Merry Christmas

The high school musical went really well! The kids did great, and I got a lot of really good compliments on the choreography. :)  Also, the soloist that I choreographed for got first place at her competition! This has been a really rough year. Doing choreography has been such a relief and brought me a lot of happiness. I'm so glad that I've been able to do it again.

We took little A to the Christmas story time. At the end Santa came for a visit. She was pretty excited to see him but didn't want to go anywhere near him. At first this was as close as I could get.

After they pulled out the candy canes she let me get a little closer.

We get a stamp after every story time. Usually it's the letter they're learning that week, but this week was a snowman. Little A LOVES the stamps and always makes me get one too. :)

One of my friends and I swapped babysitting one morning. She watched little A while I went to the theatre, and then I watched her girls while she went to get her kitty from the vet. The girls had such a great play. While my friend was gone they wanted to make a movie on my phone so I sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" while they danced. It was darling.

One of my other friends mother is amazing at crochet. She crocheted the cutest baby carrier for little A! She loves to carry her babies in it. My friends mother has a blog where she sells these and other adorable things. The blog is: http://cutsiecrochetbyannagae.blogspot.com/  Go check it out! Her stuff is so adorable!

Little A LOVES to play in the snow! I got myself some heavy duty snow gear so that we can play together. She hated to make snow angels last year, but loves them this year.

Her favorite thing to do though is eat the snow! The snow has been really powdery this year, no good for snowmen. So, I pulled out a bucket to pack snow in so we could build snow castles. She loved filling it up and then putting it on her face, lol!

She will literally lay on her belly and lick up the snow like a cat drinking milk.

Other favorites are building a snow tower and then belly flopping or sitting on it to smash it. :)

We bought a large Christmas tree right after Christmas last year. I was so excited to put it up because then I could actually put all of our ornaments on it! We got all the ornaments on with room to spare! Little A loved helping. The branches were difficult for her to get the ornaments around, but she was able to get a few on by herself.

She did really good about being gentle with them, and was pretty good throughout the month about not taking them off of the tree. We set all the presents out under the tree too. I was pretty nervous about it, but Allan thought she could handle it (and she did great last year), so we tried it. She did really well! There was just one gift that she kept opening over and over, ha! I re-wrapped that gift 3 times! Every time she opened it she would say "Oh!" She was just as surprised Christmas morning, lol!

I also made her a felt Christmas tree. She had a ball with that. She especially loved having me lift her up to put the star on top. Little A absolutely adores her stocking. She would come in every morning and give it a great big hug. We all enjoy laying under the Christmas tree looking at the lights. One evening she went and got her blanket and lay under the tree all snuggled up. It was so darling.

We brought treats to our neighbors, and made sugar cookies for our family. Little A loves to help me make cookies. She's getting better and better at putting frosting and sprinkles on.

She loved delivering them to our neighbors. It's so darling to see her excitement about everything. We had a nice visit with one of the women that lives down the street from us. She reminds me of Hilda (a woman who went to church with us when I was in high school). Hilda would call and sing happy birthday to us on our birthdays, she wrote to me on my mission, and did so many other things to help and support our family. I love visiting this neighbor, she always lifts my spirit, just like Hilda did.

Allan worked really, really hard to get my gift done before Christmas, and made it just in time! It turned out SO great! We had to order in the hooks, so they came in later, but we've absolutely loved using this. Little A loves to sit in the middle spot. She'll hide there and then yell for us to come find her.

Christmas Eve we always have crepes for dinner. Then we read the Christmas story, open one gift (an ornament for the tree), get ready for Santa, and then read "The Night Before Christmas". Little A was SO excited for Santa to bring her presents. She was NOT excited that he was coming to our house to do that. But, she was VERY excited to set out a tray of cookies and mild for him, and a carrot for the reindeer.

After we set the tray out we read the Magic Key poem about how Santa can come into houses that don't have chimneys. AG gave it to little A. It was perfect!

She was so excited we were worried that she wouldn't be able to go to sleep, but she slept really well!

The next morning she was super excited about her gifts. She loved pulling things out of her stocking. She was so happy about the orange that she tried to take a bite of it, peel and all! Santa left her some goodies and a bunch of animals for her farm.

When she's really excited she'll wave her hands up and down. She got stickers, markers, books, some food for her kitchen, a hat and gloves, a fabric doll set (like paper dolls), alphabet and number foam pads, and a tricycle.

She really loved all of her gifts. She's played with them non-stop since then.

Allan got a saw he wanted, a tank for spraying for weeds, some ratchets for his truck, slippers, snow boots, and a belt.

The next morning we headed to Allan's parents for a visit. We brought our snow gear so we could play in the snow. Little a had a blast! We got cousin H to play with us for a little while too. He liked throwing snowballs and having me make cars and airplanes out of snow. Allan and I had a snowball fight for a little while too! Little A thought that was hilarious!

Grandma took some time to do a craft with little A. They made a snowflake ornament and a snowman ornament. She loved that snowman so much! That was one ornament that we couldn't get her to leave on the tree. She just wanted to play with it. Thankfully it was made out of foam. We're always so grateful that Grandma will take the time to do those things with her. A always really loves it!

We had the family Christmas party and exchanged gifts. Grandma and Grandpa gave little A a My Little Pony Play Doh set, and a chef outfit! It is SO darling on her! She loves to wear it when we cook dinner. I'm loving that she doesn't get completely covered in food now! She also LOVES the Play Doh set. We play with it almost every day. They got Allan and I an Ipad and some mats for our kitchen. Those mats have been SO nice! My feet and back are loving them! We were also given a family activity. We can't wait to use it!

The following week we went to my families Christmas party. Little A got a beautiful porcelain doll from her great Gram. She loves it so much! She says hi to it every morning and after every nap.

Some cute fabric books from Aunt K1 and B. She has loved snuggling up and reading those while I am getting ready for the day.

A princess robe, towel, and slippers from Nana and Pops (and the fabric doll set also). She LOVES this robe! It is so soft and snugly. She usually wears it when we're down in the basement playing, it's kind of cold down there and it's perfect to keep her warm.  We were also given two more family activities! Yay!

We went and visited little A's birth family also. They got her a vacuum, a cleaning set, some adorable clothes (they always find the cutest stuff!), and some food for her kitchen! We have had so much fun with all of it! She especially likes the broom and duster from her cleaning set. She will randomly get them out throughout the day and sweep and dust for a while. :)

Little A LOVES playing Hide-and-Seek. She can't ever be quiet when she's hiding, the suspense really gets to her, instead she giggles and squeals the whole time! In one of her books it shows a little girl hiding in the coats of her coat closet. One day I took A to hide with me while Allan was being the seeker. I took her into our mud room, and we hid in Allan's work coats. She loved that spot so much that later she tried to hide there herself. She took off on her own after Allan found us another time. We heard her squealing and giggling and then heard her make this confused "Oh" sound. We came into the mud room to find her trying to hide in Allan's coats, but the coats were about a foot over her head! She was so confused as to how get up to them to hide, lol! She'll also go hide in one spot and then as we say "ready or not, here we come" she'll change her mind and go squealing across the room to another spot, ha!

Happy Thanksgiving!

K6 and her husband have a hobby farm. They have 3 goats, 3 pigs, 2 dogs, a horse, and some cows. The goats, pigs, and dogs are all at her home. Little A loves to see them. She thinks they are the neatest things ever and bursts into happy giggles and squeals whenever they're around.

Sometimes little A comes to the theatre with me for morning rehearsals. She is such a good girl. She likes to run up and down the aisles, through the rows of chairs, and up and down the steps. All of the kids are so good with her! This day she got her pretzels out of the diaper bag and went and sat down on the steps to eat them. Such a cutie.

We went to visit Grandad and Grandma H for Thanksgiving. Allan's sister P and her family live nearby so we went and visited them as well. Little A and their son H had a blast playing together!

We had Thanksgiving with Grandad, Grandma H, K1 and family, and K4 and family. It was a delicious dinner! Little A loved being with Grandad's 4 hound dogs. She wanted to be with them at all times. One of the dogs played peek-a-boo with her for a while (the picture below). That is A's favorite game so she was thrilled!

K1, K4 and I went shopping later that night and again the next day. We got some great deals and got most of our Christmas shopping done. Mostly it was nice to spend some time chatting with my sisters!

While I was gone Little A spent some time with Grandad and Grandma H watching Curious George and reading books. Daddy also took her outside to play in the snow. She ate a lot of snow, and I gave her an icicle to try, she didn't like it though.

On the way home she was SOO done with traveling. She told us bye, put her blanket over her head and went to sleep, ha!

We got a new rug for our living room. I love it, and love that there isn't quite so much floor to mop. ;)

A few days after we got home we packed up to visit Allan's family for SG's wedding. We are so happy for her and her husband A. Their wedding day was beautiful. Little A loved the reception. There was a S'more's bar. She loved to run up and get the marshmallows and mints. They had a musician there as well, and she loved dancing to his music. 

Daddy manned the gift table and then helped out with the food, so A and I ran around all night playing with cousins and snacking on the marshmallows. Eventually we settled into the grooms room and read stories until it was time to go.

"Choo!"

The other day we were driving to dance class. I asked Little A if she wanted to listen to some music (she almost always does), but she said no. So I started singing some show tunes. Sometimes she likes it when I sing, and sometimes she doesn't. She kept telling me to not sing, and I continued to sing anyway. She got really quiet and after a minute shouted "Mom!" I looked back, and she was looking at me with this really mischievous grin on her face plugging her ears, lol! I laughed so hard!

We invited AG (little A's birth mom) down to come to little A's dance class. It was so fun to have her visit. They had a great time in dance class. Later that night they played with glow sticks for a while, which little A loved. AG stayed the night and went to the theatre with us the next morning. Then they had a good play together before it was time to take her home. I'm so glad that we live close enough to do things together!

Little A has been really affectionate lately. Okay, she's always been a pretty affectionate girl, but usually only with Allan and I. Lately she's been giving us a lot more hugs and kisses and has been wanting to put her arms around our shoulders when we're sitting on the couch or the floor. It's really cute because she can't really reach, so she just looks really awkward and uncomfortable. She has also been really adamant that we have family hugs lately. We've really enjoyed all of her loves. She spent the morning with a friend while I was working on choreography with the high school students. When I came back she and her friend, C, sat together on C's little doll bed taking care of their dollies. Little A put her arm around C and gave her a kiss on the top of her head! It was so darling!

She's been copying us a lot, trying to mimic what we say and do. She actually said her name for the first time in a year! She said it once when she was about 14 months old or so and never would say it again. Today she finally said it! She also likes to mimic sneezes, she's get a Kleenex and put it to her nose. Then as she wipes her nose she say "choo!"

She watched Daddy crack an egg while he was making German Pancakes. Allan gave her an egg while he was working on some other ones. She has tried to crack an egg before with no success. This time she was successful and even got the egg opened up, however, it went all over the chair she was standing on rather than into the bowl. :) Allan also took her out to play in the snow; she was absolutely thrilled! She pretty much just ate the snow.

She has grown lately and is 36 inches tall. She is getting so big! She can put on her church shoes and galoshes all by herself! It makes her so pleased when she does it. She is still working on getting her clothes on and off by herself.

Little A is such a sweet little girl. She always claps and cheers for everyone when they sing, dance, play an instrument, etc. The last two weeks in church she clapped and yelled "Yay!" after the musical performance. The first Sunday she did it everyone laughed, and then she cried, and I had to take her out. This week everyone just smiled to themselves.  Allan tried to explain to her that we don't clap and cheer in church but she did not understand. It made her very concerned, and she started crying, so we just let her cheer. We'll keep working on it.

She is really good at taking one piece of the sacrament bread and taking a cup without spilling it. However, as soon as she goes to drink it she spills it all over her self because she tries to do it fast like us, ha!

I was gone the other day for a while working on a dance solo for my cousin. Little A is never very happy when I'm gone somewhere but usually does pretty good. This time though she was so fed up that when Daddy came in to get her after her nap she promptly glared at him and demanded "mom" over and over again.

I invited a bunch of Moms and kids over to play the other day when it was cold and snowy. At about 11 all but two of them went home for lunch and naps. We continued to play for another half hour when little A told us she was hungry. I invited them to stay for lunch. They had a fun time eating together. Afterward A went in her room and lay down in her bed to take a nap. Her friend K climbed into bed with her, I found them lying in bed together. Little A was half asleep, and K was looking annoyed that she was being "made to take a nap" ha! We got them all ready to go, but little A fell asleep before they were even out the door. Having all of her friends over really tired her out.

One of the nursery leaders at church is a man who is over 6 feet tall, huge, and has a really, really deep voice. We were really worried that A would never want to go into nursery if he was there. However, she adores him! When Allan drops little A off at nursery on Sunday she runs straight to him, gives his legs a big hug, and then takes him to play dollies with her. We're so grateful she has such a good connection with someone in the nursery.

We had a family party for K6's husband the other day. Little A was in heaven because there were so many Grandmas. She lead Great Grandma R (who is not actually her Grandma) all around the house, as well as all the other grandmas. She was thrilled with all of the attention and made all the Grandma's so happy!

Hot Chocolate

I threw a baby shower for a friend this weekend. It was so fun to do. Little A had a blast with everyone that came. She kept going over to the table, getting a plate of food, and then bringing it to someone. Then she'd leave only to come back a little later and eat the food on the plate she'd given to them. She did this over and over again, lol!

Our friend brought little A a gift as a thank you. It is the cutest crocheted bassinet and doll. It came with several different outfits, a diaper bag, and bedding - all of which are crocheted. Her mom made it! It's beautiful, and we love it! Little A has played with it all day. I asked her what she wanted to name her new baby, and she said, "Dolly". Ha! We don't have a dolly named dolly yet, so that works.

At church today little A tripped and fell. She hit her forehead and nose pretty hard. Her nose bled a little, and she has some big bruises. Poor thing. We had such a fun night together as a family though. She loves to play "Here we go round the mulberry bush". We played that over and over in the kitchen while dinner was cooking. Then we did some flannel board scripture stories and played with her Noah's ark while we sang the "Follow the Prophet" song. We also wrestled and played peek-a-boo, her favorites! We love to hear her cute giggles! The dress she's wearing in this picture is from her birth cousin. It is SO cute! Little A loves to have snacks at her little table and loves to use her play kitchen plates to have her snack.

It's been really cold this week. We went on a walk and splashed in some puddles one day. When we came in I gave little A her first hot chocolate. As you can see in this picture she is a fan!

Little A is having so much fun in dance class. She's starting to pick up on the movement more and more, and the movement is becoming clearer. 

They did some bar work this week. This is pretty much what little A did. When she wasn't doing this she was turned around facing the opposite direction of everyone else, lol!

We read a general conference talk every Sunday. Little A loves to find the pictures of the prophets and apostles and look at them. She'll jabber at them, laugh hysterically and then give them kisses! Ha!  I pulled one out so I can get it laminated so she can play with it without destroying it.

Little A has started really enjoying being read to again. She went through a phase where she wouldn't sit down to read unless she was completely exhausted, but now she'll stop playing throughout the day and want to read stories. I love it! We've been having a lot of fun reading some of my favorite fairy tales. A's favorite are the books about Biscuit the dog. We read from the children's scriptures every night.

We got our first snow! Little A was devastated when I wouldn't let her go out and play in it because she didn't have snow boots. Daddy took her out later in the day when it had warmed up a bit. She loved it! We went and got her some snow boots and a new coat (she grew out of her cute pea coat) later in the week. Now we're all ready for it to snow again!

We went and got some frozen yogurt when we went shopping. Little A loves waffle cones, but she eats them upside down. So to try and avoid a mess we put only a little strawberry froyo at the bottom and then she chose some toppings: M and M's, swedish fish, gummy worm, and sour gummy worm. She ate the toppings and some of the cone. It was a lot less messy than usual, which was nice! She was so tired when we were finished that she fell asleep as soon as the car started moving. At one point she lost her binky and couldn't figure out how to put it back in. Allan and I were laughing so hard! Don't worry, we did eventually help her, lol!