8 Months

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY ALLI GIRL!!

What a beautiful little girl you are becoming. You are growing & learning so fast.

~You will pretty much eat any baby food we give you but you are not too crazy about eating puffs or mum-mums. You do however watch every bite mommy & daddy take & you like to reach for our food.

~You still aren't crawling yet but I think you will soon. You have never been crazy about being on your tummy (still aren't). When you are on your belly you like to reach out and pull yourself to the place you want to go.ha!

~You are a rolling machine!

~You just celebrated your first Christmas & loved it. You loved playing with all your cousins & new toys.

~You are still doing so well with brestfeeding. I am so happy too because I love the special time we get to spend together. It's so sweet when you are chowing down and just look up at me with those adorable little eyes like "thanks mom." :-)

~You love to clap & wave.

(clapping)

~You have also been reaching for people when you want them to hold you. So sweet! Especially when it's for mommy! ha!

I like to think she is praising God in this picture. :-)

We love you sweet girl!

Alli's first Christmas!

Here are some pics of Alli's first Christmas. She has such a good time! We were surprised at how interested she was in opening presents.

Christmas at PaPa's (Christmas Eve)

Taking a peek inside...

Christmas morning at the Walker's

Christmas at home (the day after Christmas)

Chuckles enjoying his Christmas present

Jeff enjoying his! :-)

Christmas with my family (the day after Christmas)

We had the best of intentions of throwing Jesus a birthday party for our Christmas celebration  but Alli ended up being sick for most of Christmas so we kinda had to do our family Christmas when we thought Alli was in a good mood. (most of the week she was cranky and running a fever. :-( Poor girl) So maybe next year....

The plates we found at Hobby Lobby :-)

One girl chose life...

How many of you have heard of Loving Choices Pregnancy Center? For those of you who have not it's a organization that provides help, hope, and support to women who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy. They encourage these young girls and women to choose life and not abort. They offer counseling, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, adoption planning, and so much more. This year alone they have served over 700 women in the area! Because of this organization (and ultimately God) babies lives have been saved.

For the past 3 years I have had the opportunity to go to there annual banquet and learn about the difference Loving Choices is making in the community.

Statistics show that 95% of women who see there baby on an ultrasound choose not to abort.

95%!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? And with as little as $25 YOU can pay for one ultrasound! Many of us spend more than $25 a week on lunch. Can you imagine taking that money and saving a life? Who of you wouldn't trade this:

for this:

YOU CAN!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE go to there website: http://www.lovingchoices.org/ and check them out. If you can't give, please pray. What a wonderful way to give this holiday season! I will leave you with this thought:

One young girl was faced with an unplanned pragnancy.

That young girl chose life.

That young girl gave birth to the Savior of the world.

Christmas time is here...

I love this time of year...... jackets, mittens, stocking hats, hot chocolate, Christmas lights, BRANSON (YAY!).... it's great. I love it at least until the 2nd or 3rd day of cold then I'm ready for May to come so I can lay out in the nice hot sun. :-)

This post may be a bit different from my usual posts (which are usually only about Alli). This year I just want to encourage everyone (myself included) to remember Christmas is a day we celebrate as Jesus' birth.

Year after year it gets easier to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties, lights, etc. I guess this year it is just extra heavy on my heart because this is our first year to celebrate with a child who God has entrusted us to raise and teach to follow Him.

So this year I am thinking of starting a new tradition in our household!!! I'm not sure what yet, but something that says "this is why we truly celebrate." Jeff may think I'm totally nuts but I'm thinking of throwing Jesus a "birthday party" with cake and streamers and even a thank you note as a gift, for the gift that He gave us (eternal life). I'm hoping starting this early will help Alli remember the true meaning of Christmas. Who knows, maybe this will be a tradition for many years to come.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

7 Months!

Alli girl you are already 7 months old!

Where has the time gone? She is growing up so fast & has learned so many new things!

For starters:

She has mastered scooting on her belly. I'm still convinced she will walk before she crawls but this is progress. Ha!

Alli eats all kinds of solid foods now including her faves green beans, squash, apple sauce, peaches, carrots, and peas. She DOES NOT like pears or bananas!

She loves to clap! We sing "when you're happy and you know it" all the time cause she just loves it! Also, when you say "YAY" she starts clapping. It is so cute!

She weighs in at 14lbs 10oz.

We also found out during the HOGS game this past Saturday that she says "wooooo" for woo pig sooie! I have it on video so I'll have to post it soon. Sadie was teaching her to call the hogs and she started raising her hands and saying "woooo". That's my girl!! She is a true football fan. That little monkey can watch it all day long and not get tired of it.

We are so proud to be Alli's mommy & daddy and look forward to all her new accomplishments these next few months. I can't wait to see how she likes Christmas.

Back home

A few weekends ago (I know, I know, I am so behind on blogging) Jeff, Alli, & I went back to my hometown to spend some time with my grandparents and to go hunting. I hadn't been this year at all until now and I have missed it so much. (thanks mom for watching Alli!) Anyhow, Jeff & I got to hunt in a buddy stand which was a first for us so as you can imagine I was pretty excited. We usually just hunt in our climbing stands 10-20 yds from each other so it was nice rubbing shoulders with my man. :-) It's so peaceful & relaxing just sitting there in the middle of no where listening to the birds & squirrels play around.

For the longest time all we had seen was a little fella' just walking around the food plot, eating to his hearts content. Then, just about sun down, two pretty good size doe joined the little tike. MY HEART WAS RACING! I have been hunting all my life and have never had the opportunity to watch someone else kill a deer. Mind you, I realize this wasn't some trophy buck, but to me I'm not sure it would have made the experience any better had "she" been a "he".

I know this sounds corny, but I feel like Jeff & I really bonded that night. I saw him in a whole new light. He was so nervous. It was adorable. He told me for days after he felt like he was walking on cloud 9. What a cutie. I can't wait to do it again!!

Family Fall Pics

Here is a sneak peek at our family pics our good friend Sarah took for us. Didn't she do great? We haven't seen them all yet because Sarah & her family have been a little under the weather, but these a few she sent for us to look at. I thought they turned out great (considering Alli was NOT happy!) Thanks again Sarah!

6 months!

Well 6 months have come and gone and my little Alli girl is getting so big!

What has she been up to you ask?

~She weighs a whopping 13lbs 14oz (10th percentile) which the dr said was great. He said she has always been in the 10th percentile so as long as she is gaining weight like she has been he was not worried.

~She is 25in long (25th percentile)

~She is in the 50th percentile for her head circumference. We figured that would be the case though with the size of mine & Jeff's melon heads. HA!

~She is officially sitting up by herself. She is still wobbly some but for the most part does great.

~We started her on Sweet Pea's this week because she is a sweet pea.... :-) She seems to like them pretty well but gets bored having to sit for so long waiting to be fed. HA!

~She rolls everywhere! Her dr said she needs to be getting plenty of tummy time to prepare her for crawling but every time you put her on her belly she rolls to her back. Too cute!

~She is quite the wiggle worm. That girl won't sit still for nothing!

We get asked all the time if Alli is always so happy & we say "yeah, pretty much." The only time she really cries is if she is hungry or tired and boy does she let you know! She really is a very happy baby. She is so much fun to play with. She loves to be tickled. She just laughs and laughs.

She did have shots today though for her 6 month appointment which was no fun. Poor girl took a 3 hr nap this afternoon and has been cranky all evening. :-( Hopefully she will sleep good tonight and feel so much better tomorrow.

We love you Alli girl!

Where's Alli?

FOOD!!!

Alli did great eating her first big girl foods. We started out with rice cereal mixed with mommy's homeade booby milk. (ha!) She kept the majority of it in her mouth & kept reaching for more. We did have a slight set back because she was up most of the night with tummy issues so I think Alli & I are going to take a trip to Wal-Mart & get some oatmeal instead & see how that goes.

Waiting for her meal....

Mmmm....

More please....

5 months!

Alli is 5 months today!!

What has Alli been up to lately you ask??

Well for starters:

~She is now sitting up without mommy or daddy holding her up!! She's gets a little wobbly sometimes but wow! what a big girl!

~She currently weighs in at 12lbs 9oz

~She has said "dad." I KNOW!!! We couldn't believe it either!! We were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner and out of nowhere she says it! Jeff & I just looked at each other like "are you kidding me?" then I was telling Amber about it at the bank & Alli says it again!! BAH!! I've been working so hard on "momma" too! :-) Needless to say Jeff is all smiles.

~She can roll over from her belly to her back & aaaalllllmost from her back to her belly. That silly ol' arm keeps getting in the way though. Ha!

~She is quite the talker & laugher. What a social butterfly she is! She just goes on & on & on for hours!

~She is getting very good with her hands too. I fell asleep with her in my arms the other night during her 3 o'clock feeding and woke up a few hours later with her sticking her fingers up my nose!! ICK!! She was grinning from ear to ear! haha.

~And most recently, well actually as of dinner tonight, we are going to start her on rice cereal. I'm sure I'll post more about that later. :-)

Alli what a big girl you are becoming! We are so proud of you & how beautiful you are inside & out. You are so much fun!!

We love you so much!

Watch out Book It!

Woo Pig Sooie!

Well as most of you know our hogs lost this weekend to Georgia. :-( This was the first game of the season we were able to watch because we were in Colorado for the first game. We stayed home and watched the game which was a blast. Alli loves her hogs! haha. She really did stay up the whole game and watch most of it sitting on daddy's lap. As I mentioned before she loves her "raising tomorrow's future razorback today" video and apparently she loves watching them play too. Maybe this Saturday's game will go a little better.... GO HOGS!

Alli watching the Hogs (sorry the picture is so bright!)

Me & Alli just chillin'

Watching the game
Almost sitting up by herself

Daddy teaching Alli to call the hogs! Wooooooooooooo Pig Sooie!

Colorado

Well day one of our trip to Colorado so far has been great! We are about 2 hours out from where we are staying & Alli has done such a good job. I was so worried about taking a 4 month old on a 17 hour trip but she has slept most of the way & when she is not sleeping she is either eating or watching her DVD player. I know, I know she’s 4 months old, why in the world would she already have a DVD player? Believe me it was a smart purchase. I do feel guilty because I told myself before we had Alli that I wasn’t going to get her one because I didn’t want her to miss out on all the beauty of traveling & seeing the scenery but sometimes you have to break those promises you make yourself if it keeps a baby girl from screaming all the way to Colorado. Ha Ha. As I mentioned several times before Alli is a TV lover, but I only let her watch it in moderation so hopefully that doesn’t make me a terrible mother. J She’s watching a baby razorback movie right now & kicking & giggling. So cute! I think it’s supposed to be educational at least. :-) Colorado here we come!!!!

Hangin' with my peeps

I just had to post these pictures of Alli with her cousins Laney & Sadie. We made these shirts before Alli was born for the girls to wear to the hospital while I was in labor & for Alli to wear home for the first time but since Alli was a little smaller than we thought she would be we are just now getting around to taking there pics together.

BFFs! Cheese!
Poor Alli....haha
Me & Sadie