Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Vaycay, Baby!

We went to Salt Lake to do some wedding shopping for May 8 and then the Allens stayed for some Spring Break fun! (It's our last Spring Break ever, you know! Pretty soon, school will be over forever!)

Saturday, March 13, we:
Woke up early and hit the road! We had a fun day shopping at the mall and hanging with the fam. (Grandma & Grandpa are fun toys and playin' buddies.)

Sunday, March 14, we:
Went to Music and the Spoken Word on Temple Square.

Andlie & Bryan waited outside because Andlie is not allowed in. (She's not really that good at sitting still or being quiet, so that's okay.)

Then we said good-bye to the Goodwins and went to Krispy Kreme! Mmmmm!

Monday, March 15, we:
Hit up the Hogle Zoo with the Browns!

Andlie led the way. (Wonder where she gets her independent personality from?)

We saw a whole bunch of animals! Andlie's fave was the monkeys (she kept talking to them like they could understand), mine was the tiny elephant and giraffe (how hard would it be to bring them home and have them as pets), and Bryan's was the tiger (just lazily hangin' out in the sun)!

Andlie got a little tuckered out by the end.

Bryan & I took our own photo booth pics while we were waiting for Isabelle and Hayden (and Heidi) to ride the carousel. We're funny.

Then, Jazz game, baby!
Thank you to the following people for making this trip possible.
Mom & Dad for buying us the hotel room and food on Saturday!
Todd, Heidi, Isabelle, and Hayden for letting us crash at their house and eat all of their food!
Mindy & Jazz Bear for getting us tickets to the Jazz game!
Heidi's Mom & Dad for tending Andlie while we went to the game!
The nice woman behind us who took our picture at the game!

We had so much fun and can't wait for our next family vaycay! We'll definitely need one for Bryan's graduation in 44 days!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

We love every little tiny bit of you, Andlie! So much!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Mandy's Engaged!

Mand & Tim are engaged! Finally! Here's how it went down.

Mand & Tim went ice skating on February 13. They brought their Valentines for each other inside so they could exchange them. Mand gave hers to Tim and then it was Tim's turn. He gave her a giant heart filled with reasons that he loves her. After she pulled them all out, he said, "I think there's one more." She said, "I'm pretty sure that's it." Then he got down on one knee and gave her the bling! She started crying and then (in her words), "Tim just pulled [her] around on the ice like a puppy on a leash while she stared and the ring and cried." Finally, Tim said, "Uh, I don't think you said an answer." She answered, "YES!" Then she continued (and still does) to stare at the ring.

I am so happy for my baby sis! I can't believe she's getting married, but I couldn't choose a better other half for her than Tim! They are so happy together and we can't wait for the big day on May 8! Congratulations, Mandy & Tim! We love you!!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Family Pictures

I love them.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

ONE

Warning: This post is gonna be GIANT. I don't care. We love Andlie and can't get enough. Enjoy!

Andlie Grace Allen turned one! Can you believe it?! We sure can't. Click HERE for her picture in the newspaper!

One Year Stats
Weight: 19 Pounds, 5 Ounces (19%)
Height: 29 Inches (44%)
Head: 18.25 Inches (83%)

Andlie’s 1st Birthday Activities
Wake up to balloons in my bedroom.
Have a birthday breakfast! A banana pancake with sprinkles in the shape of a one! I also drank cow’s milk and have been for about a week. Balloons are also tied to my high chair!
Play with and examine my brand new front facing car seat.
Watch “Baby Einstein – A Day on the Farm” and LOVE it.
Take a nap.
Play with all of my toys!
Look outside and watch people come and go.
Play with my 2nd cousin, Taytum Hoopes.“Eat” lunch. (By eat, I mean throw everything on the floor after I spit it out.)
Have a bath due to my lunch mess.
Play in the cupboards and get everything out.Look outside again.
Have a visitor – aunt Mandy! Play with her for a while.
Take another nap.
Eat dinner at my Grandma & Grandpa Goodwin’s house! Grandma fixed my favorite – spaghetti! Grandma gave me a cupcake. I cried and shuddered and the frosting on my hand. I didn’t like that.
Play and play and play with the Goodwin family.Dad comes home from school! Play and laugh with him!
Take a ride in my new front facing car seat and LOVE every second! I giggled the ENTIRE time we drove around.

One Year Favorites
Toys: Remote Control, Cell Phones, Anything Noisy, Anything with Buttons, Baby Dolls, Books, Dad’s Contact Case, Keys
Food: Bananas/Spaghetti
Place: Outside/Grandma’s House/Home
Activities: Taking Baths/Playing/Walking/Copy-Catting

One Year Dislikes
Food: Baby Food/Potatoes/Macaroni
Activities: Being Alone/Being Still

One Year "Can Dos"
Everything she could do at six months!
Crawl. Fast.
Walk!
Wave Bye-bye. Sometimes with both hands!
Nod her head “no.”
Fake cry. Still.
Fake cough.
Clap.
Play Peek-A-Boo all by herself. (Sometimes her aim is a bit off still and she covers her forehead.)
Hold a phone to her ear when someone says, “Hello.”
Play the chase/follow game with Daddy.Growl.
Give “5.”
Blow raspberries.
Say: Dada, Santa (tata), Dog (da), Hohoho, Bye-bye (bubu), Mama
Dance!
Eat big girl food.
Ride in a front facing car seat!
Drink cow’s milk.
Drink from a sippy cup all by herself.
Sleep through the night with one feeding.
Knows where her toes and hair are.
Has five teeth – three on top and two on the bottom.
Will spit out her binky if you ask her to.
Open cupboards & drawers and get everything out.

One Year Quirks
If Andlie doesn’t like the food on her tray, she will pick it up, look at it, and throw it on the ground.
Andlie follows me around all day long from room to room.
If you hold your head up to Andlie’s and say, “bonk,” she will bonk her forehead to yours.
Andlie LOVES books and talks to herself while turning the pages.
When we get in the car, Andlie will have “yelling contests” with whomever is in the front seat. She usually wins.
When Andlie wants something, she points with her entire arm.
Andlie loves pets. She plays with my family’s cat & Bryan’s family’s dog. Play meaning smacks their paws and talks to them and giggles.
Andlie always, always, always starts laughing the instant me or Bryan start a prayer.
Andlie love baths. As soon as she hears the water, she crawls as fast as she can to get to the tub.
Whenever anyone says, “ohhh,” she will snuggle anything close by (including movies, books, dolls, blankies, anything) or lie down on the floor.
Andlie loves copy-catting and will usually do whatever you do.
Andlie loves “Baby Einstien: Baby McDonald” and squeals and screatches when it comes on!
Andlie knows how to feather the pages in a book – one of her favorite church activities.
Andlie knows what “put that away” means.
When anyone asks her where her toes are, she’ll pick her foot up and show you.
Andlie knows where her bows go and tries to put them in her hair all by herself.
Andlie will eat pretend food (nothing) if we do. She’ll even say, “mmmmm” after she’s “done.”
When it’s bathtime, she waits patiently by the tub. If we undo the straps on her diaper, she’ll shake her leg until it falls off.
Andlie loves swimming and isn’t afraid to splash, splash, splash!
Andlie has a blankie and she loves it.
When we take a shower, she sits in her stander toy in the bathroom. The minute the water goes off, she waits for the curtain to open and then she bursts into giggles when it does.
Andlie is fascintated by anything that has holes for her fingers to go in (tiny screws), flips on & off or up & down (bath drain), or makes noise.
Andlie will put her cute face up against anything if we say, "bonk." Think window face.

1st Birthday Party: January 12, 2010


Things We Love About Our Tot
Bryan
Tiny giggles when I tickle her
Scrunched up nose when she is being silly
Her humungous feet
The tiny gap in her newborn teeth
Her second toe that overlaps the one next to it
When she will snuggle with me for a few seconds at a time
That she spits out her bink when it is time to eat, or when we say “can I have that?”
That she wiggles when she dances
That she talks and talks and talks and sometimes yells at the Baby Einstein DVDs
How ticklish she is, especially behind her knees
She will lift and shake one leg to get her diaper off
Her crazy mullet hair that just gets longer and longer
When she walks with her arms out straight like Frankenstein
When she points at what she wants
When she claps
When she plays peek-a-boo
When she puts bows in her hair all by herself
When she falls asleep on me in the chair or any other time
When she pays with Beau
When she plays with Kitty and yells at it
That she loves her grandparents
When she pulls off her socks in the shopping cart
When she shakes her head so hard that she falls over
When she shakes while she is trying to put the lid on my contacts case
That she cries when she is sitting on Santa’s lap
That she will rip paper into tiny little pieces

Chandi
That she follows me around wherever I go all day long.
Her teeth!
Her one toe that overlaps the other ones.
Her funny personality.
That she likes it when I sing to her.
How it feels to have her warm little head snuggled on my chest.
Breastfeeding her – it is the most special, undescribable feeling in the world.
That I know how much she loves me when I look in her eyes.
The quiet moments I get with her in the middle of the night when it’s dark and silent and I just get to rock her in my arms.
The way she finds such weird positions to sleep in.
That she knows I’m her Mommy.
The “scrunchy nose” smile.
Her giggles & smiles!
That she plays games with us and laughs just as hard as we do!
That she fake laughs.
That she likes to do things by herself.
That she snuggles her baby doll.
That she has curly hair.
That she talks and talks and talks when she first wakes up.
That she pokes her head up in the crib when you open her door.
That she loves her new car seat.
That she can finally say “Mama!”
That she runs to me when anything is wrong.
Her button nose.
Her tiny hands.

We could go on forever (clearly)! We are so thankful for Andlie in our lives and for the blessing & privlege it is to have her in our lives. She truly brings so much joy and sunshine to us! Happy birthday, Andlie! We love you!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Baby's First Christmas

And what a Christmas it was!

Andlie still hated Santa at the Goodwin Family Christmas Party. . .until he gave her a present.
Andlie stole the other kids' presents at the Goodwin Family Party.
Santa was hilarious as always at the Goodwin Family Christmas Party. My favorite part: When Santa asked McCay if he'd ever been kissed, McCay said, "Don't worry about it," Santa asked if he'd ever been kissed by a man, McCay nodded no, Santa kissed him, McCay turned bright red, Santa said, "They don't call me the Jolly Ol' Elf for nothin'!"
Andlie magically knew how to crawl up the stairs at the Goodwin Family Party.
The St. George temple had beautiful lights and a nativity.

Goodwin Family Party

We enjoyed a "pre-Christmas" night with Bryan's parents on their way to Logan and had lots and lots of fun with them!
My favorite Christmas decoration was Andlie's new stocking!
Andlie was the angel at the Benson Family Christmas Party in the nativity. (And she was very cute.)
Kacie & Reyes got engaged at the Benson Family Christmas Party!
We went and sang Christmas songs at Grampi's grave as a family.
Andlie got a darling hat from Jarica & Shilo!
Santa came to our house. Andlie's pile was way bigger than both of ours combined. Way.
Andlie sported some real piggy tails on Christmas Eve and looked adorable!
We slept at the Goodwin's house on Christmas Eve and laughed with all!

Christmas Eve: Benson Family Party

Andlie got spoiled rotten by all of her grandparents. She loved every second!
Andlie got super good at tearing open packages.
We got to talk to Elder Goodwin on Christmas Day! He sounded great and has even forgotten some English!
We had delicious Christmas omlets compliments of my Dad.
We opened our own family presents at our house later in the day and. . . S P O I L E D is what we all got.

Christmas Day


Andlie did it again - she made our Christmas Day magical! We had a very, very Merry Christmas!