Allie 9 Months

 9 Month Stats:
29 Inches long (90%)
21.5 pounds (90%)

In other words she is a big girl. She is super tall. This girl is such a happy little munch. She is very content and as long as I am in view she will sit and play by herself. She doesn't enjoy being crowded with hugs, kisses and cuddles. She really is starting to figure out how to move around. She isn't crawling but has mastered the roll, sit and sliding around on her back. Pretty much if it is something she really wants she will get to it. She has a really good giggle. I love when her siblings get her laughing really hard. Her new trick is now when we put the boys to sleep she waves good night to them. It is really cute and the boys love it. Jaida loves to give her smooches and hugs which makes Allie not so happy and usually ends with her pulling Jaida's hair out! We love this little girl so much. She makes our family so happy.

Jamba Juice

For weeks Brock had been upset that at school they offered Jamba juices to the older grades for purchase from the snack bar. By our house they were just starting to build one in the shopping center. He made me promise that as soon as that opened that I would take him to get one. I had taken him to go grocery shopping with me the other day and guess what was finally opened? He was so excited! I think it is safe to say that this is his new favorite treat. Cute boy. He loves the Strawberries Gone Bananas.

Man he loves her

Brock absolutely loves his baby sister. He loves everything about her. It is super cute. He is always willing to help out with her. Always wants to make sure she is happy and taken care of. He reminds me that I need to "take care" of her all the time. Tells me that I am doing things wrong with her. You get the picture. For weeks he has told me that I keep making her look like a boy and that I need to style her hair more girlish. So per Brock's request I have tried hard to have her hair more girlish. And when I pick him up from school he reports to me n whether or not he thinks I did a good job at my styling for the day. In an effort to try and keep the peace I try to comply, because a unhappy Brock = A VERY UNHAPPY MAMA!

Fun Family visiting

 We were super lucky and got to have lots of family come and visit us for Pierce's baptism. Jaida loved having Mia here to play with for a whole week. Those two had a great time and I loved seeing their imaginations and friendship grow. We were sad that Tess couldn't be here. (and Jo and Dax too) The kids had a great time swimming of course and causing all kinds of trouble together. Don't let their cute smiling faces fool you, these two can be trouble!!

 We also had Uncle Cory and Aunt Dee here. Jaida just loves her Uncle Cory to pieces. Don't forget Gramsie and Brown Papa too. All the Papas and uncles were in the pool wrecking all kinds of havoc. I will never forget watching Brown Papa trying to get onto the Killer Whale floaty. Wow! That was EPIC! There was lots of laughs. We were sad that The Wood family couldn't make it either.

My dad brought us this tasty "treat" as he called it and we enjoyed that for our Sunday dinner. I sure do  like when my dad brings "treats" for us. It was a great week, lots of memories were made.

Silly boy

Brock got into my fabric scraps and when I found him he looked like this. He said he was trying to look more like Nephi! I guess it could be worse right?

Allie

 As long as I am touching her or close enough that at any moment she can reach me, then this girl is happy as can be. And if I'm not with in arms reach....

Yeah you get the picture!
Sad, right? Makes my days pretty interesting. I think she is like a koala bear! I carry this cutie around all day!

Cub Scout

I am not sure I have seen a kid more excited for Cub Scouts as this one. He has been anticipating this for some time now. We have fully embraced it and are diving right in. He loves going to his den meeting each week and has loved every second of scouting so far. It is really cute to see how happy it makes him. I hope that this excitement doesn't fade! I'm proud of you buddy!

what is that smell??

We were out back enjoying the pool. I kept getting a whiff of something stinky, but it always seem to happen when Gracie walked by. I kept blaming it on the dog, eww Gracie you stink. Get away! Haha When it was time to go inside I bent over to get Allie out of her exersaucer and wow! The Smell! It was Allie the entire time. There it was running all down her leg and all over everything. This definitely warranted an afternoon bathing! Yuck!

Loving the french fries

She tried her very first French fry and it was a hit! Safe to say that she loved every minute of that. She is a big fan of real people food. Not so much the baby food, can't say I blame her!

Such a good brother

Pierce is really so helpful to me with Allie. There are times when life is just getting hectic and crazy and mom is about to lose it. He has always had a 6th sense for knowing when I just need a hug or a smile. I love that about him. Allie always seems to be going nuts right about the time I need to be doing 50 things. Like homework, reading with kids, making dinner, etc. There is one trick with Allie and that happens to be taking her outside. She loves being outside. She almost never cries outside. On this particular day when her craziness started I was literally trying to get the 50 things done asap, but it wasn't happening. My sweet Pierce came to the rescue and without even saying anything to him. He swooped in and took Allie out in the backyard. Of course she stopped screaming and all was good. I peeked out on them and caught this tender moment. He was talking and singing to her. It melted  my heart. I love my Pierce boy, thanks for rescuing me again buddy.

waiting patiently

Here is Jaida and her cute friend Aaliyah waiting patiently for our cookie treat to be done. We made a huge cookie and served it with ice cream. Oh it was pretty dang good. We have been so lucky to have such good friends. I love catching moments like this one. The story of Jaida and Aaliyah.. haha these two were the biggest enemies and rivals. I loved hanging out with her mom Stephanie, but every time these two girls would fight, bite, scream and cry the entire time. I sometimes (Stephanie did too) questioned whether or not it was worth even hanging out with Stephanie because it was so much work with the two divas! We toughed it out! It took a while, a long while to get them to be civil around each other. Now Both Stephanie and I love to hear  them say that "Jaida is my best friend" and "Aaliyah is my best friend" I'm glad we toughed it out because I too can say that Stephanie is one of my best friends.
It has made me think that friendship sometimes doesn't come easy. Sometimes it is a lot of work and we might want to give up. We may think it isn't worth our time. But I know that watching this simple example of a 3yr olds friendship building has taught me so much about the value of friendship. I know that may seem silly and dumb, but it's true. It made me think of maybe friendships I lost out on because I wasn't willing to do the work for. I know that I am so grateful for good friends in my life. I have so many good friends that have helped me through some very hard times.

I heart Chick-fil-a

I really, really love Chick-fil-a! In Maryland there was one around every corner. I loved that! I would frequent them quite regularly. I love the environment there. I love their family-friendly atmosphere. I love their shakes.. they are the best! I love the chicken, well you get it, I love it all! Here the closest one is across town. Which is probably a good thing. But it now means that getting Chick-fil-a is a big treat! On this day I got my sandwich and opened it up and look how cute. the chicken was shaped into a heart!

Game Day

Jaida has been really into playing games with me lately. She really misses her brothers while they are at school. We try hard to have lots of fun together when they aren't around to make up for it. She loves the game Don't break the Ice. I think it is pretty cute that she thinks that you win if you are the one to knock the guy down. I have to try to really enjoy moments like this because the truth is I am her second favorite. She is very much a daddy's girl and when he is around she wants nothing to do with me. Just yesterday I asked he to go with me. She told me no and that she would rather hang out with daddy. I told her I would get her a treat or go somewhere fun. She thought about it for a second and said," I've got an idea.. maybe if you invite Daddy to go with us I will go!" Trent tried bribing her with money, Nope! He tried tricking her into my car, Nope. It's okay, Trent is the more fun novelty item around here. We are all trying to get our time in with him. I love you Jaida. I will always cherish these times when you actually want to play with me.

A Date with Pierce

 Pierce actually asked if we could please go out on a date together. That never happens. Usually they like to go with their dad. So I asked him what he had in mind. He said all he wanted to do was go to Build-a-Bear and to get a pretzel at the mall. I have never taken my kids to Build-a-Bear because to be honest I felt like it was so over-priced and lame. Turns out that it was still over-priced, but that actually Pierce loved every moment of it! So I guess going was worth it. He chose this bear and also a scent to put inside. (yup, they try every way to sell you on EVERY stinking thing in the store) So his bear smells like chocolate mint. He also has a very stylish Harley Davidson t-shirt too. Pierce named him Camo and has slept with him every night since.

We had a great time together. Of course my favorite part was getting the pretzel. One of my most favorite memories with my mom was going to the mall with her and getting pretzels.