Barely White Christmas

As most back home were "complaining" about a barely white Christmas, I was just soaking it in! I didn't mind one single iota.... after having several dumps of snow before we left, it was a nice break in our routine!!
As I have mentioned we were so blessed to be able to spend the holidays with my family! But... despite being really glad to be there, I hardly took any pictures! I don't know what my problem was... at any rate I will share a handful that I did take!

Auntie Erin (my bros wife) was fantastic with Alia. I can't even describe to you how much Alia LOVED playing with her. She has such a way with kids... I know that if we lived closer Alia would be at her house more times than not! I was so blessed to watch the two of them together.... it was truly beautiful!


This is one of the very few shots I got of Alia in her Christmas dress. Let's just say she was NOT in the mood for posing! So, she's sitting on Daddy's lap (read "being held there"!) with the promise that after pictures she could help pass out presents!


Uncle Josh helping Alia with her new rain garb... the jacket even has little antennas! It's ADORABLE!!


Watching Alia open her gifts was way more fun this Christmas! Last Christmas we basically opened them for her, with her grabbing on randomly at times. This year there was no stopping her! She knew the drill and was giving her all she had!


Trying to get a pic of some of the unwrapping frenzy, but wasn't too successful!


Daddy and Alia just relaxing with some books.

It's 4:45 am...

... and I've been up for over two hours. Definitely not my original plan, but here I am.

Things that are going through my head include (but are not limited to!):

- Houses. The house down the road from us, that we thought FOR SURE we would be moving into this summer, is no longer. Well... I mean, it's there... but we weren't able to negotiate a price. The price our realtor told us was good and the price they want is about $70,000 difference. Needless to say, for a house that is straight out of the 70's and requires LOTS of modernizing, that's a lot of money. In addition, the people that wanted to buy our house have decided they prefer to live more in the country. SO... we're back at square 1. Again.

- Girl's names. We can't agree. It's just that simple! I told Jon, if I had my way we would have had a name months ago... but our tastes are SO different! I think that I should have like 60% pull vs. the typical 50% in this case. I'm not a huge "I carried this child, and gave birth to them, so you better..." kind of person - but I'm tempted to be in this case! Just until we choose a name anyhow! The name I have picked out is just SO lovely... and Jon's names are just so 90's (keepin' it real!)! But I know eventually (hopefully in like the next week or two) we will agree. I have every confidence that God will pop a really great name into both our heads. Until then I'm not even going to list the options!

- Toys. I'm clearing out Alia's toys. We were at a close friends house the other day and their once overflowing toy shelf was completely bare (minus a puzzle or two!). Her husband was sick of walking over & around stuff so he boxed it all up... funny thing... the kids have hardly noticed! So - operation "Alia needs to learn to play with what she has" will be in effect soon. I just have to buy a few more storage totes! (Don't worry - all her new Christmas toys have made the cut!)

- My camera. It's in manual mode 100% of the time now. So... pictures will probably continue to be lacking in most departments for the next ?? I'm not sure how long! Just wanted to let ya know. And ask you, once again, to overlook all badness and just see the hints of goodness!

There's more... but I'm getting on the yawny side. So up I go to try and get some shut eye!

Horses... once again

Our girl loves horses. It's been that way since she was the littlest of little tikes. Thankfully for us, her Auntie Jer loves horses too... so they will have lots to bond over when Alia gets older. I have VERY little desire to own a horse, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there... maybe by then her interests will change!
ANYHOW...
my mom pulled down our old rocking horse from the attic, dusted it off, and made the day for this little cowgirl!!

Showing off for the boys




This is what I call her "cheesy smile"...


Having a grand ole' time



Uncle Joel giving her some pointers on how to help Lukey have a more enjoyable ride


Just a girl, her horse, and her best friend... chillin' awhile

Winter Wonderland

Being the super aunt and uncle that they are... my brother and his wife wanted to take Alia somewhere special while we were home! We originally thought we'd go to the zoo to see all the lights (it's CRAZY what their hydro bill must cost!) but heard that most the animals weren't in view, so we decided to go with plan B. (And as we were passing the zoo entrance on our way to plan B, there were miles of cars backed up just waiting to get in! So it's a good thing we went somewhere else... otherwise Alia would have been asleep before we even got in the gate!!)
Plan B ended up being the "Winter Wonderland". The very same event that we graced several times as children! I'll be honest... I don't quite remember it being that cheezy when I was a youngin'... but Alia loved it - and that's what matters! It was so cute... her little pointer finger was out the whole evening!





Of course Uncle Josh let her TOUCH everything... not just point at it!


And here we have my husband modeling my bro's hat. You'd think, for being a Canadian, he'd be able pull the look off better - but nope! We promptly asked him to return it to Joel.... quickly!


Auntie Erin and Alia are like two peas in a pod - my oh my, those two have fun together!


I know the quality of this pic is horrible but I loved the expressions!


Every member of the family took turns holding Alia... as you can see! It was almost like setting a timer so a new toy can be enjoyed by all! "Beeeeeep... K, now it's my turn!"


The main highlight of the evening was the huge blow up jumping thing they had set up for the kiddos! Alia had a BLAST... until an older kid took her out. I wasn't there to witness the event (I'm preggo... remember... take one wild guess where I was!) but apparently after the tangle she was done with that event pretty fast!
Overall it was a fun evening and I'm so glad we went!

What 'cha eatin?

My Dad hadn't seen Alia since July so he was beside himself with excitement for her to come! These two are so fun to watch together! It probably helps that anything Alia wants, Alia gets!!!
I caught Grampa sharing some early morning cookies with Ali... on more than one occasion!! But... oh well - Gramma and Grampa only get the chance to spoil a few times a year, so it might as well be good when they've got it!

Pretending she's all surprised about what Grampa's eating...

World Class Traveler

After my parents heard of the MB Christmas switcheroo they surprised us with an irresistible offer... plane tickets to come spend the holidays with them!! Of course we were beyond willing to take them up on it, so off we went!
We spent the night in Fargo and then flew out the next morning. Overall everything went very smoothly (with hardly any minutes to spare!) and we arrived in Detroit unscathed.
Alia did FANTASTIC! We calculated that this was her 7th & 8th trip on an airplane (not counting all the connecting flights, etc.) and has always been a very good traveler! I was a little nervous to take a VERY energetic 19 month old in a VERY enclosed space for hours and hours on end... so needless to say was quite relieved that she did well!

Watching the airplanes and giving Mommy a very enthusiastic report any time something went "up"!!!


Watching for Daddy to come back with our latest "free ticket voucher" news - when all was said and done we didn't get them... but it was fun to dream how we would use them if we did!


Lukey was on his best behavior the whole day!




But the return trip was something else! Poor Alia was getting some nasty teeth in so the first 2 1/2 hour flight was more than she could take. She has never screamed that much or been so out of it before, and there was nothing we could do to take away her pain. We just kept trying to force water down her... thus forcing her to swallow... but it did nothing. I'm SO glad Jon was there and that I wasn't traveling with her on my own. I was a wreck. First I thought she was just being disobedient and was trying to have stern talks with her about being quiet, etc... then we realized she was just in lots of pain... and that made me bawl like a baby, because I was so helpless! Oh were we ever thankful to touch land! The second (literally) that we were in normal air pressure she fell asleep and stayed that way for hours!

9 months preggo

I can't believe I'm here. Only a few short weeks to go before we finally meet this precious one! Between keeping up with Alia and traveling so much this has been a bit of a whirlwind pregnancy... but good none the less! This month my goals are simple...
-savor every little kick and hiccup from our tiny miracle
-be as prepared as possible
-spend extra time with and simply enjoy Alia being Alia

I have taken VERY VERY VERY few maternity pics this round. And yes.... it was intentional! Don't worry, we'll get pregnancy pictures taken soon (hopefully!)and those pics will be enough to satisfy the babies curiosity when he/she is older! At any rate... here is the most recent (as of this morning kind of recent!) one. In all its early morning, no make up, puffy beauty!

Christmas before Christmas

This year our family was "scheduled" to stay in MB and spend the holidays with Jon's family... BUT... they decided to make the trip out before Christmas, so we got the best of both worlds!
We had our Christmas gathering a week before Christmas and spent the day eating, relaxing, playing in the snow, and enjoying each other's company.

My two loves...


Alia and Gramma Great playing together


Hershey and Alia got some play time in too... just on opposite sides of the glass


Our newest member of the family with his momma (and dadda)



Our little goofy girl in action


It was a long day for Santa


Everywhere that Anderson went, Alia was sure to follow


Trying on Daddy's Sorels


All bundled up... Alia's the pink one - did you guess right?!?


And of course my husband can't just lay on the tube - he has to make things more challenging... and risky


Poor Alia isn't quite ready for tubing, so she rode on the four wheeler instead




The cousins... together at last


But it didn't last long... maybe next time!


Showing Gramma her new gifts

BIG sister

Alia's going to do GREAT in her new role! I have no doubts... sort of!
Here she is "pretending" to step on her baby

And here she is "pretending" to sit on her baby

But at least she knows how to make up for it! The baby is getting some ice cream for all the hassle she's been through in the last 3 minutes!


All kidding aside, I think Ali will do fantastic! We set up the basinet in our room and each morning and after each nap she runs in there to show me where the baby sleeps! She loves giving my belly hugs and kisses, which is just the sweetest! And she has become quite the little helper... so I think she'll enjoy getting things for Mommy when need be! Although it seems crazy... I am really looking forward to seeing her transition from being an only child to being the BIG sister! This little baby is going to be loved beyond measure... that's for sure!

That's so OLD news...

... even though Alia still gets excited about the "NOOOOOO" when she looks out the window, this picture proves otherwise!
She's done fantastic with the whole bundling-to-the-hilt thing, but deep inside I think she's longing for sunshine! Warm, glorious sunshine... flip flops... the smell of fresh cut grass... trips to the park... leisurely strolls... ice cream on a weekly (okay, okay... semi-daily basis)... daylight until WAY past bedtime.
No, I can't say she's exactly TOLD me these things - but I just know. I mean we're tight. We're like THIS. We go WAY back. Oh... yeah, you might be right.... I guess I'll have to get back with you on how she feels about this whole winter thing! That is something she got from her daddy after all! Apparently you can tell who the REAL Canadians are around this place!!

A Day in the Life

of Alia! It's not hard, complex, or overly stressful.... but somebody has to do it!



This happens regularly at our house... I find all sorts of things under there! At least it reminds me to swiffer under the couch!


I suppose this is actually TWO days in the life of Alia! I didn't change her wardrobe for this momentous blogging occasion... and she got a little beauty mark on her cheek since the last "day in the life"!

Look at that tongue... this is some pretty intense play time!

One can never be "too pretty" while playing... although we will have to work on the lipstick application a bit!