Dentist!

Last week, we took Aliyah to her first dentist appointment. She did great! When we first got there, she was a little nervous and they brought her a big Olaf to hold on to.

 

and stickers!

She got a toothbrush!

 While we were there, they told us that her teeth looked great but that we needed to get rid of the pacifier... I have been dreading the day. But we finally did it! Grandma Lloyd sent a book called, "No more pacifiers for Piggy." So we read that together and then Aliyah threw her pacifiers in the garbage and we have been going without!! The little addict had one relapse. haha, I caught her hiding and sneaking Kailey's pacifier, but that's only happened once! So it went a lot better than I expected and we have been pacifier free for 3 days!!


 Just some updates on our family. Kailey is now 6 months old and Aliyah is almost 2! They are growing up so fast. They love to play with each other and Aliyah loves holding her. It is so fun to watch them interact and smile and laugh together. They are the best of friends. Both of the girls are getting over sickness right now. Aliyah loves to dress her self and she has some awesome style choices!! She absolutely loves wearing dresses and skirts! She is also talking a lot and loves to sing and dance. Her favorite song to sing right now is a primary song. She loves to sing, "I love to see the temple."

 I love her face!

Even when she is sick she is still SO happy!

Jake is doing awesome this semester. He leaves early in the morning to school and works on homework then so he can be all done with his day at 5pm. This is the most we have ever had him home! We have been loving it. This week he took all of his finals, he finished his last one this morning. Now he has a little Christmas break! We love the Christmas season, especially this year because Aliyah is at such a fun age. She loves to sing Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and she loves the Christmas tree!

I chopped my hair and I love it!!

Grocery shopping is awesome when he has both kids!

My Season

Today I had one of those days. One of those days that feels like it's never going to end. One of those days that feels like I am drowning in laundry and dishes and toys, and one of those days that I wish my children could just be older and more independent. But at the end of the day, when they are both sleeping peacefully (and I can breathe) I am reminded of my season. My 2nd mom, Ruth, always taught me that we go throughout life in different seasons. Right now I am in a messy and wild season. A season that consists of diapers, tantrums, tears, peanut butter that gets everywhere, negotiating endlessly with a toddler, and so many other little frustrating things. I am also in a season that is full of love, laughter, smiles, endless fun, toys, and happy memories. Yes, some days are SO hard and SO long, But I wouldn't trade it for anything! I just want to hold onto my little ones as long as I can while they are young. Because too soon they won't be little anymore. So while I am in this season, I am going to try my best to appreciate everything; the hard things as well.

They love each other!

Getting better at sitting up

She stole my bread!

Thumbs up is hard to do while smiling :)

Aliyah loves dressing up

I am in the best season right now. Blessed with two beautiful and healthy girls and a wonderful and supportive husband. I don't know how these two little girls can be so frustrating when they are so beautiful! :) They sure do have a tight hold on my heart.

Catch Up!

Oh boy, we have a lot to catch up on! I guess for starters, we had the most adorable little bugs for Halloween! We dressed Aliyah up as a ladybug and Kailey was a bumblebee. Jake's school (Air Force Institute of Technology) had a fun trick or treating activity for the family and we brought our girls and got to see where Jake spends his days.

 
















We had the missionaries over for a fun Halloween dinner! Cody and Maddie ate with us too! We had zombie hair and witches fingers and roasted zombie eyeballs for dinner and then we had caramel apples. It was so much fun!

 

It has been fun having the missionaries in our home. They bring such a wonderful spirit with them. We have been able to have a couple of lessons taught in our home with a recent convert. We were able to attend his baptism this past Saturday. It was an incredible opportunity for our family as it has caused us to reflect on our own testimonies and what we believe. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and God's love for us. It is such a blessing to our family.

Haha, Kailey's face!

Here is a little update on our family. The girls LOVE playing with each other! Kailey is 5 months old now and she is getting better at sitting up. We have started feeding her food! She loves peas and pears the best. She loves to smile and giggle and we couldn't imagine life without her, she brings so much joy to our little family! Aliyah is getting to be more and more fun! She loves playing outside and loves to help mommy do the chores. She is such a good big sister and loves to help take care of Kailey. We are loving it at our new home as we are settling in and getting to know our neighbors and ward members.

Ambulence Visit

I am SO grateful for people that Heavenly Father puts in our path to help us.  This past week, our family had a scare.  Kailey had had some congestion for a few days. Well one morning, she started having a hard time breathing and I panicked because we had lost our booger sucker when we moved. In my panic I remembered that my neighbor had told me that if I ever needed anything I could come ask. So I started walking across the street to ask to use her booger sucker.
On my way there, Kailey's breathing got worse and she stopped breathing all together.  I have never been so afraid in my life.  I silently pleaded with my Father in heaven that she would be okay. I showed up at my neighbors house in a panic. She was the answer to my prayers! She immediately took control for me because I had lost it. She called 911 and helped with Kailey and helped calm me down.
Thankfully Kailey started breathing on her own. She had been choking on a mucus plug. Everything is okay and she is doing great now! And we have an awesome electric booger sucker now.
I KNOW that God loves us and cares for us. I know this because of this experience. When we first moved I was terrified. Terrified of making new friends, of being a mom to two tiny kids, and terrified of being alone. But this was a reminder that we are watched over. I am grateful for my neighbor and that she was an answer to my prayers and a friend when I needed one most. And I am so grateful that I get to continue to be a mommy to Kailey and love her and teach her!     

                                          

                                                                                                                                                                          

                                   

Toddler Bed!

So we got Aliyah a new bed! She discovered how to crawl out of her crib. Jake went and picked out a princess bed for her and when he brought it home she was so excited!

You can't really tell in this picture because I couldn't get her to give me a real smile, but she was excited! (excuse the no pants! Sometimes you just have to be free.)

we decorated her bed and added pictures to her wall and they only lasted a few days before she ripped them off :)

When we first got the bed, we were worried about how her sleeping would be. She has been great though!! She falls asleep by herself and takes naps great! We are so lucky that she is a good sleeper. one thing that she loves to do when she is tired is go upstairs all by herself and get her pillow and her bear and her pacifier and come lay down wherever I am in the house. This is how I know it's nap time for her.

just sleeping in the kitchen!

Some other fun things that we love to do is watch movies, make homemade bread, go play at the park, and just hang out! We love our new house and all the fun things that we get to do here in Ohio! We've been able to have a lot of people over for dinner as well. A girl I knew from high school (She was actually one of Klay's friend's) was here in Ohio for a few weeks and we were able to have her and her family over for dinner. That was fun to catch up and visit. And then we also got to feed the Elders that are serving in our ward. We loved having them over! It's been fun getting to know the people in the ward out here. We are also lucky to have our friends Cody and Maddie living right around the corner from us. We do dutch oven cook-outs with them and we get to play with Maddie sometimes during the day! Here are some fun pictures of everything that we get to do!

HUGE slide at the park!

Aliyah loves running with daddy!

Just watching a movie!

Kailey loves to chew on things now.

Helping mommy make bread!

Here is Aliyah trying to steal Kailey's pacifier because I wouldn't let her have hers unless she was going to take a nap!

Cute Girls!

Today was one of those days that I am glad that we all survived and we are all still breathing. Aliyah got into the permanent markers, unfolded all the laundry that i had just folded, accidentally fell on top of Kailey and ended the world, had a million poopy diapers, cried over everything and anything, and didn't want to eat anything that I made for her but kept insisting that she was hungry, and basically just drove me crazy! But, during the quiet moments I am reminded how much I love being a mother and how much I love my girls. They are so beautiful and incredible and I am so lucky that I get to be the one that watches them grow up. So today while I am counting down the hours until bedtime I look at the pictures of my beautiful girls and remember how blessed I am :)

Aliyah is so beautiful!

                                                 

Kailey is growing up WAY too fast!

                                        

BEST FRIENDS :)

                                                    

I am the luckiest mom in the world!

                                                

We made it!

My sweet family and I are in Ohio! The move went great! We couldn't have done it without the help of our family. We seriously have the best friends and family ever! I don't know what we would do without them and we are going to miss them like CRAZY!! They helped us clean and pack and drive across the country! So thanks again everyone that helped!! I just wanted to share one of our experiences that we had right after we arrived at our new home. It will shape the rest of our experiences while we are here. 
 It was a humbling reminder from our Heavenly Father that He is watching over us. Jake and I were out with the family getting some things done to get the girls and I in the military system. Jake had a binder that held ALL of our information; birth certificates, passports, drivers license, social security cards, military orders, and more.  After we finished putting us in the system, we drive home and realize that we don't know where the binder was! It had been left on the top of the car and had fallen off somewhere on our way home! We were both instantly terrified of the thought of someone with all of our information. Dread and panic set in and we were both near to tears. Our family knelt down and pleaded with our Heavenly Father that He would help us find the binder and that it would be protected from dishonest men. I stayed home with the girls and Jake went back out to retrace our steps. When he got to the entrance of the base, he saw our binder in the middle of the road. Just as he was pulling up to get it, someone else was pulling over to pick it up. Jake had found the binder! We were so blessed! Someone could have picked up the binder before he got there and we could have easily not found it. It was a reminder that we need to rely on the guidance of our Father in Heaven and to attribute our successes to Him. We would be nothing without Him. We are so grateful to be blessed with His guidance and His blessings! We can't wait to see what is in store for our little family!! Here's to a wonderful start in Ohio!