Daddy's New Office

Brace yourself. This is a long one.

The adoption conference went really well! There was a lot of great information. The presenters did a great job. I'm hoping to do one again in a year or two, hopefully through an agency or other adoption organization though.

Allan's job duties changed recently. He is still running the short-term mine plan, and is also running the slope stability program. In the future he will be solely running the slope stability program. He moved to a new office, which is a lot bigger. Little A and I got to go and help him move all of his things. A had a blast running to and from the different offices

and carried a lot of the small things for us.

She is such a good little helper.

Allan has liked having more space to move around in. He did slope stability at the last mine we were at, so he was a good fit to do it here. He's sad to leave the short-term planning, but excited for some new challenges.

Allan had to attend a career fair for his company near where his family lives, so we made a trip out of it. We visited little A's cousins, went to the children's center, and spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa. She loves their pool table.

I took her to the park one day while we were there. The last time we went to this park she was so scared of the bridge because it moves a bit when you walk on it. This time she faced her fears and came to love it! She spent most of her time on it jumping up and down. I was really proud of her!

We also had Aunt H take our family pictures (I'll share those in another post) and gave little A her first haircut! Aunt S gave her some bangs. She was so thrilled at how she looked, lol!

 She got caught red handed taking cheese from the cheese bowl right before dinner.

At the children's center that day there was a photographer from the local paper doing a story. He asked if he could take some photos of little A for the story, and we obliged. The poor guy chased her all over that place, and I didn't think he got a single good picture. Every time she saw him she'd run away to another place to play, lol! I recently saw the story and there were some great pictures of her in it!

We had some more good rain storms so we took advantage of the rain and went puddle splashing.

This particular time she was very concerned that the pine cones get to splash too. She'd put them in a puddle and splash, then pick them up and go to another puddle to splash.

One day I was scratching an itch when little A asked me to do something. I told her to wait for a second because I was scratching an itch. Since then she has been obsessed with scratching itches, lol! She'll say "Mom!" and then scratch her itch, my itch, dollies itch, puppies itch, etc. No one gets away without a scratched itch from little A. (Which feels like a tickle.)

Little A has always been a great sleeper. Sometimes when we go to get her from her nap she throws her blanket back over her head and tries to go back to sleep, ha! I can only imagine how this is headed for her teen years.

I started working on the choreography for the high school musical, "Princess Whatsername", and am working on a solo for one of my cousin's dancers. We've been busy but have had a lot of fun too. Little A loves to go with me to the theatre and dance on the stage. She's really getting creative with her dance moves!

Little A started her dance classes again. She actually did the whole dance routine for Allan the other day, and actually got almost all of the moves in there too! I was impressed, and Allan was super proud!

Since all the leaves are falling I took it upon myself to teach little A the joy of crunching leaves beneath your feet. It's been so fun! She LOVES to crunch the leaves with her feet and her hands. We've had a lot of fun walks in the leaves.

Her speech is still moving slowly, but she's saying more and more words every day. She certainly knows how to communicate though! She can always get across what she wants. While she was sick recently she discovered a love for Barney (she calls him "Dardy"). I actually love to let her watch this because when they sing the "I love you" song at the end she always smothers me in hugs and kisses! Yay!

We enjoyed watching General Conference. Little A was engrossed by the singing as usual. We took turns playing with Little A so we could each get something out of the talks.

We've been really enjoying reading them over. Little A also had her first waffles with whipped cream. She was a big fan!

We took some videos of little A recently, and those are her new favorite things. She will watch them over and over! It's so fun to watch her because she responds to them.

For example, in one of the videos she is helping me make no-bake cookies. I ask her if she wants to lick the spoon. In the video she says "no", and while she watches it she always answers "no"! I love it; it's just too funny.

We took a drive up one of the nearby canyons to see some fall leaves. Little A loves to ride in the truck, especially when the window is down and she can feel the wind in her hair. On the way home Allan drove really fast with the windows down, and we listened to her happy squeals and giggles! She loves to watch that video and tell us about the wind in her hair by patting her hair and squealing.

She was very proud of the pumpkin she colored in Nursery.

We went to visit Aunt K5 and Uncle C in their new house. The highlights for little A were chasing the dog around the kitchen island, and playing in the dirt in their backyard. They are in the middle of getting the landscaping in so they had some really nice top soil for her to play in. :) Their house is so beautiful, and we are so happy for them!

While we were down there I went to Witches Night Out with Nana, some of the Aunties, and one of our fabulous friends. It's always such a fun night!

While I was there little A had a fun night with Daddy, both her Uncle C's and her cousin R. She wanted to play in their unfinished basement so Allan obliged. While down there she discovered a helmet. After that every time they went down there she would ask Allan to put it on and then point to it and laugh and laugh. Funny girl.

Little A and I were playing in the basement the other day. She had me wrap up her teddy bear and then brought me her blanket so she could be wrapped up in it like teddy. She was absolutely delighted!

We had a fun impromptu play date with my friend's three girls the other day, and I took the youngest with us to story time another day. Little A had a blast with those sweet girls. I wish we could take them more because they are so fun!

I made an art wall for little A to display all of her amazing art. :) She loves walking by it and looking at her pictures.

We went to the fall festival at the elementary school. There were a lot of games for the kids, a huge raffle, and dinner. Little A played a few of the games, but the lines were so long she lost interest. She mostly loved eating dinner, ha! My girl sure does love food. Like Aunt K5 said, "Most toddlers eat like a bird, but for her it's like it's the best thing that's ever happened to her." Ha! So true!

She was very excited about the candy bracelet she won at one of the games.

We are trying our luck with a small winter garden this year. Little A had a ball playing in the dirt while we dug and planted it.

We also went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch. We only did about 2 minutes of the corn maze before little A had had enough. She loved the play area though, she ran from thing to thing squealing and giggling with delight. She also enjoyed riding in the little wagon down to the pumpkin patch and picking out a pumpkin.

This is A's favorite little nook at the library. She always carries her snack over to this shelf and eats it there while she watches all of the other kids.

Sugar Cookies

Allan suggested that we make cookies and deliver them to our neighbors for family night. I decided to make sugar cookies so little A could cut them out and decorate them. We had a lot of fun! She loved using the cookie cutters to cut them out and shaking the sprinkles on them. She especially loved eating them! I had to make another batch because we ate too many, ha! (Well, truth be told, it was me who ate too many, ha!) I invited a bunch of friends to help, but it was a rough week for everyone; they, or their kids, were all sick. So little A and I did it together again and ate some more. We had a lot of fun delivering them to our neighbors; we've been here for a year and hadn't met some of them. Now every time we go by their homes little A points to their houses and says "Mom! Mmmm!"

We had a nice long visit with one of our neighbors. She goes to church with us and loves to watch little A splash in the big puddle in front of her house. It was so good to get to know her a little better. She told us that her sister had just passed away, and she was feeling especially lonely that night so she was thrilled that we had stopped by.

Little A and I went on a long walk the other day and on the way home stopped at the community garden. There's a swing there on one of the trees that A loves. We also picked a bunch of cherry tomatoes; little A ate them on the way home. She LOVES them! She was completely covered in little seeds.

I did another radio spot to spread the word about the adoption conference. While I was there A played with some of her friends. They recently got a kitten. Little A was ecstatic about that kitten! She also got to eat a carrot fresh from our friends garden; she loved it! I can't wait to plant a garden next year; I think little A is going to have so much fun with it!

Little A has always enjoyed playing with pictures of our family. Recently she found the pictures of the prophet, apostles, and seventy in the conference issue of the Ensign. She loved it so much I tore it out so she wouldn't destroy the magazine. She played with those pictures for days!

Little A finally figured out the brushing motion to brush her teeth. It's so fun to watch her! She brushes with her right hand and her left hand is held out in the air doing the brushing motion as well, ha! She brushes her teeth while I do her hair, and then again when I brush my teeth.

She's entered the phase where she has to do everything I do. She wants to wear the same clothes, do the same things, talk the same way, it's darling. We both have a pair of Bobs shoes and those are pretty much the only shoes she'll wear because they're like mine. She also loves to try on my jewelry and scarves and admire herself in the mirror.

We started dance class again. It is already going better than last year. She still cries when people clap and cheer for her, but she loved looking at herself in the mirror and trying to do all the movement. 

We also started story time again. They do a welcome song every time. At the end of the welcome song you say hello as loud as you can. This always makes her cry. She had finally gotten used to it at the end of  last years story time, but she'll have to get used to it again. Dance and story time are on the same day, it's a very emotional day. She is always exhausted by the end.

Little A has started telling me when she needs to go potty! I stopped putting her in panties because I was tired of the accidents, but she's doing really well. Most days she makes it to the potty all but two times. As soon as she can tell me when she needs to poop we'll try panties again.

I usually wake up between 5am and 5:30am so I can exercise before little A wakes up. This week she decided that she needs to wake up at 5 too. Ug. She also decided that 3:45am is a great time to wake up.

I took a couple of days this week to deliver the flyers for the adoption conference. Allan and A had a daddy daughter day while I drove all over. I left at 9am and got home at 5pm. Just in time for dinner. Thankfully one of my friends daughters took some flyers to one of the towns for me, if she hadn't I would have been another hour. I stopped and had lunch with my mom that day as well, always a treat!

While I was gone Allan and A went to the dump (she loves the dump because of all the seagulls she can see there), went to the store, went on a walk, and talked to some friends. The best part was riding in Daddy's truck. She loves the truck, especially when Allan rolls the windows down so she can feel the wind in her hair. She still missed me a lot though, and Allan told me that every so often A would say in a sad voice, "Mama come." She was soooo happy when I got home!

Little A has started reading books to herself. She's always liked to look at the books, but now she reads them. She'll look at the page, say "yubby, yubby", turn the page and repeat. Ha! Allan and I get the biggest kick out of it. She never says anything other than "yubby yubby".

We had a couple of really rainy days so A and I pulled out our rain gear and went puddle splashing again! It's so much fun to do with her. This time she collected pine cones and put them in the puddles and then splashed with the pine cones. We got caught in the rain on the way home, but its always nice to have a walk in the rain.

A few days ago little A woke up from her nap, and I heard her cough. I went in her room to get her and she very earnestly explained to me that she had a cough and needed to watch Daniel Tiger, lol! She did actually have a pretty bad cold the next day, so I let her snuggle up and watch Daniel. I showed her the episode where his mom is sick. In the episode his dad keeps telling him "shh, mom's resting". So now every time she comes to find me she says "Mom! shhh. Mom! shhh."

Whenever Allan tells me he has a headache she comes and kisses his head better.

She has gotten a lot more independent lately, and a lot more energetic. She likes to run ahead of us when we go on walks, or push the stroller all by herself. She learned how to say no and will tell me no when she doesn't want to do something - and then go do it because I asked her to. She is walking down stairs by herself instead of scooting. She loves to hang and swing on the handles of the treadmill after I'm done running on it. She wants to dress herself and tries so hard! She is getting the hang of taking her clothes off, but it is still a lot of work for her to do it. She wants to drink out of a cup, not a sippy cup.

She has finally braved rinsing her hair in the bath tub! YAY! What a relief! She has hated that for so long and always fights and screams. For some reason this week she decided it was okay and will lay down in the tub on her own and rinse her hair. She also decided she wants to wash herself by herself. She also finally decided to let us clean her ears out without screaming and fighting to the bitter end. She has to have a q-tip to use by herself though.

She still loves her nap. After I clean her up from lunch she hops down from her chair, says "Bye!" and heads to her bed. She isn't settling down for bed quite as well as before. She's started coming to the door two or three times a night. She's finally decided that she'll tell us she needs to go potty because then she can come out of her room and have a story while she goes.

Adoption Conference

After my surgery in March I had a strong impression that we needed to have an adoption conference in our little town. I talked to Allan about it, and he was very supportive, so I called up some lawyers and social workers and found some people to come teach some classes! One of my friends here, who is also an adoptive mother, is helping me (I am SO glad)!

A social worker from Adoption.org is coming to teach the Adoption Basics class, and an adoption attorney will be teaching the class on Idaho Adoption Law, and then the social worker will guide a birth mother panel where two amazing birth mothers will share their journey through adoption.

I know that feeling of helplessness that comes with infertility and how overwhelming adoption can be. I've also noticed that it is hard to get good information about adoption in the area that we live in. I hope that this will bring some relief to some people and help spread some awareness about adoption in general.

Since we try not to share identifying information on this blog I can't tell you where it is, but if you are interested please email me at allanandkami@gmail.com and I'll fill you in on the details.

Family Sleep Over

Little A and I had a sleep over with AG and family. It was so fun! We had intended on going swimming, but the fires that are covering the west made the air super smokey. You could see, smell, and taste the smoke in the air. So, we went shopping instead. Not nearly as fun for little A, but very fun for the rest of us. ;) We also went out for Chinese, little A's favorite, went for breakfast at the restaurant AG works at (which is amazing), and had some delicious donuts that I've been craving ever since, ha! It's always so fun to be with them and see little A with them. She is so much like AG, it makes me laugh! She had a ball playing with AG's dad as well. We completely exhausted her when we went shopping. They also gave us bags and bags of hand me downs from A's birth cousin! What a blessing!

Allan was supposed to be on a scout camp out, but at the last minute it was cancelled, so he had some spare time to work on projects while we were gone. His dad had given him some wood for a table for little A's kitchen a while ago, but he hadn't had a chance to build it. When we got home he surprised us with a completed table for little A's kitchen. A loves it! We set it and have a little tea party every day.

Allan and little A were wrestling one evening like they do every night after dinner. She hooked him in the nose pretty good, but they continued to wrestle. Suddenly Allan felt blood start to trickle down his nose so he hopped up quick and stuck a Kleenex in his nose. Little A got the biggest kick out of it. She pointed and laughed, then would go back to playing and then stop to point and laugh again! She did this the entire time he had it in his nose.

Little A has started to get a little bit picky about her breakfast. For some reason it is really important to her that she pick her breakfast. Lately she's been wanting to eat chicken nuggets and BBQ sauce. I try to mix in some eggs, yogurt, german pancackes, etc as well. One morning we had run out of chicken nuggets, so I asked her if she wanted to eat some eggs. She said she did, so I made them. She ate 4 bites and then said she was done. I told her she had to eat two more bites. Boy was that the wrong thing to say to her! We sat there for about 30 minutes before she ate the first bite.

She cried and cried and refused to swallow. Eventually it disintegrated in her mouth enough that I told her to eat her next bite. More tears, snot running down her face, looks of anguish and torture, and she finally put another bite in her mouth. She again refused to swallow, so we sat there for another 30 minutes and then she spit out what was left. Ug. In all it was an hour and a half struggle. Sheesh.

There was a brush fire at Allan's work. When they heard it over the radio they all went down to see if they could help. They ended up putting it out using fire extinguishers. Allan ended up inhaling a lot of smoke and chemicals from the fire extinguisher and got to feeling pretty sick, so they took him to the ER for smoke inhalation. The doctor told Allan that his CO levels looked like he had just smoked a cigarette. Allan can't figure out now why anyone would ever want to smoke - he felt awful! They released him from the hospital pretty quickly, and then he took it easy the rest of the night. He is feeling great now, but he promised me that he wouldn't go after more fires.

Little A has started wanting to eat whatever we are eating. Tonight at dinner Allan got an orange and A told him that she wanted a piece. Allan said, "Are you going to steal daddy's food again with your beautiful blue eyes?" Little A looked at him very soberly and then batted her eyes twice, lol! She got half the orange. :)

AG and her family gave little A the cutest bows for their favorite college team. I used to put one in her hair and one on her monkey so they matched, A thought that was great! Right about the time her hair was long enough for pig tails one of them broke. I finally figured out how to fix it, so now she can wear them again! They look darling on her! :)

Nana and Pops went on an adventure to Ireland and brought us back some lambs wool scarves! They are so pretty! I decided to try mine on one day, and A wanted to try on daddy's (she got a cute shirt instead of a scarf). If you look at her hand closely you can see that she's pointing at the scarf. :)

I have been working on planning an adoption conference (more on that in another post). I needed to hang flyers around town so I put little A in the stroller, and we walked all over town hanging flyers. She was such a good sport and even got an ice cream cone for the walk home. When we went to the library to hang a flyer she wanted to climb on the gun outside, but my hands were full of flyers and library books. I told her I couldn't help her get on because my hands were full and it would be better to climb on the gun on the way out. She was upset, but she said okay and walked into the library without any crying! I was so proud of her! She had a ball climbing on it when we were all done in the library.

A little bunny decided to visit our porch! Little A was SO delighted!

We went on a little family outing to scout out a campsite and go on a short hike. It was so nice to feel the cool mountain air and be together as a family. Little A loved walking around the campsite, especially this little bridge we found.

She wasn't as sure about the hike up the mountain. It was pretty steep. She kept turning around to make sure I was coming. 

We only hiked to the top of the hill, but it was really beautiful. (Allan: Just like my ladies!)

I saw a way to cut A's hair ties out of her hair with a seam ripper. It had been working great for the last few days, but Saturday night I cut the hair tie out and some of her hair with it! I almost cried. It was her first hair cut and it was a total accident. Thankfully it wasn't enough to even tell where it was cut from.

Our wonderful friends watched little A for us so we could go to the Temple. It was a much needed trip. We really enjoyed the time alone together, when we got back little A was sleeping peacefully on their trundle bed. She had had a great time! We are so grateful that we have these friends nearby.

We also had another home visit to update our adoption home study. We're still hoping to adopt again! Please pray that we'll be blessed with another child!