Happy Birthday Cale!

Depsite his best efforts to keep it from happening, Cale has hit the big 3 - 0! 30 yippee!! He doesn't think so but I do. I think it is great for one of us to be out of our twenties and on to the next decade! It should also help us to no longer be seen as college kids. Apparently graduating is not enough. You must immediately land the career you just spent years learning about, make big money in any field, or turn 30 to no longer be classified as college students!

Emma and I threw a nice little party for him. Trust me, I had lots more planned until my husband informed me last week that he did not want a party! So, we cancelled all those plans (which were still in my head luckily) and moved to plan B. We made him some of his favorites for dinner, a yummy cake and had presents. Emma got her daddy some new pj pants and I got him the Back to the Future Trilogy. It was a low key night that we were able to enjoy all together but the best part was probably that Emma decided to give her daddy one more gift...and started walking! Congrats on 30 years of great achievements Cale!

Walking!

It is official. Little Emma has finally put forth more than four little steps. She walked across the entire living room last night over and over from mom to dad and dad to mom and even to her toys every now and then. I would of course post video but that will have to wait till I can replace the camera cord that my little smartie chewed up. However, that brings me to the winnings of the walking contest. I believe that two of you voted for 10 months. However, I know only one of them which is Jessica. So Jessica what is your favorite candybar? The other that voted but did not tell me who you are, speak now or forever lose your candybar!

6 years gone by!

So in my last update, I forgot to mention a very exciting event in our lives: We just had our 6th anniversary oh Jan. 2nd! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. We have loved every minute of those years without a single fight or even small quarrel! J/K. We are not perfect but we are definitely perfect for each other. Cale entered this marriage as the laid back, relaxed, lovey dovey spouse and I entered as the more controlling but also loving spouse! Cale gave me my way for about a year at which point he decided that me getting my way all the time was not healthy and started to take a stand on important issues to him like where to put the play station and recliner! J/K. He has definitely helped me to bite my tongue, think through my thoughts, and not plan every little detail. He has taught me that it is ok to spend money on a vacation each year and how to listen to the Lord. I think I have helped him to speak up more, plan a little more, write the shopping list down when I send him to the store, and helped him to see what an amazing father he could be and is. I will never forget the way he won me over (and stole me away from another guy) by loving me unconditionally! I love him with all my heart and look forward to many more happy years!

Broken!

So, some people have to worry about their dogs chewing things around the house. I have to worry about my daughter! I have not updated my blog with Christmas pics and others because my little girl chewed up the end of the USB cord! So here is the update minus pictures:

Emma is now 10 1/2 months old! She walks when she wants to but usually still holds on. She has finally stopped eating! She has never lost her appetite since she was born but ever since Christmas she hasn't wanted to eat anything. She is teething again and now has three teeth. I think she is working on the other top front tooth. She loves to play and be around other kids, but doesn't share well (of course) and tries to use the kids to help her stand up. They of course don't like this which results in two crying children!

She loved Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. Her favorites were the Sea Lions and the Elephants! She did well for these all day events and just slept in her stroller or my arms when tired. She gots a few new toys, her favorite being a toy Lion that she can push while walking.

She has decided that sleeping in until 8:30am is better than 6:30 or 7am so she now gets 12+ hours of sleep! yippee! She still goes to bed at 7pm. She is liking her sippy cup more and more and is down to 3 or 4 bottles a day. I'm still trying to work out the whole more food, less milk thing so any of you with helpful info please post it.

We are still enjoying Arizona and have enjoyed fun visits from James and Jamie, Brett and Brittany, and Danae. all others still welcome!

9 Months!!!

Emma is now 9 months old, 3/4 of a year! Where did the time go? I actually have to remind myself that she is only 9 months and not 12 months. She seems so much older than she is. We visited the doctor today for her well visit and found the following:

30 1/4" tall = 95th percentile

24 pounds (with clothes on) = 95th percentile

head circumference is 47 cm = 90th percentile

So, the bottom line...she has never stopped growing. She is as tall as my friend's 15 month old and just looks older than 9 months. She is still on the verge of walking, waves bye-bye, says dada, mama, and hi, loves to look at books, and feeds herself so many finger foods! I love her so much and never knew my heart could continuously expand!

Meeting Santa Clause!

Snowflake has a town celebration to turn on the Christmas lights every year and Santa always makes a stop! We waited in line for 2 hours to see him and let Emma sit on his lap but it was worth it and although it was chilly it was by no means Rexburg weather! Emma was so cute. Her granny and Grandpa Allen bought her a little christmas outfit. In fact, the White Mountain Independent newspaper reporter said he had to get her picture sitting on Santa's lap and that it'd probably end up in the paper! Our little celebrity! (We don't get the paper and are still trying to track down that picture). Emma handled it pretty well. She was a little confused as to why she was sitting on some big guys lap but at least with her hair fedish she didn't pull his hair!

First Thanksgiving for Emma!

Well this year we celebrated turkey day on Friday instead of Thursday since my sister Jamie and her husband James drove all the way from Houston to spend the weekend with us. It was so much fun to have family for dinner and for Emma to spend time with her aunt and uncle...currently the favorites by the way! Emma also enjoyed dinner especially the jello as you can see!

Walking Update!

Well the first of the votes for when Emma will walk have come and passed. She is 9 months old on Saturday and is still not walking by herself. She stands alone and walks everywhere if assisted but still won't let go. Since nobody voted on 9 months you'd all better hope she takes a little longer yet! We hope that she will walk soon. I think it will give us more freedom...not having to carry her everywhere....we also know it will bring more curiosity on her part but her little knees are always so red and she wants so badly to get around so much faster. At 22 pounds, carrying her is a workout in itself.

Fall has come...maybe a little winter too!

Well, living outside of Idaho has definitely proven to be warmer. We have yet to receive any snow even though we are at 6000 feet in elevation. We had a good rain storm today though and the days are brisk but lovely! We have sweater weather all the time! The only problem is that the fall colors are now gone and it's rather gray and gloomy...thus, we might as well have some snow. This picture was taken a few weeks ago on the last day before all the leaves fell. This was the only tree we could find that still had colorful leaves and it was of course on the temple grounds!

Oh and By the Way...

Oh and in case anyone is not sure... my blog exists mainly to allow my family who are so far away and my friends in so many states follow Emma's growth. I know it centers on every little thing that she does but that was the plan all along when I realized that I would not get to live close to my family and let them see first hand my child grow up. Sorry for those of you just trying to keep up on the Allen's in general. I'll try to post more info here and there on all of us but really, it's all about Emma!

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween. It is my favorite holiday of all! I love to dress up and go to parties and I loved trick-or-treating when I was younger. Now that I have a child, I'm super excited to dress her up too along with my husband! Well, I wanted this very cute little girl kitty costume at Walmart but they didn't have her size so she was a witch like her mom. It was a default costume but it worked all the same. We went to our ward Trunk-r-treat last night and had lots of fun tasting chilis for the Chili cook-off, getting candy, mingling and taking pics. I don't have the family pic yet but here are a couple of little Emma.

Championship Day

The long awaited results: The football tournament has come and gone. Before I tell you the results, you first must hear the story. The tournament was held in Dil Con on the reservation. Cale has been waiting to play Dil Con again because they beat him in exhibition earlier. They had forfeited really cuz they only had half their JV team and so they asked Cale if they could fill in with the Varsity team. Cale said fine. Well Cale was winning until the last few minutes, when Dil Con pulled all JV players and played strictly varsity against Cale's JV team and won by one touch down barely. So the tournament arrives and Cale's team is ready. Cale's team was undefeated which means they played last place first....Dil Con. Well, Dil Con forfeited on account of not having enough players (even though they were hosting the tournament and even though 2 minutes later, Cale counted 9 players). Oh well, that means Cale's team waited for the winner of the 2nd and 3rd place teams. Finally they start the championship game and play one quarter at which point Cale's team is up 30 points and the mercy rule kicks in. So....after a lot of sitting around and a rather anti-climatic championship day, Cale's team remained undefeated and for the first time that he knows of took the championship!!! They got a big plaque for the school to keep and Cale got a little one for himself!!

Prepping for the season

So it is cooling down a bit in the mornings and little Emma was freezing on my morning walks. (The days are still high 60s and 70s Brittany) So I found her the cutes little hat to cover her ears and the blue sweater she is wearing, well that was mine when I was a baby. Something survied the 80s and still looks cute! We also needed a new dress for church and found this very cute Christmas dress which is actually an 18 months size so that she can grow into it. As you can see, she's almost there at 7 1/2 months old but luckily her weight has stablizied now that she is crawling, and standing, and walking assisted.

Emma and the Boys

Emma loves her daddy and her grandpa Allen. She says Dada all the time and loves when Cale comes home from work. She gets so giddy and literally can't stop laughing and smiling at him. She also loves to cuddle with him on the couch (for 3 seconds) and loves his soft hair!

Emma loves to play with grandpa's ties and key chain. He spoils her with cute clothes and toys which she loves. She also loves her Grandma Allen but women are shy of cameras.

Emma loves her crib! When she wakes up from her naps and in the morning, she is usually bouncing up and down with a big smile on her face. But one morning, I found her sitting her in her crib with her feet sticking out the slats. Too funny.

Finally

Okay, okay, okay....after many reminders and requests to update my blog, I have finally found time and desire to sit down and spend some quality time with the dinosaur we like to think of as a computer. I took a vacation the second week of October because Cale was on Fall break all week which meant he was home from work. The last week and a half have just been crazy busy and lazy. So sit back and wait just a few more minutes and my blogs will start pouring in. IN fact, so many that I know you will all be skimming through them!

The 3rd Tag!

Ok, I found it. The third tag I received was from my niece Heather, so here goes. Hope you enjoy learning more about me as if the previous 2 didn't give you enough info on me! :-)

A. Attached or single? Attached
B. Best friend? Cale
C. Cake or Pie? Cheesecake!
D. Day of Choice? Friday, Cale gets home early and the weekend begins
E. Essential item? Sun glasses, I can't go outside without them. My eye start running over immediately.
F. Favorite color? Blue
G. Gummy bears or worms? Both!
H. Hometown? Bountiful, Utah
I. Indulgence? Scrapbooking and candy!
J. January or July? January, unless I was in Australia and then July. Basically, cold is always better!
K. Kids? Emma, 7 months
L. Life isn't complete without? Cale and Emma and our families
M. Marriage date? 01.02.03
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 5 sisters, 2 brothers
O. Orange or apples? Sour oranges, not the sweet ones
P. Phobias? The Dark
Q. Quotes? "Happiness is a journey, not a destination."
R. Reasons to smile? Emma and Cale playing with Emma
S. Season of Choice? FALL, then winter, then spring, then Fall...
T. Tag some peeps: 1. Emily 2. Dixie 3. Diantha
U. Unknown fact about me? I hate grasshoppers!
V. Vegetable? Corn on the Cob
W. Worst habit? Make paper piles instead of putting right away
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y. Your favorite food? Lasagna
Z. Zodiac sign? Taurus or Gemini