Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Month 5 and 6!

When she was 5 months old!  She is the joy of our life!!


Just a Cute Picture :)

St Patrick's Day

Sunday March 17, 2013

Aleana only has the two teeth still; she really has not been to upset except for the past few days so I wonder if they will come soon.  On Tuesday March 12th she learned how to roll from her back to her stomach and is doing it pretty regularly and now she is actually staring to enjoy being on her tummy.  I have not seen her roll from her stomach to her back again; maybe she will pick it up again soon.  Aleana loves her jumper and is getting better at jumping each time she uses it.  She also loves to walk around and explores the area.  I think she likes the independence and it may help her learn to walk.  I am not excited for her to grow up to fast but it is fun seeing her meet new mile stones. 

Aleana is still a babbler and loves to make the bu, bu sound.  It is just so stinking cute. She was babbling through church and most of the afternoon, when she was not crying because of her teeth, being hungry or poppy. Poor little thing had a tough day.  We could have made it easier by checking her diaper sooner; we are not sure how long we made her sit in that poopy diaper.

 Curt and I just love to play with her.  We enjoy talking to her and making her laugh. She is starting to get ticklish!  If you tick her she will often crack up laughing, other times she just sits there.  She likes to play Peek a Boo over some ones shoulder or by having toys or cloths be put in front of her face and then pulled away.  She also loves having people follow her up the stairs or around the house. She just finds the most random and simple things so funny and we just love it!  Although the tricks don’t always work and sometimes only amuse her for a few minutes, but we love to try and ways!

  She fell asleep in my arms today after church and I just held her; I just love snuggling with her.  She also fell asleep in daddy’s arms at church and I know how much he enjoys.  She is just the center of our world and we love her so much.  

Tuesday March 26, 2013

Poor little Aleana has been sick these past few weeks.  I think she is finally better except for a lingering runny nose.  She has had a runny nose, a cough, has not wanted to eat much and was really fussy and tired.  We were up with her for a good part of the night Monday the 18th because she was coughing and choking.  I put her to sleep in her bouncy chair so that she was not flat on her back and it seemed to help her sleep. 

On Tuesday night before we put her to bed we put some blankets under her mattress to raise it up to hopefully help her sleep better. Also Curt gave Aleana her first Fathers Blessing.  It was so special to hold her and be a part her first blessing. I could feel the spirit in Curt’s words as he blessed Aleana to get better and sleep well.  He also to let her know how special she is and how she has already blessed so many people’s lives in her short few months of life. She is such an angel and we are blessed to have her in our life.  Also Aleana and I are blessed to have Curt in our life who is worthy to have the Lord’s Priesthood and bless our lives and home.    I am glad that we had a chance to give Aleana a blessing as just the three of us, it was a special family experience.

Aleana still loves to roll onto her tummy, it is hard to get her to stay on her back unless she is playing with her toes, she loves her toes!  A few times she has even rolled back on to her back.  Before we know it she is going to be rolling all over the place and then crawling all over. We need to think about getting our house baby proof.
Aleana also loves faces! She loves to grab mouths, noses, hair and glasses.  If she is standing up facing me she usually has her hand on my face or a handful of my hair.  My family came up to visit this weekend.  When Allen was holding her she thought is beard was so cool and would run her fingers through it. When Debbie holds her she loves to grab her hair and wrap it around her face and make her have a mustache or eat her hair.  She also likes to eat Debbie’s hair.    When my dad holds her she loves to try and grab his glasses, and when mom held her she loved playing with her mouth.  I love to see her fascinated with the world around her.  She is also crazy about phones, cameras, and my tablet.  I guess that is probably my own fault J.  She love to grab at them and often smiles for the camera.
She has started doing the cutes thing.  She has started to cover her own face and play peek- a- boo with us.  She will cover her face and then we say “where’s Aleana”, and she will uncover her face and give us the biggest smile.  She is so adorable and gets more interactive every day.  
Oh I noticed something today, Aleana has a third tooth and it is not one of her top teeth, it is her bottom right tooth.  We were watching her top teeth and this little one just popped up and surprised us.  No wonder why she was fussy these last few days and wanting the teething tablets as if they were candy.  Now we have to be even more diligent about brushing teeth and giving fluoride.    

Easter!

6 months!!

She weighed 17 lbs abs 11.5 oz
She was beginning to roll all over the place and is staring to enjoy solid food
We redid some of our favorite posses from her first few weeks, and plan to do the same when she is a year old to show how she has grown.

Tuesday April 9, 2013

Aleana turned 6 months on April 2, I can’t believe she is already 6 months old she is growing up so fast.  On Easter she cut her first top tooth now that makes four teeth!  She loves to roll and rolls all over the living room, even underneath the coffee table. Now I have to be more carefully about what is on the floor.  It is so fun to see her roll around and explore new things.  She really likes books and helps me turn the pages and open and close the book. Yesterday she went to the doctors for her 6th month check-up and shots.  She now weighs 17 lbs 11.5 oz and is 26 ½ inches long.  She is in the 80th percentile for height and weight.  She is growing fast.  She did really well with her shoots, of course she was already crying from the liquid medicine they give her before the shots  and she cried after her shots but she calmed down pretty easy and was just fussy and out of it for the rest of the day.  She was pretty upset and had a hard time going to sleep but she was hungry and the medicine had worn off and we had just given her more.  I always give her medicine before her baby shots because it makes the world of difference. 
Last night I noticed a hole in the gums where her top right tooth will come in, so I think they will cut through today or tomorrow.  She is just popping out teeth like crazy. Thank goodness for teething tablets and baby Tylenol or my life would be a bit crazier.    
These last few weeks have been crazy but fun.  On the 30th Curt’s parents and Tiff and Julee came up to visit.  They brought up cute Easter presents for Aleana. Jody made her a cute little Easter dress.  And they also brought her a cute little barn with little stuffed Duck, Horse, Pig and Cow that make their sounds when you squeeze them.  Aleana has loved them and smiles when they make noise.  We had lunch on the back patio and enjoyed the afternoon together.    Later that afternoon we went down to Russ and Marianne’s house for Conner’s 3rd Birthday party.  Their little girl Sophie and Aleana will hopefully be good friends when they get older. They are only one week apart although Aleana is a lot bigger.    Then we went to my parents for an Easter dinner and then watched “Wreck-it Ralph” which Aleana loved.  It is bad she already loves the TV, but I am working on not having it on so much J. When we left my mom said that next time we see Allen and Kathy they may have a baby.  We figured that was not possible because she was still about a month out.
On Tuesday morning (April 4th) I get a call from my mom asking if I have heard from Allen, I said no and then she said pretend I did not call.  Kathy was in the hospital having her baby, her water broke at 3:30 that morning and she had Layla just before noon.  She weighed 5 lbs. and 10 oz. and was 19 inches long.  She stated out doing fine but as the day went on her breathing got worse and she ended up going to the NICU.  She could be in there for about 2 weeks.  They are treating her for pneumonia and she will be on the medication for 5 to 7 days.  She has started to get better since they started her on the medication, but Allen and Kathy still don’t get to hold her very often and when we went and saw her on Saturday night we could not even touch her.  She is adorable with olive skin, lots of black hair and Allen’s nose.  We love her and pray for her and Allen and Kathy often.  We are glad that having Kathy’s baby shower and having them be around Aleana and the family has helped their spirits and I hope things just go up from here.     
This weekend we get to go to Henderson for my Grandpas 80th Birthday and in 14 days we get to finalize the adoption and in 18 days we get to take Aleana to the Temple to be sealed to us.  This has been and will continue to be a great but crazy month. 



We went to Henderson Nevada for My Grandpa's 80th Birthday party.
It was fun to be there but poor little Aleana got an ear ache and was sick the whole time.
She is almost completely better:)




 The Family!
My Grandpa, Grandma, Aleana and her 2nd cousin Jackson 

Monday April 22, 2013

A lot has happened, Aleana now has 6 teeth, 2 half teeth on top and 3 and half teeth on bottom.  The top right and bottom right next to the middle are her new teeth. I think more will be coming soon because she is still in a lot of pain.  She all so has learned to sit up with little or no support, next step crawling (I don’t think I am ready for that).  Also she has gotten her first ear infectionL.
We were getting ready to leave for Henderson on Friday April 12th and Aleana had a nasty sounding cough and a runny nose.  I was able to clear her nose out and get rid of her cough so I was hoping we would be able to go because I really wanted to see my grandparents and for them to meet Aleana.  We left that afternoon and drove to Cedar City.  She gaged and threw up on the way to Cedar and when we were staying a Janalee and Danny’s places she was up most of the night coughing and probably had a fever.  We debated on going to my grandparents but since we were so close we decided to still go.  It was fun to spend the day with them and my aunt Suzanne and be there for the dinner and cake and ice cream. It was also nice for my grandparents to meet and spend time with Aleana.  I felt bad that she was fussy and cried a lot, threw up twice and probably had a fever while there.
We had planned to stay at my grandparents’ house with Aleana, but since she was sick my parents Brian, Debbie and us shared a two bed room suit and she kept everyone but my dad up half the night, but at least curt got more sleep then the previous night.   
 The car ride home was not too horrible because she slept most of the time and when she was awake Debbie rode with us to keep her happy.  When we got to my parents’ house we found out she did have a fever.  My Dad and Curt gave her a blessing and then she slept all the way home. 
On Tuesday I finally took her to the doctor and found out she had an ear infection. We played sick the rest of the week and by Thursday I was starting to get sick with a bit of a fever and cold and curt had a cold.  We are all started to feel better but Aleana hates to take her medicine L.
I can’t believe that tomorrow we get to go to court and finalize and Saturday we get to take her to the temple. This is going to be a big week!! Time has gone by so fast!
Oh Layla is home, but still on oxygen.  I can’t wait to see her again this weekend.           

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Collages


Superman was adopted to!
pictures I took of Aleana


 Cute pictures that my friend Chelsie Atkinson took

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

4 months old and update on life


Here is Aleana at 3 months.  She loved to kick, just found her hands and was starting to experiment with her voice more.  She weighed about 14 lbs and measured at 24 inches, she was still at the top of the charts. I love her big bright eyes they always make me so happy!   

Christmas 



          Our First Christmas with Aleana.  I had fun taking pictures of her; she is such a baby model.  We had a great Christmas!  On Sunday December 16th we went over to Jeremey’s mom’s house to have a little Christmas party with Jesica, Brooke, Jeremey, Grandma Qualls (Jeremey mom).  I think this was the first time Jescia saw Aleana since placement.  It was sweet to see Jescia holding Aleana, feeding her and interacting with her.  They already have a bond.  Jesica gave Aleana a taggie, and a toy Aleana can lay under and play with toys that hang down, I know she is going to love it!  Brooke remembered us and after she opened her present from us which was Dora books she sat up on Curt’s lap and had him read to her.  It was so good to see them and know that they are doing well.  I think that Jeremey could tell Jesica was getting emotional so he had her head ouy not to long after we got there.  I understand that it was hard for her but I am glad that she wanted to see us for a little while.

       We had our own little Christmas at home before we left.  It was nice to have a quiet little Christmas at home with our little angel. Curt gave me a Google Tablet and I got one of Allen’s old Guitars fixed up and a guitar book and other guitar stuff for Curt.

       We spent some time with my family and then spent Aleana 1st Christmas with her Grandma and Grandpa Snelgrove, Julee and Tiffany.  It was busy but we had a great time celebrating with our little Angle. She loved seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations. Next year will be so fun because she will be a little more aware of what is going on.  

New Years 

  

First New years!  We celebrated with our friends the Boucher's, Anderson's and Moore's who are all spread across the united states.  It was fun to all be together.

We had the Boucher’s help us with a task earlier that day.  They took a Christmas/ New Year’s card with $100 gift card to Walmart to Jescia, Brooke and Jeremy to help them out.  We wanted it to be secret so they did not know it was from us.    

My Little Cutie 

Playing with daddy! She loves her daddy!
Big Smiles and Cute outfits!


I love this pictures with her big blue eye
Playing at home


Look how good she can hold her head up, now we just need to work more on the rolling

4 Months Pictures 

I can't believe how much she has grown in just one month,  She is now about 16lbs and 26 inches. She has two teeth and is working on getting two more.  

More Fun Pictures 

She enjoys her bumbo because she can sit up on her own! She also likes her Jenny Jump up even though all she does is stands and moves around, but she likes to do things on her own.

What a cute happy girl in her adorable hat my friend Chelsea Moore made her!

Curt and I are doing great, we are just enjoying life.  Curt is continuing to apply for jobs in his degree.  But we are happy to stay in Logan until we finalize and take her to the temple at the end of April.   We are glad the sun is back and hope the warm weather is coming soon.
Journal entries

Sunday January 27, 2013

           We feel so blessed that she is a part of our family.  The first month seemed a little rough because we were getting used to having a baby around, getting up in the night for feedings and living on very little sleep.  I am just glad that she took lots of naps and that daddy can feed her in the night as well so that I could get some sleep.  I felt kind of bad for Curt going to work half asleep some days but everyone at work understood.  I think that we were so excited to have her here that we did not care that she woke us up in the night and that made the transition a lot easier.  I have imagined Curt as a dad for years, but he is a better and sweeter dad then I could have imagined.  He loves Aleana so much and is so willing to help out however he can. I thought he had a hard time leaving me to go to work, but now that Aleana is here he has an even harder time getting out the door.  These last three months seemed like they have flown by, we are still a bit sleep deprived, but often that is our own fault because lately she has been going to bed around 8 or 9 o’clock and sleeping until 7:00 in the morning. I really don’t miss the one 1:00 am feeding, but on occasions she still wants to eat around 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning.  She has been smiling and laughing for months and today she got her second tooth and on the 23rd she got her first tooth. I hope she will have a break from the pain before teeth 3 and 4 come in.    We love having her in our family and look forward to watching her grow more

Wednesday January 30, 2013

Aleana did not want to go back to sleep last night.  She missed her dinner nap and just crashed at 7:30.  We thought she was down for the night and she might have been if I did not go get her when I heard her fussing around 9:00.  I went, got her and she drank 6 oz of formula and nearly fell asleep until the bottle was gone.  After that she was just wide awake and wanting to play.  We tried just about everything, going in the laundry room with the lights off and the fan on, laying her down, cuddling her and rocking her, but I guess she just thought it was morning.  Just after 11 I brought her into the office/ baby room and tried to rock her to sleep again.  She was so tired by this time that she started throwing a fit, I got her music turned on and she cried a couple more times than just crashed.  Oh the power of music, why did I not think of it earlier. 

Thursday January 31st 2013

So I hope it is just a faze or because she is teething but Aleana has had a hard time taking naps. She plays until she is so tired that she cries and fights going to sleep for a while and I have to rock her completely asleep before I can lay her down. We were getting pretty good at having her fall asleep on her own.  If she is only 4 months old and already throwing tantrums we are in trouble.  Maybe I am waiting to longer before putting her down for a naps and she is overly tired.  I hope we can get this figured out again or I am going to get totally warn out. 

Friday February 1st 2012

Aleana had her 4 month shots today L. She started crying when they gave her the liquid medicine and just screamed when they gave her the shots.  I know that these will help in the long run but it is just so hard to see my sweet little girl so upset J.  I am glad that Curt was there to help and that we gave her baby pain relief before the visit. 


Tuesday February 19th   

Aleana learned to roll on to her back from her stomach.  I was practicing with her and then she did it 3 or 4 times on her own.  We still may need more practice before she has it down pat, but she can do it on her own.  Yeah Aleana!


Also I believe that teeth 3 and 4 are making their move, she has been supper fussy and I think I can see her two front teeth up in her gums.  We will just have to see when they decide to show themselves. I hope she has a bit of a break before any more teeth come; she deserves to not be in pain.  However she still does love to laugh, smile and talk when she is not in pain.  

Friday, December 7, 2012

2 Months Old!!!

My Sweet Little Girl Turned Two Months Old On Sunday!!
 She is 23 inches and weighs 12 lb 1.5 oz, she is in the 85th percentile for both weight and height and 50 percentile for her head.  No wonder she is already getting good at holding up her head.
 Aleana's 2 month birthday and my sisters 23rd Birthday were on the same day.  I think my sister was just a little excited about that :) 
 A few pictures after my sisters birthday party.  We had great homemade ice cream and Chocolate peanut butter sauce.

2 Months pictures 

Her she is laughing! 
 I just love this little girl, I can't believe how responsive and interactive,
 she is for only being 2 months.
 And a couple cute smiles!!
This little girl loves to talk!
She  lays there and just coos and baby talks, she loves to have little conversations with us.
I know it is just the mom in me talking but I sware she is trying to say mom, hi and hello.  I bet that one of those will be her first real word.    
 She is a tall girl, she is giving a lot of her 4 to 6 months friends a run for their money for weight and height.  However they were probably 2 months when they weighed what she did at birth. I decided to condense her two month sign and the picture with her lamb so there were fewer pictures and it sure makes for a cute picture.  

Christmas Lights!

I think Aleana is going to love Christmas.  She already loves the tree and had fun watching us decorate the tree and the house.
 I have exciting news we have Aleana's court date set, it is for the 25th of April! Now we just need to set up the sealing date and then she will be legally and eternally ours!!!
We love our Sweet little Aleana and are so glad she is a part of our family.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the weekend with my family and had our Thanksgiving meal at my Aunt Jane's house.  It was fun to be with family and see cousins I had not seen in a while. 
Curt and I even made our Sweet Potato Pie for Dessert.  

  My Cousin took and few pictures of us and Aleana in her cute
Thanksgiving outfit my sister made her. 
 
 She is such a cute little girl, we just love her!!

Family Time

 After Thanksgiving Lunch, and all the attention is on Aleana. (except for my Cousins who are in the kitchen :)

 My Grandma with Aleana

 My Dad, sister Debbie, and my Mom

My brother Brian playing With Aleana
Daddies Little Turkey

Thankful Lists

Things I am thankful for!  I made a list of things I was thankful for and why I am thankful for curt and Aleana, for each day of the month.  
I am Thankful for.........
1-Heavenly Father
2-Jesus Christ
3-The Holy Ghost
4-Curt
5-Aleana
6-My family
7- Friends
8-My ward
9-Relief Society
10-Talents of others
11-My camera
12-Scriptures
13-Temples
14-Eternal famlies
15-My rocking chair
16-The Gospel
17-Service done for me
18-My ability to serve
19-left overs, don't have to cook and have dinner fast when needed.
20- naps in my comfy bed
21-My sister who held Aleana while I packed
22-time to be with family and a talented cousin
23- Family who love Aleana and help take care of her
24-Craft fairs where I get inspired by the talents of others
25-Friendly people at church
26-The library
27-A working stove and oven
28-Close friends that I can call at any time and enjoy spending time with
29-Book to read my self and ones to read to Aleana
30-A working car do that we can travel to see family
I am Thankful for Curt because he.....
1-Loves me
2-Loves Aleana
3-Does dishes
4-Washes bottles
5-Does laundry
6-Feeds Aleana
7-Changes diapers
8-Goes to work
9-Let's me stay home
10-Takes me out on dates
11-Cooks
12-Enjoys being with me
13-Honors his Priesthood responsibilities
14-Forgives me
15-Helps gets Aleana to sleep
16-Gets up on weekends with Aleana
17-cleans
18-Enjoys being around my family
19-Watches movies I like
20-Helps with Aleana at night
21-Helps make pies
22-Helps out where ever needed
23-Enjoys playing games with my family (especially Mario with my sister)
24-Does thing I enjoy like going to craft fairs.
25-He let's me sleep in in weekends
26-Makes sure we have Family Home Evening
27-Enjoys spending evenings home with me and Aleana
28-Allows me to spend time with friends
29-Continues to apply for jobs even after so man rejections
30-Treats his mom and sisters with love and respect
I am Thankful for Aleana because she
1-Is here
2-Smiles at me
3-Laughs in sleep
4-Makes funny faces
5-Coos when happy
6-Interacts with me
7-Likes vibrating seat
8-Lays on floor happily for a while
9-Loves to eat
10-Loves to cuddle
11-Is a good sleeper(even at church!)
12-Is a mellow baby
13-Made me a mom!
14-She is growing and gaining weight at a healthy rate
15-Allowed us to meet her birthmom and gain another family
16-Likes my brother and fell asleep on his lap
17-Still likes being held by other people
18-Sleeps well in her carseat
19-Has healthy skin that heals quickly even after she scratches her self
20-Has a new sleeping laugh
21-Loves to talk and even sounds like she says "Hi" and "Hello"
22-Smiles for pictures
23-Sleeps 7 hours at night
24-Likes to have her diaper changed and is starting to like baths
25-Slept through church
26-Loves to be read to
27-Is getting better at taking naps in her Crib
28-Knows here mommy and daddy
29-Is getting better at letting us know what she needs (or I am better at understanding what she needs :)
30-Likes to be around people and is the life of the party