Thanksgiving and Crawling!

So I know they don't go together, but the week of Thanksgiving Alice decided to actually give this crawling thing a try!  I am elated!  She is sooo much happier now, and she is progressing so much everyday!  She only tried a few times during the week, but on her 7 month-day she decided it was time to really go for it...  for Daddy of course!  Spencer managed to get her really crawling.  Finding things that she would want was the trick...  Before, if you placed her favorite gizmo or gadget out of her immediate reach she would either scream bloody murder, go for it and then scream bloody murder, or just find something else to catch her fancy.  I will figure out how to link you to the video of her crawling, but in the mean time here are a few Thanksgiving day pictures!

The massive turkey.  Seretta has decided that she will cook nothing less than a 25 pound turkey, EVERY year.










Food, oh glorious FOOD!!!












Steve is stuffed.












Taerra had to stand she was so full!












Steve is trying to make more room for his food.












Steve getting punch for the sisters, and Stephanie is also so stuffed she had to get up and do something.





ALICE CRAWLING!!!

Pictures to this point

Here are most of the pictures we have taken up to this point.  The links take you to photobucket, if it gets too confusing let me know, and I will try to make it easier!  Hope you enjoy!!

FunTimes09
 Mostly from Summer to Fall 09

Texas2009
 Both of my trips to Texas are on here, before Cliff passed and then after

SteveSpencerKaylaY09
 While my family was visiting Steve and Spencer hiked the Y with Kayla...  The Y is a mountain right next to BYU, there is a trail leading up to a big white Y painted into the side.

BabyAlice
 Most of the pictures we took of Alice from Birth-2 months

BabyShower
 Um... baby shower?

Maternity/bellypics
 Some professional maternity pictures courtesy Amy Garner, and the belly pictures we took weekly from 17-38 weeks.  I was induced the first day of my 39th week of pregnancy.

Texas2008
 Trip to Texas in 2008, you will find a few pictures of Cliff at the end!

FunTimes08
  First year of Marriage!  Fun times!

Alice sleeping with her cup in her hand

When Spencer puts Alice to bed he just gives her the cup and snakes the boppy around her to prop her up for her last feeding.  She got so comfy she just fell asleep like this. 

I am becoming domestic...

Below you see a perfect loaf of Banana Bread.  Fourth time was the charm.  We actually have normal sized bread pans now, that was why I failed the first three times.

Below you see my FIRST attempt at homemade bread.  It is wheat bread, and it was PERFECT. 1.25 hours from start to finish.  We're talking mixing, kneading, rising, baking.

I am enjoying my newfound domesticness/creativity...  I make bows and headbands now too...  You might think I have too much time on my hands...  on the contrary, I am having fun learning these things because they don't take long to do! And they are quick accomplishments amidst Alice's short naps! Haha, aaaaand we don't even get the local channels... sooo it's music and this that get me through my day!

So I should start this thing already! Alice is 6 months old!!

I should probably start this thing already!! I was supposed to start this before the baby, you know, so there would be before baby and after baby experiences. I have never been a blogger. But that ends TODAY!!

I love my family! They are wonderful! Spencer and I talk about how much we love our little Alice everyday. She is always doing something cute or funny to impress Spencer. Haha, recently she started saying "babababa" with food in her mouth because she knows it makes Spencer laugh... She also knows that if she does it to me I will wipe her mouth because of all the food that came out with it, so she limits her food showing/talking to when Spencer is around. And then last night I realized why she opens her mouth with food in it... Because Spencer does it to her... I swear, you give birth one baby and then magically your husband regresses in years and becomes a child as well. Haha. It is a good thing I am not deterred! I want more babies. Haha... I like to view it as, Spencer is just preparing me for when Alice is older and teaching our other children bad habits... except I can't backhand Alice... so I will have to figure something out. No's and timeouts should suffice.

You can't see it but she is trying to control him like the rat in Ratatouille, why did I ever let her watch that movie??


She had seen the camera and was trying to get to me... I was holding it up high... she really is looking right at me.

Alice's first snow. She didn't take much interest, but she was excited to go back inside!

Starting from when Alice was 5.75 months old she could sit up, she was so good at it. She knows how to scoot now too, but she is in refusal stage because I can get her things so much faster... she also wants to walk everywhere... it gets rather tiring. Everyone keeps telling me to make sure she crawls first otherwise she will grow up with learning disorders and all sorts of other problems... You know what I have to say to those people. Nothing. It isn't worth my time to tell them that I AM teaching her how to crawl and scoot, but if she decides to walk first, so be it. I want her to be independent and happy! Right now, she is not very happy, because she is on the verge of mobility, and she wants it sooo bad! I don't buy the hogwash of the learning disability because everyone tells you something different, "they won't be able to read", "they won't be good at math", "they won't be able to drive very well."

My favorite is when people tell me that I don't want her crawling or becoming mobile because then they get into things. HA! I would rather baby proof my house than have to listen to her scream all day because she can't get where she wants to go!

Anyway, enough about that!

Spencer and I will be celebrating our TWO year anniversary on December 27th! Two years have gone by soooo fast! I can't believe it! It has been so great though! I am so grateful we didn't have that horrible first year that everyone talks about! It was GREAT! And this second year has been even better! I love having Spencer to talk to all the time, and having someone who knows me so well. Now if only it was a little easier to get Christmas and Birthday presents for him... alas, we cannot have EVERYTHING!

Alice is awake, and no telling how she has contorted herself in her crib this time! That is all.

Yay for sitting up!!

And she spotted the camera

And she wants the camera.

Beautiful Alice Marie Hall born: 4-29-09@1523 6.0lb 17 inches

Ashley's note about life at this point 2/11/08

Today marks a big day for me. I am officially in my 3rd trimester! I can't believe this time has gone so fast, I will have a baby in my arms in less than 12 weeks, I will be full term in 8-9. I thought I would share a story about a dream I had before I found out it was a girl.

In my dream I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with amazing blue eyes and light brown hair. Due to complications I had to have a C-section and this lady decided to take it upon herself to help me take care of my baby. This lady kept taking her though! Like, ALL THE TIME! Because I was still healing I couldn't drive or do much of anything; I was so miserable! All I wanted was my baby girl, and this lady kept taking her! I remember telling Spencer (In my dream) that all I wanted was our baby girl in my arms, I hadn't even held her once. I knew the lady was just just trying to help, but people were starting to think MY BABY was hers! I was so mad! Finally, our baby was with us, and at this point in the dream she was big enough to sit up... my dream skipped ahead a few months... I even remember she was sitting on my parents old brown couch. People kept coming over and telling me what and amazing smile she had and how cute she was. They'd ask me what her name was and I'd tell them, Alice Marie, never up to that point had I thought of that name, but that was it. Mind you, we didn't even know what it was at this point!

One of the most vivid points was when everyone was telling me how beautiful she was, I look at her and she was just smiling at me. I couldn't pick her up though! I really wanted to! I won't forget the amount of love I had for her though! I imagine that feeling will only get stronger.

So that was my dream. When I was saying my prayers that night I was expressing a sincere desire to feel a connection with our baby. All these women kept on telling me about these amazing connections they felt with their babies when they were pretty early in their pregnancies... I felt like a lamo because the only big connection I felt was nausea and extreme tiredness, I mean I was excited and I still am, I would daydream about it all the time... But I wasn't showing, not everyone knew for sure that I was pregnant... I am sure people wondered why I looked bloated... But anyway... I just wanted the connection. Needless to say, I got! Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it!

25 random things about Ashley

I did it for Facebook so I am posting it here!

1. I am half Mexican.
2. Spanish was actually my first language, although I don’t speak it at all anymore… Well, I really learned Spanish and English at the same time… But I do still speak English… sort of
3. In spite of the Spanish background I took Italian in college. My abuela wasn’t too happy.
4. I can make amazing conchitas! Well, not as good as grandma’s, but better than my mom!
5. I also make amazing chicken fried steak. Spencer took a picture the first time he had it... It was that good. Lol, really I just copied my parents… Then all my friends gave me credit for an amazing dish that isn’t even my own! My parents just don’t like to spend an hour making it.
6. While pregnant I have had acid reflux for the first thirty times of my life!
7. Spencer and I have sung an opening song for FHE ever since we started it…
8. I look at pianos on KSL and craigslist all the time… But we can’t get one down to our apartment so I really just go through a big cycle of disappointment every time.
9. I am still a licensed massage therapist in Texas, but not in Utah.
10. It costs a total of $305 dollars to get my license in Utah, and $106 every two years to keep it in Texas.
11. I want my baby to come out with blue eyes, curly eyelashes, and light curly hair… I pray for this nightly.
12. I had a dream I was having a girl a month before I found out I was actually having a girl.
13. Spencer kissed me when we found out we were having a girl… right there… in the middle of the ultrasound… I quite literally almost peed my pants. Those that have been pregnant know how bad you have to pee when you go for this long awaited ultrasound, those that haven’t been… just be patient… you will see.
14. I don’t like living in Utah… if I could take the few awesome people I have met and move them AND BYU to Texas, I would.
15. I have been seriously trying to get Spencer to talk about names since I was 14 weeks… I am now 28 wks… and still no name.
16. I can’t miss any part of a movie the first time. I will rewind if I miss something, even if it is just one word.
17. Hot chocolate is my favorite drink, my coworkers got me a hot chocolate maker for my birthday and I have used it at least 50 times. My birthday was less than two months ago.
18. Spencer and I own a car, and when I say own, I mean it’s ours, and we owe nothing on it.
19. We still haven’t eaten the top of our wedding cake… not because of procrastination, but fear.
20. I have been reading Ender’s Shadow since this time last year. But I skipped to the end in the beginning, so now I having a hard time getting back to it.
21. I watch Ever After every time I am sick.
22. I have gotten sick once every two to three weeks since November when everyone decided to be walking incubuses of viral plague. Oh and I didn’t throw up at all my first trimester, but four times in my second.
23. I have still never been snowboarding or skiing. That isn’t going to change this winter!
24. Spencer’s mom was probably the most wary of us getting married so soon, but in the end she was the most excited.
25. I have never taken teasing very well; actually, it really bothers me. When I was younger I would cry about it. And I am still really sensitive to it.