Last Saturday was a Fun Family Day

Last Saturday was a lot of fun. We started the day out by going to our church Easter breakfast and egg hunt. We weren't sure whether Allie would catch on to what she was suppose to do during the egg hunt, but she really did pretty well. It was really cute watching her. We thought that the egg hunt was going to be inside, so we didn't come prepared with a coat. The sun was shining, but there was a really cold wind blowing, so a lady in the ward let Allie borrow her son's jacket. He had several layers on, so he didn't need it. It was pretty big on her, but she could still run pretty well.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Allie walking to line up with Shayne Neely.

Bundled in a coat, Allie is waiting patiently by the door.

Adding an egg to her basket, she starts looking for the next one.

Allie collecting another egg.

Delighted about her collection.

Here's a video from the hunt:

After the egg hunt, we went back inside for a little bit. Allie found her way to the nursery and started pushing her baby in its "stroller" (grocery cart). She took it for a walk around the block (through the gym and back to the nursery by way of the halls).

Allie pushing her baby.

Here's a video of her pushing her baby:

Allie wanted to drive us home. We let her play for a short time, but then disappointed her by putting her in her car seat.

As we were getting ready to leave the church, our friends, Amy and Lily, called to see whether we wanted to go explore Stillwater's Art Festival with them. We decided that we'd meet them there. Part of Main Street was closed down for different artists to display their creations. There were some very unique pieces. We especially enjoyed some of the copper work, blown glass, and pottery.
As we were heading back to the car, a children's Irish dance group started performing. Given the good tunes and really pretty good dancing, we thought that we would watch for a little while. Both Allie and Lily were a little shy about moving to the music at first, but they eventually decided it would be fun to dance and run around.

In addition to running and dancing, Allie decided it would be fun to do her newly-found trick of, what we call, "butt-bumping" or "butt-dropping." Here's a video that shows her trick. She also does this trick in the bathtub, which makes for some exciting splashes.

Here are some pictures of their fun, too.



Allie and Lily



A cute picture of Allie's friend, Lily.



Lily and Allie running around. (Cute how they both have their tongues out.)

All in all, it was a very fun morning.

Breya's Birthday Party

Last weekend, Nikki and Allie went to help prepare for and celebrate at Allie's cousin's birthday party. Her cousin, Breya, turned 4 years at the beginning of April. It is hard to believe she is 4 already. She is such a cute girl with such a fun personality. Unfortunately, due to having her hands full with Allie, Nikki didn't get any good pictures of the birthday girl. But she did capture some of the fun that Allie had at the party. (Overall, it was a very hard day for Allie and Mommy - full of tantrums and breakdowns - but you would never guess it by the following pictures and videos.)

Since Nikki's sister owns JumpTown Inflatables, they had set up some great inflatables! There was a bounce house and slide combo, as well as a 53' obstacle course. Both were awesome! Allie especially enjoyed the obstacle course. Here are some videos from her playing on it.

First is a video of her entering the obstacle course.

Then she would climb up an incline in order to go down a slide.

Then she slid down.

And played around a little at the bottom.

She would then get off and run back to the beginning to start all over again. (Though she didn't normally fall. There was a divot in the ground where she fell.)

Here are some pictures from the obstacle course.

Allie also enjoyed playing on the swing. However, the swing was also the cause of a few breakdowns and tantrums. When she decided that she wanted to play on one, she was VERY unhappy that someone else was using it and that Mommy made her wait her turn. This happened a few times. But when she was on the swing, she did have fun. We only got a video of her on her tummy, but she did swing normally, too.



Some more pictures of Allie, just for fun

We have a few pictures that aren't necessarily the "best" pictures of Allie, but they are pretty funny. We hope that she can appreciate the humor in them someday. Here they are:

Allie had some wild hair when she woke up from her nap. (Notice that she
is reaching for the camera.) 

Having woken up grumpy, not getting the camera made her even more
unhappy. So here she is with a sad face and crazy hair. But still so beautiful!

A car seat cover / canopy / tent

We recently got a sewing machine, and Nikki thought she would try making a car seat cover (aka canopy or tent) as her first project. It turned out really pretty cute, we think. Thank you, Sharon, for your tutorial!! Here's a few pictures of the final product.

 

Better view of the flowers

Better view of the two fabrics - the colors are light pink and
 brown, though it is a little hard to tell in these pictures.

Nikki is a Stay-at-Home Mommy!

Nikki's last day at Ocean Dental was Friday, April 1st - and her quitting was not an April Fool's joke. Though she really did not regret saying goodbye to Ocean Dental, the motive behind her quitting was so that Jared could focus completely on his classes. And as long as everything goes as planned, Jared should have a research assistantship (with income) next semester, which begins in June. This change has been good for both Mommy and Daddy, though Daddy does miss the mornings with Allie.

Nikki has been enjoying being at home with Allie. She doesn't have stress related to work, and she has more time to give to both Allie and the house. Therefore, she also has less stress related to not feeling like a good enough mommy or wife. Of course there are still difficult days; there is always work to be done, and Allie is almost two and can throw a pretty good tantrum when she wants. But all in all, she is loving being at home.

Since the weather has been so nice here, Nikki and Allie have been able to go to the park a few times. Allie loves playing at the park but hates leaving. Here's a picture of Allie at the top of a slide.

Allie has a good friend named Lily. She is 13 months older (we previously said 11 months, but that was wrong) than Allie. They really have a great time playing together. Nikki and Lily's mom trade babysitting on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This allows each of them to accomplish some tasks that are more difficult to do while watching a toddler/preschooler. Last Thursday was the first time that Nikki watch Lily for them. The little girls had so much fun, and they were both really good for Nikki, too. Here's a cute picture of the two girls.

Lily and Allie

Nikki's pregnancy is going well, too. She continues to measure as she should, and the baby's heart rate is always where it should be. The little girl is quite active, too, as she can be felt moving quite easily. Though she has entered into the third trimester, Nikki still has energy and isn't too uncomfortable. Here's an updated picture of her belly.

29 Weeks

Dog-Sitting

A few weeks ago, we again had the opportunity to dog-sit for our friends. We greatly enjoyed having Roxy with us for almost a week in total. There was a day and a half in the middle in which we did not have her. There were times when we felt like we had two toddlers, but overall it was fun to have her.

Allie especially loved having her around. For the first few days, Roxy put up with Allie pretty well. Here are some fun photos.

Allie and Roxy enjoying a video.

Allie thought she would give Roxy some jewelry.

After a day or two of almost constant attention from Allie - and not always good attention - Roxy decided to avoid Allie whenever possible. If Allie would come downstairs, Roxy would run upstairs, and vice versa. Roxy would occasionally hide under the bed. (Apparently Roxy hides from her owner's almost 3-year old too, so we don't feel too bad.)

Allie also enjoyed Roxy's food and water dish. After the following videos, we tried to always remember to put her dishes up where Allie couldn't get to them.

The first one is short.

Longer, but a little more fun, perhaps.

Fun Videos of Allie

As mentioned in a previous post, Allie enjoys reading. She loves to have us read to her, and she will occasionally read to herself, too. Here is a longer video than what was shared before. It captures her reading a little better.

Daddy found a free stick horsey for Allie. She was really excited about it and still really loves her horsey. Here's a video of her riding her horsey on the first day.

Bath time is always fun with Allie. She used to hate having water dumped on her head when having her hair rinsed. But we discovered that playing, "If you're happy and you know it..." in the bath gets her to do a lot of things should wouldn't normally do. For example, we can get her to lay down on her back in the water. Also, we can get her to dump water on her own head. Notice in the following video how she says, "cheese" when she first notices the camera. And also how she doesn't forget one of the commands Daddy mentioned while playing the game.

Allie is a little dare devil. She likes to push the limits and live life on the edge. She also gets really hyper and crazy before bedtime. She loves to climb on and attack Daddy during this time. It can be pretty funny to watch. One night, she discovered she could do flips off of Daddy's legs. We called them somersaults in the video because we had previously tried teaching her how to do somersaults. In both videos, you can also see how she runs to the camera to watch herself.

Here's another video of Allie dancing. She had just gotten some new Easter and Spring dresses from Grandma Bobbie Alton. She enjoyed twirling in this one. Thanks for the dresses Grandma!!

Many Faces of Allie

It has been awhile since we last posted pictures of Allie. We want to share some photos that capture her fun personality. She makes us laugh a lot. Enjoy!

What can I do at the table, besides eat? Sometimes I will do anything
to keep from having to eat my meals.
(Allie with a trash can on her head - it was clean.)

I love bath time! Mommy washes me and Daddy dries me off. I love
my bee towel, too! Thanks Grandma Terri!

Mom got lucky and actually captured a real smile instead of my
"cheese" smile.

I love to look at the camera and don't usually wait for the picture
to be taken. So here, Daddy was trying to train me to smile
and stay in one spot until I saw a bright light (flash).
Right after this, I ran to see the picture Daddy took.

People always say that I look like my Daddy. I try to act like him, too, sometimes.
(See the next picture.)

Chilling on the couch with Daddy.

I usually like to be on the move, but occasionally I will get comfy
on the couch while watching a video.

I thought I would have some fun with the kleenex. I like kleenex.
And I like to decorate the house, too.

Mommy asked me to help clean up.

"Cheese." I'm smiling, even though clean up is not as fun as
doing the decorating.

Want a high-five?!
(She had just had spaghetti. Sorry the picture is so dark.)

Clean plate! I don't know what happened to my face.

Another "cheese" moment. I like cheese.

I tried this box on for size. It seemed to fit perfectly!