Well, it's been a while since I posted, we've been busy! This is going to be a little catch-up post of randomness! :) How stinking cute are those boots? I love them! Yes, that is my bucket of flour in the background... it needed to be taken downstairs, and yes Ali is sucking on a outlet safety cover like a pacifier. She definitely has her own ideas these days.
Sweet little happy face! She holds my camera up to her face and says 'cheese', so I had to take a picture of her! :)
Ali got ahold of a toilet paper roll, it was great entertainment! She wore it like a cast and would wave at me and Stuart.
Crazy little nub handed child.
In adoption news, we had our home study yesterday. I cleaned like a crazy person while Ali was at school then tried like crazy to keep the goldfish spreading to a minimum when she got home! I find goldfish in the strangest places!
We had our home study at 5:30 and our social worker got stuck in traffic and was 15 minutes late. After that we had appointments to get fingerprinted (for our FBI background checks) at 6:40 at USU. It takes us 20 min to get there from our house. It was close! Thanks to Whitney for watching Ali so she didn't starve to death!
We got it all done though and today we will mail everything out so that we will be ready when little baby girl comes! Which, we are nervous might be sooner rather than later! Our sweet birth mom is now on bed rest after she lost her mucus plug on Saturday. We are really hoping that little girly will stay put for a few weeks (she hit 30 weeks last Sunday), but we feel so bad for our birth mom having to lay around in bed for a few weeks! She is wonderful though and is so willing to do what the doctors recommend! We love her!
This week little baby girl is the size of an acorn squash. I'm a cheater and just take pictures with the fruit/veggie at the grocery store.
Ali was pretty sure she needed a bite of the baby this week. I did stop her before we had to buy the squash!
Little baby girl is working on fattening up this week and because of that she has more energy!
Ali has officially been in school for 2 weeks now, I've been meaning to post about it since her first day, but it's been really rough on me. I think I can finally post about it and not cry.
Since Aliyah has Down Syndrome she qualifies for a special needs preschool. It is run at the elementary school here in town, right by our church house. She goes 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day.
I'm not going to lie, the first day was ROUGH for me! Actually the first day I found out she would go to preschool was rough... the meetings with the school were rough, the days before preschool were rough... see the pattern? Here she is all ready to go to school, cute as can be. She did great and was happy to go. I cried before I dropped her off, while I dropped her off and after I dropped her off (and of course I ran into a bunch of people I know). The second day I did better, but she cried... so then I cried. I seriously though about not taking her back. She's my little buddy, my sidekick. I miss her when she's gone!
But then things got better. She has the BEST teacher. I'm pretty sure she gets spoiled. She's always being carried around when I go to pick her up from school. She likes to go now and I have to admit I can get a lot done in 2 1/2 hours when I don't have a little tornado following me! :) I still miss her like crazy though.
Also I have the most beautiful picture hanging on my fridge. It's hard to see in the picture, but she 'colored' it. I know it sounds stupid, but when you try to have kids for 10+ years you really appreciate the little things. I love everything and anything that proves I am a Mom... even if it's crying at the school!
Aunt Whitney and her family got Ali these super cute slippers for her birthday. They work out perfect because she is in love with shoes right now! Plus she can put them on all by herself!
Thanks Bytheway's!
Girly is the size of an Eggplant this week. I have no idea why these sizes are so strange, but I've come this far... I have to keep posting! :)
Her lungs are developed enough that she could be born and have a good chance at survival. However, I know she'll listen to her mother and stay put for a bit longer.
This week we got our Idaho attorney squared away and we are looking to get our homestudy completed (again, they are only good for 1 year)!
Ali was pretty sure she was going to work with Daddy today. She went and grabbed some shoes when he did and put them on. Then she stood at the back door and blew me kisses and said, 'bye!'
Luckily we got her distracted and she wasn't too hurt that she got left behind.
A certain someone was feeling better last night and found a permanent marker. So far I think she was just putting the lid on and off, thus her hand covered in marker. I have yet to find anything that was colored on, thank goodness!
She has no idea how marker got all over her hands!
Since today is Veteran's Day we decided to make holiday cards for the active military for family night! Stuart and I drew on the cards with crayon and Ali painted them.
She really liked painting!
Ultimately Stuart and Ali got bored and I finished them off. :)
Happy Veteran's Day and thank you to all the men and women who defend our freedom!
Happy Birthday to this sweet little kid-o!
I've posted all about her birthday party, cake, gifts, etc below.
A week or so before her birthday we went into the doctor for her 3 year check up! She's doing awesome! She's still a short little thing, and only weighs 26 lbs, but she's growing and developing wonderfully!
Sadly she did have to get a flu shot and her blood drawn to check her thyroid. She didn't even cry for the flu shot! Then we went to get her blood taken, she put her cute little arm out for them and sat so still. They poked her and she didn't even make a sound. But, they couldn't find a vein, so they wiggled and wiggled the needle looking for it... still no crying. They finally got a vein and it collapsed. So, they tried the other arm, and wiggled and wiggled the needle (we're talking 5 min per arm here) STILL no crying! Then they poked her a 3rd time! This time she cried. I don't blame her. They finally got blood from her and gave her a sticker and she stopped crying instantly! What a tough little girl!
A few of Ali's favorite things at age 3:
*Goldfish crackers... I'm surprised she hasn't turned orange, all day everyday she asks for 'fish' while signing.
*Morty - I'm not sure what we would do without him!
*Daddy & Mommy
*Howie (her cousin Hadley is her best friend, she always includes her and Ali loves to give her hugs!)
*Books - she generally likes to 'read' them herself, outloud.
*IPad - once upon a time it was my ipad... not anymore.
*Music - she loves primary songs on her ipad and she loves singing them with me.
*Dolls - she is an excellent mother... until she throws them down the stairs.
*Dancing - she moves her feet as fast as she can, she gets her moves from her Dad. :)
*Brushing her teeth - crazy, but we'll take it!
*Giving Kisses - to us, books, animals, babies, random objects, etc.
Ali doesn't nap anymore... sad day for us, but she still sleeps 12 hours straight at night and loves to go to bed at night. She loves veggies and yogurt. She doesn't really care for juice or candy or sweet stuff. She's all about the salty snacks, chips, crackers, nuts, etc.
Ali is talking more and more these days, sometimes it's just repeating what we say, but she says 'please' now while signing and babbles at us like we should know what she is talking about!
We sure do love this crazy little girl and can't believe she is 3! Happy Birthday sweet girl!
Ali turned 3 last week! We had a fish party for her, because of her love of goldfish crackers. She was one spoiled little girl! She got a card in the mail from Grandpa/Grandma Brower with $5 in it... she was very interested in the $5 bill!
Daddy brought home roses for her the day before her birthday (he does this every year). She doesn't get smelling the flowers yet, so she kisses them.
