Well, this is a very over-due post but I wanted to get it up. We got Allie transitioned over to her big girl bed in July. Thanks to Uncle Rod and Aunt Katie for hauling up Allie's new bed set from IKEA in Utah.
It took a bit of time and a couple of adjustments before she was used to her new room. When Allie had her crib, she was climbing out and coming into our room all of the time...she is a cuddly little girl and loves to snuggle up to mom and dad to sleep. So after a few weeks of still waking up in her big girl bed at night, we got her a body pillow and a side rail. The combination of both of these with time did the trick. Allie now sleeps through the night in her bed, or comes to visit us around 5 or 6 and sleeps for a few more hours in our bed.
The big girl bed and dresser
We moved all the toys upstairs to Allie's room...we love being toy less downstairs
I don't know when I decided I cut hair, especially on a 2 year old....but I did! The other night Katie came over and decided to use our clippers to buzz Cam. Allie looked at me and said, "Allie get a haircut." I responded back, "okay." So I went and got the scissors and I starting snipping, and snipped off a little bit more than I anticipated. I then tried to turn the cut into an A-line. I had a wiggly little girl who kept trying to watch Cam get his haircut, but all in all, I think it will work. Hair grows...right?
The new "do"
Well, yet another fall has arrived and our pantry is out of peaches and nearing the end of our pears. Katie and I decided to have a 2nd annual year of canning. We decided that this year we were going to can while we had sleeping children, since it was an all day event last year juggling two toddlers. Well, this year it ended up being an all night event. We began our peach canning at around 10:00 p.m. Well, if anyone knows me I can go off of little sleep the next day, so I kept Katie awake till 4 a.m. canning peaches. Thanks Katie for all of the crazy fun! We ended up with 87 Quarts of peaches between the two of us. We priced out our peaches at .46 for a 16 oz can, compared to Walmart's .68 a can. That is .22 in savings per can, and a whole lot better tasting peaches.
Our pears had to ripen for a couple of days, so we ended up tackling this project on a Saturday evening. We had the dad's watching football and the kids, if that says anything about our attentive babysitters. We pretty much were canning pears and babysitting. Well after the kids were down, we drug my fabulous husband into the middle of canning pears. I think he now appreciates all of the hard work and love that goes into each jar. Thanks hun! Well we ended up with 66 Quarts of pears. The pears ended up costing us .54 a can, compared to Walmart's at .68 a can. We ended up with a .12 savings here, but still nothing beats a home canned jar of pears!
Our cooling peaches...these look leaps and bound ahead of our jars from last year
The canned fruit has turned into my new decor...my pantry is too full this year
Well, Allie is getting pretty independent. So tonight before bed, Allie wanted a cup of "Mimmi." I was being a busy mom in the office and kept telling Allie to "hold on just a minute." Well I guess Allie had heard that one too many times, and my smart girl knew that I wasn't going to be moving any time soon.
A few minutes later, Allie reappears into the office and says "Mommy, I want my mimmi." I turn around to tell her to hold on, only to bust up laughing. Allie had walked downstairs, opened the fridge, (which I have never seen her do) and returned upstairs with her jug of milk and a sippy cup. I had to see this reenacted. I walked Allie downstairs and watched as Allie leveraged herself against the wall and pried open the fridge door. Now I'll just wait for the day she tries to actually pour the milk when I am not watching!
Here is my big helper!
So I have been doing a program called Coupon Sense for a couple of months now. The program matches up your Sunday coupons with the sales at the grocery stores. It takes a little bit of time each week, but for the most part we have found some great deals. We have stocked up on FREE toothpaste, shampoo, contact solution, dishwasher soap and some other great finds. Today, I made a run to Albertson's to stalk up on their great Box Tops Sale. My total bill was $138.10 and I had 49 total items. I watched my bill fall down to $48.01, a savings of $90.10. I pretty much paid $1 for everything. It was a great day at the store.
We had some more F.F. with Blake's whole family over the weekend. The occasion for the family get together was for Natalia's (one of Blake's little sisters who just turned 8) baptism.
Friday night Blake's brother Scott rolled into town with his family from Utah and we just bummed around the rest of the night. Saturday afternoon we had the baptism which was wonderful. It made me think back to the day that I was baptized and stirred up a lot of emotions. I have never been able to not shed a tear when the Primary Songs are sung by the young kids. The Primary of the Church have such a neat spirit and anytime I hear them sing, I can't hold in my emotions. My crying continued as I heard Allie singing parts of "I Am A Child Of God, " which we sang as the closing song. It was so cute to just watch her sing and realize that she is catching on to the things she is taught at home and church.
After the baptism, we had a little celebration at Boondocks. It was actually quite fun despite the many things that Allie couldn't participate in. She was a good sport. We actually ended up leaving the park at 11:30 pm; we had honestly just lost track of time, had no idea it had gotten that late, and the kids were all doing relatively well. We enjoyed some miniature golf, bumper boats, multiple races on the racetrack, the jungle gym inside, and some arcade games.
Warren, Allie, and Cam getting ready to golf-another one of Allie's first sports that she has tried out recently. I need to remember....girls and sports with balls at this age....don't mix so well
Definitely sporting her "girliness" through and through for this sport. Warren and Cam had great hand-eye coordination from the get go. Allie on the other hand, could not get the hang of hitting the ball with the club
When I told Allie she needed to hit the ball into the hole, this is what she would do on every hole. She would initially hit the ball, with assistance. Following the first hit, she would pick up her ball, walk it to the hole and drop it in, then quickly take it back out
Enjoying some arcade games with Dad
Riding the dump truck with Warren
Enjoying a game of hoops with Cam. These two had quite the advantage as they were ontop of the game shooting their baskets
Allie turns 2! We finally got to have Allie's Elmo Party. I was telling Allie about the party the night before. She was getting excited and I told her we needed to go to sleep before the party could start, and when she woke up tomorrow it would be the day for the party. Allie responded, "I awake mommy." She kept telling me that, as if the party would start that moment because she was awake.
We had a great night (minus the diarrhea episodes...see note below) with family and are so blessed we have so much family around. I had found a bunch of Elmo party stuff at Target about 6 months ago. Allie loved Elmo then and still does, but the Disney Princesses are becoming a part of Allie's world. I asked Allie about a week ago what she wanted to do for her party. She told me she wanted a "princess party." I think we might have to consider that for next year.
The Birthday Banner's first debut
The table with one of Allie's present from Blake and I. Allie got her own Dorothy goldfish, which we put as the centerpiece on the table
My first cake! I had fun decorating this but I learned a lot on this first cake. Hopefully they only get better from here on out.
Playing "pin the nose" on Elmo. Allie and Cam did great!
Allie excited for the cake
One of Allie's favorite presents of the night....this wonderful Red Ryder trike from Papa and Grandma Deb. Allie also was excited about her "Cinderlelli" doll that she got from Ainsley and Adam. If you are wondering why Allie is sporting the panties, we had quite the night of diarrhea accidents. Allie had 3 spurts within one hour. After the first accident, I told Allie we were going to wear a diaper, but she persisted and wanted to wear her panties. I gave in, it was her birthday party. We then had another accident, and threw her in the tub and got her ready for bed. I don't know if she had some 24 hour bug or what. She had a few boughts of diarrhea the day before too. Daddy got her some Pedialyte because by the end of the party she was looking pale and a little sickly.
We went bowling with the Hansen Family on Labor Day. It was Allie's first time and she enjoyed it. She wasn't in love with the game, but she had a good time. We used the "bowling ramp" (picture below) and Allie enjoyed pushing the ball. We even had the bumpers up, so Allie ended up with a score of 83 for her first game, not to shabby. For all fellow Boiseean's out there... Westy's off of Chinden has a great deal on Monday nights. It's $1 night! $1 shoes, $1 per game...pretty good FHE activity for a great price!
Allie pushing the ball down with dad by her side for assistance
It's looking like a "STRIKE!" I wish it were that easy!
