Tubes

At church on Sunday Allan was giving little A the Sacrament water. He usually helps her with it so she doesn't spill it all over her dress. However, this time A was not having it. She did not want any help. She pulled and pulled and as she pulled the cup started slowly slipping out of Allan's hand. He squeezed harder and harder and then the cup slipped and splashed all over A's face! Ha! She was so surprised. We laughed so hard.

Little A got tubes in her ears on Friday. She did a really good job. We were a little worried about the roads being bad because there was a bad storm that came in that night, but they weren't too bad. We left our house at 6 and headed for the hospital (an hour and 10 min away). While Allan got us all checked in and took care of the paperwork A and I walked around the hospital wing and made friends with whoever would pay attention to little A. They gave us all bracelets; A didn't like it.

They came and got us and we then waited in the surgery wing. A colored for about 5 seconds and after that we walked around showing all the nurses and doctors her kicks and jumps. 

She slipped on the floor at one point so they gave her some little yellow socks. She did really good while they took her vitals, didn't cry or anything. Then they came and got her for the surgery. She was really nervous, but didn't cry when they took her.

Allan and I went and waited. It took about 35 minutes before they came and got us. We waited for her in her recovery room for another 15 minutes. She was a screaming, crying mess when the brought her to us. They said that when she woke up she freaked out (understandable) and so they all took turns holding her because she didn't want to be put down. They had put a monitor on her toe and she was extremely upset about that. When they took it off she calmed down a little but it took her a while to actually stop crying and be okay with things. We'd brought Cheer Bear and the blanket I made her and it was a good thing we did. She held on tight to Cheer Bear before the surgery but didn't want anything to do with her after the surgery. As soon as we gave her the blanket she snuggled right in and started to go to sleep. 

After a few minutes she was back to her normal self. We ran around the surgical wing again jumping and kicking until it was time to go home.

We stopped at Panda Express because that is A's favorite place to eat. As soon as we drove into the parking lot she yelled "Oh!Oh! Chicken! Noodles!"  Ha! She ate very exuberantly. (She didn't get her milk or yogurt that morning because of the surgery so she was really hungry.)

We usually just share with her but we got her a kids meal that day. It's a good thing we did because she ate all of hers and then we still shared ours with her! She was especially pleased with the cookie at the end. :)   (Because of her exuberant eating I was covered in noodles and cookie crumbs: clothes, hair, and arms.)

The woman who checked us into the hospital told us that Fred Myer had their winter coats at 50% off. Since I needed a winter coat and little A seemed to be doing well, we headed over there before we went home. A really enjoyed running around the store with Daddy while I tried on coats. We were glad that we stopped there because she pooped twice while we were there!

She was very tired when we were done and slept all the way home. When we got home I took her to bed and she slept for another hour.  She's been doing really well and we've only had to give her medicine a couple of times. We've noticed that she has better balance and when she gets off balance she can actually catch herself instead of falling down. We are also hoping that she won't have any more ear infections. She did have trouble sleeping for a few nights and has been a bit clingy. I really hope we never have to do anything like that ever again.

Little A loves to play with the pictures of her family. This day she was very insistent that they be at the table with her while she ate her lunch. I obliged, and she had lunch with her grandparents and birth family. Ha!

The other day little A was super tired. I think she is going through a growth spurt again. We were eating dinner and she was falling asleep while she was eating. It was so funny to see her taking bites of her food and chewing while nodding off. I eventually started worrying about her choking on her food. We put her to bed early that night.

We played in the snow as a family that day. It was a blast! We tried out A's new boots and snow suit. She was very upset about it until we got outside. When her snow boots first came in the mail I told her they were her new shoes and she looked at me in complete disgust. Then when i put them on her she cried, lol! It was double the insult this day as I got her in her snowsuit.

She was thrilled when we got outside though. The snow was really icy, so we couldn't make a snow man or anything, but A really enjoyed the crunching sound it made when she walked on it.

Later that day Allan smelt something suspicious and asked her "Are you poopy?" She said "No! It's Daddy!" Lol!

For Family Night we made Turkey's and talked about the things we are thankful for. A colored a little bit and then tried to figure out the glue. She mostly enjoyed trying to tear off the turkey's feathers.

She has been really getting into picking out her clothes. She picked out this cute outfit the other day. Complete with matching socks. :)

Wednesday was a terrible, horrible day, that just wanted to never end. It started with pee, everywhere. Little A had leaked through her diaper, in a really bad way. And neither Allan nor I noticed until it was all over me and the couch. Little A fell and hit her head 4 different times that day. I was super nauseated all day. We went to the grocery store but forgot the list. When I got home I discovered that one of our grocery items was never bagged so we had to go back to the store to get it. I had forgotten one thing so we picked that up as well. Then when I was making dinner I burned my finger and dropped half of the dinner into the sink. Bleh. I was really happy when it was bed time.

Allan's family and Little A's birth family came for a visit this weekend. We were so happy to have visitors and had a lot of fun. Little A loved having her grandparents in her home. She also really liked her aunt and uncle, but was unsure about her cousin H. Allan took P and R, their son H and Grandma to the mine for a tour. H was thrilled when he got to get up on one of the big trucks. We had a lot of fun talking with everyone.

Little A loves her birth family. She had a lot of fun playing with them. They brought her her Christmas presents early. She saw the Minnie mouse immediately and really liked it. It's adorable and pretty much the same size as her. Then she noticed the big box but she had no interest in opening it. She just wanted to play shoes with her family, ha!

We finally got her to tear some of the paper off but then she was done. I pulled out the chair for her and sat her in it. It is so cute! She really likes it and especially likes to wrestle it, ha! It is the perfect size for her. She can get in and out of it all by herself. She also likes to use it as a slide and as a way to climb up onto the couch.

Our city had a visit from Santa while they were here so we went to see him. Last year little A didn't really mind Santa. I wouldn't say she liked him, but she didn't mind him. This year she was terrified of him. Poor girl. She did like the candy cane they gave her though.

It was so fun to have them down and we are excited to see them again soon. (Also, she picked out the overalls and shirt she is wearing. Love it!)

Happy International Bible Day!

I love the Bible and I read it every day. I especially love the New Testament chapters that relate the life and teachings of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love to read about his atonement and his compassion for us all. 

One of my favorite scriptures from the Bible is Ecclesiastes 12:13 

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

Reading the Bible has strengthened my testimony of my Savior and brings the Spirit into my life and my home. Reading it daily brings strength, peace, and happiness to my family. What a great blessing this book is. It truly is the word of God.

If you want to read the Bible go here.

Lately

We have been trying to go on as many walks as we can before it gets too cold. One day there was a small puddle at a corner from someone's sprinklers. A LOVES puddles! As soon as she saw it she started running to it saying "Splash!" "Splash!" It was too cold to splash in a puddle though so I wouldn't let her. She was very upset.

She has been starting to exert more independence on our walks and is less and less content to hold my hand. She likes to take off running ahead of me on the sidewalk and while she does she has this little mischievous laugh.

She has also started wanting to help me more and more. While I was making the bed the other day I started fluffing the pillows. She came over and started fluffing the duvey! It was so adorable to see her try to fluff it with her little tiny hands. I'm really glad that she likes to help though and try to give her jobs whenever I can.

Little A's favorite thing to play is our picture game. It's basically like playing dolls but with pictures instead. About a year ago I printed off a bunch of picture of our family and put them in an album. She destroyed the album pretty quickly so now we just have individual pictures.

She likes to pick a couple family members (her favorites are her grandparents and her birth family), give them to me, and then I make voices pretending that the people in the pictures are talking. She likes to show the pictures her heel stretch, jumps, her hair, her shoes and bows, dance with them, give them hugs and kisses, have them read stories to her, etc. We can do this all day, and sometimes do.

When we went and visited her grandma and grandpa (Allan's parents) the first thing she did was show the picture of them on the wall her shoes. Ha! One day we were playing downstairs (where the pictures are) and we heard grandma upstairs. I said, "Do you hear grandma? She's upstairs." Little A shook her head no. I said, "Yes, Grandma's upstairs." She shook her head no again and pointed to Grandma and Grandpa's picture on the wall! She's a funny girl.

I've been letting her pick out her own clothes lately. She really loves doing it. She puts a lot of thought into her socks and shoes. She picked out the white turtle neck and lime green pants. She also has a pair of white pants on under the lime green ones. She insisted that she wear both pairs. The next day she picked two shirts and one pair of pants.

She also likes to pick mismatched shoes. As you can see in these pictures.

The same day she chose the two pairs of pants and the turtle neck, Allan took her out on a daddy daughter date. She chose the purple vest as well. They went to Arctic Circle and ate lunch and then to the grocery store to get milk. Allan let her run around and look at all the stuff at the grocery store and say hi to everyone. This is one of her favorite things to do. They had so much fun together! When I told her she was going on a date with daddy she got so excited and started squealing and shaking her body.

Little A has started to figure out coloring. She still likes to eat the crayons/pencils/etc., but she is getting more interested in actually making marks on the paper. She doesn't press down much so her marks are usually very light.

She also has started combing her hair. If you look close you can see the comb in her hand. She has started "fixing" mine and Allan's hair as well, but with her hands. She likes to rub my hair and then fluff it and does the same to Allan's.

Little A's favorite toys are Cheer Bear and Daisy (a doll one of our AZ friends gave her.) Calls Cheer bear "Bear Bear" or "Cheer" She cannot go to sleep without them in her crib. If we put her in her bed without one of them she stands up and yells "Bear Bear" or "Day" until we give them to her. When she wakes up and is ready to get out of her crib she throws cheer bear on the floor and then yells desperately for us to come and give it to her. She is never content to just be taken out of her crib. We have to give her cheer bear first and then take her out. This girl knows what she wants.

My girl is so cute in pigtails! :)

Little A caught a cold and got another ear infection. So we are having tubes put in her ears soon. I usually keep the Kleenex up high, but this time I left it by her just long enough for me to get the nose sucker. I came back to almost the entire box pulled out. She was so sad when I took it away from her.

I was trying to take a picture of her and her mismatched shoes and she put her onsie over her head. Ha!

I checked a book out from the library called, "My Dad". A LOVED this book and wanted me to read it over and over. She would laugh and giggle at certain pictures and always got really excited about reading it.

Little A is trying to learn to use her spoon and fork. She can eat most of her yogurt by herself. She's got the scoop motion down pretty good but still has a hard time getting anything on her spoon. She's getting better at stabbing things with her fork.

She is talking more and more. The other day at dinner she was very hungry and getting impatient for her food. We finally got everything on the table and then she yelled to us, "Prayer! Fold your arms!"

Pics from Allan's Phone

Some of these are really old. But they are also cute, and I want to document them.

Allan was given a phone for work purposes, and he wanted a picture of us on it. Little A decided to be shy while he took the picture. I love it when she snuggles like this.

Sometimes Little A's hair is really crazy in the mornings.

Playing together in the morning.

Little A loves to push the cart at the grocery store. She pushed it like this for a long time, but now she likes to push by holding on to the very bottom bar and walking on her knees.

This weekend we had K5 and C's wedding followed by SB's endowment and then a busy weekend with family. By Sunday little A was completely exhausted. When we got home from church Allan took her down stairs to change her clothes, and she fell asleep on the floor like this. We just left her there until she woke up.

SB is such a good uncle. He always spent a lot of time with A when we would come visit. She loved playing the piano with him. This time he took her in to watch some Strawberry Shortcake while Allan and I were getting ready. He is currently serving a mission and is greatly missed.

Reading a book with M. She is learning to read and is doing such a good job.

The second time we went to Panda Express Little A was super excited about the orange chicken and chow mein. Food was everywhere, and she was squealing with delight while she ate. We gave her a fortune cookie at the end and it said "You are a bundle of energy, always on the go." LOL! It was very fitting for the moment.

We have a family planning session every Sunday night. We used to do it after Little A went to bed, but we've been trying to do it when she is awake to try and include her.

She never likes it when my attention is not solely on her. Ha!

Our cute little A at the Temple. She is such a doll. All the missionaries fell in love with her, and she loved showing everyone who passed by her shoes. We like to get a sitter when we can, but it sure is nice sometimes to bring her and help her to feel the spirit of the Temple.

Halloween Festivites

 Little A was The Littlest Angel for Halloween this year.

We started our Halloween festivities with a trunk or treat that A1 and F invited us to. It was good to have a trial run with little A in her costume. I was worried that she wouldn't like her wings, and I was right. She cried and cried until we took them off.

She was also very confused about what was going on. (Also, look at that adorable sad face. That bottom lip sticks out so far!)

Allan took her on a walk around the trunk or treat to help her calm down, and at some point she realized what was going on and was okay with it. She still refused to wear her wings though. She was very serious as she went from car to car.

 And very pleased with her loot when we got home. :)

We carved pumpkins as per tradition. Little A didn't really like it. She seemed to think it was pretty gross. And she didn't like sitting on the paper we put down. After we got the first one done we put her to bed because she had pretty much had all she could take. 

We had a lot of fun carving them though. I actually made toasted pumpkin seeds this year. I save seeds every year and then never get to them, but this time I actually did it! They were really yummy. We munched on them while we watched "An Affair to Remember".

The morning of Halloween we drove to a nearby city to go through a corn maze. They had such a cute set up there. There was a hay maze for the little ones with a lot of fun activities inside.

We wandered through that for a little while. Then we went through the corn maze, which was just about the perfect length to do with a toddler. It took about 30-40 min. They had a lot of emergency exits throughout the maze too, which is really good when you have kids. It was also impossible to get lost, which was kind of a bummer, but also really good when you have kids. Little A loved it! She had a blast chasing us and touching the corn stalks. She was especially thrilled when she found some rocks and loose corn husks. By the time we were done she was exhausted and ready for a long nap.

That night we were supposed to meet K6 and P at a trunk or treat, but P overslept, and they missed it. Little A had a blast at the trunk or treat though. We brought candy, and Allan manned the trunk while I took A around.

Everyone loved her costume and a few people knew who she was. She filled her little bucket up and then sat in the trunk playing with her candy while we waited for the rest of the kids to go around.

We then went to Nana and Pops, and A proceeded to try and empty their candy bowl into her bucket! Ha! After some dinner we went around Nana and Pops neighborhood with K6, P, and her husband's family. Little A really liked the idea of people giving her candy. I safety pinned her wings to her pajamas so she didn't notice them, and she was a happy little camper.

She was completely exhausted by the end of the night and slept all the way home. She struggled to sleep during the night though; she was very wound up. Allan and I took turns with her on the couch.  We have all been really enjoying her candy.  ;)