Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Spring is almost here!

Today is windy and cold, but yesterday we were outside and the grass is starting to get GREEN! I can't wait for spring and being able to spend time outside! That and I'm tired of dealing with everybody being sick and then not sleeping, and being crabby, etc. etc....grr... Anyways, so yesterday Nate was "trimming" our bushes...watch out he likes to chop things down, luckily plants grow quickly in Iowa. Here are the girls "helping."

And Hannah's lovely pose...
This month Jace and Josie (Nate's 8 year old siblings) were baptized. It was great because all of Nate's family was able to come...all 12 kids and families and the grandmas. It was also pretty nice because we have a font in our new building...no driving for and hour and a half!
We spent one evening at a hotel in Sioux City, IA because Nate had some work stuff to do there. We enjoyed the pool and breakfast (twice) and got some "big city" shopping done.
My Chunky Monkey!

Thinking that the water is a little cold!!

Loving it!
Most of us enjoyed family night at the Country Club. It was dance night, which Hannah should love, but instead she pouted the WHOLE night because Daddy wasn't paying enough attention to her!

Last, the Allison update. We went to the Doctor's last week, this time for her 9 month well-baby visit (happy day)...she is just about 22 pounds (90%) and I can't remember what they told me for her length, but it puts in at 60%. So she has slowed down growing one direction at least! And as of last night I think I can say that she is officially CRAWLING!!! It has been a long time coming, and for the last month she has been anything but stationary...it is just that she is finally actually crawling. Although at this point rolling and her sitting scoot get her places more quickly, I'm guessing that it will only be a matter of days before she's zooming around my house!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Not lost, just sick!

So it seems like our life is about like everybody else's these days. We've all been sick, well everybody except Nate, and then we've been busy trying to catch up on everything that got behind while we were all sick! I've been giving Nate a hard time because he's the only one that never really got sick, I figured that I must just be getting Iowa colds or something. Then we all got some sort of 24ish hour flu, Hannah the worst, and then I had pneumonia like bad enough that the doctor would have gladly admitted me to the hospital. So for about 2-3 weeks I was sure that we weren't having any more kids and I wasn't sure that I'd make it! But after tons of antibiotics and 3 weeks of zero energy, I'm doing much better, so the family is, too!

So in the last two months my mom and step-dad came to visit.



We moved into our new church building on Feb. 1 and it was dedicated Feb. 15. I don't have any pics of the completed building yet...so much for taking pictures every so often to see the progress! Anyways, it is great to feel like I'm going to "real" church, even if we are still a branch! Having a building make a huge difference, and now we actually have classrooms, too!

Nate's parents also turned 50 in the past two months...here they are celebrating at the Country Club.

We've been trying to finish up some projects around the house before Nate gets super busy again. So we now finally have quarter-round installed along our baseboards (after a year w/o). So that makes the floors look finished. We painted our family room. I don't know, it sure seems like we keep finding more things to do! Does laundry, cleaning, picking up cheerios, changing diapers, etc. count as being busy!?

Oh yeah, I also made Allison some shoes...I finally put my sewing machine (Christmas present) to good use. I made her two pairs, and although I really don't have a clue when is comes to sewing, they turned out great! Well, at least they meet my standards! If I think about it I will take a picture to show off my craftiness...if I remember!

Here are a few pics of the girls, being cute as always.

Saying "cheese" I'm sure!

Hannah rooting on the tigers! Go tigers!
Allison wearing a cute outfit from my mom (that she has already outgrown!) It is an alligator for Alli-gator. Although around here she more commonly gets called Alli cat!
Some day she will just start going! You can also kinda see her shoes in this pic. I'm excited about them at least!






Allison is 8 months old ALREADY! She's not crawling, yet. And that is totally FINE with me. She's been up and rocking on her knees for a while now, but just hasn't quite figured it out. I think she's not too concerned because instead she rolls EVERYWHERE! Hannah was never that much of a rolly polly! Alli also says "mama!" Before daddy :) Although it is typically a crying kinda mama thing, it still makes me smile, mostly :) Allison loves to eat! She is hungry, hungry, hungry and thinks she needs grown up food any time she sees us eating. She is a little bossy when it comes to food, but so far she isn't too picky! Because of this she also has a new car seat. She's 22lbs and Hannah was only 19lbs when she turned 1! Watch out Hannah!

Hannah is a great big sister and mom's helper. She loves to play patty-cake with her sister and she still LOVES to dance to the Mamma Mia soundtrack. She also loves to grab her sister (usually by the head) and give her big hugs. It seems like any time Alli is on the floor Hannah has to touch her, and her head seems to be the most common target. Maybe she will grow out of that someday. Either that or I need a whistle like a referee. Luckily babies are tough and Allison is totally in love with her big sister anyways!