Our Year in Review

2009 was a year of many things. I didn't realize all that we were able to experience until going through our folders of pictures. Here is one picture representing each month this year for our family.

January

We decided to begin the potty training process with Anders. He was so excited to wear his new "undies." I admit, it may have been a little early. It took several months for him to be fully trained, but our goal was to train him before Eva was born (ha ha!). I'm just glad I have another 3 years before we have to go through that again!

February

My sister Carly and I were so excited to have the opportunity to go see Celine Dion in concert. This came as a total surprise because they were my aunt Cherilyn's tickets, but she was too ill to go (pregnancy ill, so it was okay). I absolutely LOVE Celine, so this was such a treat for me! Carly was more interested in watching Mia Michael's dance routines.

March

This month was the biggest month for us! We welcomed our baby, Eva into our family. We have loved every second with her. Anders has really proven himself to be the best big brother Eva could possibly ask for. I don't know how Christian and I were so lucky to have such great kids!

April

We were still staying indoors for the most part, due to our brand new baby. We were very excited for Easter and for Anders' to enjoy the annual Firth Easter Egg Hunt. He had a great time. I think he was most excited to do something for himself for the first time in about a month!

May

I'm not going to lie, May was NOT my favorite month. During this month, my anxiety hit big time. Christian went to Omaha for his summer labs for 2 weeks and I was home with potty-training Anders and brand new Eva. This picture actually reminds me a lot of those emotions because Memorial day was actually my breaking-point. This is the day I was such a mess that I scared Anders enough that he never left that top step of the pool the rest of the summer. Oops. I spent the rest of the summer trying to coax him off that top step of the pool. On a more positive note, Steve and Lezlee (Christian's sister) got married this month! I wish I had pictures of that!

June

How could I resist not putting this as our highlight for June? Eva's first pedicure. I was surprised how easy it was to paint her dainty little toenails and how difficult it was to take a dang picture of them! They were so cute and attracted a lot of attention. Having a girl is so much fun!

July

The milestone for the month of July was getting rid of Anders' binkie. We debated for months on how we were going to do it with as little damage as possible. With all the discussing, we decided to just try to let him throw it away himself. He thought it was a great game we were playing...until it was time to take a nap. He screamed and screamed when he realized what he'd done. This is the picture of him looking for it in the trash.

August

This is the only picture I have from my sister, Carly's wedding. This month was INSANE with events and gatherings. My brother came home from his mission and Carly had showers and other wedding events. Such a crazy month, but we were so glad to share it together!

September

My family decided to take a quick trip up to Yellowstone in September. It was so fun to watch Anders first exposure to camping (other than ward camp outs) and wild animals. He handled it a lot better than I did. For pretty much being raised in Yellowstone, I am one big Yellowstone baby! I have no idea where my intense fear of animals came from! The trip was very fun and we can't wait to do it again!

October

Anders turned 3 years-old on his birthday. He could not possibly decide between having a pirate birthday party or a Harry Potter birthday party. The solution? One of each! We had 2 family parties (for both of our sides) and he could not have been more excited!

November

We had quite the experience in November. We were able to spend the entire month in Fairview with Christian's parents. Christian set up one of his 5-week pharmacy school rotations in Mt. Pleasant at the Skyline Pharmacy. We thought that would be a good chance for our kids to get closer to their grandparents. I am so pleased to watch the special relationship both my kids now have with their grandparents.

December

This picture was taken at our annual Firth Family Christmas Party. Anders had a fantastic Christmas. He is officially at the best age to enjoy the magic of Christmas. My favorite thing to watch him do was stop at the mall just to wave at Santa. He would stand there and waive until Santa would recognize him and waive back. He was convinced Santa knew who he was.

Wow! What an incredible year we've had. I just can't believe we have finally made it to 2010! This coming year is a big deal to our family. Christian will graduate from pharmacy school! See ya 2009! 2010...watch out!

Anyway...back to our Diva!

ISN'T SHE ADORABLE???

This is not a "look how amazing my child is" post. I just feel so overwhelmed with how much I love my dang kids that I need to express it! When I say that we adore our Eva, I am speaking for each person in our family. She has seriously brought so much in to our family. I will be the first to admit...I cried when I found out we were having a girl. I dreamed about having an all boy family. I have learned that it really does not matter what gender your kids are, you love each of them in their own unique way. It is so fun to see how much Anders adores her. My favorite thing he does is put his head on her lap and let her do whatever she wants to his hair, ears, or face. I can tell it's her favorite thing too. She squeals with excitement and just eats him up. Anders still refers to her as "my baby" and it melts my heart. He asks, "when's my baby going to wake up?" Eva has turned out to be such an enjoyable baby. We weren't so positive it would be this way with how rough her first few months were (if you'll recall how she earned the name Eva the Diva). Now, she is nothing but smiles and fun. She is now a pro at the whole crawling thing. She completely ignores all of her toys and b-lines straight to anything that's Anders' laying on the floor. She is 100% content to be in Anders' room all day long. She just loves everything about him. We still all fight over her when she wakes up from her naps. We just can't get enough of her!

Mission: Pepparkakor

Anders and I decided to give Christian a special surprise when he came home from work one day. I was brave enough to try a new recipe with the help of a 3 year-old (not recommended). Christian's favorite Christmas treat are Swedish Pepparkakors. We usually buy them at Ikea or the Swedish specialty store in SL every year. This year, Anders and I set out to make them from scratch. I was nervous because I wasn't sure if the Swedes actually make these from scratch or if they would work. By the time Anders and I were finished, our house smelled so Christmasy and we could not wait for Christian to come home. He walked in the door and smelled the yummy aroma of ginger, nutmeg, and cloves and knew exactly what we'd been doing. He was so excited. We could not wait for the kids to go to bed so we could enjoy our traditional Pepparkakors and milk without sharing. For future reference...pepparkakors are way better from scratch!

Hello from Fairview!!

Christmas came a little early for Christian and I. I could not stand my camera that we've had for 6 years anymore. Besides the fact that Anders managed to break the lens cap so that we had to open the battery to get it to close, it was just way out-dated! We got it when we were first married and about to take our "Graduation Trip" to Sweden. We actually spent $5oo on it! That just blows my mind! Back when digital cameras were a hot new item. We couldn't believe that our camera was a whole 5 mega pixels. We could actually blow a picture up to an 8 x 10 without it messing up the resolution! As time went on, our camera felt heavier and heavier compared to the newer models. Now, the thing is literally the size of a brick! It reminded me of back in the day when I still had the Nokia cell phone and everyone else was getting the sexy flip-phones. I was embarrassed to have other people take pictures for me. I'm such a happy girl! Christian even chose the red one! We are smokin' now!
As an update, we are still in Fairview, finishing up Christian's community pharmacy rotation. He's having a great experience down here. He really likes the pharmacist he is working with. We are staying with Christian's parents while we're down here, which has been a really good experience as well. My kids have gotten to know their grandparents better than I think they ever could have. Anders gets to watch kids take piano lessons from Grandma everyday and spend the entire day with Grandpa. He loves to follow him out to the shop and play with all of his tools. He does have the neatest tools. We're excited to go back at home again, but will miss our time here. I will especially miss the sliced turkey sandwiches at the Malt Shop in Ephraim. Heaven!!
As a result of not using my old camera, I don't really have anything to post other than these pictures I took with our new camera. Keep in mind that I took these first thing in the morning and hadn't done their hair yet.

THANK YOU HIPAA

Why is it harder to take a picture of a 3 year-old than a 6 month-old?

We're just trying to keep our school spirits up after a long, hard week of pharmacy school rotations. Christian is now on his 4th (could be 5th?) rotation. He is currently at Primary Children's in the ER/Trauma department. One thing I (Melissa) have learned from this rotation is how grateful I am for the HIPAA law. Christian comes home from these long, emotionally draining days and can't share the heart-wrenching stories with me. I have a feeling that I should be VERY grateful for that. I can only imagine the horror he has seen that day. It breaks my heart to have him see these things and really opens my eyes to the heros behind the scenes that save lives everyday. I have gained so much respect for individuals that do the jobs that people like me couldn't handle...especially involving children! So, I hope these next 3 1/2 weeks go by as quickly as possible. In the mean time, we're busy anxiously awaiting the day that we get to return to Omaha to celebrate all of the hard work that Christian has put in over these past 11 YEARS!!

On a side note: Isn't my Diva ADORABLE??

I'm glad my home's NOT where the buffalo roam!

26 hours...that's how much driving we did this weekend! Our summer has been extremely crazy, leaving us little time to do any traditional summer activities. Of all the summer traditions we have in my family, by far, my favorite are our trips to Yellowstone. I actually haven't gone to Yellowstone in 7 years and have missed it terribly! I've loved being able to introduce this love with Christian. Until our trip 7 years ago, Christian had never experienced Yellowstone. When my parents said they were going to take a quick trip, we couldn't pass it up! We were sad that not everyone in our family could go, but had a great time with those that did. I was so pleased with how well our kids did in the car. I loved seeing Anders' excitement to see the animals (that were very few and far between) and camp with his best buddy, Ryder. As much as I love Yellowstone, it is one of the main triggers of anxiety for me. Between the idea of roaming animals and giant holes in the earth's crust filled with 204 degree water, I find myself in an internal struggle. How can I hate to be somewhere I love so much? Believe me...that anxiety has intensified now that I have children! I joked about needing to take a Xanax, but if I had a prescription, I probably would need a refill after our trip. I am determined not to let my anxiety prevent me or my family from sharing these memories together. It made me so happy to see Anders pure excitement from the second we got there until we pulled in our driveway last night. I know this quick trip was long over-due because as we were driving through Pocatello (yes, Pocatello) I got a rush of adrenaline when I realized I was in a different state. At that point, I realized that I haven't left the state of Utah since PJ's baptism exactly 2 years ago! You know it's bad when you get a rush of adrenaline in Pocatello!

And the Best Big Brother award goes to...

It doesn't get any better than this!

They Did It!!

Well, Carly and Jordan finally got married! We are so excited to have Jordan as a part of our family. He is so good to Carly. We are so happy to see her marry her best friend. It has been a long summer, complete with the engagement/graduation party, wedding showers, tool party, BABIES GALORE (not involving Carly and Jordan, thankfully), wedding planning, Kenny coming home from his mission and all the activities that are involved in that. Throughout all of these events, we were able to spend a lot of time with the Checketts family. I am so glad we've had that opportunity. They are such a great family. I especially was glad to have the chance to watch how sweet Jordan's dad is to his mom. He treats her with such love and respect and I am so confident that Jordan will do the same for Carly. We are now officially wiped-out and ready to get back to our regular routines. However, we can't forget how much fun we had at Carly and Jordan's wedding! Our favorite part of the reception was the photo booth. It was such a fun detail! When Christian and I took Anders through, the owner of the photo booth said, "watch this one closely, he likes to push the button on his way out." Apparently Anders had been through several times with different people and he'd push the button to set off the booth again when nobody was in it. Our boy, the trouble maker! Of course, my favorite pictures are the ones of Anders and Ryder. They are so dang cute in their little tuxes!

Anders Fell Down and Broke His Head

Does this look like a kid with a concussion to you?

I will never look at the words to that song the same way! "No more Anders jumping on the bed!" I never realized how serious a concussion can be. On Sunday, we had a really horrible experience that we've never had before. It was my little brother, Kenny's LDS mission homecoming at my parent's ward. The second sacrament meeting ended, Anders and his cousin, Ryder ran off and started pretending to play basketball in the gym (or so we thought). We were just hanging out, talking to family and friends, when I heard a loud crash. My first thought was, "great, another bump on his forehead." I just kept on talking until my sister yelled out, "Melissa, he hit his head!" I didn't stop to process what was going on, I just started climbing over the chairs to get to Anders. When I finally got over there, Christian's brother, Stephen was holding Anders. He wasn't crying as loud as he usually does, so I said, "he's fine, he would be crying a lot louder if he was really hurt. As more people came over, we were able to figure out what happened. Anders had fallen off a stage about 4 feet off the ground and landed flat on his back on a hardwood floor. He whined for a long time and we started getting more and more concerned. He wouldn't look straight at us and wouldn't answer any questions. We decided to go home and watch him closely. While we were on our way home, I was trying to talk to him and get something normal out of him so I could feel better. He kept crying and began crying harder and holding his head. Finally, he started hanging his head and falling asleep. I yelled his name and shook his leg. I thought it was me over-reacting at first, but then he did it again. We immediately flipped our car around and took him to Kid's Care. It didn't take long to realize that our poor little guy has a concussion. He finally started acting like himself again while we were waiting for the doctor to come in the room. We were on high alert for the first 24 hours to make sure he didn't have a bleed in his brain. Phew! We're now past that! The doctor told us to keep him off of trampolines and away from things he can climb on for two weeks. I feel so bad for him. He feels fine and doesn't understand why we won't let him do anything fun. He has to sit back and watch all the other kids jumping and having a great time. A kid can only have so much fun in the sandbox! He keeps telling me, "my head's all better! Let's go to the park!"

We Just Can't Get Enough of Her!

As I've said before, these days are all about the Diva! She has got us all wrapped completely around her long, chubby fingers. I can't resist squeezing the rolls on her thighs and her chubby feet. Every person that holds her, gobbles her cheeks up instantly. She does not tolerate Daddy's prickly face like Anders does. We absolutely love having the opportunity to show her off. She has started to roll from side to side and has the cutest little chuckle. We all try to be the first to get a smile from her every time she wakes up. There's no doubt about it...we're her biggest fans!

Platform 9 3/4

Anders now has a new obsession. He is completely enthralled by the Harry Potter movies...but who isn't these days?? He started out watching the 2nd one because that's the only one we could find. He had been asking us for a while to watch it and we kept telling him it was too scary. Finally, we just gave in and decided to let him watch until it gets to scary and then he'll never ask again. Well, it never got too scary. He was totally mesmerized. He has now seen all 5 movies that are out on DVD and actually prefers The Order of the Phoenix! We watch it regularly. Am I wrong to let this happen? We debated on whether or not to take Anders to this newest one because of the possibility of it being a little too much on the big screen and surround sound, not too mention WAY long to sit still in the movie theater. On Friday, Christian and I were itching to see this movie that everyone was talking about, so we decided to give it a shot. We took Anders (and Eva) to see the newest Harry Potter and he was in heaven! It was a little long for him, but we made it. I think it's safe to say that it has pretty much been a Harry Potter weekend for us. We've watched little bits of #5 randomly and I've been "Stupified" more than I can count. Tonight, we went over to my mom's house to help Carly stuff wedding announcements and the second Anders saw my mom he said, "you Malfoy!" Immediately, the wand fighting began. While we were in the living room talking, Anders had gone in the other room and loaded up the toy shopping cart with junk. All of a sudden, he bolted in the living room at full speed and crashed into the wall. While everyone else looked at him with total confusion, wondering why in the world he would do that, I started laughing. I explained that he was looking for Platform 9 3/4. Just then, he turned in the opposite direction and ran into that wall. Wow! What an imagination! While Christian was humiliated and trying to encourage Anders to throw a football with him, Grandma went to find her eyeliner. In no time, Anders and Harry had matching scars. He was the happiest kid in the world. He spent the entire night looking for wands (sticks) outside and playing Harry Potter with his cousin, Megan. I just can't get enough of that kid!

My name is Anders and I am an addict.

Thankfully, this picture was taken last year at about this time. We are now on day 7 of our binkie-free program and we are doing WONDERFULLY! Anders took it extremely hard for the first day and a half. I am so lucky he adjusted so well. He is so proud of himself for kicking this habit. He tells everyone, "I not have binkie anymore, I'n a basketball player." We basically brain-washed him by telling him over and over that "basketball players don't have binkies." It has been an amazing week, free of binkie-related temper-tantrums. He actually falls asleep a little faster without it. The biggest fear I had of taking it away was that he wouldn't take naps anymore. So far, he's still an amazing nap-taker! How could I be so lucky???

We Put the Passy in the Trashy!

Well, we've done it! We've committed to the long process of getting rid of the bink. We've been planning this day for so long. We've debated on what way would be least psychologically damaging. I bought a book to start reading him while we were trying to figure out what we would to so that he could start preparing in a way. The book is called "Pacifiers are not Forever." We read it so many times that he actually has it memorized word-for-word. We finally came to a conclusion to take a "Super Nanny" approach. I watched an episode a long time ago where one of the Wilson Phillips singers had the Super Nanny help her rid her baby from his Binky. She had him mail his binkies to a "Binky Fairy." It worked really well for them and supposedly, the kid never asked about it again. I thought about that for a long time and just didn't feel like Anders would care too much about a Binky Fairy. It occurred to me one day that the one thing he loves right now more than anything is Mickey Mouse. I talked it over with Christian and we decided that we'd have Anders mail his binkies to "Mickey Mouse" and Mickey would mail him back something really cool. We now had to think of the perfect gift that would replace his binkies. It was a hard thing to come up with because Anders' binkies are probably the most important things to him. We finally decided to buy him really cool Mickey Mouse pj's. I bought the pajamas from the Disney Store on Father's Day weekend and we've still just been holding on to them. We were too scared to finally make the commitment. This morning, I woke up and told Christian we needed to go buy Anders a basketball hoop. That is the one thing he loves just about as much as his binkies. He loves to play basketball and he's pretty dang good for a 2 1/2 year-old. So after the months of planning what we were doing down to the very smallest detail, we changed our minds within a few seconds. I called Anders in our room and explained to him that if he threw his binkies away, we'd go buy a basketball hoop. Immediately, he pulled it out of his mouth and said, "okay!" I actually had him cut the Binky with scissors to make sure he really understood what we were doing. I could sense some hesitation in him, but he still did it. I grabbed his other Binky and handed it to him. He looked down at the Binky for a second and he popped it in his mouth for one last time. I swear, I felt like I was dealing with an addict. He then cut his other Binky and was immediately ready to go to the toy store. We got him a great basketball hoop! We brought it home and he literally played on it every second he could. Soon, nap time came around. He started walking to his room with me when all of a sudden it hit him. He stopped in his tracks and started hysterically screaming, "uh oh! I need my bink! I need my bink!" I tried to be really empathetic and calm. I tried talking him through it, but it did no good. In no time, I found Anders doing this:

He was saying, "find it Mom! Please take my basketball hoop back and fix my Binky!" It was breaking my heart to hear him say that. It really showed me how hard this is really going to be on him. He pulled everything out of the garbage can to find his Binky. I can honestly say I have never seen him so hysterical or out of control in his life. He had the hardest time calming down. After 6 time-outs, he finally was in bed to stay. I felt so bad for him because he fell asleep with his back to me and his face jammed in the crack between the wall and the bed. He was still doing his hiccuppy breathing when he finally fell asleep. I thought I was in the clear at that point. I started getting phone calls and text messages from people trying to see how I was doing. About an hour and a half after he'd finally fallen asleep, he woke up. He came out to the room I was in and we re-hashed the exact melt-down he'd had a couple hours earlier. The melt-down eventually ended like this:

He fell asleep face-down on the living room floor. My heart just breaks for my poor little boy. I take full responsibility for his reliance on his Binky. We thought we would find some way to make it as easy as possible and there is no such thing! I put it off because it was more of a security for me than it was for Anders. I knew that with the bink around, there was always an instant way to calm him down or comfort him. Now I'm really paying for it. After his second nap, we took him over to my mom's house and he was so excited to brag about being such a big boy and his new basketball hoop. I think it will start to get better. When he was on his way to his bedroom to go to bed for the night, he turned around with a smirk on his face and calmly said, "I want my bink" to me. I got a little nervous and soon realized he was kidding because he knew it was gone. He then smiled and kept walking. What a tease! To sum it all up, I had the day from hell! Did I mention that Christian worked all day?? Yep, I did this all solo while juggling a 3 month-old as well. Phew, I'm spent!

P.S. If you're wondering why it seems like he is never wearing pants, it's because he's not ever wearing pants! I have to pick my battles.

This is what FUN is!

We have been planning to go to Lagoon for the past month. We had to wait for the one day Christian had off from his rotations, which was this past Friday. We anticipated long lines, crowds, and a heat wave. Fortunately for us, we really only had the crowds! We were threatened with rain according to Dan Pope and Grant Weyman. Thankfully, it was just a little overcast. I think that might have kept a lot of people home. We expected the crowds to be much worse, considering it was a day off for most people because the 4th landed on a Saturday this year.

As we all know, Anders is a VERY cautious little boy. He was so excited to go to Lagoon and has been talking about it for a long time. Once we got there and he realized that he'd have to ride rides by himself, he was a little unsure. We were able to convince him to ride some rides by promising he could ride his favorite ride again and again...the cars. The kid was even afraid of the tiny baby tug boats! What do I do with him?? You can see the concerned look he has on his face in every picture we took of him. We'd be standing in line and he'd say, "mom, I not riding the ride. Kids go, I just watching." It didn't work for me! I still made him ride. I hope that doesn't make me a bad mom. Give me another idea that works and I'll try that instead!

Christian and I rode two rides (other than to kid rides) and that was enough for us! Blaaa! I don't know if it's age or what. We both felt woozy after the first ride. After the second, we knew we were done! Pathetic! I used to be such a thrill-seeker. So, this is what kids do to you!

Anyone who lives as close to Lagoon as I have my entire life has probably become pretty bored with what it has to offer. I haven't been in a couple of years and I'm okay with that. However, it does make a big difference to take your own kids. We had so much fun! We even ran in to some of my friends and their families. Who knew?? We came home completely exhausted and "Lagoonie"...meaning sweaty, sticky, stinky, extremely sore feet, and a slight headache. Is that what they mean when they say, "it's what fun is?"

7 Years Already??

Christian and I realized today that tomorrow is our 7th year anniversary! We've thought about it off and on, but because we always get so caught up in the 4th of July activities it's often the last thing we think about! The first picture is the actual picture of Christian's proposal on March 29th, 2002. I'm disappointed in the lack of pictures I have from our wedding on our computer. That was barely before the days of photographers that hand over the copyrighting privileges. The bottom picture was of our Open House in Fairview the day after we got married. Check out my HOT Maid of Honor! :)
I am so blessed to have Christian in my life. I now know what people mean when they say their spouse is their rock. I haven't appreciated that figure of speech until Christian went to Omaha a month ago. I literally felt like my life was shifted and unstable. I truly feel like Christian is my rock. He is an amazing dad and a better husband than I could ask for. I feel so spoiled when I think about how good he is to me and our kids. 7 years went by so quickly and I can't wait for the eternity I get to share with him.


Here's a little bit of the history of our dating/marriage:

WE MET at Snow College. We were in the same LDS student ward, but we didn't really meet there. Technically, we met at a Maverick gas station next to the frozen yogurt machine. My friend/roommate Tara and I had already met his roommate and we ran in to them at Maverick. It was SO romantic! We also found out just after meeting that we were in the same Western Swing class. That also sparked our flame. It was so romantic because we never traded partners like we were supposed to! :)

OUR FIRST DATE is hard to distinguish. We pretty much just made out for the first month of our relationship. We went to a Valentine's Dance and a hockey game around the same time. I'm not sure which one was first.

THE FIRST THING THAT ATTRACTED ME TO CHRISTIAN was his beanie. We met at a time when beanies were so cool and he wore one that I thought he looked like hot stuff in.

OUR FIRST KISS would have been in his apartment. I remember watching a movie with him (which is typically what you do on a date in Ephraim, UT) and he kissed me. I for sure am not a move-maker!

WE TOOK OUR RELATIONSHIP TO ANOTHER LEVEL the first day he took me to meet his family. His parents only live about 20 minutes away from Snow College, so he asked me if I wanted to go meet his family and do laundry at his house. I was so nervous! Afterward, we were on our way home and he turned off the radio. I looked over at him and he said he needed to tell me something. I was sure it was bad news. He said, "I don't want to date anyone but you." I unfortunately only listened to half his sentence and thought he said, "I don't want to date anyone." My face went red and I was fuming. All I could think was, "what a jerk! He has me come meet his family and then tells me he's not interested in me!?!" He finally snapped me out of my internal rant and we laughed at my confusion.

WE GOT MARRIED on July 5th 2002 in the Bountiful LDS temple. It was a beautiful, HOT day. Our reception was an amazing garden reception held in my Grandma's backyard. We had an Open House that next night in Fairview, then we went to Palm Desert, CA for our Honeymoon.