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.

House Update

We made an offer on a house on Monday. We didn't think that it would be accepted because we offered pretty low, but Tuesday morning our realtor sent us this text:

I just got an email from the other agent that said "I can't believe it

but they are going to accept your offer!"

Woohoo!  Happy Dance!

So, we have also been doing a lot of paperwork this week, and we did an inspection of the house on Thursday. At the inspection we discovered that the house has been smoked in. It wasn't a lot, but enough that we'll need to clean the air ducts, replace the carpets, and paint. We were bummed about that, but after doing some research we feel like we can get the smell out and be able to make the house really nice.

It's a 3,200 square foot home, 6 bed, 3 1/2 bath. It has a large backyard (hooray!) and all of the rooms are really nice sized. We want to eventually do some remodeling in the kitchen and bathrooms and update the light fixtures because they are all pretty dated. However, we'll probably do it over the next 10 years, lol! We are really excited that we'll be able to plant a garden this year. It's something we've been looking forward to for a long time.

We are very excited!

My Little Dancer

This week started with a trip to the doctor to make sure A's ear infection was gone. She got a clean bill of health and was scared of men for the rest of the week. Poor girl really hates the doctor.

We went to story time at the library. Unfortunately there was no story time this week because it was spring break. There were a few other women who came though so Little A enjoyed playing with their children. She and a little girl her age tried to play for a little while, but between A stealing the toys and the other little girl taking them back they decided they had better ignore each other, ha! So, A went and played with the older kids. We're going to try story time again next week.

We also went to a playgroup at the church on Thursday. We were they only one's besides the Relief Society President who came. Everyone else's kids got sick. :( They do it every other week, so we'll try again in a couple of weeks. A was on a weird schedule that week too, so she was tired and cranky. Hopefully next time will go better. We had another appointment to go to afterward and didn't get home for another hour. She was an absolute mess by the time we got home. Poor girl. She took a nice long nap though :)

We took little A to her FIRST DANCE CLASS!!!

 

She LOVED it! She loved the music and being with all of the other kids. She was very insistent that she do everything all the older kids were doing. My cousin has a dance studio in a nearby town. The youngest she teaches is ages 3-5, but she said we could come and try it out. If she gets enough babies she'll start a mommy and me class. A's cousin P also comes to this class, and they had fun dancing together.

A was glaring at me in this picture because she wanted to do a back bend like all of the other girls, lol!  We didn't do one, but we did do a somersault! She absolutely hates to be upside down so I wasn't going to have her do it, but she watched all the other girls and then walked right up to the mat and put her head down! I helped her do the somersault, and she even did three more! She was very proud of herself. She also did tendu's, posse's, and battement's (I helped her walk across the floor while I did all the movement). We'll be going to dance class as much as we can because she loved it so much. 

We had some good family play time this weekend. It is such a blessing that Allan has three day weekends!

Little A has been coming to primary with us the last couple of weeks, and she loves it. She especially loves singing time. She'll sit on Allan's lap and rock back and forth to the music and wave her arm around. Her favorite song so far has been "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man." It has a good strong beat to it. She really has been a little angel and sits politely and listens to the lesson. Today she was very upset when she didn't get a snack with the rest of the class, but otherwise she did great. The children haven't been distracted by her, which has been good. One of the leaders came up to us today and asked if we were babysitting for a family member, lol! We told her that she was ours, and we had her in there with us last week. She was so surprised! Our sweet girl is so quiet and good that the leader hadn't noticed her, lol!

Little A had her first pizza. She loved it! She liked to stuff as much in her cheeks as she could before chewing it all up. She has the cutest little chipmunk cheeks! She is such a good eater. She will eat everything we give her. Her favorites right now are beans (of any kind), and meat (of any kind). She also really likes cheese. For a long time she wouldn't eat bread. It's still not her favorite, but she did eat the sacrament bread today (she gagged on it, but still got it down) and ate a few little pieces at dinner tonight.

We went and visited her birth family this weekend. It was SO fun! Little A LOVES her birth mom. She seemed to really want to be with her and play with her. And she is exactly like her, it's hilarious! They have the same facial expressions and a lot of the same mannerisms, and they both LOVE to talk :) They gave little A this adorable Minnie Mouse. It crawls and plays music. A played with it all day today and loves it. The music on it is really cute. They also gave her some really cute clothes! A also loved her birth grandpa. It was so funny to see them play together and hear A giggle and squeal. They had a ball building towers and knocking them down. She really seemed to be right at home and very comfortable with them. She just loved having all of the attention and was exhausted when we left. She slept the whole way home, which was very nice.

Little A Goes to Jail

Since we moved from Arizona to Idaho we had to have a new adoption home study done. As part of this we have to complete a criminal background check, which includes being finger printed. In the small town we live in all finger printing is done at the jail. So, we loaded up our sweet girl in the car and headed for jail. ;)

She had a blast walking around and waving at the people who worked there. I wish I had thought to take a picture. :(

The last time we were fingerprinted (about 2 1/2 years ago) we dipped our fingers in ink, but this time they had the cool new digital fingerprinting. It was pretty snazzy! Much quicker, and much cleaner. I'm a fan.

She Crawls!

The most exciting thing that has happened this week is that Little A started to crawl!!!!  She's been slowly figuring it out for months, and the other day she just suddenly did it. As with all other things, she is very cautious about it; she goes very slow and steady. But, that just makes it cuter! Her left leg is a little uncoordinated and always wants to stand up. She's been working really hard on figuring that one out and has succeeded. She also tends to crawl out of her footie pajamas (her legs get stuck up in where her body should be,lol).

In this picture she was trying to get to the shoes that were in front of the door. She LOVES shoes (to eat them, that is). Allan grabbed her by her pants, and she tried with all of her might to crawl a way! Too funny! This new found skill has made her a lot more independent. She is very determined to go where she wants to go, do what she wants to do, and eat what she wants to eat.

So, I said she loves shoes. Allan was walking her around the apartment the other day, and she directed him over to my shoes. Then she tried them on! So cute!!! Made me smile!

She is really enjoying making more messes. She discovered the bookshelf with the few books we unpacked, and the cookie cutters. The cookie cutters have made for some great entertainment!

We went to the doctor on Tuesday, for me this time. I thought I might have the flu and was worried about giving it to Little A. She was VERY upset about it. She didn't want the doctor to touch me. He gave her a sucker, but she just threw it on the floor, ha! After he was done looking at me she picked it up and had a grand old time sucking on it. I didn't have the flu, thankfully, just a bad  viral respiratory infection. He said there is one going around in our area that is very similar to the flu and lasts 10-12 days. I have two more days and am feeling MUCH better! I am mostly just a little congested still.

Little A has always loved to read, but she has recently decided she likes to look at books on her own. Every morning I help her walk into the living room, and she stops at the basket of books and sits down. She pulls each one out, tastes it (ha!), and looks at them.

Allan was a champ and took care of dinner and met Little A's needs for me. He is now completely exhausted. But, he hasn't gotten sick! I used hand sanitizer like a mad woman, washed my hands constantly, sanitized all of the door handles, light switches, and cabinets and made sure not to kiss Allan or little A. So far they aren't showing any signs of sickness! Hooray!!!

When my sisters and I were little we would put our tights on our head and sing the "Do your ears hang low" song. Little A loves to play with her socks and tights so while we were playing with them I stuck a pair on her head. They never stayed long enough to sing the song though.

As part of her new found independence, A has decided it is better to drink her bottle while standing up! She also decided that she has to sit in her high chair with one leg over the snack tray!

When I need to get things done I set up a bunch of toys around the rug and then set Little A in the middle. She has fun crawling around getting into all of the toys. She really loves to knock down the blocks when I build a tower. This time she saw the blocks and started army crawling to get to the blocks.

Success!!

We also went and looked at a couple of houses this weekend, and we are making an offer on one tomorrow! We are really excited! Hopefully we'll get it!