We're crawling! (November 6, 2008)

Alyssa finally decided to start crawling at almost 13 months old on November 6. She had been doing some kind of scooching before this, but that was the day she just up and decided to be an actual crawler and get around faster! Started just slightly sooner than Rachel did! Rachel was close, but was AFTER her 13 month mark by a few days. Alyssa started a few days before her 13 month mark.

Ack! How did I let so much time slip away since my last post?!

Easy. . . very busy and very sick! I had bronchitis for about four to five weeks, and didn't realize it until the last week. Four weeks into it, I went to the doc, and then after seeing him, took another week to really get better. Needless to say, I have some catching up to do. Both on the blog, and just "stuff."

Here's the late Halloween update:

FOR ALEESHA! You were asking about Alyssa's hair color at the baby shower. Most of the other pics I've posted below, her hair looks red like the other girls, but it's not really like that, so not sure why it shows up in pics that way. This is a truer representation of her hair if you were around her in person. It's a light brown with blond streaks. Maybe has a tinge of red, but it really doesn't scream RED! Here she had just finished enjoying some leftover Halloween pudding. :)

This is the Church trunk or treat party they had. Michaela won best homemade costume! The battery ended up dying on the camera, so this is the only pic I got!

I made their costumes this year. Rachel wanted to be a spider, so I bought a black shirt, and then sewed extra arms to the sides with black fabric. I tacked them together so they would come up when they raised their arms. Between her own two arms and legs, and the four extra, she had her 8 legs! Michaela's costume was an idea inspired by Brandon, and then created by me. They like to play "what animal am I" at night as a family. One time, Brandon got a flashlight, picked up Alyssa, and flew her around flashing the light from her bum. She was a firefly! Keeping with the "bug theme" I thought it would be cute to make Kayla a firefly. . . .IF I could find a light she could wear and flash on its own. We were in luck, and Brandon found one at Home Depot. I did the same for her. . .black shirt and sewed on extra legs to give her 6, since that's how many fireflies have. She also got antennae made of black pipe cleaner, and homemade wings made of cardboard slipped into fabric cut and sewn from the extra leg material. That's what the white yarn is around her neck. . . .holding on her wings!

FHE - Pumpkin Carving

So, last Monday we carved our pumpkin that Aunt Judy gave us for FHE and had our annual Halloween treat. . . Ghosts in the Graveyard. It's a family favorite. We've made it every year since Rachel was very little.

Our pumpkin before surgery!

Cleaning it out

Daddy drawing on the face Rachel designed while Michaela looks on.

All done!

Yumminess!

The kids anxiously awaiting the treat:

Michaela with Jack and Graveyard treat:

1st Birthday pictures!

Ok, so I have soooooo much to catch up on. Been WAY too busy. . .and of course that means LOTS to talk about, and little time to do so. Here's some pics from Alyssa's birthday.

What's a birthday without presents!?
Thank you to Grandparents Turpin, Grandparents Doyal, and Great-Grandparents Avery
and Mommy and Daddy

Checking out a new high chair toy:

October Birthday Girl and her Halloweenish cake

Yay! Everyone just sang a song about me, so it MUST be a reason to clap!

Balloons are fun!

Eating cake

My two favorite "after eating cake" pics:

Trying out some of her new toys for her swing.

We sign our kids up for the Baskin Robins Birthday Club before their first birthdays.
Here's Alyssa eating her first free BR birthday ice cream!

All Done!

Happy Birthday to my baby!

Today was Alyssa's first birthday! We actually celebrated with cake/ice cream and presents last night since tonight was gymnastics, and I didn't want her celebration to be rushed after getting back before bed. I haven't downloaded the pics yet, so I'll have to share those later.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I can't believe you're a year old already. :(

My dad is going to Baghdad

For 3 months and I'm so scared! He leaves on the 13th. He's had military training (I'm an Army brat); but he's a 55 year old man now and it's scary over there. He's going there for a construction project his company is working on, not the war, so at least he's not fighting, but it's still scary over there and he'll stick out like a sore thumb as an American. I can't stop crying. Why do they have to send my dad there? Why are they doing a project there? When I first heard of the possibility, I thought it was going to be a one or two week thing. (Like when he went to Haiti for a week.) Now, it's for sure and 3 months now.

My lil bookworms

I thought this pic was adorable. This past Monday, I picked up some $1 Halloween board books from Target. The girls decided to sit down and look at them that evening. Alyssa even wanted one too!