Alaina Belle

In my last post I talked about all that Charlie is doing and thought that I should do the same for Alaina and Carson too.  So, Alaina is 4 years old and certainly is sweet and spicy.   When I was pregnant with Alaina and found out we were having a girl I have to admit the things I imagined about what my little girl would be like are far from reality.  I imagined a little curly haired brunette with brown eyes with a sweet disposition.  She would always be dressed in cute matching outfits and her lovely locks would always be in it's proper place.  Nothing but sweet words would come from her mouth and she would always be proper and loving.  Well, realistically Alaina is a girl with wavy/frizzy dark blond hair and amber eyes.  She loves dressing in eccentric outfits that she puts together herself.  Most of the time I let her wear what she wants.  Though I fix Alaina hair everyday, it rarely stays in it's place.  The things that come out of her mouth either make me want to laugh or scream.  Right now she's doing Gymnastics and loves it!  Alaina has walked on her tip toes since she could walk and so we thought we'd put that skill to good use.  Her favorite event is the balance beam.  Everyday she asks me if we have Gymnastics today.  I recently got together with some other moms from our ward to put together a preschool group.  We are only on our second week, but Alaina loves it too.  She wants to learn to read so bad, but we've got to start with the basics.  She also asks everyday if we have Preschool.  She won't start Kindergarten until September of 2013 because of a late birthday, but at least she'll never struggle in school.  A normal day for Alaina involves cleaning her room and making her bed (this task can take anywhere from a few minutes to all day depending on her mood), dressing up, looking at books, coloring, watching movies, and playing with her dolls and barbies.  She always want to help whenever I'm in the kitchen which honestly can be annoying that she's always there, but she really is a great help.  Recently she's started helping fold laundry and no I didn't ask her to do this or bribe her in any way.  She loves to be big and is always talking about "when I'm big I'll do ..."  She is my little gofer.  Getting this for me or that for Charlie.  She really doesn't mind doing these things and she really makes my life a little easier.  Don't get me wrong she can be a little bossy butt!  In her effort to be big she thinks she knows it all and isn't afraid to tell you!  Although Alaina might not be what I imagined my little girl would be I wouldn't give her back.  We love her so much and are thankful that she part of our family.

This is what Alaina looks like on most days...frizzy, crazy hair and all.  Love her!

Charlie's 6 months (Almost)

That's right!  Charlie will be 6 months old next week!  I can hardly believe it!  We have really enjoyed Charlie and as every mother says, "We can't imagine what life would be without him."  He's sitting up now for the most part.  I put the Boppy around him for when he does start to tumble.  He's getting really good at rolling around and that is something my other kids never really did.  He's eating solid foods really well.  Yes, I am one of those awful non-mainstream mothers that starts their children on solid foods before the ripe old age of 6 months or later.  My kids are hungry and frankly they like it!  He's had rice and oatmeal cereal, apples, pears, peaches, prunes, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and peas. He seams to like them all fine as long as I warm them up a little.  We haven't discovered a food he likes or dislikes particularly yet.   I'm still nursing and he takes a formula bottle most evenings.  He sleeps 4-6 hours at a time most nights, sometimes longer, which has been wonderful!  My older kids didn't sleep this well until they were 2 or 3 years old!  He is still a thumb sucker, which I've conceded to his happiness of sucking his thumb rather than my principle of never having a thumb sucker.  Thankfully he only sucks it when he's hungry or sleepy.  This fact does make it difficult when I'm feeding him.  He's a very slobbery little guy which has resulted in a rash on his neck and chest.  It's been a little difficult to figure out how to get rid of the rash (even after multiple visits to the dermatologist who I was not very impressed with at all!), but I think we've got it under control.  He's a very happy guy.  He'll still make you work for a smile at times, but the smiles are more and more plentiful each day.  We all love our little Charlie Man.         

New Year's Dinner

Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Rolls, Stuffing, Green Beans, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Cream Pie.  Yummy!  

Christmas 2011

This year we spent Christmas with my family at my mom's house.  We all had a good time visiting and enjoying the holiday together.  Unfortunately we didn't end up with many pictures.  

 This is Carson and Alaina Christmas morning with their gifts.  

 Alaina

 Carson

Charlie slept through the Christmas morning festivities so after church he got to play with his new toys.