Pigtails!

Allie's hair finally fit into her first pigtails the other day....SO CUTE!

PS: her smiles crack me up!

Pictures of the Birthday Girl!

I tried getting some cute pictures of Allie the morning of her birthday, but because she is a busy little baby, they didn't turn out as fantastic as I would have like....even still, you can see why we think she's so adorable... ;)
"Get this thing off my head"....LOL. She only keeps her headbands on for a split second before she's pulling them off....

Love the smile...

This one makes me giggle just looking at it....look at her crazy hair...it's sticking up further than the black flower....

Ok, Mom....if you don't want me pulling off my hair bow, then I'll just eat the toy...

Love our little Allie!! (more birthday pics to come)

One Year Ago Today...

...our beautiful little lady joined our family. Allie has been the perfect addition, too! Allie is absolutely adored by her two big sisters, she gets smothered in kisses regularly from her two big brothers, she has a Daddy that thinks she is the prettiest thing around, and a Mommy who feels so blessed to have this sweet little girl as part of our family!

Allie has grown so much....like all babies during the first year. But, some of her "big" accomplishments are: walking (not all the time, but she can take about 5-6 steps before falling, while giggling her head off!), she has 10 teeth, including her top 2 molars that just grew in, she has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 1/2 months old, she has the cutest crawl in the entire world (if you've seen her crawl, you know exactly what I'm talking about), she loves to babble & can mimic "mama" and "baba" (bottle). Allie also loves to blow raspberries, loves to eat mac & cheese, applesauce, yogurt, bagels, diced pears, and any type of noodle, really.

We are so glad our Allie-cat is part of our family! Happy 1st Birthday, little lady!! We love you more than you will ever know!!!

9 months old...

...and we love her more every day!!

(showing off her 2 bottom, front teeth....those are the only ones she has so far, but she puts them to good use!!)

(a big cheeser for Abbie, who was doing tricks behind me...)

(playing in the laundry basket)

(eating leaves outside)

(standing up in the kitchen....she thinks she is pretty hot stuff w/all her standing...)

(and she thinks she is big enough to start climbing the stairs....I happen to think differently!)

Allie is adored by us all...she is such a sweet, happy, easy-going baby!! We love our little lady!

Blessing

Sunday brought Allie's blessing day. We knew Annie would be getting baptized this weekend, so we held off blessing Allie so we could do both in one big weekend (hopefully it made travelling/attending easier for our parents!). Here are a few pictures from after the blessing...

Allie with her Daddy & both Grandpas!

And Mommy with her "two white girls" (as the boys have been saying)...

Just the two white girls....

Another Mommy & girls...

Just Mom & Allie!...

I realized that I didn't get any snap shots with both Matt & I with Allie....I'll have to get those that our Mom's took! We had such a fantastic weekend and we are so blessed to have family & friends that came to show their love and support, along with all those that were there in spirit too (we missed you)!

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!!

Smiles

Trying to capture the smile of a newborn on camera is just about impossible...lucky for me, I was finally able to get a few shots the other day....it's amazing how a little smile melts my heart, completely!

2 months old

On Sunday, Allie turned 2 months old. So, yesterday we had her 2 month check-up. She has reach all the appropriate milestones & is growing perfectly...she weighed in at 10 lbs. 8 oz & 22 inches long. She's handled the immunizations really well, even. She is such a sweet & easy going baby who loves to snuggle with me! She loves her nighttime bath, followed by pajamas, a bottle & bedtime. She's even slept through the night on a few occasions! :) Annie has a special touch for calming Allie down (especially when I'm trying to get dinner ready, or whatever) and helping her enough to relax & fall asleep. Parker & Connor love to give her tons of kisses everyday. Allie is a perfect addition to our family!

Here are a few snapshots that I took of her...(sorry for the shadows)...

And, here you can tell that she'd finally had enough...LOL!...

3 Week Photoshoot

I think she gets more pretty every single day!! We love our Baby Allie!

More Showing Off! :)

These next few pictures are from when the kids came to visit Baby Allie and me later the day that she was born! I love seeing how much Allie is already adored by her older brothers & sisters!

Here's Parker getting to hold her for the very first time!

Connor climbed up on my lap & loved looking at (and kissing) his new baby sister!

Abbie loves holding Allie like this...

And a picture of my FIVE kids and me!!....I love every single one of them!!

Matt finally got a chance to hold Allie (without compitition with the other kids) when it was time for me to be discharged!!...he's a proud dad!!

Lastly....Allie in her "coming home" outfit!

I am SO in love with her already!!!