Other summer...

Aliyah is a little top heavy (specifically in the cheeks...) She's been a bit "behind" in doing some of the developmental things like rolling and sitting up, etc. So we got Aliyah a bumbo to help "train" her. She loves it; we attribute it to helping her sit quicker than she probably would have.


This is pre-rolling all the way over--this distance covered (from her head on the burp cloth to the picture) is from rolling side to side!

(please note scrumptious thigh)

We were able to go boating with Dave's cousin and her little family. Dave got to try the ski chair (I don't know the correct term) and Aliyah got to try out her new life jacket (definitely wasn't her favorite!)


(note: the redness on her face is from the red canopy over head! We try to be good parents in keeping our child safe, but in another post you'll see we are far from perfect...)

After a walk/run...


And some swimming of course. She LOVED the water and was much better getting in the "cooler" pool than I was!



We went to the Parade of Homes in Salt Lake.


and got to meet Carl at the "UP" house (which we actually really liked)


And then this is my favorite. Aliyah LOVES, LOVES Dave. She get so excited to see him when he comes home. There is nothing sweeter...

June

June was a busy month. It started out with Dave's brother graduating from High School and the celebrations surrounding that. We love him--he is a really good kid.


The next morning we drove to Washington to visit my brother and his family. We were a little nervous about the 13 hour drive with Aliyah, but she did a FANTASTIC job. She only had a little crying session once! While in the Washington we...

went to a podunk logging festival....


Seattle...

We went to the Music Project museum (something like that)
Dave as an Avatar

and the boys in a band...you can see my nephew behind the drums--he was LOVING it, as were the grown men!


the coast...






had family pictures taken...



visited Mount St. Helens...


and saw Big Foot (Dave really wanted to get a picture taken with him because growing up at his house they had watched Harry and the Hendersons. When I told Dave I had never seen that movie we made sure to put it on our netflix queue. It was pretty good.)

and of course got sick (Dave and I have a tendency to get sick while we are on vacation; lame!)

We had birthdays...this is Dave's favorite dessert (and mine): nutella bars (thank you sister!)


And this is how we would try to keep Aliyah in her swaddle...fortunately she grew out of needing a swaddle on her own pretty quickly.

May

As in the month of...

Apparently we didn't do too many interesting things during April...well we did we just didn't take any pictures, so on to MAY!

I had my first official Mother's Day...I was expecting last year, but it's not the same. I LOVE my job. I never thought that being a mom could be SO wonderful. Definitely a gift from heaven...pure joy!


(do you like the drool on the front of her dress...hers not mine)

Someone in our neighborhood started a treat service...kind of like the Halloween Ghost that leaves a treat on your doorstep...


except this wasn't a ghost...

pretty impressive, huh? And one of the funniest things to open your door to!

Aliyah was 5 months in May. I posted pictures that my sister Annie and I had taken earlier but here are two more because Aliyah is so darn cute:




And this had to be documented...Aliyah had some good hair when she was born, and it never fell out. So she had the bald spot (like most babies get), but Aliyah had a comb-over and that comb-over would often get big ol' knots in it. Then to top it off look a little lower and you can see Aliyah's "rats tail." It's not a perfect one, but it is clearly there. (I'm just jealous because I always wanted a rats tail for the pure sake of humor--I almost got one cut after my mission, but my parents called the hairstylist and told her not to let me! I would have had it only for a week...Could you imagine!?)


Next up, summer...and we were busy!!!

Baby Blessing

Yes this wonderful event took place 6 months ago, yes my baby is almost 9 months old now, and yes I am now just blogging about it.

It was an incredible day that started with Aliyah sleeping 7 hours straight! We almost weren't ready on time because we had forgotten that it was daylight savings, but the preparations from the dress to the food and most importantly spiritually came together. It was wonderful to have our family together to help celebrate Aliyah.

My mom and I teamed up on the dress...and by teamed up I mean she made it all and I added the flower embellishments




Us with Dave's parents


with my parents


The men who were a part of blessing Aliyah...how we love each of them!


It was an incredible day.


(slowly but surely)

Lots to update...

But am not going to do it right now. Here's just a bit of Aliyah...

 

At 6 months old (yesterday!)here are Aliyah's stats:
weight 16 lbs. 4 oz.
Length 26 1/4 inches long
Face chubby

She's the best.

I couldn't help myself...

I started looking at some more of our pictures and just have to do a post all about Aliyah...she's the cutest baby in the world!

Her many faces: (a bit blurry...she doesn't hold still for very long)





She loves playing with her hands (and mine! Love it!)


And bath time is always a joy!



And with her cousin who is just 4 months older.


We are totally in love with this baby!!!

Randomness

A little catch-up...

Like so many others this year...we thoroughly enjoyed BYU basketball (we were a bit superstitious about Aliyah's outfit--every game she wore this particular outfit, BYU won...coincidence?)


Dave and I are really bad at taking pictures of us, so you take what you can get.
One of my favorite pastimes:


And a close up of Aliyah in case you missed those cheeks! (Sometimes I forget how big they are until other people comment on them--they seriously are the BEST!)


And lastly a bit of a change. From this:


to this:


I cut off about 14" to donate to Locks of Love. I don't miss my long hair at all--it doesn't get in the way anymore!!

So a general update of some random things...I have a few specific posts coming up...once I get around to it!