Superhero Dad

Last week Alivia got her first cold. Two days later I got it too. It wasn't too bad until Saturday she started running a high fever. The doctor had us wait a couple days to come in to see if it resolved itself. When we went in on Tuesday he told us she had ear infections. That night was very rough. She wouldn't sleep in her crib at all so we took shifts holding her while she slept. Abram stayed home to help out the next day. I'm so lucky to have a husband that helps out so much at night even though he is the one that works and takes such good care of the two of us. Alivia adores him. He's a superhero in our eyes!

Thanksgiving Festivities!

We started out our Thanksgiving Festivities a couple weeks beforehand when we had "Fakesgiving" with the BYU group of friends. It was fun having a kids free(after babysitter drama) dinner with friends. Of course I didn't take pictures.

We were lucky this year to be able to spend time with family for Thanksgiving. Abram's brother Bryce lives in Houston so we went down to spend the holiday weekend with his family. Ashla(yes Holt for those of you that are from Enterprise) and I worked on planning out the HUGE menu of food. Ashla's brother and his family ended up coming also. Making it a lot easier since they made the turkey! We had a ton of food that all turned out amazing! Once again, of course I didn't take a picture of our Thanksgiving Day food, table or people!

Bryce and Ashla's place is close to a state park where you can spot alligators! We stopped by the visitor center and got to touch baby alligators and then when for a walk around a lake to try to find some alligators. About half way around the lake we finally found some!

None of them were close to us.

Dad showing Alivia where the alligator is(across the lake under a tree) I don't think she found it!

We will say Alivia and Lydia are looking at the alligator. Once again under the tree across the lake)

Love these cute girls!

I told Lydia to say cheese. This was her reaction!

This little girl loves her daddy!

Chowing down on her 5 Guys grilled cheese in style!

Alivia had a blast at the park by their house! It was turf so she could actually crawl around everywhere and had a lot of fun on all of the different toys they had.

We were so lucky to be close enough to family to spend the holiday with them. Alivia loves following Lydia around and playing with her. Lydia seems to love her "baby". We had way too much good food. Played lots of games and relaxed!

Family Pictures 2014

Stephanie also took our first family pictures. It only took us a year! I love the way they turned out and all of the sides of Alivia's personality you see.

Proof that I did put a headband on her! And what happens after 1 picture!

1 year old pictures!

Our friend Stephanie took these super cute pictures of Alivia a week before her birthday! Alivia's attitude cracks me up. She mostly wanted to talk and we were trying to get her to smile singing patty cake, which turned into her just clapping her hands in front of her! We also used Taylor Swift's song Shake It Off and yogurt bites to make her happy.

1 year - Halloween and Birthday

Looking back on the past year I can't believe how fast it has gone by. I was nervous about having kids. I didn't know anything about taking care of a baby. I had never even changed a diaper! Somehow I managed to survive a year. I love this little girl so much and love being able to spend every day with her. Overall she is a happy, independent little girl. I didn't know that they got personalities so early. Happy birthday baby girl!

Alivia had her first Halloween. She is still refusing to walk. She is plenty strong(I should do squats like she does!). She has 7 teeth and 1 on the way. She had her 1 year appointment and is still tall and skinny! She weighs 16 lbs 15 ounces (finally in the 10%) and is 30 inches tall (76%). We made it through her first birthday before she got sick! She is still happy every time daddy gets home and waves bye to him when he leaves for work. She loves playing with other kids, opening all of the drawers in the kitchen, reading books, looking at the ads we get in the mail, playing the piano(mom can't play if she can't), clapping when other people do(even on tv), dancing whenever songs come on, giving hugs to stuffed animals and dolls, being tickled, and food! 

For Alivia's first Halloween I made her a ghost costume/tutu. We went to the ward party and she had so much fun chasing the kids in the parade of costumes!

Livi's first carousel ride. I don't think she cracked a smile! 

This is the cheesy face that I get to see every day!

Trying her first fortune cookie!

Picking out her Christmas Presents!

This is how Alivia spends her Saturday Mornings. Begging for cereal from Daddy!

"Reading" her Birthday Card from Great Grandma Clove

Feeling her cake and taking a few licks....then....

After realizing that she couldn't pick it up she just put her face in it.

 Aftermath...with daddy's help.

Flash Back to my first birthday. I made the same cake that I had, just wish I had taken a 

better picture!

We are so happy to have this beautiful, fun girl in our lives. We can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Pumpkin Patch 2014

We decided to do the good parent thing and take Alivia to a pumpkin patch her first fall. We found one that had a "hay" ride(pulled by a hummer and no hay involved) through an old western town, a petting zoo, bouncy houses, and pony rides. Alivia is a little young for the bouncy houses and has yet to overcome her fear of animals. But we had a lot of fun with some friends. 

This is as close as Alivia would get to the animals and even at this point she starts whimpering. 

So when we tried putting her on a pony for a picture(note the death grip on Abram's shirt) 

This came as an unexpected surprise

She loved it!

Cute kids!

This is what happens when you try to get 3 kids under 18 months to take a picture together!

Love this picture(and Hank finding pumpkins in the background)

Alivia was talking(yelling) up a storm! We may have a drama queen on our hands!