Movin' on up

Alayna is about ready to "move on up"......

to sleeping in the crib.

(My baby is getting so big!)

As you can see, she can touch the bottom of her bassinet when she is kicking.

Thankfully she still sleeps in the swaddleme so she doesn't kick about much.

Just a cute grin.

Here's a little video (mainly for the grandparents) just to show how big she really is getting.

Simple Pleasures

Here are some of the simple pleasures of this last week.

If you squint and think positively, you will kind of, sort of see a little dimple. If you can't see it. Just pretend.

One night Alayna accidentally pulled my glasses off my face, so I thought I would try them on her.

Does she look like a little scholar?

And you thought you looked studious in your new glasses, KaLee. Alayna might give you a run for your money.

Alayna found a new fun game that she likes.

Daddy blows on her tummy.

Which produces this reaction.

Whenever something is intriguing to Alayna she will raise her right eyebrow. It is so funny. I have not been able to capture that in a picture, but here she is REALLY interested in something I am doing since both eyebrows are raised as far as they can go.

And there you have it.

It Never Changes

While trying to accomplish one of my New Year's resolutions (learn a new hobby),

I have discovered the following characteristics of students within a few short minutes of attending my class:

The Know-it-all? check.

The Teacher's Pet? check.

The Class clown? check.

The I-Have-to-get-everything-perfect student? check

The-I-really-don't-want-to-be-here student? check.

And of course many others.

It never changes.

Why?

I don't know.

I was kindof hoping that this time when I went to class, it would be different.

I could really do without some of them.

But to my dismay, they were still there. (In all their glory)



And now, you are wondering...

Which category do I fall under?

Well, let's just say maybe I have a little bit of all of them in me at times.

That's not bad. Right?



I might as well face it.

What fun would any class be without them?

Just a few

I know lately I have been posting a lot about Alayna...

but I don't care.

I would much rather look at her than just about anything.



Today I turned around and found this.

My baby on her side. (while eating her hand)

Maybe the whole rolling over thing, won't be far away.

Let's hope that she's not too close.

I don't think I'm quite ready for that kind of mobility.



Sunday dress.

There's nothing like watermelons on a little baby.

So cute.

Thanks Kristy for the DARLING outfit!

She looks older in this picture.

Don't you think?

I think it's the hair.


Man, I just can't get enough of this cute baby.

It's a good thing I get to see her everyday!

Story Time

Here is a video of Alayna reading a story to Mommy. Enjoy!

3 Months Old!

I could go on about how I can't believe she is 3 months already and where has time gone, but I won't. :)

Alayna has become more and more fun. She is constantly babbling and "telling us stories". She is such a happy baby (when she gets her sleep). We have noticed her mellowing out a bit. She is still as strong-willed as ever, but she doesn't seem to throw her little tantrums as much. She is better at letting us know what she wants and we have become better at figuring out what she wants.

Although, we have noticed a little bit of attitude starting to show at times. What a girl thing! The other day Dan was trying to cut her fingernails, and she let him know really quick that she didn't want any of that. She turned to him and gave him a little attitude while whining right at him. I am sure we will be seeing more of this.

I have put together some pictures of things that Miss Alayna has been doing this last month. Enjoy!

Just a precious picture of our sweet girl.
Miss blue eyes. I had to document how blue her eyes are. Up until now, I haven't been able to get a picture where it did her eyes justice. We get comments on how blue her eyes are all the time. (That, and how much hair she has.) We will see if they stay blue. I have green eyes and Dan has hazel.

Here is Mommy and 'layna' reading a story. This has become a FAVORITE! She absolutely LOVES to listen to stories. And she has just recently decided that she can read the story instead of Mommy. I can barely get a word in edgewise.

Oh, those tastey fingers! If she is not smiling or talking, then she probably has a hand or at least some fingers in her mouth with TONS of slobber everywhere.

Tummy time! I have been trying to put Alayna on her stomach more to build up those neck muscles and this is the process that we go through each time:

"This is not too bad. Maybe, I like being on my tummy."

"Oh, wait a minute, maybe this is not as fun as I thought."

"Hey! I don't like this! Turn me over!"

We also play a game where I pull her up into sitting position. Of course she can't stay in that position long with out wobbling everywhere and I have to give some extra support, but she likes looking all around. There is so much to see when you are sitting up.

If you look close, you can see her Dennis the Mennis hair. For some reason that hair just WILL NOT STAY DOWN! So I give up.

Alayna just discovered the TV the other day. (I know. Most babies have already discovered this long ago...) BUT, we don't have cable so we don't watch TV much, unless we want to watch a movie. Normally this is done when Alayna is asleep, but one night she woke up early from a nap and could not take her eyes of the TV.

Tired baby. 9 times out of 10 this is what happens when she gets tired. Rubbing over and over again.

Airplane! You gotta love this game. Well, we play airplane in the mirror so she can see that cute baby. She gets so excited that she doesn't quite know what to do with herself so instead of giving us a big cheesy smile, (which she does quite often) she will open her mouth as wide as it will go. So funny! So I humor her by doing the same thing. We could do this forever. Ahhhh, simple joys.

Can you say CHEESE?! Alayna has definitely mastered the big, cheesy grin and we LOVE it. I think it is about the cutest thing ever! She is constantly smiling and we simply can't get enough. Isn't she just about the cutest baby you have EVER seen! (Unless you have a baby of your own and then I am sure you think your baby is cuter:)

Highlights of 2008

The other night Dan humored me by playing a game called highlight/lowlight.

The idea is to think about the past year and tell a highlight, then a lowlight. Do this until you run out of ideas. Lucky for us, we ran out of lowlights WAY before we did highlights. Dan especially had a hard time coming up with lowlights...me, not so much. I was reminding him of lowlights. (Does that mean I am more of a pessimist? I hope not. Let's just say I have a good memory.)

Here are some of the highlights of our 2008:

*Alayna joining our family
*Finding out a baby was on the way
*Finishing my first year teaching
*Dan getting a new job
*Moving to St. George (I don't mean the actual packing and moving boxes part.)
*Making new friends
*Girls Camp being a success (and being over with)
*Going to Zions National Park
*Having our first Christmas on our own
*Alayna's first smile
*Having family come visit us
*Thanksgiving at my Grandparent's cabin
*Celebrating four years together

These are just a few of many highlights. We had a wonderful 2008 and are looking forward to an even better 2009!

*Try out this game. It's fun to see what you can remember!

A Sigh of Relief

While December is a month that I absolutely love, it also seems to make my stress level a bit higher than normal. I am sure this is the case for most people, but I like to think that I have slightly more of a good excuse.

Dan's B-day.....check
Christmas.....check
My B-day.....check
Our Anniversary.....check

See what I mean?

Now don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy this time of year and I even think I secretly prefer it this way, but let's just say that I am more than okay with the fact that I have 11 more months before the chaos begins again.

Family Fun!

My family was able to come and visit us for a few days over their Christmas break. It was so great to have them come. We played lots of games, went shopping, celebrated my birthday, went out to eat, and just laughed and enjoyed spending time together. My mom even babysat for us while Dan and I went to a movie for our Anniversary. Thanks, Mom! We were so busy having fun that I didn't even pull out the camera until right before they left.

The girls: My Mom, Sarah, Ashley (my cousin), and Alayna.Here is my Dad and Jordan with Alayna.

And, I just thought this picture was too cute. Sarah is a great babysitter. I wish she lived closer so we could use her talents more often. Alayna adores you, Sarah. Maybe it's because you are kindred hair babies. :) (Sarah was born with LOTS of dark hair, just like Alayna)

Thanks for coming! We sure LOVED having you!