Life!

I feel so blessed in my life right now that I just have to share some fun stories and experiences we have had. 

First an update on Aleana

 She is practically running around my house now and keeping me on my toes the whole time she is awake, it is fun but exhausting.  How do people have more then one kid? 

 She has about 3/4 of her molar on her left side and about 1/2 a molar on the right side.  She is also just getting over a nasty little cold which I am sure is making the teething worse, as well as our sleeping situation.  Poor little thing will often cough and gag at night and even cause her self to throw up. Luckily she has not gotten an ear infection, but i am sure this wont be her only cold this winter. I hope she gets over this soon. 

She is also developing more of a personality.  She is stubborn, feisty, sneaky, a huge tease, supper happy and smiley.  If she dose not want you to do something like suction out her nose then you are not going to be able to do it she will fight until you give up and she is strong.  I guess that this can be a good trait, no one will be able to walk all over this little girl, but she will be fun to raise.  Aleana will see me coming up to her to wipe her nose, change her diaper or put on her coat and she will laugh and run the other way.  Yesterday we went to the temple and I wanted a hug before I left, so I reached out to have her come to me when she was fished hugging Curt and twice she started coming to me and then turned and went back to Curt. Then she finally came and gave me a hug.  Also the other day I was trying to keep her away for the garbage can by the desk and I kept pulling her away but as soon as my attention was off of her for 2 second she was running back to the garbage can and when i would say her name she started laughing.  She did this about 5 times in a row. She is such a funny little girl!   

 Here is Aleana destroying my kitchen.

  But if you look close you can see she is sorting items into different 

containers so I guess it is a good learning experience. 

 Playing in the snow!

I can't tell if she liked it or not; she would not go out very far but she did keep bending down to grab snow until she fell down on her bum and got cold and wet. 

 inside nice and warm again. 

 Aleana learned to blow kisses on Wednesday November 20th and this is my attempt to get a picture. It is so cute when we say "love you" or "kisses" she brings her hand up to her face and kisses it and then pulls it away.  I guess we need to work on the blowing part but it is still so cute. 

 On Tuesday I let Aleana play under the bathroom sink while I was quickly getting ready.  I saw she was playing with some of my make up but did not realize she was getting it all over her self.  I guess she already want so be like mommy and wear make up.  I think this shirt might be ruined, but i just thought it was adorable and had to get a picture.  

Aleana love to play with her blocks.  On any given day you can come over to my house and my living room will be covered with blocks.  Curt and I like to play with them to and Aleana loves to knock over out towers. She is even starting to experiment with stacking blocks.  Before to long she will be helping us build towers instead of knocking then over.  

Aleana loves to just squat down and play which I find really funny but my Grand Song A would be proud because used to always squat down while she was preparing food or visiting, now she is getting to old.  She tried getting Debbie and I to do it but our legs where not strong or flexible enough to stay very long. 

Update on our life 

Curt is still applying for jobs with out much success.  He had a job interview a few weeks ago, he did not get the job but his sister Julee did. He has a couple other job potential and a few jobs he wants to apply for. One is with a guy that a coworkers knows which we don't know much about except he owns his own company and it has to do with clinical exercise so if they ever get a chance to talk about it then we will see if it is something we will be interested in.  There is also a potential that Curt could teach some exercise classes for his work that could potentially become a full time job but I guess we will just have to see.  

My life is pretty much just taking care of Aleana, cleaning, blogging :), and trying to keep up with photo books.  I do need to look into classes that I can take while being home with Aleana so that I can use my Americorp money.  I just can't decide if I just want to take fun classes that will help me in being a mom and enrich my life or classes that will help me get a good job when my kids grow up and I go back to work. I guess I should also do some indexing or family history work while I am home with Aleana. 

We are thinking about starting the adoption process again soon. I want to have our kids close together, but I am kind of nervous that we will get our second child fast and have them only 18 months apart. The Lord knows what is best for us and wont test us more then we can handle and I am sure I would be able to figure out how to handle Aleana at any age as well as a baby.  Although  if they are closer in age then they would be good friends.  

At the temple the yesterday I had the feeling we had other children wait for us and at least this next child would most likely not come from LDS family services.  So we really need to start cracking down to save up money so that we can be ready at least in part to pay for another adoption.  Also we need to keep our mind and hearts open to other opportunists and agencies.  But I know that if we do all that we can the Lord will help make anything possible.  I just need to have faith in His plan for us. 

   

Brian and Cadie's Wedding

Temple 

 My Brother Brian got married on Friday at the Bountiful Temple to Cadie (Cadence Leahman).  They have been dating for a year and a half and we have all fallen in love with Cadie and were so happy to see her officially become a part of our family.

 Aleana loves her Grandpas. Here she is with my Dad just after Brian and Cadie came out of the Temple. I did not get a pictures of her with her Grandpa Snelgrove but he came to the temple to watch her while we were at the wedding.  They spent most of the time walking around out side, even though it was cold and lightly snowing .  Aleana figured out that the doors opened automatically and would let her out. She also figured out that a yellow line on the side walk meant a step and she would stop and wait for help.  Thanks Grandpa Snelgrove for helping out. 

Luncheon 

 She was excited to see Brian when he came into the lunchen.  I think she is happy he Married Cadie.

Reception

Playing with Debbie and 2nd cousin Cadie.

 I am surprised that Aleana was so Happy though out the day.  She only took about an hour nap between the Luncheon and the reception. She diffidently had her fussy times but she the most part she just enjoyed the part and just wanted to be in the middle of everything.  

 I let her play with the Coursage made for my grandma who was not able to make it back to the reception after the long day. She loved the flowers and was doing great with it until she started pulling off the fake cranberries and eating them

.

 Here she is in what we had left for pj's  and clothes because she kept soaking though the rest of them.  About 10 mins later she had a bit of a blow out and they just was left in her onsie and socks.  I guess I should always over pack for busy weekends like this.

Cutting the Cake and Dancing 

   They were very nice about feeding the cake and cleaning off the frosting.

 Cadie and her Dad.

 Brian and Cadie.
  They make such a cute couple and look so happy together.

Close up of the Cake.

All the girls!  I love all my sisters :) 

It was a long day but I am so happy for them and was glad to be apart of their big day. And I am very excited to have another sister, she fits right into our family, I have even been told we look like each other.

Novemeber Fun!

Saturday November 2

 

On  I helped throw my soon to be sister in law Cadence's Bridal Shower.  She had a lot a of fun and did really good at answer questions about Brian, she only had to have 3 or 4 Gum balls.  I am so excited Brian found someone as wonderful as Cadence and I am so excited to have her as my sister-in-law.

Debbie with her two favorite girls! 

After the shower we went over to my parents house so they could see Aleana, my mom was not at the shower because she went to Vernal with my Dad for his brother Terry's Funeral. 

Aleana and Layla were playing so cute together.  

They both had fun with the books and looked so adorable in the sun glasses. 

Aleana was trying to be so helpful and put Layla's sunglasses back on her :) 

I think they are going to be best friends. 

Wednesday November 6th

On  Aleana decided that it would be fun to play with my make up.  She did not care about anything else in the cupboard so I guess she has seen me put on makeup a few times and thinks it is a fun toy.  I will have to watch out for her, she may want to start wearing make up early.

While in the bathroom she found some Q-tips and she pretended to put them in her nose and laugh which i found kind of funny because she hates it when we use them to clean out her nose. I guess she has laughed because it tickled a couple of times.  

Check out Aleana's 1st molar! 

She is in the process of getting two molars this one on the left that you can see started to cut on Saturday Oct 19th and the one on the right poked through on Friday Nov 1st.  She has been in pain and kind of fussy but not as bad as I was expecting.  She does have a high tolerance for pain, she bumps her head on something almost everyday and about a minute later she is up playing again. She is a tough little girl! 

We went out on a walk to see the ducks.  Aleana loves to watch the ducks and talk to them.  She somethings even shares her snacks with them. 

What a happy little girl, she loves her walks! 

Debbie made a couple really cute shirts for Aleana and she came to take pictures of her in them for a portfolio, but Aleana was more interested in her phone.  I hope she was able to get some good pictures :) 

Aleana loves to walk around the house pretending she is talking on the phone she will often use remotes or other objects if I don't give her my phone. She also loves to call Daddy while he is at work and just goes crazy babbling to him and will leave him awesome voice mails if he does not answer.  I know he loves it and it differently brightens his day. She is now starting to talk to other people on the phone as well, she had a nice long conversation with my mom on Sunday. I am afraid she will like to talk on the phone with friends when she is older.  

Today Aleana discovered and tried a few new things.  She learned how to flush the toilet which I guess will become usefully when she is potty training.  I had the baby gate up so she would not go down the stairs while I was getting ready and she went over and was hanging on the gate and trying to climb on it.  I guess a baby gate won't keep her out of things for much longer.  

Thursday November 7 

Aleana loves playing with my tablet.  I guess I should get some kid friendly games. Although she mostly likes to open and close the cover and unlock my screen. She is too smart with electronics   

Helping Curt sweep after dinner

Friday November 8th

Aleana thinks that it is funny to push me over so I grabbed Aleana and pulled up on my back. She is so fun to play with! 

Saturday Nov 9th 

Aleana loves the sheep back behind our house and loves it when we take her out to see them.  Sometimes she even tries to open the door so she can go out on her own, good thing we have dead bolts on our front and back door.  I don't look forward to when she really can open the door and try to escape.  

My Dad came over to visit and play with Aleana.  He brought some bread so they could go feed the ducks but Aleana ate more then she shared with the ducks. On the ways over she stopped at a few different trees to play with the leaves and branches.  She just love it out side! 

Grandpa Stauffer and Aleana 

Feeding the ducks.

Aleana also had my Dad take her out the see the sheep a few different times. They played with magnets on a big metal bowl and the foam blocks.  Aleana is an expert at knocking towers over.  They also enjoyed kicking and passing a soccer ball back and forth.  They had a lot of fun playing together.  I know my Dad loves are little cutie and I think she loves him too :)

Sunday November 10th 

Curt's Coworkers gave him this flower when we took Aleana to the temple. 

We have claimed it as her adoption flower. She really loves the flowers

 and was giggling as she touched them:)

We had Debbie, and Ben & Alyssa Owen for dinner. 

The Owen's are having a baby girl in January!

 Aleana thought it was a lot of fun to go through

 everything in Debbie's purse.

 After dinner I went to an amazing stake women's fireside called "Women at the Well"  I missed the first part but I saw the video were they interviewed women in our stake who have gone through difficult challenges in their lives but sought the Lord and have been greatly blessed.  It was very inspiring and should me that with the Lord I can face any challenge.  After words they had a yummy chocolate fountain and I visited with sisters in our ward.   

Monday November 11th 

Aleana out enjoying the sheep after breakfast. 

Tuesday November 12 

Aleana loves her bananas. Yesterday she ate a whole one and today she ate a half a banana.  She grabs them and tries to open them or eat them with the pill.  

 After our walk today I watered the flowers and then Aleana thought it was her turn to water the flowers and take care of the plants. She thought that the watering can was pretty cool and carried it all around until we went inside. 

Here are some other funny things she has done in the last couple of weeks.  When Aleana gets into the bathroom she likes to grab the plunger and hit it on the ground and use it as a walker.  Aleana has become obsessed with her nose and our nose. She gives us Eskimo kisses, rubs her nose on my shoulder, grabs our noses, grabs her nose (she can sometimes tell us where her nose is), rubs her face on soft things like her stuffed animals, and fur in touch and feel books, and even rub her nose on our friends dog Barkley tail and bum.  It was kind of gross but really funny. She also likes to bump heads with us and rub her hands down our faces.  She really likes her stuffed animals especially her dogs and will often walk around hugging them.

Aleana has become a great walker and will sometimes trip when she is wearing shoes. She is a keeping me busy, diffidently can get places faster then before and is always on the move.  She even does pretty good on the grass although she does trip a little more often. She has the cutest little waddle especially when she is wearing shoes and I will be sad when she stops walking like that.

Aleana will not fall asleep in our arms unless she is super tired.  Now when we try to rock her, sing to her and read t her she plays with the books, bounces all around, wiggles all over the place and likes to play with our faces.  Usually we just rock her long enough to try and get her calmed down and luckily she falls asleep in her crib fairly easily.  My snugly little girl is all but gone :(.

Last night Curt and I went and saw Thor 2 in 3D with my Dad and Debbie.  The show was really good and the 3D was amazing kind of like you were really there. My mom came up and watched Aleana, she was so good for her and was asleep when we got home. It was fun to get out and have a date with Curt.

I am looking forward to Brian and Cadence's wedding on Friday!

Halloween Fun!!

Sugar Cookies!

On Monday Oct 28th we went up to the Hicken House to Decorate cookies with Chelsea, Andy & Ezra Moore and Yeon Mi and Brooklyn Hicken for FHE.

Here is Aleana enjoying her Sugar Cookie right before she decided to drop it on the floor.

Chelsea decorating cookies while Andy

 is enjoying a cookie. 

Curt with his awesome ghost.

Aleana, Chelsea and I with the cookies

Aleana  playing with little Brookie

Pumpkin Walk!

Aleana as Yoda! She makes a cute Yoda.

What an adorable Cinderella

My little Cabbage Pack baby in front of the

Cabbage patch display. I just had to get a picture

 because everyone says how much she looks

 like a cabbage patch doll.

Curt and I with Aleana in front of our adoption display. 

 A scene from Dino Train a show about an adopted Dino. 

 I will have to watch the show some day.

I used to love Care Bears and Aleana laughed when

 she saw the display so we had to get a picture.

Curt and Aleana in front of Wreck-it-Ralph. 

 Curt loves the show and so did Aleana we she watched it.

Playgroup Halloween Party

We had a fun little Halloween party with some ward friends.  The kids had a great time playing and us parents had a fun time visiting.  I think playgroup is just as much for the parents as the kids :)

My little Princess and her big cheesy smile!

Cute little Tigger is Kaylee Aleana's best friend. 

 They are planning on moving back to Rexburg to finish school we will be supper said when they leave.  

 Mummy Wrap!

My wrapping was a little after the fact

so she is not as well covered. 

 Aleana and Kaylee sharing a pumpkin rice crispy treat. 
They are such cute little friends!

Halloween!

Halloween was a fun busy day

but we were exhausted by the end.

 My friend Christy had a Breakfast and had the kids come dressed up, it was fun to see all the cute little kids in Halloween Costumes.

That afternoon I went trick or treating around town with some Aggie Village friends. Then I took Aleana over to see Curt at work, she fell asleep in the car but when Curt came out to say hi she woke up so we took her in.  She was tired so it took her awhile to wake up and want to see people but everyone thought she was so cute in her princess costume and she even showed them how she walks. Curt's coworkers are mostly girls and they were so excited when we received Aleana and they love it when I bring her in.  

Trick or treating 

We went and had dinner with the Kjars and then we went trick or treating with them. Damaris stayed back to pass out candy and I ended up bringing Aleana back early because she was cold.   Aleana had fun but we will probably end up eating all the candy, for 1 she does not like candy and for 2 we don't really want her having Candy yet.

 Daddy and Aleana trick or treating

 Mommy and Aleana Trick or Treating

Helping Gordon sort out his candy.