Puddle Jumping

Little A discovered the camera on our new smart phone. She is so delighted that she can see herself while we take pictures. She laughs and laughs, it is so darling! She took some of her first selfies. This one is my favorite!

I'm getting better at braiding! My first successful attempt at two french braids! Yay! Little A didn't mind because I let her watch Daniel Tiger while I did it. Speaking of Daniel Tiger, it has been pretty much banned in our house (along with all shows, movies, etc) because after watching it she is ornery and throws tantrums the rest of the day. I've been getting up at 5 so I can exercise before she gets up, and then she doesn't watch anything during the day. The days have been so much better.

We took a quick trip to visit Allan's family for the blessing of P and R's new baby. She is so cute! She's got the chubbiest little cheeks! Little A and her cousin J had a fun time playing the keyboard. A loves pianos. I sure hope that love lasts.

We have had a lot of rain recently. I ordered galoshes and a rain coat for Little A, and we have had a blast jumping in the puddles and playing in the rain. All of our neighbors have had a blast watching us splash. Some have come out to tell us, lol! We've been spending all morning outside lately. The weather is so nice, and it makes little A tired so she'll take a nice long nap. :)

We had a family home evening on being happy. We sang the happy face, frowny face song. I asked little A to show me her frown face, and this is what she did. Ha! Allan and I were laughing so hard! I still laugh every time I think about it.

Little A has recently started wanting to dress up a bit. She is interested in admiring herself in the mirror, trying on jewelry, etc. The other morning she wanted to play with her bows and have me take pictures of her. She's a cutie.

This is how I do dishes, make meals, and anything else that involves me standing in one spot for a while. A likes to lay with her head between my legs and look up at me. She has been in a really bad mommy phase lately where it is traumatic for her to be more than a foot away from me (Daddy was trying to play with her, but she chose to lay between my legs instead).

I judged the dance tryouts for K6's dance team. It's nice to be able to be involved in dance every now and then. It's always so hard to judge though. We also went to the dance recital for my cousin's dance studio.  All of the girls did so good! I didn't have little A dance with her class because she hasn't been dancing in her class, I've had to hold her the whole time. She danced on the bleachers during the whole recital though.

Today we had a "picnic" with Ritz and Nutella and A's picnic basket. She was delighted with the Nutella.

We also went on a family walk and discovered a really pretty river not far from our house. We'd never really gone up that particular road because it looks like a dead end, but we were letting little A choose where to take us, and that is where she wanted to go. We got to see the ducks and a lot of birds. A was mostly excited about the dandelions. 

This is the river.

Mother's Day and Other Happenings

We went to visit AG the week before Birth Mother's Day and Mother's Day. It was fun to visit with her and her mom and sister again. We played for a while and then went out to eat and did a little shopping. I tried to get a picture of AG and little A together, but little A had thrown the camera and I couldn't get it to work. :( Next time. We always have so much fun with them; it was a lot of fun to just have the girls together. Little A is going through a shy phase so she took awhile to warm up, but warmed up just in time to be rowdy at the restaurant. She loved to see all the other peoples food. She ate almost her entire meal, which was her favorite - mac-n-cheese.

For those who don't know Birth Mother's Day is the day before Mother's Day. I love that there is a day to honor these women who give so much!

We also celebrated our 7th year of marriage! Ya! We went to the Temple together and out to eat. Grandma was so nice to watch little A for us. They had a good time.

We are going to have our nieces and nephew for a week this summer. I have been preparing some things to do for when they come. It's been a lot of fun. I've made stamps, started on some story stones, got a bunch of paint projects, and a few other things.

Allan has been putting our deck back together so that they can play outside without the danger of falling off of the deck. Little A and I have been picking the dandelions out of the yard in an attempt to slow them from spreading. Allan has sprayed a couple of times, but we've had so much rain it hasn't seemed to help.

For Mother's Day Allan and little A got me some hanging baskets for our front porch! They are so pretty. Little A had a lot of fun picking them out. She did get in trouble for touching all of the plants though. She is getting more independent, especially when she's with Daddy, and that can lead to trouble sometimes.

She's such a little sweet pea though! At church the Nursery gave her a pot filled with chocolate kisses to give to me for Mother's day. Allan picked her up from nursery, and little A went around the entire church clutching that pot and yelling "Mama!" Grandma and I were on the other side of the church, and they looked and looked for us. When she finally saw me she smiled so big that you could see all of her dimples, and then yelled "Mama!!" and ran into my arms. It was the best moment ever! Totally made my whole month! I really wish I had a video of it.

Little A loves shoes! She recently started trying on my shoes and walking around the house in them. It is SO darling! I love it!

I got some shelves for the living room for my birthday. Allan hung them up for me this week. Little A had a lot of fun climbing up and down the step ladder and "helping" Daddy hang the shelves. :)  I'm so happy to have them up. I had a lot of fun decorating them too!

We went to an adoption class (well I did, Allan and little A went grocery shopping). When they dropped me off there were a few little boys there. She ran right over to them yelling "Hi! Hi!" They said hi, and then she proudly showed them her shoes. Then the youngest one walked over to the stairs, picked up a loose piece of carpet, and said "Look! Carpet." Gotta love kids, ha!

The class was really good. They showed a presentation comparing most of the adoption agencies in Utah, some of which are also certified in Idaho. It helped me to get a better idea of what agencies were out there and what they offered.

We got a phone call about a baby available for adoption. We were the second couple in line for the baby, but the first couple decided to adopt it. We are really happy for them but sad for us. Hopefully something will work out for us soon. I'm really grateful to my cousin for calling us about the baby.

We went to the children's museum again and little A had a blast! M1 and H and their son came too. We didn't get to see much of them since the kids were interested in different things at different times, but they all had fun, and the kids were both exhausted when we left.

It was a rainy day and we thought for sure that it would be full, but it was actually the slowest day we've seen. Little A loves this place. At one point she got really excited about something and ran away from us. About half way to her destination she turned around to see where we were, smiled and waved bye to us, and then giggled and ran off, lol.

We showed her the mouse house, and she was delighted with it. She also really liked sitting in the chairs that were just her size.

We had a good trip visiting family that weekend. Allan also got to talk to his brothers that are serving missions. They actually got to Skype, so we could all see them. Gotta love modern technology. It was good to see their smiling faces and hear their voices. Little A had a lot of fun on the trip and was completely exhausted on the way home, lol!

K3 and C welcomed their little girl into the world. She is a doll! She is SO tiny! And she looks just like K3. We had a fun time visiting with them and snuggling the new baby. Little A did a good job being soft to the baby.

The picture above is of K4, little A, and the new baby. A was ready for a nap. She played and played all day and was covered in yellow dandelion dust!

We played at K6's house that day as well. She chased the dogs around the yard squealing with delight! They weren't as excited about her as she was about them. They were very patient though.

We went up for a visit the following weekend so Allan could meet the new baby. We made dinner for K3 and C, and Grandad and Gram (who came to see the new baby too). It was really nice to see everyone.

When we were at Grandma and Grandpa's Grandma made some strawberry rhubarb jam. It was so good that it enticed little A to eat bread! Grandma let me make some to take home. We've been thoroughly enjoying it, and it has continued to prove irresistible to little A!

Little A's birth Aunt and Uncle welcomed their little boy into the world. We've only seen pictures so far, but he sure is cute!

K6 and I tried to do a little photo shoot with our girls. Nana wanted some tutu pictures. They weren't very cooperative though. She sure did look cute in that darling tutu! When they finally did do what we wanted them to do K6 had already put away the camera lol! It's like they do it on purpose!

I recorded a radio spot on adoption for our radio station here. It was a lot of fun and it turned out really good! Little A wasn't sure what to think of my voice on the radio.

Finally Home

The last couple of weeks have been pretty chill. Little A and I were with Grandma and Grandpa. We went on walks with Grandma, played picnic, read a lot of stories, played Winnie the Pooh, and watched movies.

I'm not sure what these tears were about (I think it was because she didn't want me to take her picture), but I thought it was so cute how she has her hand to her face. She really has been so much happier since things have gotten back to normal.

We had a few play dates with one of my friends from my mission and her two little girls. It was a lot of fun to see my friend and catch up with her. Her girls are darling, and hilarious! Little A was pretty clingy to me and a bit shy, but otherwise had fun. She even gave my friends youngest girl a hug! She gives those pretty sparingly.

Aunt C took Little A and her 4 boys to the zoo. A had a ball! She loves those boys, and they are so good with her. She went on her first carousel ride. C said she wasn't sure about it at first, but seemed to like it okay by the end. The boys told me that she would run from animal to animal and really liked to jabber at the animals. It was such a treat for A to go! I am so grateful to C and the boys for taking her.

She also went to Uncle A1 and Aunt F's for a while to play. She really enjoys playing with their 5 kids. They also came over a couple of times to play. Their girls are really good with Little A. It's fun to see them all play together. Little A is right in between their son and youngest daughter. Those three are always after each other, picking on each other.

When Allan got to Grandma and Grandpa's we went on some family walks, and Allan took her to the park and to play outside. She was so THRILLED to see Allan again and was pretty clingy. She didn't want to let him out of her sight. Little A is totally enthralled with dogs right now so we introduced her to the movie Bolt. She LOVED it.

We really enjoyed General Conference. A had a rough time having to be quiet for so long, but she played pretty good. Allan went to the Priesthood Session with his Dad and brothers. They always come home afterward and have ice cream around the island in the kitchen, and talk about the session. It's always so fun to see them all together.

We watched Big Hero 6 with Grandpa one evening. I thought it was hilarious! Little A got bored and wanted to go to bed. Robots and superheros just aren't as exciting as cute little dogs.

We came home last Sunday. It has been so nice to be home! I immediately missed Grandma and Grandpa though. It was challenging to not have constant care for A and I, and actually have responsibilities again after a month off. The Relief Society arranged for some dinners for us, and my mom and K6 alternated days to help during the week. It has all gone really well. I am so grateful for everyone's concern and help!

Nana and Pops got the girls some play-doh for Easter. Little A loves play-doh now and asks to play with it every day. We've also been outside as much as possible playing with chalk, going up and down her slide, and picking dandelions.

A has had fun playing with K6 and P. Those two are so funny together. They had a lot of fun playing kitchen, ring around the rosie, and dancing. They also watched Daniel Tiger and a couple of other cartoons.

I'm so glad little A has a cousin nearby.

Allan took little A to the park, and we went on some family walks as well. Little A was absolutely thrilled to go to the park. Allan said that she ran as fast as she could to the playground when he got her out of the car. She picked up every pine cone and stick she could find. She swung on every swing, and even went down a slide!

I taught my primary class this week. It was so nice to be with those kids again. They are such good kids, I missed them. It is still really uncomfortable to sit, so I stood for the last two hours of church. I was really tired by the time we got home, but otherwise it all went well. Little A was so happy to be back in Nursery. We've been keeping her out so that she doesn't get sick, and then get me sick.

Unfortunately that is what happened. She got a cold and then gave it to me. Thankfully it was a pretty tame one, not a lot of coughing or sneezing. She was very tired though, but I couldn't get her to sleep. I finally tried laying her on the floor in the living room and then lying by her. She was staying there good, but talking my ear off instead of going to sleep. I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back she was out.

I hid in my room for the next hour reading my scriptures and trying to catch up on a few other things. When I came back in to check on her she was like this:

K3 and C came down the weekend before my birthday to look through baby clothes (all of our family baby clothes are stored at our house). She brought a delicious cake, and we played the "Awkward Family Photos Game". That game is hilarious! And I won :)

My family threw a birthday dinner for me.  Pops took the kids outside to play for a while, Little A wasn't having it though, she wanted to be inside with me.

Allan and little A gave me a card with some shopping money in it. He also made a banner and left me love notes all over the house!

Little A rediscovered the cookie cutters and now likes to use them as bracelets. She gets as many on her arms as she can. The best thing about this is that it will hold her attention for a good 10 minutes or more! There's a lot I can do in 10 minutes! (Like make a felt board, fix the mobile for her room, and do the dishes!)

She also is started to discover that she can climb into things. She was very pleased that she could get into her Lego wagon.

Allan made her a trundle bed to go under my old daybed. He got it done just in time for me to go home. I couldn't lift her yet, so this was a great blessing. Because of this bed we didn't need help to come until 8 or 9 in the morning, otherwise they would have needed to be there by 6:15, eesh. Little A has loved her new bed and slept really well in it. She really likes that she can get into it herself.

One of our friends came over to help Allan move in her new dresser (he also helped move our treadmill and A's old dresser). This week we finally got the daybed moved in and now she has a whole new room. She has loved having the daybed and dresser. She especially loves that she can see herself in the mirror.

The other day I talked to A about calling things by their names. She just says "Mom" for everything. So I told her that my name is Mama, daddy is daddy, and also went through dolly, cup, outside, etc. She nodded and said "Yeah!" The next day she started calling everything "Mama" instead of "Mom", lol! And that is still what she does. She says a lot of other words too, but most of the time she just says "Mama!"

So a couple of days ago I put her down for a nap, waited for 10 minutes, and then got in the shower. I do this every day. She is always asleep after 10 minutes. Well, this day as soon as I got in the shower she yells "MA!" And I could hear her running around in her room. I had shut the door though and she can't turn doorknobs yet, so she was stuck. She continued to yell "ma", "mom", or "mama" the entire time I was in the shower. Eventually she says "Mom! I said Mama!" lol! Poor girl couldn't understand why I wasn't coming. When I finally got there she had dumped her socks, shoes, hats, and bows all over the floor. She'd had a grand old time. I explained to her why I hadn't come right away and then put her in her bed, and she was asleep in about 2 minutes!

We got to go to a Temple ground breaking yesterday. It was a really special experience. We were clear at the back and couldn't hear anything. After a bit people started broadcasting it on their phones with the volume up so they could hear it better which helped. Eventually someone drove their car up behind us and plugged their phone into the speakers so we could all hear.

Little A had a ball playing in the mud and saying "hi" to everyone who would look at her. I discovered a lady bug in her hair. I got it out and showed it to her, she thought it was pretty neat, but not nearly as neat as dogs and people.

I got to see one of my good friends from high school today. I haven't seen her in several years. It was so good to see her, meet a couple of her kids, and catch up a bit.

Happy Easter!

What a great blessing it was to listen to General Conference today, and hear our church leaders testify of our Savior Jesus Christ.

He lives! He is our Savior and Redeemer! I am ever grateful for his atonement for my sins, the example He has given me to follow, and the grace He gives through His atonement that enables me to do and be what I could not with out Him.

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ!