No more binky

Emerson turned 2 on September 16th so we decided it was time to rid ourselves of the binky for good. We had his 2 year check-up on the 23rd and his doctor gave us some good advice on how to take it away to never been seen or heard from again. All in all, she said that whatever works, do it. I guess some parents even tell their kids the dogs ate it! I wasn't about to do that. He had already been restricted to only using it for sleeping and maybe when he's nervous or tired and never at preschool. We just told him that big boys don't use binkys anymore and took it away... cold turkey a week ago today. He has done remarkably well and we are very proud of him. Its amazing that without the plug he actually speaks!

Emerson in his suit

Here are some more pictures showing how cute Emerson looked in his pinstriped suit at the wedding.

Wedding in the rain

Our lovely and beautiful friends Kristin and Dan were married on Saturday. Elizabeth was the maid of honor (I don't like the phrase "matron of honor") and Emerson was a very ruluctant ring bearer. He looked so dapper in his pinstriped suit and Elizabeth was all dolled up in a stunning brown strapless gown. We scrambled Saturday morning to procure a tent because of the rain and when we were setting all the tables and chairs up before the ceremony it was beautiful outside and we were thinking we might not even need the tent we had just received from the rental company. Alas, when we were taking pictures it started sprinkling and soon turned into a thunder and lightning storm complete with a very big downpour. Even though it rained on their parade, Kristin and Dan looked wonderful and the evening went on. Kristin was absolutely gorgeous in her gown and big princess hair. She even made all the jewelry the bridesmaids wore. Everyone was so pretty and the flowers were so fabulous. We love you Kristin and Dan!

Elizabeth and her escort

Emerson and Brent

Kristin and her parents

The beautiful couple, Kristin and Dan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Emerson! We love you!

Too Much Birthday...

Emerson's 2nd birthday isn't until tomorrow (September 16th), but we had a party for him yesterday at our house. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and we had about 25 people over at the house to celebrate. We were a little cozy, but it really wasn't that bad. We could have fit even more people into our small backyard!

I got a little ambitious and made him a Lightning McQueen cake. I bought a mold for the cake and put it on top of a sheet cake decorated like a road. It took me over an hour to frost it, but I was quite proud of myself when I finished. I know it isn't as fancy as one you can buy, but I was so happy to make it for Emerson. I've never met a kid that young so obsessed with a character before.



Emerson's favorite food is spaghetti so I made a ginormous batch. It was very yummy and as you can probably tell by these pictures, I think Emerson enjoyed it as well.



Emerson was excited to open his presents and sat down in his BSU chair to open them. Once he opened the first present, that was all he wanted to see. He wanted the box opened right away so he could start playing with it immediately. Mommy ended up opening the rest of the presents. Funny little guy...

Of course, he was way excited to get a big Lightning car from his daddy and once he saw that one, it was bye bye to toy number one and hello to Lightning. He and Kylie had a lot of fun playing with all his new loot.

By the time everyone had gone, Emerson needed to have a bath and get into bed, but all he wanted to do was play. We had quite the adventure getting him in the tub. He was so tired that once his head hit the pillow, he was out. I think he had a most fabulous birthday party! Thank you so much to everyone for helping us celebrate!

By the way, soccer has started and Elizabeth's team has won two games in a row, both 4-0. It is so exciting because this is the first winning season we have had in a very long time.

We also finished our patio of slate that we've been working on. It was quite the full weekend with a BSU game, party preparations, soccer games and then the party, but well worth it all!!!

Just like Oupa

Emerson wants to be just like his Oupa (Brent's dad). Oupa's favorite band is the Rolling Stones so when Brent saw this shirt last week at Target we just had to buy it. Emerson spends Fridays at Granny and Oupa's house so he wore it today in honor of his Oupa.

Relaxing Weekend

Well, we had a fairly relaxing weekend just hanging out. On Friday night, we spent a few hours making Brent's specialty chicken wings to eat at our tailgate party for the first BSU game of the season. We went shopping for Emerson's birthday on Saturday morning and spent way more than we should have. Then we headed off to BSU to tailgate and watch the big game. BSU had a great first game and we were so happy to start out with a big win. Then on Sunday we went to the first annual Rib Fest in Eagle. I've never seen so much good food in all my life. We were surrounded by ribs, pulled pork and yummy desserts. It was quite hard to decide what we wanted to feast on. We relaxed most of Sunday afternoon before ending up at Home Depot buying supplies for our backyard. We are taking an usused patch of dirt (I think the original intention was a flower bed) and making it into a stone patio. We picked out our stone and bought a few pieces to see if it is really the look we are going for. Monday was a holiday so we didn't do much besides watch movies and relax some more. Elizabeth didn't feel so well so she spent most of the day on the couch and didn't even shower! Oh my!

Western Idaho Fair

We went to the Western Idaho Fair on Saturday and Emerson absolutely LOVED the petting zoo. He would go up to every cage and literally grab the cage while jumping up and down all as he was screeching with glee. He wanted to hug every animal. We had a lot of fun seeing all the animals and eating food that can't be good for you. We went home for a nap after our fun filled morning and had even more fun that afternoon. We went to our local Walmart and bought a carrier for Emerson that attaches to the back of our bicycles. Then on Sunday we rode from our house to grandma and grandpa's, which took about an hour on the way there because we got a flat. We had yummy enchiladas for dinner then tackled the ride home, which took us 40 minutes. We had a very full weekend that I'm sure we will never forget.

Doctor Visits

This week we've had two doctor visits already. Brent saw the orthopedic on Monday to check on his broken thumb and see how it's healing. He said that Brent might have a slight ligament tear, but he wants to check it again in three months. When he starts playing soccer again, he needs to get a rigid brace for his thumb. Emerson saw the ear, nose and throat doctor on Tuesday to check up on his ear tubes. The doctor says they will last six to eight months and he might have to have another set put in when these fall out if it doesn't buy us enough time for Emerson's own eustation tubes to develop. He got his momma's ears, poor little boy. On the plus side, he is talking more and seems a lot happier that he can hear so much better.

Been a while...

Okay, so it has been a while since we've posted anything. So much has been going on so here's a tidbit from our lives over the past month to wet your appetites for Butterfield fever.

We went camping in McCall over the Independence Day weekend and woke up one morning to see deer in our campsite. Apparently they didn't get the message that nobody is allowed on the grass. We sure did as the rangers came and warned us every evening.Emerson the fair has to get lathered up with sunscreen whenever we do anything outside and he's such a trooper. He always sits so nicely for us and takes it like a man.

Emerson and Daddy had a most wonderful time building a sand castle, but even the big boys eventually get tired. The trip was quite the event for us. Emerson had a nasty ear infection, then got bitten by some insects, then had baseball size whelts on his thighs. We rushed home Sunday night and by some miracle they were completely gone the next day as if they had never even been there! All of this was also happening as Brent was getting a very awful sinus infection. Emerson has had so many ear infections and is allergic to three different antibiotics so we went to see an ear, nose and throat doctor. He took a 10 second look in both ears with a microscope and said, "he needs tubes" so we took him in on Monday last week and he had surgery to put tubes in his ears. The surgery lasted all of 15 minutes and he got to wake up lying in my arms. He seems so much better with the tubes. He has said many new words just in the time since the surgery and isn't pulling at his ears in pain. We are all much happier. Well that's it for all the big stuff from our side of the world for now. We'll write more later. The following is just a cute picture of Emerson from last weekend.