at picking up on others emotions. I am amazed that she seems to know when I am frustrated or upset with something even if I'm trying not to show it. She'll sweetly ask, "alright mommy?" and pat me on the back. If there's a character in a book with a sad face, she insists on giving it a kiss before we turn the page. She has a gift for making others happy and leaving light behind wherever she goes. 

After Christmas, winter always seems to kind of drag on to me. Our family has a love for the outdoors and we prefer to be out hiking or fishing instead of sitting at home. In the winter, that option isn't as frequent so we spend a lot of our time together at home.. This year, though I miss the mountain air, it has actually been a much needed break. I've spent my time deep cleaning our little house, redecorating, setting goals, reflecting, and connecting with my family. It's been very refreshing and I've loved spending more quality time at home with Emma. 

So, for those of you that aren't lucky enough to get to spend every waking minute with this cute little firecracker, here is a an "Emma Update":

• Emma is now nearly 21 months old and quickly approaching 2 years! She's about 28 pounds and is already wearing 2T and some 3T clothing. 
• She's incredibly mischievous and continues to enjoy getting in to EVERYTHING. She thinks my "mad face" is hilarious and interprets "No!" to mean "It would be funny if you did it again!" Let's just say, everyday is an adventure.  

Yes, those are teeth marks in the cheese. 

• Emma started nursery at 18 months but, we didn't go very consistently because we were doing a lot of travelling over the holidays-not to mention that Emma missed a couple of weeks because of her TWO bouts with hand foot and mouth disease (aka sickness of the devil). She's really just started consistently attending this month and she's getting the hang of it! She waves goodbye to her nursery leaders as we leave and gets excited about playing with the dolls and kitchen that they have in the nursery room. It's been nice for me to get to attend relief society. 

First piece of nursery artwork

• Emma can name almost all of her colors.
• She has started singing her ABC's (she can do A-E and then jumps right to WX-haha)
• She counts 1,2.
• Emma likes to color (on paper AND on the wall), she just started playing with play dough, she loves dolls, she loves playing with her kitchen that she got for Christmas and will spend a lot of time "cooking" foods for mommy, daddy, and dolls. She also loves to sing, dance, and talk, talk, TALK. 
• She loves to blow kisses, give high fives, and "knuckles". 

 

 

• Emma is a HUGE princess fan. She knows all of the Disney princesses by name and loves to watch the movies. She loves to wear princess clothes and hair clips and play with all of her princess toys. 
• She loves books and brings them to me all day long to read. Sometimes she'll sit and look at them on her own too. 
• Current favorite movies/TV shows are Sofia the First, Brave, Winnie the Pooh, Beauty and the Beast, The Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman.
• Favorite music includes anything from a Disney movie and anything by the Piano Guys. She requests "ano Guys" every night at bedtime. 

• Emma loves animals of all kinds but especially her dog, Daisy and grandma's dogs, Buddy and Lily. She's very gentle with them (almost always) and is also definitely not afraid to boss them around, which she does frequently. Had I mentioned yet that Emma is extremely bossy?? well, she is. 

• Emma has a great imagination and has wonderful conversations with her toys. It's incredibly entertaining to watch. 
• Emma also loves the bath. Bath time is a sure way to cheer her up on a day she's feeling particularly crabby. 

•  She's loves milk, waffles, peas, corn, cheese, any kind of fruit (especially apples), eggs, soup, chicken, bread, and CANDY. Anything sweet really. She begs for sweets ALL. DAY. LONG. 
• She's full of energy and runs circles around me every day (sometimes literally). 



Rocking horse at grandma's house

• She is completely spoiled by ALL of her grandparents and she loves them dearly. They are all basically her favorite people in the world. 
• Some of her favorite things to say right now are "Amazing!", "I love it!", "Delicious", and "NO!"
• Emma usually calls Sam either "daddy-Sam" or "babe". Seriously, she'll be like "Where's babe?"or "Hi babe!". She cracks us up. 
• Emma has started "saying prayers". Her prayers are basically impossible to understand except that she usually blesses her uncle Beau and always ends with a very loud "AMEN!"
• Sometimes, she sleeps. 

She bosses us around and keeps us on our toes but we love her spunk and zest for life. I love that she tells us "I missed you!" when we haven't seen her in a while (by that I mean, after I've just come out of the bathroom where she's been waiting right outside the door). I love that she does her patented "Skippity-hop" all through the house when she's happy. I love how she wants to be right with me, wherever I am. She's such a fun, busy little toddler and we love her so very much. I always want her to slow down and yet, I have enjoyed every stage with her as she's grown. Being a mom is the best. 

2016: A Year With The Fetzer's

2016 is coming to a close. This time of the year always brings a lot of things for me; the excitement of new adventures and plans coming, nervousness for what challenges lie ahead, hope for an even better and brighter new year, and motivation to work towards and reach new goals. Today, it's brought, to me, a lot of reflection on the past 12 months.

2016 has been a challenging year for many. There is a lot of wickedness and unkindness in our world today and many are suffering. I am saddened by all of the hate and anger. I found myself with a heavy heart on many days this year just because of the chaos of the world around me. It is hard to avoid-it's on the news, it's in the paper, it's in an angry Facebook post, it's in the unkind sharing of gossip about a neighbor or ward member. It's on the streets, on our tv, on our computers, in our schools, and at work. It can be found everywhere you go. I am so grateful that my home is a haven away from the storm that is the world we live in. As I think month to month about the different blessings, trials, memories, and tender mercies our family received, I can see that God has been present in our lives all year long, as He always is. We have been so blessed and felt so much love this year. The world can be a dark place but, our homes are sacred places of refuge, protection, and love. I am so grateful for that. I'm also eternally grateful for the lights that are in our world despite the, sometimes overwhelming, dark. The light can be found as easily as the darkness can, if we choose to see it. It's in the kind smile of a stranger, it's in neighbors who are there for you when you need it, it's in friendship and family, it's in charity and service given by strangers to strangers. Light can be found in nearly every corner of the world. The best part is that we can be the ones to bring it. We can be that light in the world.

I hope that each of you have found light in your 2016 as we did and that that light will continue and grow in the next 12 months. I hope we can be that light for each other and can give it to others all year long.

As always, our family had opportunities to create many happy memories this year. These were some of the highlights for me:

A few things I want to remember:

• Emma learned to walk at 11 months old. It was so fun to see her enjoying her newfound independence. 
• Sam and I were called to be scout leaders and have absolutely loved it! Our boys are so funny and sweet and we enjoy hanging out with them. Emma has really enjoyed it too. 
• The three of us had a blast at IF4 (International Fly Fishing Film Festival) in March. Emma and I watched most of the films from the back since she was a little too squirmy to sit through the entire evening but, she did so good. It was a fun trip and we look forward to going again this year. 
• Sam's brother Jake got married to our beautiful, new sister in law, Skylie. They had a lovely wedding at the St. George LDS temple. 
• My cousin, Zack was also married to his sweet wife in the same month and I was blessed to get to make their wedding cupcakes. 
• We had a super fun "birthday month" this year. Sam turned 27, I turned 25, and little miss Emma turned 1. We had a big "tea party" celebration and so many of our friends and family came to show her love. 
• My sister, Olivia moved to Portland. This was a pretty sad day and we miss her all the time but we've had a few visits that have been fun. 
• Sam and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! We had an eventful trip to Zion National Park. There were a few obstacles but it was fun anyway. It was our first night away from Emma and we missed her! 
• We went on our annual cabin trip in July with Sam's family. It was especially wonderful to watch Emma play and enjoy herself there. There will be many more memories made at the family cabin. What a special place. 
• Emma went on her first plane ride and the two of us, along with my mom and aunt Brenda visited my sister in Portland. We saw all of the sights and more importantly, got to spend some time with Olivia. 
• Sam's grandmother passed away in December and we miss her. Because of her passing, we were all able to get together as a family right before Christmas and spend time together in Salt Lake. We visited Temple Square to see the lights and did some pre-Christmas shopping. 
• Christmas was so fun with Emma this year! Santa brought her a kitchen of her very own and she loves it! She is always cooking yummy food for mom, dad, and her baby dolls. 

I am looking forward to another great year in 2017. I'm grateful for the people that love and care about me and my little family and lift us up during the tough times. I'm grateful that I have the ability to do the same for others. It's a wonderful thing to think that we are all brothers and sisters and children of God. I plan to work on having a more Christlike love and spirit of giving for others this year. I was grateful for a sweet sister missionary who spoke in a ward Sam and I visited a few weeks ago. She talked about serving others and said that the best thing to do was simply "find a need and fill it". That has helped me find so many opportunities to help others. I see needs every day, right in front of me, that I can help with. It can be something as small as helping a neighbor move out a piece of furniture or holding a baby for a mother with her hands full. As the, always wise, Winnie the Pooh said, "A little consideration, a little thought for others makes all the difference."

I pray that each of you have wonderful, warm memories of 2016 to reflect on and that you find strength, happiness, peace, and love in the new year. Happy New Year everyone!

Feeling that Christmas Spirit

The past few weeks have been ridiculously busy. Not just the regular holiday season hustle and bustle, the kind of busy where you don't have time to sit or think or breathe. Probably one of the busiest times in my life. Being a mom to an active toddler is already busy enough. I also work from home and it's been a particularly hectic month at work. On top of that, I took on the job of coordinating a major charity event which is scheduled to take place at the end of December. Add the regular busyness of the holiday season plus the cake orders that I chose to take PLUS a nasty case of hand foot and mouth disease for my poor little Emma on to all of that and you have me, constantly on the verge of a panic attack, running around like a headless chicken. Needless to say, I found myself feeling extremely overwhelmed. 

The other day I looked at my calendar (which was still set to October) and was shocked when I realized that the first week in December had already passed by! I didn't have all of those wonderful, magical, spiritual, warm feelings of Christmas that I usually have this time of year. Although I'd been giving my time to others, I didn't feel good. I hadn't been taking care of myself, I hadn't been taking care of my family, and my spiritual, physical, and emotional health were all suffering. I needed to shift my focus. 

I resolved to spend the rest of the week enjoying the simple joys of the season and soaking in the moments with my family. All of the responsibilities were still there but, I wanted to find a better balance and focus more on those things that matter most to me. 

I was feeling a little discouraged by all of the pictures on social media of everyone's beautifully decorated trees and homes. The second week of December had already begun and my Christmas decor was still buried somewhere deep in a storage unit, gathering dust. I hadn't even had a moment to think about it. I decided that the next day would be the day to go on our annual family Christmas tree hunt. 

Emma just wanted to sit and eat snow in her giant marshmallow suit.

Note the golf ball-sized snowballs hanging from Daisy's fur.
She loves to frolic in the snow.

Poor Emma started to feel sick as we hunted for the tree so we didn't take our time but, we got our tree. It was imperfect, as real trees are, but beautiful and it smelled so lovely. I was excited to have a cozy evening at home decorating. It's one of my favorite nights of the year. It was somewhere between sips of hot cocoa, setting out the nativity, Bing Crosby's "Marshmallow World", and trimming the tree that I started to feel it-the Christmas spirit. I started to feel the excitement of experiencing all of these traditions with Emma this year. I felt warm as I held Emma up to get a better look at baby Jesus in his manger and then snuggled up on the couch to read her the first Christmas story of the year. I felt better than I had in a while. Thank heaven for Christmas. 

The rest of the weekend was spent at home, together with the four of us, listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts, guzzling hot cocoa and cider, sitting by the tree, and watching Charlie Brown's Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. A wonderful weekend and a much needed break from the crazy whirlwind that has been my life. Emma didn't feel well which wasn't fun but, it also meant that I got double the amount of snuggles and I soaked it up. 

Emma started to feel much better today so this evening we decided to venture out on a drive to see the lights. We had heard about a neighborhood called "Christmas Lane" that was supposed to be a really great place to see Christmas lights in Cedar City. We've lived here for 5 years now and I couldn't believe we'd never heard of it! It was so neat! There were large signs in every yard with ordered sections of the poem, "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and the whole neighborhood was decked with lights and creative Christmas displays! A gingerbread house in one yard, a huge blow up Santa in another. One home had Santa waving from the window, another had a life sized nativity in the yard. It was beautiful-so beautiful that we did the loop twice. I wish I had more pictures to share but I was caught up in the moment. 

I've been so grateful for the time with my family. I'm (obviously) not perfect at it but, I'm working on shifting my focus to the reason for the season and taking time to experience all of the simple things that I so love about this time of year. I may have gotten a late start but, the important thing is that I'm doing it. I had been so excited when I saw the church's Christmas message encouraging everyone to "light the world" this Christmas. The other day, I felt the guilt as I realized that I had not done one of the things on the list. It was late in the evening and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to do whatever was assigned for that day. I started to beat myself up as I pulled up the calendar on my phone so that I could continue to make myself miserable over what I hadn't made the time to do. I suddenly felt light as I looked at the assignment for the day, "Jesus prayed for others, and so can you." I could do that one! I could do it right then. It was simple, but prayer is powerful. I felt a taste of that wonderful, warm spirit of Christmas, the spirit of giving, as I fervently prayed for those I loved and those I knew were in need. 

I'm looking forward to experiencing a few more of my favorite wonderful holiday traditions this year. I'm looking forward to time spent with family, time spent in reflection, and time spent in service. I also have already begun working on my New Years Resolution: SIMPLIFY. Merry Christmas everybody! May you feel the saviors love and light this season. 

Thought? Wish? Hope For the Day.

Today Emma and I went shopping with my mom. It's always an adventure to take Emma shopping-you just never know what you're going to get. Will she be the cranky toddler that screams "candy mama!" over and over again between sobs? will she be the quiet, sweet little girl that is content to suck her thumb and snuggle with a stuffed animal while I peruse? Today she was the happy, super active toddler that giggles uncontrollably as she runs as quick as she can away from mom. The whole shopping part becomes a bit of a challenge but it makes for a great game of hide and go seek. She discovered how fun it is to crawl underneath hanging clothes to hide and scream with delight every time I found her and shouted "BOO!".

While my mom was checking out at one store, Emma and I were playing "tag" (She was running away from me at full speed and ignoring my calls to come back, laughing hysterically all the while.) I turned a corner she had just run around to find her standing completely still in front of a long mirror. I started to walk towards her and noticed that she was beaming from ear to ear at herself. I smiled and continued to watched her. She reached her hand up to touch her reflection on the cheek and patted her reflection's head a few times and giggled. I was highly amused by the whole thing until she, looking deeply at her reflection, quietly said, "pretty." My heart almost burst-she looked at herself and saw how beautiful she was! Oh, how I want her to see that forever. I interrupted-"Yes! Emma is so pretty. See? Emma is so happy and silly and pretty!" She laughed and shouted "Silly!" She went back to looking at herself and then leaned in to the mirror and gave it a kiss, right on her lips before losing interest and running off. (She found herself in a very loving mood after kissing the mirror and decided to kiss all of the clothes and jewelry she came across during her last loop around the store.)

It was such a sweet little moment and it got me thinking and feeling all kinds of things. First, I was so pleased that she looked at herself and loved herself. She saw herself with so much joy and recognized that she was pretty. That's a new word for Emma and she's made a point of showing me everything she thinks should be called pretty in the last few days-dolls, pictures, flowers, hair clips, etc. I was overjoyed that she looked at herself and felt that the word fit her reflection as well as it fit all of those other things she had labeled "pretty." Second, I was a little sad and worried. I wondered, how long will she feel like that? When will she decide that she isn't pretty because of something someone else tells her or something she sees in a magazine? My wish is that it will never happen. I wish that she'd always have that confidence and that she'd see her worth every time she looks at herself in the mirror. Unfortunately, I know that a day will probably come when that smile won't come quite as readily and she won't feel like kissing herself. She'll see herself and the words that come to her mind won't be "beautiful" or "worthy" or "pretty". I know because I have days like that myself-I used to have days like that much more often than I do now. It's heartbreaking to think that Emma might ever experience that self doubt or even self loathing.

I was thinking more on that experience this evening when a thought popped into my head; I need to be more like Emma. If I can be more like Emma and treat myself with kindness the way that she did today, then someday, she will learn from me about how she should treat herself. If I can push through days where I don't feel beautiful or worthy and appreciate myself for who I am, (a daughter of God with immense worth and potential) then someday, Emma will learn to push through them too. She will learn to see her potential and worth as a daughter of God. Emma will see that I value my gifts and unique qualities and so someday she will discover and value her own. If I can be more like Emma now, then I will be an example to Emma later in life when those smiles and thoughts and feelings for herself don't come quite so easily.

So tonight, after I brush my teeth, I will look passed my blotchy, tired face so I can  really see myself. I will appreciate my long, dark hair and my hazel eyes and my smile. Then, I will quietly say "pretty" because I want to be just like Emma.