18 months!

Aliyah turned 18 months which means she is officially in nursery. She seems to like it and loves the idea of playing instead of sitting on our laps quietly.

She had her 18 month doctor's appointment and is healthy and happy (only because it is over). She screamed and kicked when getting measured, was terrified of having her ears checked and showed it by pushing the doctor's hand away, and tried ripping out the needle when the immunizations were given. They said they often see this fear, but not accompanied by so much strength. I am so glad that is over and hopefully these fears will ease up as she gets older.

She now weighs: 19 lbs 14 oz and is 31 1/4 inches.

Her more recent words are:
park, walk, milk, bubbles, kitty, book, star, dance, play, pop, happy, down, bath



I caught a moment of her singing. She loves "Popcorn Popping", "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She now can do all the hand motions for them, but this time she was still trying to figure them out. I love her little singing voice.

We have hot-air balloons fly often around our area and Aliyah loves watching them from the window.

(this one made me nervous by flying so close to the homes below)

We have such great people around us and we sure miss our friends from our old ward. We try to visit friends every once in a while to keep in touch. Aliyah was invited to a birthday party for one of our friend's little girl. She loved wearing the lady bug antennas and eating cupcakes. We had such a great time.

Here is the party girl!


She is getting so big and SO independent. We sure love her and are grateful for all she teaches us!

A Great Easter!

Happy Easter!

....or maybe not

Aliyah looked adorable in her new Easter dress from Grandma Harrison. She didn't want her picture taken inside though, so we moved it outside with the beautiful sunshine.


She tries to hop around like a bunny, but just makes for a silly dance! Wish I had a video of that to share.

After Saturday General Conference meetings, Aliyah got to hunt for a few eggs. She didn't really get it until I shook one and she heard the goodness inside. She then started running around looking and saying, "more...more?"


She had no problem figuring out this part!


I wish I had taken pictures, but didn't of our new tradition in our family. We had a Passover meal on the Monday before Easter and it was really a neat experience to focus on our Savior and all that He has done for each of us. We read from the scriptures and searched for ideas for the meal. We didn't include every part of the customary meal or use it as it's original meanings, but made it our own.

We had...

bitter herb (romaine lettuce) for the bitterness of sin

boiled potato dipped in salt water to represent the tears we shed when we sin that leads to repentance

lamb representing our Savior, Jesus Christ, as the pure sacrifice for us

unleavened bread because of the significance of it at the time of Passover and to remember Jesus Christ

apple crisp for dessert- Traditional Jews have a nut/apple/cinnamon dish to represent the mortar used in slavery. We just thought it could make for a yummy Family Home Evening dessert! :)

We hope to continue this for years to come. It really made us grateful for the sacrifice our Savior made for us and that through His Atonement and Resurrection we can be with Him again.


In between all this we have been pretty busy...

Cleaning bathrooms
(starting her early)

Meeting daddy for lunch at a fun park!

Not really wanting to eat lunch but terrorize the ducks and geese.

Playing kickball in the kitchen.

Licking sour lemonade popsicles

...but completely loving every minute of it!!