Pictures from the Library

These are the pictures from the animal exhibit at the library's in the area. We had a lot of fun looking at and learning about all of the animals. The best thing was that the kids were allowed to touch the animals. A enjoyed touching them a lot, especially when she discovered they were soft. I don't remember all of the animals names, but I'll do my best.

The Lion and Lioness. All of the kids at the story hour, A is sitting on the far left.

The Wolverine

Deer

Lions, again.

Some sort of antelope. It had really cool horns.

The female of the same kind of antelope.

Another kind of antelope

Bear

Buffalo

Cougar

Zebra

Bongo

Sable Antelope. Cousin P didn't want her pic taken :)

There were also several fox, a warthog, crocodile, a few different types of goats, gazelle (they were super small and cute), and a few other animals. I didn't let her touch the warthog, ew.

Scared A

Towards the beginning of the month Allan, I, and Little A went to clean the church. We were the only ones who signed up that week. Thankfully our ward only does half of the church, so it wasn't too bad. We took A's walker with us, and she enjoyed running around while we cleaned. About an hour through it though she became exhausted! Eventually she sat in her walker and cried. She refused to move anymore, so I carried her around while I vacuumed. I took the camera so we could get some pictures, but then I forgot to take some.  :(   Next time.

Little A and I started going to story time again. She has loved it! This last time the theme was wild life animals. The library here, and one in a neighboring town, shared an animal exhibit. (They were real, but stuffed) In the story time area there was a lion and a lioness. For their "hello" game they roared. The last time they roared the did it as loud as they could. Little A was staring at them all wide eyed. Afterward the story lady said "That was pretty loud! Was anyone scared?"  Little A, eyes wide, raised her hand! Ha! She was the only one who raised her hand, too. Apparently she was scared.

We went to the other exhibit with Aunt K6 and cousin P. A and I missed the story time because it was snowing pretty bad, and we got stuck behind a few semi's. But the girls had fun looking at the animals and running around the library. We had lunch at K6's house and played for a little while and then went home. It was a really fun afternoon. They gave us some more of the clothes P has grown out of. It's so nice to have a cousin nearby to get clothes from! The grey sweater is a hand-me-down from cousin P.

Allan's parents came up for a quick visit so they could look at the house we're buying and get a better idea of the work we needed to do in it. A loved cuddling her Grandma and playing with Grandpa. We enjoyed seeing them and are so grateful that they are willing to help us with the work!

Unfortunately A came down with a double ear infection that day. We took her to the ER Sunday morning so she could get an antibiotic. She didn't sleep for more than a few hours for the next 2 1/2 days. It was pretty awful! She also wouldn't eat anything for three days. On the third day, about half way through the day she looked at me and started screaming and clawing at her belly. She was starving! It was so sad! Then for the next week the only thing she would eat was black beans and peas! She ate them for every meal with the exception of an entire can of mandarin oranges one morning!

The first antibiotic didn't work for her so she was put on a 2nd antibiotic. It seems to have worked. Thank goodness! She also had a pretty bad cold the first week. Her nose ran like crazy, and she had a cough. Between her coughing on me and wiping her nose in my hair, I got sick too. Poor Allan had to take care of us again. Thankfully he never got the cold - he was pretty tired by the time A and I were feeling well again, but at least he didn't get sick.

Allan is such a gentleman. He slept on the couch so I could hold A. For some reason I cannot sleep if I am sitting up. I just sit there awake all night long. So, he took the couch so he could get some sleep for work, and I took A in with me, and we snuggled all night. Although, most of the night she moaned and groaned. I surrounded us with pillows so she wouldn't roll off, and while she was moaning and groaning she went from pillow to pillow laying on each one. Eventually she would sleep for about 10 -15 minutes, and then start again. 

Grandad and Grandma H went to Hawaii recently. They brought back an adorable dress for little A.
She is ready for summer to come!

We finally had our family pictures taken! They turned out so cute, and we loved our photographer. She and her assistant were fantastic with Little A! I'll do another post on those later. While we were in a bigger city for our pics we stopped in at Lowe's and Home Depot and picked out a couple of paint and flooring samples for our house. It was so much fun! We found some that we really like! We can't wait to get started!

A has decided that she MUST sleep on her belly. It is the only way. I always lay her down on her back, and I always come in later to find her on her belly. She also sleep crawls, sleep sits-up, and bangs her head on the bars (only where they're covered by the bumper pad).

The day after our family pics we went to the Temple. We were VERY excited to go! It was a wonderful experience, as always, and we are so grateful to have a temple close enough that we can still make it once a month. We stopped in for lunch at Cafe Rio, which made the trip even better. We also really enjoyed the time to talk together in the car. Long car rides are always good for a long chat.

Once little A started feeling better we had a lot of fun family time! We had a fun time playing with her singing puppy.  She follows us all around the house, and we play peek-a-boo!She is to the point that she slows down at all corners because she is expecting someone to jump out and say boo!  She also will come when we call her. Until a couple weeks ago we had to go and get her, even though she could crawl on her own. Now she comes herself, and she is always so proud!

The other day Allan and little A were sitting together throwing their heads back and laughing. I got this cute shot of them. Wish, I could have got her face. When I tried she immediately stopped laughing.

Nana and Pops watched Ava for us while we were at the Temple. She had a blast with them. She even took a 2 hour nap, which was amazing! She never does that for people! Aunt K1, cousin B, and K1's boyfriend were down for the weekend too, so all of the sisters that live in the area came to visit. Little A got some good Aunt and cousin time. When we got back from the Temple, we stayed and chatted with all the sisters and had dinner. We left all the men with the kids for about an hour so the sisters and Nana could see the house Allan and I are buying. It was nice to have a little bit of girl time. :)

We always put A's toys to "bed" at night. It helps her wind down and know that it's bedtime. Allan and A put all of her animals to bed in the ark. It was so fun to watch. A doesn't really help, but she enjoys watching, ha!

Her final bottle of the day used to be gulped down, and she'd be half asleep by the time she was done. Now she drinks an ounce, crawls away and plays. We get her back, and she drinks another ounce, and so on. It takes FOREVER for her to drink that bottle! She's so funny when she's tired though. She'll get about halfway across the rug, collapse with her eyes closed, and then suddenly pop back up! Too funny!

Little A has always been terrified when Allan blows his nose. If she sees him bring a Kleenex to his nose she automatically starts screaming and crying in terror. I finally got it on camera. In this picture, Allan hadn't even blown his nose yet, he literally brought the Kleenex to his nose and she screamed!

A has been very interested in books lately. She's always loved to be read to, but hasn't played with the books much until recently. We had fun the other day reading books together.

She has also gotten more adventurous lately. She is trying to go into every place she can in the house. This time she got stuck between the rocking chair and ottoman. She worked really hard to get out and was successful!

I went to the General Women's meeting this weekend. Not the actual meeting, but watched it at the stake center where I live. It was a wonderful meeting. So uplifting! Some of the things I wrote down from the conference (not much, the lights were all off and I was trying to use my cell phone as a flashlight):

"Together with God, we are unstoppable." 

(Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary General President)

"There is nothing that is worth losing our unity or compassion over"

 (Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President)

Ya, I told you there wasn't much. I also wrote down several impressions that I had. I love it when the messages speak to you personally. Here is the link to the conference if you missed it:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/04?cid=HPTU040114648&lang=eng

Here is a funny incident that happened during Primary today.  I had one of the Sunbeams (3yr old) sitting on my lap today, he's a pretty energetic boy and usually needs some encouragement to be reverent. The Bishop was there to introduce the Primary's theme for the month.

Bishop: "Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God."
Sunbeam: "NO WOMAN!"
Bishop "Yes woman, we have to have women if we ever want to get things done! We can't do it without them!"
Sunbeam: "No! No woman, only monster!"
Bishop says again that we have to have women
Sunbeam: "No woman! I jus' lost her!"

All of the other teachers and I were dying laughing! I just love Primary! We had all 10 of the kids today. It was awesome! They actually did fairly well considering how many there were. One of the kids was super tired and decided he would rather stay with his mom today, but we had little A with us so we still had 10. There were 8 boys, 1 girl, and little A. At the end of class we were playing London Bridge. Our lone girl showed that she could hold her own! Two of the boys crawled under the bridge and wouldn't move, it was her turn to go, so she tackled them! Ha! I was laughing so hard! After she tackled them she crawled over them, ran around and tackled them again! Thankfully no one got hurt! The boys weren't even fased!

Little A's Gift

Little A has been blessed with a gift. We have enjoyed watching her develop this gift as she grows.

She knows when people need comfort and love, especially when it is someone who needs children in some way. She can be found crawling up onto these people’s laps to cuddle, giving them a hug, or inviting them to play with her. We always learn later that they recently lost a child, are going through infertility, lost a loved one, or are going through some other challenge, and her love towards them lightened their hearts.

Here are a few times that we have seen this gift:

We have some friends who have been suffering from unexplained infertility for quite some time. A LOVED them! She took to them right away, even though she was going through a stranger danger phase. When I handed her to J she snuggled right in and gave her a big smile. She was very content to stay with her. For the longest time J was the only other person who little A would eat/drink for and the only other person who could get her down for a nap.

Some other friends have also been longing to start their family but have been delayed due to some serious health problems. She made good friends with JG. She also allowed DG to hold her and rock her to sleep (which is a big deal because she generally doesn't like men). I will never forget the tender look he gave her as she was sleeping in his arms. It was so precious. Another time we went over to spend some time with JG. Little A had been having a rough day, and it was her nap time so I was expecting to have to hold her the whole time. When we got there she told me she wanted to walk and then walked right into JG's arms and snuggled her the entire time! As we talked JG told me about the challenges they were having and how much she was enjoying that snuggle.

We were at our ward Christmas party and I needed to go and relieve one of the sisters from her duties so she could eat. Allan wasn't done eating so I went in search of a Grandma who was finished eating. They are always so happy to hold the babies. :)  None of the Grandmas were finished, but there was a woman sitting with them, who I didn't know, that was finished. I felt prompted to ask her to hold A for me. She was more than willing. A was going through a stranger danger phase at that time, and I wasn't sure how long she'd last, but I thought I'd try. A was happy as can be, though. She sat with that sister peacefully while I worked. When I went to get her it was like she hadn't known I was gone. That Sunday one of the sisters in our ward told me that this woman was not a member of our ward, but a friend that had come with her. She had always wanted children but had never been able to have any. She thought it was so unusual that I would let her hold my baby in the first place, but also said how much it meant to her to have that time to hold and snuggle little A. 

One of the trips we took to visit family, A was getting acquainted with all of her Aunts again. Of all of them, she chose K3 (who is also going through infertility) to play with. She loved to be with and play with her. K3 is still her favorite Aunt. ;)

The most recent time was a couple of weeks ago when we visited A's birth mom, AG. She seemed to sense that AG was a very special person and wanted to be with her. At one point her and I were coming back to the family room (I had been trying to get A down for a nap, to no avail). She told me she wanted to walk so I sat her down, and she walked straight into AG's arms, and tried to climb up her, lol! AG was the one she wanted to hold her and play with her. During this visit AG's mom seemed to be having a rough time at one point. A went to her and gave her a big hug!

I am so grateful for this sweet little girl! She is such a blessing in our lives. I hope that she always has this gift, and that Allan and I encourage her in it and help her to cultivate it.