Saturday, September 15, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
She's One!
I wrote this post several months ago, but I just barely finished it up. So this is all about Aliyah in April...not July :)
As usual, it has been forever since I posted last, but instead of catching up right now I just want to do a post all about Aliyah. She turned one a couple weeks ago, and she is growing up and changing so much right now. I feel like it is even hard for me to remember some of her cute little quirks from even just a month ago. I hope I can capture a lot of that kind of stuff in this post, so that my crazy mind can come back to it a few months down the road.
Here are some of the fun facts about our girl:
Aliyah took her first steps on March 17th, but after that she would only take up to 12ish steps at a time (usually only 3 or 4) and she just wasn't too interested in walking. Until a few days after her birthday! On April 16th she decided that walking was awesome! She has felt that way ever since and loves to cruise around the house :)
Aliyah wants to be big like all the other kids around her. She gets offended when I try to hold onto her on the trampoline (even when big kids are jumping) and if you don't hand her an apple when the other kids are having them...you'll hear about it! She also loves to stand up and walk around on beds and during wagon rides...hopefully soon she'll realize how dangerous that is.
She just started to really enjoy sitting and reading books with me and I am so excited! That is one of my favorite activities to do with my kiddos, so I'm thrilled that she wants to be in on the snuggling as well.
She loves all things cozy and cuddly. A soft blanket or a furry stuffed animal can totally make her day, so one of her favorite spots is Kaleb's bed! We have a blanket that I bought for our family that she has taken over. She has to have it for nap time and bed time and she just loves that thing (it is super cozy!)
Aliyah has always had crazy hair, but somehow it keeps getting crazier! I'm hoping that once it gets a few inches longer it will look cute more often. Now I just have to either get it wet and comb it 20 times a day, or just smile and be proud of my little lion (or as we affectionately call her "Sumo-liyah")
Now, that nickname is also in reference to her cute little body. She has such squishy, chubby thighs and I love them! We are hoping that at some point she'll thin down but for now it is super cute.
Aliyah is in such a fun, interactive baby phase. She loves playing peekaboo, and doing the actions along with Pat-A-Cake and Popcorn Popping. She also folds her arms for prayer and is so proud of herself for doing so :)
She has 8 teeth and the top 2 in the middle have quite a gap between them. Her smile is so silly it makes me happy :) Sometimes we say she has summer teeth.
Aliyah does the funniest little bouncing dance thing that we call her "angry dance." She gets this mad face with a major double chin and makes a kind of growling, motor like sound while she bounces up and down. I don't know if that gives a very clear picture, but it is hilarious and she thinks so too. She always giggles really hard after she does it.
One thing that I absolutely love about Aliyah-loo is that she loves to cuddle. When she first wakes up in the morning she is so happy and gives me the sweetest hugs. It is definitely one of the things I look forward to most each day. She is still learning what it means when we ask her to give us a hug or give us "loves." She generally responds to that request by bonking her head against mine repeatedly.
The relationship Aliyah and Kaleb have is really fun to be a spectator of. Kaleb adores Aliyah and (most of the time) talks so lovingly to her. Aliyah has already learned the art of teasing her brother. I'm always a little baffled when she makes him cry really hard. The other day they both had a piece of chocolate licorice and she finished her's first. When she saw that he still had quite a bit, she snuck over and grabbed it out of his hand and hurried off. He came over to me bawling, and I just had to laugh.
As usual, it has been forever since I posted last, but instead of catching up right now I just want to do a post all about Aliyah. She turned one a couple weeks ago, and she is growing up and changing so much right now. I feel like it is even hard for me to remember some of her cute little quirks from even just a month ago. I hope I can capture a lot of that kind of stuff in this post, so that my crazy mind can come back to it a few months down the road.
Here are some of the fun facts about our girl:
Aliyah took her first steps on March 17th, but after that she would only take up to 12ish steps at a time (usually only 3 or 4) and she just wasn't too interested in walking. Until a few days after her birthday! On April 16th she decided that walking was awesome! She has felt that way ever since and loves to cruise around the house :)
Aliyah wants to be big like all the other kids around her. She gets offended when I try to hold onto her on the trampoline (even when big kids are jumping) and if you don't hand her an apple when the other kids are having them...you'll hear about it! She also loves to stand up and walk around on beds and during wagon rides...hopefully soon she'll realize how dangerous that is.
She just started to really enjoy sitting and reading books with me and I am so excited! That is one of my favorite activities to do with my kiddos, so I'm thrilled that she wants to be in on the snuggling as well.
She loves all things cozy and cuddly. A soft blanket or a furry stuffed animal can totally make her day, so one of her favorite spots is Kaleb's bed! We have a blanket that I bought for our family that she has taken over. She has to have it for nap time and bed time and she just loves that thing (it is super cozy!)
Aliyah has always had crazy hair, but somehow it keeps getting crazier! I'm hoping that once it gets a few inches longer it will look cute more often. Now I just have to either get it wet and comb it 20 times a day, or just smile and be proud of my little lion (or as we affectionately call her "Sumo-liyah")
Now, that nickname is also in reference to her cute little body. She has such squishy, chubby thighs and I love them! We are hoping that at some point she'll thin down but for now it is super cute.
Aliyah is in such a fun, interactive baby phase. She loves playing peekaboo, and doing the actions along with Pat-A-Cake and Popcorn Popping. She also folds her arms for prayer and is so proud of herself for doing so :)
She has 8 teeth and the top 2 in the middle have quite a gap between them. Her smile is so silly it makes me happy :) Sometimes we say she has summer teeth.
Aliyah does the funniest little bouncing dance thing that we call her "angry dance." She gets this mad face with a major double chin and makes a kind of growling, motor like sound while she bounces up and down. I don't know if that gives a very clear picture, but it is hilarious and she thinks so too. She always giggles really hard after she does it.
One thing that I absolutely love about Aliyah-loo is that she loves to cuddle. When she first wakes up in the morning she is so happy and gives me the sweetest hugs. It is definitely one of the things I look forward to most each day. She is still learning what it means when we ask her to give us a hug or give us "loves." She generally responds to that request by bonking her head against mine repeatedly.
The relationship Aliyah and Kaleb have is really fun to be a spectator of. Kaleb adores Aliyah and (most of the time) talks so lovingly to her. Aliyah has already learned the art of teasing her brother. I'm always a little baffled when she makes him cry really hard. The other day they both had a piece of chocolate licorice and she finished her's first. When she saw that he still had quite a bit, she snuck over and grabbed it out of his hand and hurried off. He came over to me bawling, and I just had to laugh.
Friday, July 13, 2012
My Current Favorites
I just read through a post I wrote a few months ago, but haven't published yet because for some reason even with as easy of a schedule as I have I am not on top of things. That post made me realize how quickly Kaleb and Aliyah are growing up, so I have to write down a few things now before they stop doing them and I forget about their silliness.
Aliyah sings...a lot... and it is adorable! It is one of my absolute favorite things right now. We really need to try to get it on video.
Another one of my favorites is how much Aliyah is "talking." I will often tell her to go tell someone something, such as, "Go tell Daddy we're ready to go," and she runs off to deliver the message and tells Daddy very clearly and confidently what she was supposed to. She loves to "read books" right now as well. Kaleb describes her way of reading books as yelling at all the bad guys (since they are usually super hero books.)
I don't know if anything makes me more excited than when Kaleb and Aliyah laugh together. They are both really good at making each other laugh, and when they both get going it makes my heart happy :) They are also starting to play together so much more, which is wonderful because they are happier and my days are a little less demanding.
I love the way Kaleb chooses to say certain things. When we tell him we are going somewhere he often asks, "What to do?" He also likes to ask "what?" several times in a row, which really challenges us to come up with creative and new ways to explain things or answer very simple questions.
Although it can be frustrating in the moment, I love how Kaleb sticks up for Aliyah. If I am telling her not to do something, he often gets after me and says, "That's not a nice thing to say! Let her do that, because she likes it." Kaleb really watches out for Aliyah and I love how sweet he is with her.
I love reading books with Kaleb. We haven't been reading as much lately, but one of my favorite things is when I am reading along and then I'll stop mid-page and he can finish reading that page (Ok, so he isn't actually reading...it is just from memory, but he is such a little smarty-pants and I love that he loves reading so much).
One of my most favorite things about this summer has been all the family time we've had. We've had so much time as just the 4 of us to play and enjoy the beautiful weather. We've also had so much time to be with our families and grow closer to one another and make fun memories :)
Aliyah sings...a lot... and it is adorable! It is one of my absolute favorite things right now. We really need to try to get it on video.
Another one of my favorites is how much Aliyah is "talking." I will often tell her to go tell someone something, such as, "Go tell Daddy we're ready to go," and she runs off to deliver the message and tells Daddy very clearly and confidently what she was supposed to. She loves to "read books" right now as well. Kaleb describes her way of reading books as yelling at all the bad guys (since they are usually super hero books.)
I don't know if anything makes me more excited than when Kaleb and Aliyah laugh together. They are both really good at making each other laugh, and when they both get going it makes my heart happy :) They are also starting to play together so much more, which is wonderful because they are happier and my days are a little less demanding.
I love the way Kaleb chooses to say certain things. When we tell him we are going somewhere he often asks, "What to do?" He also likes to ask "what?" several times in a row, which really challenges us to come up with creative and new ways to explain things or answer very simple questions.
Although it can be frustrating in the moment, I love how Kaleb sticks up for Aliyah. If I am telling her not to do something, he often gets after me and says, "That's not a nice thing to say! Let her do that, because she likes it." Kaleb really watches out for Aliyah and I love how sweet he is with her.
I love reading books with Kaleb. We haven't been reading as much lately, but one of my favorite things is when I am reading along and then I'll stop mid-page and he can finish reading that page (Ok, so he isn't actually reading...it is just from memory, but he is such a little smarty-pants and I love that he loves reading so much).
One of my most favorite things about this summer has been all the family time we've had. We've had so much time as just the 4 of us to play and enjoy the beautiful weather. We've also had so much time to be with our families and grow closer to one another and make fun memories :)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Time Flies!
This post is going to mainly be for me, so that I can read back through it a few months from now and actually remember some fun details that I know I'll forget! Kaleb and Aliyah are growing up and changing so fast. I wish there was some way to capture each stage in a way that we could go back and watch them and really get a feel for their fun personalities and silly quirks. Hopefully home videos and blog posts and very infrequent journal entries will at least give us a taste of that.
Since the last time I posted was October, there is a lot to catch up on! We'll see how much I can cover...
Halloween: Kaleb was an alligator and Aliyah was a ladybug. We started the night with the annual trunk or treat for Sugar 6th ward, and then went to Grandma and Ron's for chili and homemade rootbeer. Kaleb was sick of his costume by then, so he didn't do any actual trick-or-treating but we didn't mind that too much :)
Thanksgiving: We spent Thanksgiving with the Parkinson's this year. It was a few days full of delicious food, very little sleep, and lots of fun :)
Christmas: In some ways we feel like we didn't really get a Christmas. It was a very emotion-filled week, and we had very sick kids throughout the holidays, but there was a lot of fun and sweet memory making in the mix as well. Since Christmas was with the Schleg's this year we had a little party with the Parkinson's a couple days before. On the 23rd Carly, my Mom and I got to head to Idaho Falls for a quick shopping trip since Carly had just found out she'll be having a little BOY in June! We are very excited to meet this sweet little Paxon :) That day was followed by lots of play time and our gift exchange. The highlight of the night was probably when all the men in the family (and Sarah and Emi) opened their ukuleles!
For Christmas Eve with the Schleg's, we had a wonderful dinner complete with sparkling cider and ate by candlelight in the new room. Afterwards, everyone took part in a beautiful nativity program. We got started a little late though, so by the end we had lost most of our shepherds and animals and Ron became the angel. Following the program, we took Kaleb and Aliyah upstairs to open their Christmas Eve presents. They opened their jammies from Grammy, and their blanket and stuffed animal from us.
Christmas morning finally came and the kids had a few minutes to see what Santa brought before it was time to throw ourselves together and dash to church. Through the rest of the day we really had a blast, just relaxing and enjoying each other. The kids had so much time to play with their new toys and have fun cousin time. We finished the night with our Schleg family gift exchange. By the end of that, Kaleb was throwing up and had almost constant diarrhea. He had been really sick 2 days before and hadn't felt great since, but for some reason it really hit hard again that night. After about and hour of that, we decided to head home. After a couple of hours at home, Kaleb was so completely miserable and we were wondering if we should take him to the hospital. He had hardly eaten a thing throughout the day and the day before, yet he continued to have diarrhea so we were worried about him getting dehydrated. We decided to run to Grammy's house so that he could soak in a warm bath for a while (his little bottom was so raw and we only have showers). On the way out Kaleb fell asleep, so we went back home and he slept through the night! Aliyah did as well, and it was such a blessing for all of us. Unfortunately by Tuesday the nasty sickness had set in really bad for Aliyah, so we had the same ordeal with her for about 3 days. It felt like such a nightmare of a week, but we survived!
It's funny, because here I am writing this post on a Sunday afternoon, home for the day with 2 sick kiddos. Luckily this time it is just runny noses and coughs. Although wiping noses can get old, I would take that over throw up and diarrhea any day!
So a quick recap of January: This is in some ways a crazy semester, and in some ways a more relaxed one. This is Jonny's last semester of classes, so he doesn't really feel much pressure to get A's. He has all of his applications in, and now we are just waiting to hear back from the schools. So far we have an acceptance letter from Concordia with a $5000 scholarship offer, and an acceptance letter from Willamette with an $8000 scholarship offer. Jonny is also on the wait list at Washington and Lee, and Lewis and Clark. We are anxious to go through the decision process and start making plans so that we can get a clearer picture of what the next 3 years will look like, but our only choice is to be patient!
Jonny's class schedule doesn't allow him to be home as much during my office time, which makes for a very stressed momma on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! It is simply too much to try to keep both kids happy and maintain a professional office. So...I am turning in my two weeks notice tomorrow. Our plan is to move in with Jonny's family for a few months to get us through this last phase of schooling. Jonny will start an internship in April, and then probably sometime in August we will be heading off on a new adventure!
So, I know this post is becoming quite the novel. If I would just get better at updating things more often, it wouldn't have to be so long! To finish things off, I just want to write a blip on each of the kids. These are going to be those proud mom, possibly annoying to others, types of details but I want to remember this fun time with them and my observations...so there is your warning.
Kaleb: I absolutely love the stage Kaleb is in right now. He always has a lot to say (at least when he is around Jonny and I, he still gets pretty shy around other people), and I love the way he talks. He has started really emphasizing certain words, such as "and then, we were going to play cars." It is such a little thing, but it is so cute :) Kaleb loves cars and stuffed animals most right now. From October to December he was on a total cars kick, and although he still loves them, he isn't quite as obsessed. Every night and frequently throughout the day he has to gather all of his stuffed animals and he hugs them and says "Oh, I love these stuffed animals," and he throws them around and just has a lot of fun with them. He recently started having the boy ones give the girl ones kisses. We have been working for about a month on teaching Kaleb about the heroes from the Book of Mormon. He loves learning about them, and I think it is so awesome how quickly he is picking it all up. We have hero cards, and he can go through and name all 14 of them and tell details of why they are heroes. He is also doing such a great job at learning the alphabet and recognizing the letters. He is such a smart little kid, and it makes it so fun to teach him. He is also a very caring, sweet big brother. I am amazed at some of the little things he does to watch out for Aliyah. Although, I must say, there are some things we are working on. He has become pretty bossy and has a hard time sharing certain toys with his little sis.
Aliyah: Little miss Aliyah just hit the 10 month mark and I have to say I am really excited for the stage she is entering. Her little personality is coming out so much lately, and I love it! She loves to dance - her little legs instantly start bouncing whenever music comes on. She is also beginning to love baby dolls. When she sees one, she picks it up and gives it hugs over and over and pats it on the head. Her favorite toy is generally anything that Kaleb is playing with, which can be very frustrating for Kaleb! A few weeks ago she hit a point where she would no longer go to sleep for me. All of a sudden, our system just wouldn't work, but as soon as I would hand her to Jonny she would just melt in his arms. So, she prefers Jonny for nap time and bed time, but outside of that I'm the preferred parent. She cries as though her world is going to end as soon as I walk out of sight. It is fun to have her interacting more, and I know it will just keep getting more fun. Aliyah started crawling right around Christmas, and is now working toward walking. She cruises the furniture and is getting more confident as she moves around. She will be a very happy girl when she hits the one year mark and can eat most everything we are eating. Aliyah adores Kaleb, but doesn't have very much patience for all the affection he gives her. We call Aliyah our little lion because she has such wild hair and she is so feisty!
So there is my not so quick recap of the last 4 months. As we prepare to end this phase and begin a new one, I am nervous and stressed and so excited. It is going to be wonderful to just be mom, and not have to worry about 97 boys and just everything that comes with being a manager. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunities we've had here and we are so, so grateful to the Schleg's for providing us with a home for the summer!
Since the last time I posted was October, there is a lot to catch up on! We'll see how much I can cover...
Halloween: Kaleb was an alligator and Aliyah was a ladybug. We started the night with the annual trunk or treat for Sugar 6th ward, and then went to Grandma and Ron's for chili and homemade rootbeer. Kaleb was sick of his costume by then, so he didn't do any actual trick-or-treating but we didn't mind that too much :)
Thanksgiving: We spent Thanksgiving with the Parkinson's this year. It was a few days full of delicious food, very little sleep, and lots of fun :)
Christmas: In some ways we feel like we didn't really get a Christmas. It was a very emotion-filled week, and we had very sick kids throughout the holidays, but there was a lot of fun and sweet memory making in the mix as well. Since Christmas was with the Schleg's this year we had a little party with the Parkinson's a couple days before. On the 23rd Carly, my Mom and I got to head to Idaho Falls for a quick shopping trip since Carly had just found out she'll be having a little BOY in June! We are very excited to meet this sweet little Paxon :) That day was followed by lots of play time and our gift exchange. The highlight of the night was probably when all the men in the family (and Sarah and Emi) opened their ukuleles!
For Christmas Eve with the Schleg's, we had a wonderful dinner complete with sparkling cider and ate by candlelight in the new room. Afterwards, everyone took part in a beautiful nativity program. We got started a little late though, so by the end we had lost most of our shepherds and animals and Ron became the angel. Following the program, we took Kaleb and Aliyah upstairs to open their Christmas Eve presents. They opened their jammies from Grammy, and their blanket and stuffed animal from us.
Christmas morning finally came and the kids had a few minutes to see what Santa brought before it was time to throw ourselves together and dash to church. Through the rest of the day we really had a blast, just relaxing and enjoying each other. The kids had so much time to play with their new toys and have fun cousin time. We finished the night with our Schleg family gift exchange. By the end of that, Kaleb was throwing up and had almost constant diarrhea. He had been really sick 2 days before and hadn't felt great since, but for some reason it really hit hard again that night. After about and hour of that, we decided to head home. After a couple of hours at home, Kaleb was so completely miserable and we were wondering if we should take him to the hospital. He had hardly eaten a thing throughout the day and the day before, yet he continued to have diarrhea so we were worried about him getting dehydrated. We decided to run to Grammy's house so that he could soak in a warm bath for a while (his little bottom was so raw and we only have showers). On the way out Kaleb fell asleep, so we went back home and he slept through the night! Aliyah did as well, and it was such a blessing for all of us. Unfortunately by Tuesday the nasty sickness had set in really bad for Aliyah, so we had the same ordeal with her for about 3 days. It felt like such a nightmare of a week, but we survived!
It's funny, because here I am writing this post on a Sunday afternoon, home for the day with 2 sick kiddos. Luckily this time it is just runny noses and coughs. Although wiping noses can get old, I would take that over throw up and diarrhea any day!
So a quick recap of January: This is in some ways a crazy semester, and in some ways a more relaxed one. This is Jonny's last semester of classes, so he doesn't really feel much pressure to get A's. He has all of his applications in, and now we are just waiting to hear back from the schools. So far we have an acceptance letter from Concordia with a $5000 scholarship offer, and an acceptance letter from Willamette with an $8000 scholarship offer. Jonny is also on the wait list at Washington and Lee, and Lewis and Clark. We are anxious to go through the decision process and start making plans so that we can get a clearer picture of what the next 3 years will look like, but our only choice is to be patient!
Jonny's class schedule doesn't allow him to be home as much during my office time, which makes for a very stressed momma on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! It is simply too much to try to keep both kids happy and maintain a professional office. So...I am turning in my two weeks notice tomorrow. Our plan is to move in with Jonny's family for a few months to get us through this last phase of schooling. Jonny will start an internship in April, and then probably sometime in August we will be heading off on a new adventure!
So, I know this post is becoming quite the novel. If I would just get better at updating things more often, it wouldn't have to be so long! To finish things off, I just want to write a blip on each of the kids. These are going to be those proud mom, possibly annoying to others, types of details but I want to remember this fun time with them and my observations...so there is your warning.
Kaleb: I absolutely love the stage Kaleb is in right now. He always has a lot to say (at least when he is around Jonny and I, he still gets pretty shy around other people), and I love the way he talks. He has started really emphasizing certain words, such as "and then, we were going to play cars." It is such a little thing, but it is so cute :) Kaleb loves cars and stuffed animals most right now. From October to December he was on a total cars kick, and although he still loves them, he isn't quite as obsessed. Every night and frequently throughout the day he has to gather all of his stuffed animals and he hugs them and says "Oh, I love these stuffed animals," and he throws them around and just has a lot of fun with them. He recently started having the boy ones give the girl ones kisses. We have been working for about a month on teaching Kaleb about the heroes from the Book of Mormon. He loves learning about them, and I think it is so awesome how quickly he is picking it all up. We have hero cards, and he can go through and name all 14 of them and tell details of why they are heroes. He is also doing such a great job at learning the alphabet and recognizing the letters. He is such a smart little kid, and it makes it so fun to teach him. He is also a very caring, sweet big brother. I am amazed at some of the little things he does to watch out for Aliyah. Although, I must say, there are some things we are working on. He has become pretty bossy and has a hard time sharing certain toys with his little sis.
Aliyah: Little miss Aliyah just hit the 10 month mark and I have to say I am really excited for the stage she is entering. Her little personality is coming out so much lately, and I love it! She loves to dance - her little legs instantly start bouncing whenever music comes on. She is also beginning to love baby dolls. When she sees one, she picks it up and gives it hugs over and over and pats it on the head. Her favorite toy is generally anything that Kaleb is playing with, which can be very frustrating for Kaleb! A few weeks ago she hit a point where she would no longer go to sleep for me. All of a sudden, our system just wouldn't work, but as soon as I would hand her to Jonny she would just melt in his arms. So, she prefers Jonny for nap time and bed time, but outside of that I'm the preferred parent. She cries as though her world is going to end as soon as I walk out of sight. It is fun to have her interacting more, and I know it will just keep getting more fun. Aliyah started crawling right around Christmas, and is now working toward walking. She cruises the furniture and is getting more confident as she moves around. She will be a very happy girl when she hits the one year mark and can eat most everything we are eating. Aliyah adores Kaleb, but doesn't have very much patience for all the affection he gives her. We call Aliyah our little lion because she has such wild hair and she is so feisty!
So there is my not so quick recap of the last 4 months. As we prepare to end this phase and begin a new one, I am nervous and stressed and so excited. It is going to be wonderful to just be mom, and not have to worry about 97 boys and just everything that comes with being a manager. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunities we've had here and we are so, so grateful to the Schleg's for providing us with a home for the summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)