It's Great to be Eight!

Annie had her birthday 2 weeks ago....she turned EIGHT years old! We ended up celebrating all weekend long (almost). We have a tradition of the birthday kid picking where we go out to dinner, as a family...since Annie's birthday was on a Monday night (when Matt was teaching at BSU) we decided to go out on Saturday night instead.

Sunday night we had her cake & ice cream, since we wanted Daddy to be there for that too! :)

Monday morning, we woke up bright & early so she could open her birthday gifts! She was given her own scriptures & marking pencils, some purple (her favorite color!) finger nail polish, a new outfit from Gramma & Grandpa C (she's worn it a lot!), a new dress & outfits for her American Girl doll from Grandma Judy & Grandpa Bill, and a special date with Mom to get pedicures & go shopping!!

We love this Anastasia! We are looking forward to a special day with lots of pictures & lots of family in town for her baptism!! Of course, I'll post pictures afterward! :)

Allie is 3 months old!

Things about Allie...

1) She loves to be propped up in a sitting position....she definitely likes to see what is going on around her!

2) She has *almost* lost her newborn cry....you know the one I'm talking about.

3) She usually puts up with loads of hugs & kisses from her older brothers pretty well.

4) She loves when Mom is holding her....if mom is busy, a binkie will hold her off just a tiny longer...

5) She does NOT like to lay on her tummy...."tummy time" usually lasts all of 30 seconds.

6) She typically goes to bed around 9pm and sleeps straight through until 6:30-7am!! Yes, I am in heaven!

7) She recently found her hands & loves to have them up near her face or in her mouth (see picture).

8) She will reward just about everybody with one of the cutest smiles ever!

9) She is definitely a blue-eyed baby! They aren't the newborn gray-blue anymore, but a dark, beautiful blue!10) She frequently has "raspberries" on her lips!

We are so blessed to have our little Allie-cat in our family! I love watching each of the other kids play, hold, and kiss her...each of them loves her so much! Matt loves to hold & talk to her as well....I think he misses her a lot when he has to work late or teaches class & doesn't get home before she is in bed. Heavenly Father definitely knew what he was doing when He sent Allie to us! We love her!!

Spring Break, Part 3

We made suger cookies yesterday!! Always a big hit! And, oh so yummy!!

Here the kids are getting ready to frost & decorate...

Decorating away...

All done!!

Now ENJOYING the goodness!!

Spring Break, Part 2

Another snowy day....so, we colored Easter eggs!!!

Some of the final product....
And a cute baby who slepted through it all...

I think we'll make Easter sugar cookies tomorrow! Yum! :)