Happy Thanksgiving

We are a little behind on our gratitude list:

Day 20 - Nesquick

Day 21 - Thanksgiving Weekend - No School

Day 22 - Movies

Day 23 - Highchairs

Day 24 - Cars

Day 25 - Family! We loved spending time with Jenica, Jason, and Kelsey. Then we drove to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with the Smiths.

Day 26 - Turkey! And all the fixings....so yummy!

Day 19 - Exercise and Exercising Buddies

I am so grateful to have friends to exercise with. I have been walking every week day (well almost) since the middle of April. When we started it was just one friend and I and our kids. It was great to be able to stroll and work off the baby weight. The time changed and a few more friends joined us and we kept walking through the summer. We went about 3 miles each day. When the weather started cooling off, we decided we needed to do something, but it was getting too cold to walk with our kids during the day. So, we switched to 6:00 AM!! We are also doing the Cool Running: Couch to 5k Running Plan. We are now on week 6 -- Tomorrow we have a 25 minute jog!

By the way -- Anyone is welcome to join us! We would love to have your company at 6:00 AM. Just give me a call and I will give you the rest of the details. :) You can also come and just walk or start at the beginning of the plan or whatever. It is just great to be able to get some exercise in at the beginning of the day!

Besides the physical benefits of exercising, I am also grateful to have wonderful ladies to talk to. This has been awesome for me emotionally! Thanks!! :)

Enough about me...Alton is also grateful for exercising and for having a workout buddy. He works out on campus before or between classes. He has really enjoyed lifting weights. It is been good to have someone to push him and encourage him to do more. :)

Day 18 - Our Kitchen

We are grateful for our kitchen. Those of you who live by us know how small our kitchen is. However, I am very grateful for the space that I do have. I can't even imagine cooking without a stove or oven. I am grateful for our half size oven/stove.

We are also grateful that our kitchen is organized. This week I made drawer organizers out of cardboard so that we can keep our utensils separated. They might not look the greatest, they are functional and free. :)

Day 17 - Christmas Decorations and Music

We love Christmastime! We are grateful that 100.3 FM is playing Christmas music all the time now. I listened to Christmas music all afternoon. Alton has been listening to it since June or July at work (with his headphones of course).

We are also grateful for Christmas decorations. It makes us so happy to see them. I put up the decorations right after Halloween. :)

Day 16 - A Healthy Toddler

Today I am very grateful that Adysen is healthy. I am also grateful that she has seemed to survive yesterday without any scrapes and bruises.

I have come to realize that my little baby is now a toddler. Yesterday we had a few close calls causing a very nervous mother.

Before Church:

Adysen was taking a bath and I was getting ready. She was playing with her toys and having lots of fun. I was just finishing up my makeup real quick. Alton came home from his meeting and Adysen said "Daddy" (she is just starting to say Daddy). Then Alton stepped into the doorway and Adysen stood up in the tub and decided she was ready to get out. Next thing I know she is somersaulting out of the bathtub. Luckily she caught herself with her hands and rolled. Her neck seemed to bend in an awkward position and I was sure she was seriously hurt. I forgot all the first aid skills that I have learned (stabilizing the head and neck) and immediately picked her up. She was crying but probably mostly from shock. A couple seconds later she was just fine and back to crawling around. I, on the other hand, took a little longer to recover. I am very grateful she did not have a head or neck injury and I am promising myself that I will stay right next to her for now on when she is in the bath.

Later that Afternoon:

I decided I would take a few minutes to lay down on the couch and relax after a busy Sunday. Adysen is wanting to be a climber. So, I helped her up onto the couch as well. She was content for maybe 10 seconds. Then after climbing all over me, she decided it was time to get down - head first. (Normally she is pretty good about going down feet first, but not this time) I caught her just in time to level out her body so that it was more of a roll and she landed softly on her back not her head. She then started to try to climb up again. It was enough to make me once again grateful that she didn't have a head injury.

A Few Minutes Later:

I realized that I still hadn't updated the blog for a few days - I have such a hard time doing this daily update thing! So, I was looking at pictures and videos I had just uploaded from the camera. Adysen likes watching the videos of herself, so she climbed up on my lap to watch with me. She was really entertained for a minute or so. Then she must have saw something that she wanted on the desk. Next thing I know she lunged forward and hit her face on the edge of the desk. I turned her around to hug and comfort her. Then I pulled her back to look at her face and saw the blood. After panicking for a moment, I took a couple of breaths and assessed the situation. After wiping away the blood I realized Adysen cut open the inside of her top lip and has a small cut above her front tooth. It was so sad! However, within a minute or two she was back to her adventurous self.

I like to think that I'm a good mother. I try to be very attentive. I am so nervous about being a mother of a toddler instead of a baby. I can't even imagine how it will be when she really starts walking on her own.

Here is a picture of Adysen today, just to show that she is healthy and happy. If you look really, really close you might be able to see the cut above her tooth. I can barely see it when I'm looking at the large version of the picture:

This is how meal time has been ending at our house. Last week I tried a couple of methods of strapping Adysen into her high chair (the disadvantage of getting the free high chair by our dumpster is that it has no straps). Shoving a towel in around her worked great for a few days, but today she has officially figured out how to free herself! It looks like it is time to either sew some strapping device or move to a booster chair.

Look Mommy! I'm ready for a story! So, I was doing something in the kitchen this morning and I turned around to find Adysen on the rocking chair! I didn't know that she could climb on the rocking chair. Scary!! After helping her get down I took the camera and recorded how she did it. Don't worry, I will watch her very carefully for now on!

Here is the video of Adysen climbing onto the rocking chair:

Day 15 - Games

We are grateful for games. We love to play games together. Our friendship started 7 years ago when we would play hearts, dominoes, and some card game that Alton made up. Through our dating years we played a ton of games. Unfortunately, it is hard for us to find the time to play games now. I always treasure the moments we spend playing games. Even if I lose most of the time. :)

Day 14 - The Book of Mormon

We are grateful for the Book Mormon. We just finished reading it again. We are grateful for the comfort we receive when reading the scriptures. We are grateful for the testament the Book of Mormon gives of Jesus Christ.

I read this quote today from the October General Conference:

"Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times - including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.' That phrase - taken from Moroni's final lines of testimony, written 1,000 years after Lehi's vision - is a dying man's testimony of the only true way." (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Safety for the Soul," October 2009)

I truly am grateful for this book of scripture. I know the Book of Mormon is true.

Day 13 - Diapers

We are grateful for modern disposable diapers.

Day 12 - Dining Out

I really enjoy cooking and eating at home. However, after spending so long at home during the day and doing dishes over and over and over. It is nice to have a night out occasionally. We are grateful for the time we are able to spend with each other without the stress of cleaning up and doing other things around the house. I am also grateful for the opportunity it gives us to talk and focus on each other without the other distractions at home.

This week we went out to Red Robin. It is becoming one of our favorites. Probably because it is so close. Adysen loved listening to the music and started dancing. I'm not really sure where she learned her moves.

Day 11 - Good Stock Market Days

Today we are grateful for good stock market days. We really enjoy researching companies and investing our money. We also have enjoyed using Scottrade. If anyone happens to be interested in signing up, we can be your reference. Then we can both get 3 free trades. :)

Silly Faces

Month of Gratitude Update

I have been really bad at posting each day. (Nearly all of my posts have been backdated) I'm not really sure if anybody really checks our blog very often, but if you have been anxiously awaiting my next post, I'm sorry. We have been really busy around here this last week.

I have been spending nearly all of my computer time (during nap time and when Adysen is content playing on her own) working on our website. I have to admit that I think it is looking really good! Almost all of our pictures are updated. We just have a couple of pages left to make some changes on and some cool new products to add! Now if we could just get a million sells (okay, not a million, we couldn't quite handle that kind of demand.) :)

My new plan is to get the posts ready to go early and have them post automatically in the morning. So, be looking for more regular daily posts. :)

Day 10 - Books

We are grateful to have books. I love to read! I am glad to see that Adysen is taking after me. Lately she has been playing more with her books than any other toys. She will turn the pages and gabber away. It is adorable. She also loves it when we read to her. We are so blessed!

Day 9 - Washer and Dryer

We are so grateful to have a washer and dryer in our apartment. It is nice to be able to work on the laundry during the day without having to go down to the laundry room. Adysen is a great helper. She really like to help me fold the clothes, and push the basket around the room.

Day 8 - Our Apartment

Our Apartment is perfect for us right now. It may not be the best but it is home.

Day 7 - Lunch at Grandma's

We were grateful to be able to spend some time with Great Grandpa and Grandma Smith on Saturday. We enjoyed visiting with them. Once again, we wish we would have taken more pictures.

Day 6 - Cocoa (Grandma's Dog)

This weekend we drove up to Idaho for Calene's Bridal Shower. We enjoyed spending time with our family. We wish we would have taken more pictures. However, we did get a few of Adysen and Cocoa. Adysen likes to watch him, but she still isn't sure what she thinks if he gets too close.

Day 5 - Leaves and Shoes

Today Adysen is grateful for the leaves. She is becoming quite the explorer. We had to walk out to the car to grab the camera. So, I decided to see if I could get Adysen to walk while holding my hand. She became very distracted by the leaves on the ground. She kept picking them up and then decided she would rather crawl. One of these days she will be able to walk on her own.

Adysen is also grateful for her shoes. She loves them! This morning she handed them to me when she was getting dressed. What a cutie. I also love that we got them for a great deal. We got them at one of my favorite stores, Kid to Kid. They have great prices on gently used clothing, shoes, and toys for kids. Perfect for babies that quickly outgrow everything. Also, I don't have to worry when the clothes get stained.

Day 4 - Our Business

We are very grateful for our family business - WireHomeDecor.com. We feel blessed to be able to make some extra money while Alton is in school. Alton has been so busy with school and work that he hasn't had time to update the website as much as we would like him to. So, I decided (with my limited knowledge of html) that I could do it. The last couple of days I have spent a lot of time editing photos and pages on the website. I am still learning about editing html and Alton has had to help me fix some spacing issues. However, I am very excited for all of the changes I was able to make on the site. We still have some editing to do, but hopefully by the end of next week our website will be completely updated and ready for the Christmas season. You will have to check back in a few days and see if you can spot my changes! Just kidding, you really don't have to...but I think it is going to look awesome when we finish getting our new photos on there.

Here are a couple of pictures we took over the weekend:

Day 3 - The Temple

We are grateful for the Temple and that families truly can be together forever. We are grateful that we were able to go to the Temple on Tuesday night. We are also grateful that we had friends to watch Adysen.

Day 2 - Chocolate Cake

I went to the grocery store to see if there were any good after Halloween sales. I found this cake for $2 at Dan's. Alton loves chocolate cake. We are grateful for the yummy cake. Adysen also loved it. This was her first experience with chocolate cake. She ate it right up!

Day 1 - Skype

We are grateful for Skype. We enjoy our weekly phone calls to our families since we do not live close to them. Adysen is grateful that she can see her grandparents and aunts and uncles.

30 Days of Gratitude

For the month of November, we have decided we are going to post one thing we are grateful for each day. They will not be in a particular order. We truly are blessed and are grateful for all that we have.

Halloween

On Halloween we went to our Bishop's house for donuts and root beer. It was a lot of fun. Then we went to a couple of spook alleys in the neighborhood close to our apartment. We were really impressed with the Fuller's. They did an awesome job! Adysen even went trick-or-treating to a couple of houses. She enjoyed picking out candy and holding it. We loved Adysen's adorable fairy costume. We bought the bow and tutu from Peekaboo Bowtique. Alton made the adorable wand.

On Wednesday we went to the family Halloween carnival on campus. Adysen loved the pencils that they gave her. She also enjoyed putting candy in her bag. We also went to the ward Halloween party. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. We wished we would have had costumes too. Maybe next year!

Snow

Yesterday it was snowing. When we first woke up, Adysen crawled over to the window and watched the snow for a few minutes. Then she started playing with her toys. Later in the morning, I was doing something on the computer and I could hear Adysen talking a lot. I turned around she was at the window again and the snow was really coming down with huge flakes. It is so exciting to watch Adysen become more aware of the world around her. She is learning so much every day.

Sliding Video

Fall Fun

Tonight we took some pictures of Adysen right outside our apartment. She had a lot of fun investigating the leaves. She loved riding in the wagon we found in the playground. Here are a few of our favorite photos.

This is Adysen's new "thinking" expression. I love it when she puckers her lips up. So cute!

This is the wreath I made at Relief Society craft night.