WOW - it's been a while...

So - we got a new camera for Christmas and I've been having a hard time getting pics loaded b/c the size of the files are huge! SO...I've finally received some coaching on how to make the files smaller - so I can get this blog updated! Stay tuned :)

SANTA!

Tonight we went to the mall for haircuts and to see SANTA. First Mommy, Daddy and I (Grant) got our haircut. Then we went to check on Santa. He was on dinner break (and I think was off feeding the reindeer) so we went to eat dinner too. When we came back - he was back too.

We did really well waiting in line - about 30 mins or so
We tried to see SANTA every chance we got!

DO YOU SEE HIM?!?!?!?! I can't wait to talk with him. I've already said "hi Santa" about 20 times - every time he looks our way.

Waiting patiently - oh so close

Giving him the pictures we colored for him earlier today

We asked for Alphie the robot (Grant) and a "baby" (Alayna)

We did a great job! Mommy and Daddy were really happy with us.

Monkey Joe's

Last week we went to Monkey Joe's with some friends before the holidays. It was A LOT of fun.

Christmas "Up North"

The Sunday before Christmas we visited with Great Grandpa and Grandma Meidam and all our relatives up "north". It was a lot of fun!

Great Grandpa even let me wear his hat! Thumbs up dude!

Christmas Movie Night

CHEESE(Y)

22 Months

At 22 mos old - Alayna is quite the character. She seems so "grown up" to me - sometimes it makes me a little sad and other times it just makes me smile. She's so funny. She's very different from Grant - spunkier! :) She's really been a lot of fun and changed so much over the last couple of months. What is there to know about Alayna right now?

- moved up to size 4 diapers - those size 3 just were pinching her little legs :)

- not a ton of potty interest yet

- just moved from her high chair to a booster seat at the dinner table - boy does she feel like a BIG GIRL

- is currently getting 4 teeth all at the same time. Can't remember what the name of them is, but they are all the same on the top and bottom

- still getting teeth = still using her Nuk. Hoping to conquer getting rid of the nuk after these teeth make their way in and THEN maybe attempt a shot at potty training

- 18-24 mos clothes and size 5 shoe

- likes to play outside in the snow - not a huge fan of the sled, but like to play with everything else out there - buckets, shovels, tow-mater, etc

- started pulling one leg up on her crib during timeouts like she was going to escape...needless to say we had to make sure it was as low as it could go and sure enough there was one more level. Hopefully that will help for a little while anyway.

yeah....she doesn't really realize this is to keep her in :) HEHE!

(Grant thought he needed to help keep her safe too)

- Things she says:

* she's actually very good with her manners - even using them without being asked quite often

* hearing Mommy sneeze in another room - I often hear "bless you Mom!" from Miss Alayna

* Lately after being asked not to do something anymore..."ok, I won't" :)

* "watch Mommy, watch" (or whomever she is talking to)

- when given juice to drink she DOWNS it before eating/drinking anything else. I guess maybe because she knows how infrequently she gets it?

- still take naps every afternoon, however has gone from her 3-3.5 hr naps in the summer to 2 hr naps...:(

- LOVES, LOVES, LOVES racing for anything. If there is something you want Alayna to do, get or somewhere she needs to go simply say "I'm gonna beat you" and she's gone!

Overall Alayna is a very happy girl with lots of smiles to share. Often in the store she says a very cheery "hi" to everyone we meet.

Music Class

This week was our last music class for this session. We haven't signed up for another one yet - but had a really fun time at this one. Grant was always a bit more shy and reserved at the classes. Alayna (especially towards the end) would get really excited and sing and do motions etc for all the songs. It was A LOT of fun to watch.

All the kids get really excited to do instruments

AND....finger puppets. For the first 5 weeks it was horses - the last 5 weeks we jumped like FROGS! RIBBIT!

AND - we got to play DRUMS this week (Alayna must be mid word in the song - she really was happy :) )

Anyway - hopefully we do that one again sometime!

Sledding

Last weekend we spent some time in Alto at Grandpa and Grandma's. The weather was supposed to get pretty yucky - so before it did Mommy, Grandpa, Uncle Cory and my cousin Brayden took me sledding. We went to the church hill. It was SUPER FUN! I loved it and would have played for hours! Grandpa pushing me down from the top - Me and Brayden were riding together
UH-OH! We fell over (it happened quite a few times actually:) )

....but I didn't mind :)
Me and Grandpa getting ready to go...we ended up on the snowbank by the pastor's drive way! Ooops! (hey - I know you are all wondering why I have pink and white boots on. I know - they are for GIRLS! Well - I'm soon borrowing some from my cousin - but until I see him it was either wear the pink & white or not play in the snow. C'mon - what's more important!?!?!?!?!?!

OBVIOUSLY - PLAYING!

Then - we took a break from sledding and built a snowman at the top of the hill

Eyes, nose, mouth and even arms

Pretty cool huh? I asked to knock it over - but they said no. Hmmm...wonder why? Anyway - we built a different smaller one that they let me knock down. That was fun too!

The 'building team'

Thanks for the fun day everyone! Hopefully there is enough snow at Christmas that we can go back!!!! SUPER FUN!

SNOW

A couple weeks ago we had our first "real" snow fall. It was my (Alayna's) first real time playing in the snow! I had a lot of fun....so did Grant!

First time I ate snow I like it!

Havin' fun!

My first snow angel

See.....

Grant tried to pull me in the sled. I was too heavy for him...I wasn't such a fan of the sled anyway.

Grant's 3 Year Dr Appt

I had my 3 yr dr appt a couple weeks ago. Guess what! When you're 3 you get to do cool things. Stand up tall on the big scale to be weighed - no more sitting on that cold baby scale (I even got to keep my clothes on!). I also was measured by standing up instead of laying down (this may have been a bad thing.) And they even took my blood pressure.

I'm sure you are wondering how big I am these days! WELL....I'm a WHOPPING 26 lbs and 35 1/4 inches tall. I'm still less than 5th percentil for weight - which the drs now seem to be fine with b/c that's just where I always am. We've done all the tests and everything says I'm fine. SO - we continue on with high calorie foods and carnation instant breakfast in my milk and well - I just get to wear my clothes longer than some of the other kids! As far as height goes, I'm in the 5th percentile. I used to measure about the 25th - however the doctor said not to worry. At the age 3 appt most kids height usually take a bit of a nose dive b/c it's the first time we have to stand to be measured. She said most kids don't really understand how to stand up nice and tall yet - so that was probably the case.

Anyway - I'm doing just fine! I had the rest of my flu vaccine and another shot. I was pretty tough, but cried a little bit. Those sure to sting!

The Dr said its time to start teaching me about stranger safety. So - we're working on it!

Christmas is Coming

We had to change a lot of things around this year to fit the Christmas tree in the living room. I guess we added too many toys to this room for it to fit in it's "normal" spot. SO - we have a whole new look that we didn't even think was possible. We didn't think the loveseat would fit anywhere else in the room without blocking doorways - but THANKFULLY Mommy was wrong - so not we can leave it there and have just a tad more room for "things".

Here we are having popcorn and watching the last couple mins of Rudolph. The loveseat used to be where the TV is in the pic. The lamp was in the corner. Now the tree is in the hole b/w the TV and the wall. We took the black shelf off the wall too.
Decorating the Christmas Tree - carefully!

Hmm....I wonder how all the ornaments that used to be sporadically placed around the tree (and many to the backside seeing they are ones we (Brian and Shana) grew up with) ended up right there all clustered in the front :)

Such concentration. Alayna didn't quite "get" how to get them to stay on the branch yet this year.

I guess a finished product picture will have to follow some other time. My original plan was to let them put the "unbreakable" ones on the tree where I knew they would - in the front on the bottom - and then when they went to bed I would decorate it how I wanted and move them all around. BUT....after I started to move one or two I thought - this is silly. They are only 1 and 3 at Christmas once - so if this is how are tree looks then that's how it looks. And I have to admit - I like it :)

"Hat"

Sometimes Alayna just cracks me up lately. "Helping" me fold laundry last week - I came back in the room and looks at me "hat Mommy!" She was so proud of herself!

Surprise!

Over Thanksgiving weekend we surprised Grandma with a SURPRISE birthday party! YAY! It was so fun! Here are a few pictures. She thought she was babysitting us and our cousins for the night, but then Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Chad and Aunt Jayme showed up at her front door with Aunt Karen's family (minus Jill & Marc :( ) and Great Grandma.

Grandma heard everyone singing "Happy Birthday" and went to check what was going on

Just tryin' to keep up with the boys

Lots of fun.....together!

Happy Birthday Grandma! Hope you had a fun time!

Briana Mae

Four years ago, November 26, 2006, Briana Mae changed our lives forever. We miss our little girl. I feel like it was just yesterday - it all seems so clear. But it was 4 years - that seems like so long. So much has happened in our lives since then and 4 just seems like not a toddler anymore. I wonder so often what she would look like, act like, sound like - who she would be. I can't wait to meet her again someday! Happy 4th Birthday Princess! We love you!

This is just sorta strange. We had this shelf set up in our living room with all things remembering Briana. While we were all gone for the weekend (the weekend before her birthday) this balloon was floating about our house. When we came back - I noticed it was right above her shelf. This was one of the balloons we bought to bring to the cemetery for her birthday. Crazy huh? At least I thought it was :)
Thanksgiving Day we celebrated as a family because we didn't think we'd all get back together during daylight on Friday.

The cake says "Princess of the King" I have to admit - I stole this from my friend Shelly (thanks Shelly!) Anyway...I thought a 4 yr old would love a Princess party right? I had thought about the Princess theme quite some time ago actually - but "Princess of the King" - isn't that such an amazing thought? I would so LOVE to see her running around in a little princess costume, but she is running around Heaven and dancing with the KING. AMAZING! I'm not gonna lie - I still wish she was here, BUT....AMAZING!

We let 4 balloons go

Happy Birthday Briana Mae!