Category: Alison

Alison, Reed

Swim Lessons

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Reed took swim lessons for the first time in early June.  He had a 45 minute lesson everyday for 2 weeks (at school).  His teacher and the lifeguard kept telling me he wouldn’t do anything during lessons so I was sad that we wasted our time and money. 

Then we went to a pool with a baby pool and…holy cow.  This boy might not be participating in swim lessons, but he is learning everything they are teaching.  He is jumping in and swimming with his face in the water all the way across the baby pool.  He really is an animal when he can be in the safety of the baby pool.  Needless to say I am pleased with his progress and excited for his next session. 

The only problem is that Ali watches every single thing he does and now she is ALL ABOUT jumping off the side and putting her face in the water.  The child has zero fear or respect for the water and it freaks me out.  She will stand in the baby pool and bend her knees until her head is under the water.  Then she will stand back up and give us the biggest smile.  She’s so proud of herself for going underwater all alone.

Alison

Alison’s 15 & 16 month updates

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Again, I’m a slacker.  Alison is already 16 months old and I never did a 15 month update on her.  Oh well.

As for measurements, she is still a little pipsqueak.  (I have no idea where she gets this.  I was 9 pounds, 8 ounces when I was born).

Length: ****(I have to check the paper) – 50th percentile

Weight: 21lbs – 35th percentile

*This morning I got her dressed and after I got her to school I realized she was wearing size 6-12 month shorts and shirt.  And the scary part is they fit!!

She is finally a very solid nighttime sleeper.  This has been such a life changer for us.  We finally feel rested!  I think we have to take some of the blame for her terrible sleep habits.  When she was a tiny baby we were so worried about her waking Reed up that we didn’t let her cry it out enough.  Course that girl would cry for 45 minutes when we did try.  Not the typical 15 minutes.  Somehow I think we have a diva/drama queen on our hands.

I love this age because her personality is coming out.  She is so much more communicative than Reed was.  She has several words and is able to tell us what she does and doesn’t want very clearly.  Too bad the only sign she knows is ‘more’. 

She is so sassy.  I love it, and hate it at the same time.  She gets so angry when you walk away from her.  She just whines and throws her bossiness around while she is chasing after me.  It is so pitiful that its hilarious.

I am also starting to think she will be ready to potty train MUCH earlier than Reed.  She is already showing the signs of wanting to start.  We aren’t going to push it, but I imagine in the next couple of months she will want to start.  Funny thing is that she is still in size 3 diapers.  I don’t know if she will even make it to size 4s before she is ready to potty train.

She is also all female.  She doesn’t really like to eat meals, instead she prefers to snack all day long.  And given the choice of foods, she will ALWAYS choose carbs and sugar.  Lord help her!

Alison is still a HUGE momma’s girl.  Last night in the pool she flat refused to let anyone else hold her.  Every time I tried to pass her off she squealed and jumped out of their arms and back towards mine.  Speaking of pool…she is a fish.  No fear of the water, but also no respect for it.  Makes me crazy nervous for this summer.

Sorry for the long out dated update, but there you have it!

Alison

15 Month Update

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I feel like I haven’t actually written a blog post in ages…and I haven’t.  We have had such a busy life the last 3 months.

Alison has hit the big 15 months and boy has her personality blossomed.  She is such a sassy little girl.  It’s hard to put into words the differences between my two kids because they are both such huge personalities and so spirited, but in completely different ways.

We have already talked about how much Ali loves to play in the dirt, which is hilarious and awesome.  But she is also a shoe horse who always chooses her blue sparkly tennis shoes when given the chance.  I have a feeling she will be my little tom boy playing in the dirt, while wearing her best sparkly shoes and tutu.  I let her choose her Easter dress and she chose the super frilly pink and purple one.  All day she kept playing with the skirt and looking at it.  I have no idea what to do with a girly girl who loves sparkles and dresses, but I can probably relate to the part of her that loves to play with her brother and get dirty.

Alison is also in the copycat phase.  She copies everything she is capable of copying…but her favorite subject to copy is Reed.  At dinner time Reed makes sure we stop and say prayers.  As soon as he reminds us to pray she holds her hand toward him.  (Melt my heart)

Alison, Videos

Alison loves dirt and sand

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Alison loves to play in the dirt or sand. Her brother on the other hand, would always whine if there was any dirt or sand in one of his Crocs, and insist that we help him get it out… or heaven forbid he get his shirt dirty or wet, he would insist on a different shirt. No, Ali is far from a “dirt-phobe”, and loves to sit down in the middle of it and move it around with whatever tool she can find.

Alison, Events, Julie

Ali’s Birthday Party details

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So I LOVED planning this party.  I have always struggled to plan a cute party for Reed and now I know why…I am not a boy.  When it comes to girly fun parties I have more ideas than I can possibly carry out.  I almost wish I had waited to do this theme for her when she is a little older.  I had so many ideas of fun crafts to have and paint the party guests toenails, etc.  Maybe I will get lucky and Ali will love rainbow colors as much as I do and we will be able to do it again someday.

Here are the details:

1. Invitation – purchased off of Etsy.  I bought her cupcake onesie from Etsy and my mom made her second onesie with the ‘1’ in ruffled fabric.  I love both of them so much.  The only reason I even bought the cupcake one is because it was long sleeved and the party was in January.

 

 

 

2. Decorations.  The Balloon wreath was the star of the show.  I seriously LOVE this wreath.  It turned out so much cuter than I had expected.  I found the idea on Pinterest and then went with it.  I can’t wait to pull out the birthday wreath every year in January and again in March.  Other decorations were just a hurricane full of balloons, rainbow fabric on the dessert table,  and punchouts of a rainbow paper to decorate the food table.  I had brightly colored plates and silverware to finish out the (super easy) rainbow theme.

 

3.  The cake.  This cake was the inspiration for the whole party.  I saw it on a blog and completely fell in love with it.  It just makes me SO happy to look at it.  I made lots of modifications to the original cake which included baking only half layers of each color.  I wanted to have all the colors, but didn’t want a wedding cake for 30 guests.  My second big change was to color the icing to match the cake and not frost the outside.  I love that you can see all the colors of cake and icing without even cutting into it.  I also made some chocolate covered oreos that I colored to match the cake.  (That’s the only sweets Reed would even touch.  That boy does not like sweets!)

 

4.  Food.  The food was typical Julie food.  Cheese 7 cracker tray, turkey/provolone/chive cream cheese rollups, Homemade 7 layer dip, rainbow goldfish and rainbow fruit kabobs with a lime mint syrup.  I tried to make kid friendly food that was dressed up a little so grown ups would enjoy it too.  The party was at 3pm so I didn’t plan to serve a full dinner, just snacks.

5. Since this was a 1 year old party I didn’t mess with colored drinks.  We just had soda, beer, wine and juice boxes.

 

6. Party favors were brightly colored sand pails filled with simple play things.  I had some glow in the dark bracelets, plastic bracelets, a book, a princess wand, a tube of play doh, and a wooden car.  Every little girl needs to play with cars, right?

 

 

 

 

All in all, this was one of my favorite parties ever.  The mix of guests was perfect, the time of day was perfect, the weather was lovely, the birthday girl had a wonderful time playing with her friends and opening presents…and I had fun prepping.  All the ingredients for a fantastic afternoon!!

-JB

Alison, Events, Family, Videos

Alison’s First Birthday Party

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Ali’s first birthday party was a delightful hit. I’d say it went off without a single hitch. Julie loves planning birthday parties for the kids, but I think this one was her favorite.  She kept talking about how happy all the colors made her. 

The theme was “rainbow”, and that assimilated itself most obviously in the cake and desserts. Julie made a rainbow-colored layer cake, where each layer was baked individually and colored. What came out was both beautiful and tasty!

As for the Birthday Girl, she was in the best mood the entire afternoon. We strategically timed the party for late afternoon, when she is at her best (when fully rested). She had a great nap and we fed her as soon as she woke up. She was primed and ready to be social when everyone came over. Reed, too, got a great nap and was very helpful and compliant for the most part.

*This post was obviously written by Randy and I will write a separate post with party details.  I really loved this party and want to share all the fun stuff I did/found.*

Below is a sample of the pictures we took and a video of Ali getting into her first birthday cake (beautifully colored, I might add). Check out the Full Photo Album for more.

Alison

1 Year

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Alison Michelle, you are one year old today.  I woke up this morning remembering this morning last year.  I was SO ready to be done being pregnant, and I was SO ready to see your smiling face.  I was nervous that I wouldn’t be capable of loving you as much as I love Reed, and I am still nervous about how to raise a confident, Godly, happy girl.  But oh how I love you.  All of my fears are pushed aside every single time I see your sweet smile and you reach for me.  I can not wait to watch you grow and listen to you talk and fingure out how your sweet little mind works.  All moms who have more than one child are right…it IS possible to love the second baby as much as you love the first.

As 1 year old you have 5 teeth.  You have just decided to drop down to one nap a day.  Selfishly I love that you and Reed are finally on the same nap schedule.  Weekends are going to be so much more fun now that we aren’t spending the bulk of the day at home around nap times.  On New Years Day you took your first steps.  You are definitely not ‘walking’ yet, but you are getting more adventurous.

One of your funny new things is that you demand that we hold you and walk around the house so you can point at every single picture on the wall.  It is so cute because you just love to point at things.  Last night you figured out how to work the light switch so I’m sure that will become a new pasttime for you too.

You are SUCH a water baby.  When you are in the bathtub you choose to lay on your belly and put your face in the water.  You do this over, and over, and over again.  When you pull your face out of the water you have the biggest smile on your face.  You would stay in the bath for hours if we let you.

Last night at dinner you would only eat green beans and blueberries.  Anytime we tried to feed you something else you would blow raspberries at us.  You screamed when we took you away from the table…until you realized Daddy was taking you into the bathroom.  Then you kicked those little feet and tried to jump out of his arms.

You are trying to talk.  The funniest thing is when you drop food on the ground (which you do ALL the time) you look at me and make the ‘O’ face and say ‘UH-ooooh’.  Melt my heart.  Last night at dinner you actually made the ‘more’ sign (in sign language) and I was so excited.  I love that you are becoming more communicative.

If Reed is the singer in the family (and he is) you are definitely the dancer.  Anytime you hear music you start dancing.  On New Years Eve we were listening to a PINK album and you could not contain yourself.  I wish I had video of your dance moves.

I know I say this all the time…but you and Reed have the SWEETEST relationship.  He can’t wait to see you when you wake up from your nap.  And when you see him you kick your feet and smile so big.  I think the only time you want me to put you down is if Reed wants to play with you.  Reed is moving to the other side of the day care building soon and I’m so sad.  Every day you two get to see each other.  When he is playing outside he pulls a car up to the window to your room.  He stands on the car and demands that your teachers put you in a seat by the window so he can see you.  One day I walked in when this was going on.  Your back was to me and you were facing Reed on the playground.  You were kicking your feet and waving your arms so much.  Seriously.  Melt my heart.

I know I say it all the time, but I love you so much.  You have been a handful this first year, and you better believe we are thankful that you have finally figured out how to sleep through the night…but that sweet smile makes up for all of it.  I love being your mom and I can’t wait to see the person you will become.

Happy Birthday Ali!!!

Alison, Julie

How to raise a little girl

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I just read this blog post and it stopped me dead in my tracks. When I found out that Alison was a girl I was terrified. I am terrified that I will raise her to have the same ugly hang ups that I have. I’m terrified she will be too caught up in fitting in with the crowd and forget to be her own person. This article gives concrete guidance to help all of the parents out there struggling with the same questions.
http://jeffdlawrence.com/2011/12/23/some-thoughts-on-how-to-talk-to-little-girls/
Enjoy

Alison

11 Months!

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Ali you are 11 months old (a few days ago). Unfortunately we had to take you to the doctor because you have ear infection, but we know that you weigh 18 pounds, 11 ounces. You are still a skinny-minny and can fit into 6 month onesies (although they are finally a tight fit). You can still wear size 2 diapers, but 3’s fit a little better.

You have 5 teeth and you are starting to get a few little curls in your hair. Your eyes are still blue and hair is still strawberry blonde. I would love it if you hair stayed this color, but I’m not holding my breath.
I love seeing little parts of your personality come out as you get older. You are so silly and really love to make us laugh.  You have figured out peek a boo and love to put your hands on your head as though you are hiding when we play ‘where’s that baby’.  My favorite part is how much it makes you laugh.  I love your sweet smiley face.
One funny thing is that you LOVE to play with toys. Reed never really played with toys, so it is a surprise to see how much fun you can have sitting on the floor surrounded by your toys. (I guess that means I should buy you a few toys for Christmas!!)

You are a terrible dinner eater. At school you eat like a champ but for some reason you don’t like to eat at home…no matter what I feed you! Let’s hope this will get better soon. We are working on the sippy cup these days and I think you are starting to like it. I’m afraid it probably won’t be as easy to wean you off the bottle and pacifier as it was to wean Reed…but time will tell.
You are very expressive and very communicative, but no real words other than “mama” and “dada” and “nana” (banana). I do think you try to say Ya-Ya to mom though.

We won’t even talk about the sleep. You are still so erratic that it makes us crazy. We had a good run for about 3 weeks and we thought we were in the clear…but you have started waking up at night again. I really hope it is just the teething and the ear infection.

I love you plumpy!!

Alison

Month 10

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Alison you are already 10 months old.  This year is seriously flying by.  Here are my top 10 things about you this month.

1. You finally sleep through the night!!  Praise the Lord for this one.  You are ready for bed by 7:30 (although I wish I could keep you up later) and you wake up hun-gry at 5:30 or 6.

2. You have gotten another tooth and are up to 2 on the bottom and one on the top

3. You still wear size 2 diapers and can fit into 6 month onesies (the one in the picture below is a 6- 9 month)  You are a petite little thing so far

4. You are a crazy picky eater.  You have decided you are completely finished with baby food.  Only table food for you.  The only things I know I can always get you to eat are oatmeal, yogurt, banana, cheerios and scrambled eggs.  If you are in the right mood you are pretty adventurous, but you are a very social eater.  You really only want what we are eating and if no one is eating with you sometimes you fight us at mealtimes.  I’m still trying to find what veggies you will eat.

5. You are crawling, and pulling up, and cruising as much as possible.  You really are so fast.  You stood all by yourself for about 5-7 seconds the other day and I know I was impressed.  You are physically ready to stand and walk, but you are too lazy to move your feet.  Funny little girl.  I think the biggest problem is that you LOVE to be held.  Every single time I see you at day care someone is holding you.  At home every.single.time I put you down you wimper and pretend to cry.  You are a sneaky one.

6. Bathtime is hands down your favorite time of the day.  You go completely nuts when you hear Daddy turn on the tub.

7. You have 3 consistent words: Da-Da (your first), Momma and ‘nana’ (banana).  You are already so much more verbal than Reed was.  I’m not sure if it’s because you want in on the conversation you see us having with Reed or if its because you are a woman, or if it’s just your personality…but I love it!!  You love to make noise and ‘talk’ to us

8. You can clap and wave and point.  You get so proud of yourself and it is SO cute!! 

9. One of my other favorite things that you do is when you blow raspberries with your tongue.  You really love this one.  You also love to blow kisses.  Not blow them with your hands, but jsut give air kisses.  You love, love, love to make that sound with your mouth.

10.  You are truly the smiliest baby around.  I know I say that all the time…but its true.  The ladies at day care love you so much and every time I go pick you up one of them is telling me how they ‘stole’ you that day.  This makes me so stinking happy.  You also LOVE your brother.  I really am a broken record on that one…but you two have such a special bond at this young age.  I love watching it develop.

Man I love you sweet girl.