Christmas Continued

Here are a couple snaps from Christmas morning. She was such a little angel and loved pulling everything out of her stocking.

Note for next year: A bundle of bananas will do the trick ;)

Christmas 2011

It feels like this year was Tiny's 1st Christmas!

I mean, she slept through her real 1st Christmas. Does that even count?!

So technically this was her 2nd, but who's keeping track, right?!

She was really fun this year.

Like, she stayed awake, through all the gift opening :)

ROCKSTAR BABY!

We got to spend this Christmas in WA with almost all my family.

It was by far my favorite Christmas to date.

Annabelle got to play with her cute cousins all week long. Her and JuJu really hit it off and I can tell they'll be best buddies.

It was so cute to see how much they loved each other.

And both Annabelle and Cole lit right up when they saw Bella. She is such an adorable oldest cousin. She loves those babies so much.

Well, Annabelle's officially 13 months old.

And she has seriously gotten so much older in this past month.

SHE TOOK HER FIRST STEPS ON HER 13 MONTH MARK! 

Ahhhhh. 

It was so so exciting!!

And she also somehow picked up on the "cheese" face. Haha!

At first I thought it was a crazy coincidence that she was making this face in EVERY picture of the week: squinty-eyed, goofy smile.

Then I realized she was saying cheese.

And I think it is the most adorable thing.

Ever.

She's not a total walker yet, but she is super close! She stands up a lot on her own, and I think all this progress is due to watching JuJu run around all weekend.

I'd either find those 2 giggling standing side by side, or crawling after each other.

She really loves all her cousins!

And so do I.

I feel so so blessed to have such a beautiful & loving family.

I love them so much.

The worst part about saying goodbye, is not knowing when we'll see each other again...

But I pray that it's real real soon!!

Merry Christmas.

I hope everyone's was as eventful as ours!

Sneak Peek

We got some cute family photos taken yesterday and I'm loving them. A lot :)
Sweet Sue took them and she did such a good job!

Here are a few of my faves.

I'm trying to choose one for our Christmas card. 

Help a girl out?

:)

I'm especially loving the first and the last.

Aside from Christmas cards.

It's my baby's birthday today.

TODAY!!

I still have goodies and cakes to bake.

And I still need to rearrange my living room.

And then somehow sneak in some sleep.

But mostly I'll just love on my little girl.

She's my whole world!

Happy Birthday, beautiful baby.

I love you.

Quickly Approaching One

She's practically there.

When people ask me how old she is, I just say:

"Almost one!"

That's a true sign of giving in to this whole growing up business...

Right?

While saying her bedtime prayers tonight, 

I broke down weeping.

I couldn't help myself!

She is my precious little baby and I love her so much.

It's crazy!

It is so incredible how much you can love one small person.

I can't even describe it.

So all I could do was just cry, while she lovingly looked into my eyes.

I am so thankful to have her:

My tiny best friend.

We do everything together!
And I love her more than anything.

You're 11 months old, sweets.

I love you forever!

*She crawls - fast!
*She says "please" in sign language.
*She's definitely a mama's girl
*She says mama, dada, and papa. 
And of course: up.
*She loooves cheese. 
(true Allred right there!)
*And she's getting too big, too fast!


Here's a video of her having her first sucker on her first halloween :)

She loved it!

Tiny's 1st Halloween

This year was baby girl's first halloween.

And it was AWESOME!

She was our little chicken, and we were her cool farmer parents.

Some little girl even stopped me asking to take our picture cause we had "the cutest costumes" she'd seen ;)

Maddy-Cakes and A-Belle were twinner chickens.

Sooo adorable!

Our little Trunk-or-Treat greeters:

Hope your halloween was awesome too.

Annabelle even got to try her first sucker...

 I'll post a video soon.

:)

Food Matters

I just found this awesome video through my friend's blog.

She's an incredible health guru.

And this movie is so interesting.

You can watch it here for free until October 8th.

Take advantage.

You won't regret it.

Conference Weekend

 Here are a couple snaps from this past weekend.

We got to spend Saturday and Sunday with family, and watch General Conference.

Loved. Every. Second.

Sue-Belle taught me some fun stuff on my camera. 

Although, I could probably have the worst lighting, terrible settings, and the lens cap on, and Ashley would still be this gorgeous.

Maddy's adorable-ness.

I just looove those little teeth!

In between sessions the girls took a bath together.

And Kaylee thought it was pretty hilarious to dump cups of water over Annabelle's head.

Haha.

Luckily, she didn't mind too much :)

She also taught Annabelle how to do the Kaylee-smile.

So cute.

It was so nice to have a relaxing weekend, hearing the leaders of our church speak to us.

And especially hearing the prophet speak.

Love him.

He's pret-ty funny :)

Don't you love General Conference?

Hope you had a great weekend too :)

So it's in ink. And on the internet.

Last night's hang out sesh consisted of our
future baby's names.

Yes, EXCITING!

No, we're not expecting :)

Jake and I don't agree on a lot of names.

So you're gonna be flat out amazed when you hear this:

We chose 3.

That means we love 3 names.

The same 3 names.

And we're using them.

Eek.

But first I have bad news.

Terrible news.

Ugh.

The worst news.

:(

The man vetoed the name Scarlett.

Some "man", right?

Rrrgh.

However, I'm thinking by the time we adopt our precious girl from Zimbabwe, he'll have forgotten. And she'll be the prettiest Scarlett ever. :)

Well, these pretties cannot be vetoed.
As they're on the blog.
The i-n-t-e-r-n-e-t.
In ink.
And you're all my witnesses.


K.

Here we go:

Jackson David.

Haylie Marie.

Anderson Ross.

Goshhh!

I was seriously so twitterpaited about these names last night, that I could hardly fall asleep.

Aren't they dreamy?

Annabelle & Haylie?
BFF's!!!

Jackson & Anderson?

TBE's!!!

(tightest buds ever)

Annabelle & Jackson?

Anderson & Haylie?

Annabelle, Jackson, Anderson, and Haylie?

(and Scarlett too!!)

Mmm.

Those are my babies.

:)

But for now I'll remember my 10-month old.

And how we have a little lot more time for it to be just the 3 of us.

((BUT AREN'T YOU DYING TO KNOW WHAT JACKSON, ANDERSON, AND HAYLIE LOOK LIKE?!)

Go. To. Sleep. Emma.

It's time to accept the inevitable... And get EXCITED!! :D

It's time.

We're only two months away and I've gotta stop moaning and groaning about it.

It's going to happen.

And it's gonna be a PARTY! :D

So from here on out, I'm EXCITED!

Little Tiny's turning ONE!

(Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

Hooray!

She's 10 months old today.

She still eats, sleeps, and poops like she did 10 months ago today.
It's crazy. I know.

And since then she's added a couple more (exciting) tricks.

* She blows kisses.

* Screams at unimaginable pitches.

* Dances.

* Laughs. 

(finally!)

* Loves books.
(Specifically grown-up books. 
And tearing the pages out)

* Sings.

* Still just has two teeth with which she eats everything.

* She's in the 7th % for weight.

And 29th for height.

* Her first sentence: "I love my Aunt Lissie!"

(You like that? :))
Again. Crazy. I know.

* She's still pretty bald, 
but baby that hair is comin'!

* And she's going to be one.
In two months.


Let the party planning begin:


Isn't that cake adorable?
I'm on the look-out for a cute cake platter like that. Oh and that boa?
You better count on it.
(Pssst: Attendees, notice how cute her presents are wrapped!)
juuust sayin' ;)

And this? On her bald head?
Wheeere's the camera?!

( Attached to my hip, of course!)

Those ribbons. 

That banner saying:
You're ONE!

Those adorable heart cake signs.

All going to be there.

And *gasp* THIS?

First-time-eating-cake-photo-shoot?

Helium pink balloons?

Minus the second baby?
PRESH!

And for anyone that's seen this cutest high chair, 

please - ship it to me.

Cause those pom poms and little ribbons?

They'll be present :)

It's been the very best 10 months of my life.

And to think I get to keep you forever:

You make me the happiest mommy alive!

MUAH.

Family Photos. Gone Bad.

Remember that daddy-daughter shoot I was so looking forward to?

The one where Annabelle was gonna smile her guts out, and be cutesy-go-happy in her daddy's arms.

Ugh. 

Dreamy.

Just dreamy.

Here's how it went down:

1. Got every jingly toy and treat packed up.

Gotta keep the babe's attention.

2. Packed tiny girl's clothes - Made sure I had every hair accessory that could possibly match.

3. Timed the naps juuust right. Baby's gotta be well-rested. This is KEY.

4. Drove to location and got the guts up to ask stranger if I can shoot on their property. (Be ready for refusal.)

5. Request granted. Time for set up.

(Remember those creativity juices?)

6. Let them flow.

7. (I wasn't prepared for this step):

Be ready for 600 shots like this:

(OOh, yes. Wave at the camera! And sling shot that bow right off your head! PERFECT!)

this:

this:

and praise the heavens, this:

Gosh. Adorable right?

Yes. I wanna scream too, sweet tiny one!!

But then you get this face.

And you can just tell she's regretting that adorable outburst.

And she looks up and gives you this.

Sigh. We're getting closer...

OH, you like those peaches? 

This might work.

Mmm. Finally. A smile!!!!

Holy COW! Talk about gah!!! 
I'm not sure why I thought this shoot would be easier.
I was honestly ready to cry on the drive home.
Haha. I was just so frustrated!
But it was good for me.
I learned a lot and have 100x more respect for what Marie does!
Wow.
((That girl is un-der-paaaaid!))
She's amazing.
And inspiring.
And my life will go on.


Next daddy-daughter shoot should go better.
(Oh please keep your finger's crossed!!!)


I mean, the chances of this happening twice are slim.

Right?


Sweet Dreams.
Em.