"Da da" and......

So Adaliah has been saying "DA DA" for over a month now, but we still have been working on "MA MA". Well a few days ago she started reaching for me and saying "BA BA". After doing it time after time, Pete tried to convince me that is how she says mom. I didn't believe him at first...but now I am totally convinced. Every time we ask her to say ma ma she says ba ba.

I'm so pumped! She finally calls me something! See for yourself!

Part 2

More pictures from Thanksgiving in Manti

And remember this little guy that used to be my world?!

He is all grown up!! It was so cute to see him and Dali play together. My two little loves.

Manti Light Parade- Thanksgiving

We had an amazing thanksgiving with Pete's family on Thursday. The food was delicous and the company was delightful. We had a great holiday.

It's tradition in my family to go to the Manti light parade and party the friday night after thanksgiving and then have our big thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. Here are some pictures from our fun night.


Dali and her cousin Lily with Santa. They both did surprisingly well on his lap!

My family playing games all night long...

Adaliah and the sock

Yesterday Adaliah found one of her socks on the floor. She picked it up and then didn’t put it back down until it was time for bed. Everywhere she went the sock went to. She would crawl around with a firm grip on it. After I put her to bed I found it in her toy box. She must have put it there to keep it safe.

Then morning came- and sure enough- first thing- the sock came out of the toy box and back into her hand.

Why spend money on toys when socks can be so fun?!

Adaliah: "Oh!"

Adaliah showing me her sock.

And don't we love the morning hair and the WAY to long pjs? So adorable.

A taste of home

Him: Grew up in Riverton with 2500 kids in his high school

Her: Grew up with 2500 people in her entire city

Him: Grew up close to shopping, food, lots of entertainment, and traffic.

Her: Grew up close to sheep, turkeys, horses, and four wheeling trails.

Where do they end up?

Close to the city for him with a taste of home for her. And we love it. We’re glad to be settled.

This is the view from our back door

And this is where Adaliah and I are camping out during the blizzard.

Adaliah signing Dog!

Dog is one of the signs I've been pretty consistent with teaching her. Between her books with dogs, her stuffed animal dogs, and my sisters dog Jane...she hears about them a lot. Today we were reading a story and she started signing it. Smart little cookie!

And I had to add this one as well- too adorable.

9 months

9 months

Weight 21.6 pounds (90%)

Height 28 inches (80%)

A little about her...

*She is getting over her stranger danger! Hurray! During the move she had to be babysat a few times and she did great!

*She signs “more” and “all done”

*She finally is starting to like finger foods. (Crackers, Puffs…ext)

*She loves to play with EVERYTHING but toys…

*She loves to look at pictures on the wall. It’s like her favorite thing ever. She points to a picture so we take her over to look at it, then she points to another one..then back to the first one… She would do it all day if we let her.

* She points by stretching out her arm and bending her wrist. So adorable…

*Her eighth tooth just broke through yesterday. Crazy

*She loves to clap!

*Words I swear I’ve heard her say multiple times in the right context … “Jo Jo” – the little boy I nanny. “Mama”- Ussualy when she’s sad. “Bah” when she sees a ball “Ah Du” When she’s done with her food. And of course "Da Da".Maybe I’m crazy- but I swear she knows.

*She still loves other kids! She screams at the store or at church when kids walk by and she is in heaven when we are with cousins or friends.

She is still so snuggly and sweet and wonderful. We love our girl!

Big News

We bought a house and we are moving....tomorrow. Move #7 for Pete and I. Bring it on. Am I excited? Yes. Nervous? Extremely.

This is the first time I’ve been nervous before a move. I was less nervous moving to Chicago..and moving with a 6 week old..

What is with the nerves?

This is the conclusion I’ve come to: We bought this house knowing it’s probably pretty long term. We wanted to find a nice neighborhood, a house to grow into, a yard for kids to play in, and somewhere we can picture our kids growing up. We found the house. After months of searching we found it- and the keys are ours tomorrow. This is permanent.

This is the hose Adaliah will take her first steps in and have her first Christmas in. This is the house she’ll walk out the door with her backpack on her first day of school. This is the house I’ll bring my second baby home to…and my third…and my forth… …and..(you get the idea). This is where memories will be made and never ending friendships will be developed.

I know I’m probably making this a bigger deal then it needs to be. But It’s kind of scary to think about. This is the next chapter of our lives and it begins….. tomorrow.

I guess part of the reason I think it’s such a big deal is because I KNOW that the neighborhood I grew up in shaped me into the person I am today. Between primary teachers, young women’s leaders, cute old ladies across the street, and of course friends…

One family in particular the Barclays:

They lived across the street from me.. Tausha was a year older, and Kayla a year younger. We spent every day together when we were little making up dances, riding bikes, building forts, making home videos, playing night games, putting on plays… so many fun memories.

Then when we were older we were doing drill team together, going on double dates, fighting over the same boys…(haha)....

They shaped me into who I am today and they are still some of my greatest friends. Anyway- I need to get back to packing. This is going to be a crazy weekend. I’m excited. Nervous but excited.

Busy Saturday!

I am happy to say I got that "spring in my step" back just in time for a very busy Saturday.

It started early in the morning running the 5K Turkey Trot with Karen. It's our 3rd year in a row to run this race. It's becoming a tradition. We took turns pushing Dali and had a great time.

We ran home and showered and then met my mom and bother Dave for lunch.

After lunch I picked Pete up and headed to Provo to Andrea's 1st birthday party. Andrea was adorable and it was so good to catch up with Tausha and Kayla. Dali found a nice comfy spot to watch presents. So cute...

After the party we got home just in time for me to take my mom to the airport.

I got home around 8:00- to find a yummy dinner on the table that Pete had prepared (worlds greatest husband). I ate dinner and I then went to sleep for the night by 8:30- which was kinda 7:30 because of daylight savings! Gatta love the good sleep. Phew- what a fun day!

Today Karen took some family pictures of us at the park. I'll post more later. Good night for now.

One of those days....

So today has been one of those days. You know what i'm talking about...
I try to not blog on days like these- but I decided that it's okay to remember that some days are plain hard.

I did the nanny thing today. It did not go so well to say the least. I tried to make breakfast for the 4 lovely children and 3 out of the 4 were screaming and crying by the time breakfast was made. 1- Dali because she was starving and she wanted me to pick her up. 2- the 3 year old because he wanted a sandwich not breakfast and 3- the 5 year old because she didn't want her eggs scrambled! She wanted them the "other way."

I spent the rest of the day breaking up fights between the 8 year old and the 5 year old, then the 5 year old and the 3 year old. Dali got her fingers smashed in a drawer pretty good. It was too loud for her to fall asleep with children screaming so she was overly tired and ornery.

Sigh. Good news is the 5 year old told me I was "funny- and mostly nice". So I guess I did okay. Right?

Later that day I was inches away from getting in a car accident. It was totally my fault too. The worst part was it was on Dali's side of the car. Thinking about it makes me sick. I would have hated myself forever if she would have got hurt.

I have been super stressed about big changes coming our way. I've been having nightmares more and more lately. I feel like a 5 year old- waking Pete up in the middle of the night and asking him to hold me.

I've also been very snappy the last few days. I can hardly stand to be around myself.

But tonight we went to dinner with some friends. One of the girls there had a baby 2 months early and has been practically living in the hospital watching her baby be feed through an i.v. All through dinner I couldn't help put look at Dali and think how grateful I am she came so safely. I really have no reason to complain.

Pete is out with a buddy at the movies- I think I should probably head to bed and and get this day over with. Maybe tomorrow I'll have that extra spring in my step that I've been needing.

"Do you dream in chocolate?"

This is why I can't watch tv. Are you kidding me? I start drooling every time this ad comes on!!

So today when I was at the store I saw a bag for sale...usually $3.25..and I got it for $2.88. That is still really expensive for something that I REALLY don't need. Well guess what. I ate one..and decided that one alone is probably worth $2.88. It was magical. Now I just need Pete to hide the bag from me so I don't finish the rest tonight. Amazing!

On the go

My sister-in-law Amanda let me barrow this little stroller. Adaliah is in love. It's much easier to push around then her piano. She is officially on the go. She walks all over the house with that little thing. What a big girl!