Reading Break

I got Ali the National Geographic for toddlers, she loves to flip through it and her Friend magazine.  She crosses her little feet so cute when she reads.

I love that she loves books and magazines!  Her newest thing is to flip through the pages using her thumb.  She also signs 'horse' for all of the animals, and I'm pretty sure this issue of National Geographic has zero horses in it.

Millville Canyon

We went jeeping/4-wheeling up Millville Canyon on Memorial Day with Stuart's sisters Helen and Heather and her family.

 

Ali loved jeeping!  The bumps made her giggle!!!

Oh the irony of this sign!

The group!

Ali read this book all the way home... it was crazy windy, but she loved it!

Ali Walking

Ali's Grandpa Brower asked for a video of Ali walking.  I had just taken this one a few days before, don't mind her crazy hair... we stayed home from church with a snotty nose and cough.  Ali found my old purse that I had just cleaned out and decided it should be hers.  She's doing her crazy walk in this video.

Family Pyramid

We had a fun little family hot dog roast tonight with my family.  We decided to do a little family pyramid.  All of my siblings and their spouses were in it!

While we were busy with the pyramid, Aliyah was busy being a nanny to her two youngest cousins on my side. :)  She LOVES babies!

Playland

We hit McDonald's for breakfast yesterday and Ali got 'stuck' in the playland.... she quickly got unstuck when she saw Daddy coming!

Breakfast

Ali loves waffles for breakfast, it's the only thing she will eat.  But lately when she tells me she is all done and wants to get out of her highchair she hurries and grabs handfulls of waffles to take with her.

Then she happily sits on the floor and shares them with Morty.  Who she now calls 'Mo'.  All day long I hear 'Mo, come!' 'No!' 'Good boy!'.  It's especially fun when I hear her in her crib in the  morning yelling, 'Mom, come!'.  Ha ha ha!

Little Miss Flexible

...and I can't even touch my toes!

Smithfield Parade

Last Saturday we hit the Smithfield Health Days parade with the Bytheways.  It was a beautiful day for a parade and the kids had lots of fun.  Ali's favorite part was the horses!

Off They Go!

Our pass-along cards came on Friday and they turned out awesome!

I really hope one of these little cards finds its way into the right hands!

Off they go!  Thanks everyone for helping us out with this!

Pass Along Cards

Our pass along cards will be here on FRIDAY!

{front}

{back}
We think they turned out great!

This cute little girl needs a sibling!
I'll be mailing some cards out to people on Saturday, if you want some sent to you, leave a comment and I'll send some your way!  We would love all the help we can get! 

Mother's Day 2013

I used to hate Mother's Day... like really, really, really hate it.  I refused to go to church and basically spent the day angry.
But then, a wonderful woman gave me the greatest gift ever:
Aliyah
I now love Mother's Day and all that it means.

Stuart is so good to me all the time, but he pulled out all the stops on Mother's Day.  I got roses (the red are mine, the pink are Ali's), I got to sleep in (perhaps the best gift of all), and my favorite breakfast (he kept checking on me to see when I was waking up so it would be ready right away)!

I also got this beauty!  I actually picked this out myself, but I'm happy to count it as a Mother's Day gift.  It is a printer that prints on 12x12 paper.  I have been looking all over for one to print the calendars I make every year.  The printing company I have been using has increased their printing costs considerably, so this is my alternative! 
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  And for those that aren't, hang in there... I know how you feel.

Yard Work

Today we worked on our yard.  We laid weed fabric, added bark and rocks, and I planted some flowers in some pots.  It's so much work!  I love how it turned out though!  I had to take some pictures of our house for our adoption profile book I'm making.  Ali was a trooper and spent her time chewing on rocks, taking rocks out of the flower beds and yelling.  We all survived though!  A special thanks to Matt for helping us out!

Happy Birth-Mother's Day!

Happy Birth-Mother's Day to our beautiful birth-mom!  Without her I wouldn't get to celebrate tomorrow!  She will always be one of our favorite people! :)  We appreciate her sacrifice and love her for it!!

Oohh!

Aunt Whitney made Ali a special treat the other night, she was very impressed!

Dressed!

I guess I took too long getting Ali dressed this morning, so she did it herself!

She even walked around the bedroom in it!

Earning Her Keep

Aliyah was a great helper today and helped me shampoo the couch and some spots on the floor.  She loves to help with the vacuum too! 

Being a Mom is Hard Work!

Ali has been practicing for her new sibling.  She hauls different babies/stuffed animals all around the house.  She even decided to eat with this one! (Thank goodness she chose one that was washable!)

It's a tough job being a Mom!  That baby isn't going to pat it's own back/bum!

Ali will also hold her babies and say 'shhh' to them, just like Aunt Whitney does to her new little guy!  She also does it to Morty, it's pretty funny watching her rock his head and tell him 'shhhh'. :)

Cinco de Mayo!

Ali rocked her dress from Mexico for Cinco de Mayo this year!

Ali got her beautiful skin and hair from her partial hispanic heritage.  Lucky girl!

We also celebrated with tacos, black beans, guacamole and chips! 

Flip

Well, Ali's doctor suggested waiting until Ali was 30lbs to flip her carseat, but she's 2 1/2, can basically walk and hates being backwards! So today we made the flip! She loves it!