Isn't she still my baby?

Berkley came to me the other day with a water bottle and said, "Baby." I didn't really respond so she said again, "Baby. Up" She climbed into my lap and then said, "Baby" and laid down in my arms. I handed her her water bottle but that wasn't good enough, I had to hold it and feed her just like a baby. When she was done with her drink she snuggled into me and closed her eyes and said, "Baby, sleep." She was so adorable but when did she go from being my baby to pretending to be a baby?
Berkley loves to make people laugh and is always doing something to get a reaction. She likes to run into the room we are in and yell "Boo! Agghhh!" She is a little too impatient to wait for the reaction so she just does it for you. Then she laughs and says, "Scared"
She is absolutely obsessed with Lion King right now, she has watched it so much in the last month that she can act out some of the parts with them and knows most of the songs. She loves the beginning when the monkey holds up the lion cub and she loves Pumba but she hates Scar and thinks any large, menacing looking animal is "Scaw, bite" Braelyn usually watches with her and sang the entire soundtrack during sacrament meeting last week, and now when she is trying something new or hard she says, "Hakuna Matata, no worries"
We may need to work on the other animals though because whenever Berkley sees a horse or pony she says, "Cow" without fail. But she loves to see birds outside or dogs and kitties in the yard.
She loves to sing and dance and still asks for "Single Ladies" to dance to most days. Her favorite song is Itsy, Bitsy Spider and her favorite toy is still a doll. She likes to eat anything that she is not supposed to like candy, gum and chocolate.
Mom is still her favorite person and she still can't do nursery by herself. But she is very independent and when she sets her mind to something there is absolutely no stopping her. She loves to stay in the van after we get home and buckle herself into her seat then yell "Stuck!" over and over and over until I drag her screaming into the house.
But despite being stubborn she is so much fun to have in our family, she is the first to greet you at the door with a big hug or a kiss good morning. She tells us when she is ready to go to sleep and she goes right to her crib as long as she has her snugglie and the right colored binkie.

Berks we love you!

I'm coming home...

The definite highlight of our year so far has been our trip home to Utah. The girls and I were able to fly out the last week of January. My brother Greg was coming home from his mission to Brazil and my youngest brother Taylor leaves on March 3rd, so we got to go and enjoy the few weeks that everyone was home. The flight through Atlanta is never fun but the girls did okay. We saw Munga right outside the exit and both the girls were thrilled. Braelyn ran the entire concourse once she saw her. Then we got to see Papa by the baggage claim and start the fun again.
It was wonderful to be home, but the mountains sure seemed brown and the air seemed smoggy. Braelyn couldn't wait to go play in the snow. Luckily Taylor didn't mind sledding with her so I didn't have to freeze. He had built this huge crocodile out of snow and Berkley was scared of it. She kept saying, "Bite, bite" whenever we would walk by. It was so nice to have lots of people to play with the girls, and I loved eating someone elses cooking. My Mom had done a lot of work on her house and it felt like we were staying at a cute resort, we were very well taken care of.

The Tuesday after we arrived, Greg got home! We were so excited to see him, 2 years didn't exactly fly by and we have missed his personality in our family. After my Mom got her hugs, Braelyn ran right to him. Berkley took a little more time, she just kept looking at him and frowning. Later that night he left to go get a friend and when Berkley heard the door she ran to see who it was, when she realized it was Greg and Fred she ran straight back to me crying! She is just a little shy and eventually warmed up to him, especially when he had treats. Braelyn loved having boys around and followed Greg everywhere. She liked to tell his friend Fred that she thought he was cute. Greg seemed pretty well adjusted and only sounded a little strange when he would ask a question, his inflection was different and he would emphasize the end of the sentence. We spent the next week hanging out, listening to his stories and making the same jokes we have made for years. Taryn was on a cruise and so it was another exciting day when she got there. I don't think we can say just how great it was to have everyone in one place again.


Of course most of the things I wanted to do revolved around eating, I wanted JCW's, Zuppas, and we did McDonalds with our old friends. I also wandered through Costco, Cabella's, Chuck E. Cheese and even made a trip to University Mall. We visited our Grandma's and played some more in the snow.



The best part of the trip was the combined homecoming/farewell when both boys spoke in church. I can't believe how amazing and mature they both are. They did such a great job and we had a very packed house full of friends and family after. Being far away gives you a deeper appreciation for when you do get to spend time with them. I have such a wonderful extended family and loved being around them for the afternoon. I also liked when Taryn and I beat-up Taylor, just to prove that I am still tougher than him.

3 weeks went too quickly but we sure our glad our family likes us enough to fly us home, we had a great time!

New Project- Pendants

-Check out the Easter and St. Patricks themed pendants now at:
www.firstbabydesigns.blogspot.com














I have been trying to find a way to help out our very tight income and still stay home with my girls, so while I try and find some daycare clients I am putting my creativity to use! I have seen these beautiful glass pendants before but they always seemed to be quite expensive and more geared to teenagers, so I found some cute vintage artwork and have been making glass pendants. They each have a fun saying or cute designs on the back. I can create a custom pendant with any picture you want or with any saying you like. These make a great gift for moms, friends or your wife (maybe with some hints!) The pictures don't do the beveled glass justice but ask me or my mom to show you one in person. I also have those adorable knitted headbands that I saw EVERYWHERE in Utah! You can comment here or email me at hr.allred@gmail.com for more info or to order your own! (I will be adding more pictures during naptime :)

*I'm offering the friends and family rate of $20 for the small pendants and $25 for the larger and $5 for a chain through the end of March until the Farmer's Markets begin. The headbands are $10 which includes the interchangeable flower.

Braelyn Paige- My First Baby

This birthday post for Braelyn is a little late because my computer has been down with a virus.

Braelyn turned 4 on January 17th. She had been asking me for weeks if I thought she was four yet. I kept telling her that I wanted her to stay 3 for one more year and not get bigger. She would just smile and say, "I was your first baby and I always will be." She had her party the day before but I will post about that when I can get the pictures up. Her actual birthday was on Sunday so we made a special breakfast and did presents before church. Kevin asked her how it felt to be 4 and she told him that she wouldn't be four until we got to church. I started getting worried she thought it would be a party for her when she asked if the church would be decorated for her. When she waled through the chapel she waved at everyone and blew kisses like she was in a parade. Luckily we saw our friend Chris first, who knew what the day was, and she made a big deal of it being her day, and after that whenever someone stopped to say hello I quickly announced it was Braelyn's birthday and everyone gushed over her. She loved the attention and couldn't have been happier when she got to go to the front of Primary and have the birthday song sung to her. We had her favorite dinner of chicken nuggets and fries with oranges. It had made me a little sad to think of singing Happy Birthday by ourselves, so we invited 2 families over and had fun playing and talking and they made it a lot more fun to sing and blow the candles out.
I snuck in her room after she had gone to bed and couldn't believe how quickly four years can go. Most days I feel like I am already living with a teenager full of attitude but most of the time I am grateful to have my little buddy around with me all day. She is such a big help, she loves to help me cook, she loves to do her chores and sweep the floor. Her favorite things to do are play dress-up, she changes clothes at least 3 times a day, play with friends, and go anywhere with Dad. She often tells me, "I want to go do that by myself, just drop me off and get me later." Yeah, right. She is always happy to wake up in the morning and always asks me how I slept. She makes her sister laugh when they aren't teasing each other, and loves to be with her uncles.
I'm so glad she was my first baby, she definitely prepared me for the rest. Love you Brae-Brae!

Florida 2.0- Freeze Warning

We got to visit Orlando, and vacation in Flroida for the second time this year, last week because Kevin had a conference there. We went early and did Disney World with some of Kevin's family from Utah. The first thing we saw when we drove in was the huge flashing sign warning of a "Freeze Warning." I was glad I had thrown in the winter coats and gloves at the last second.

We started each morning early so we could be there by the time the parks open. Kevin said he had been vacationing with me long enough that he couldn't stand to sleep in and wanted to get in as much as possible. The girls and I seemed to catch up with him by the time we hit the first ride.

Here are just a few highlights of the week:

-Berkley's face while we spun so fast in the teacups that I was worried she was going to pass out, while Braelyn and Kevin laughed hysterically.

-Seeing how brave Braelyn is. She didn't chicken out on any of the big rides, and hearing her yell, "That was totally wicked!!!" after each one.

-Having Berkley walk right up to Goofy and snuggle in for about 5 mintues and not budging a bit.

-Watching my girls while they watched the light parade at night and being more excited than I have ever been because I was able to enjoy through their magical view.

-Taking Braelyn on the Tower of Terror and laughing so hard we can't catch our breathe

-Having everyone around us laugh at the girls' enthusiastic dancing whenever Kevin would play "Single Ladies" from his phone

-Seeing my niece Addy again and seeing how fun her personality is, and seeing all 3 little girls in pink ruffly pajamas

-Finally getting to meet Mickey and hearing Berkley yell, "Mouse, Mouse!"

-Seeing Belle talk to the girls like they were best friends and watching Braelyn hug Aladdin with huge stars in her eyes

-Watching fireworks over Cinderella's castle, holding my baby, with Braelyn on Kev's shoulders, knowing most of my dreams have already come true!