Arizona!

My family all got together in Arizona last week - except Nate who had to work and study for the CPA Exam :(. It's a little crazy getting together with my family as there are 12 grandkids, 9 of which are under the age of 4. And only 4 of them are girls.

Yeah. Crazy.

This picture is minus Karly and Eliza (the newest baby)

Also, there always seems to be a sickness that circulates (mostly through the kids) when we all get together, so Karly has been sick (no idea what it is...) off and on since we got home. Bummer. But we had so much fun while we were there!!

We spent a good part of our time there in the pool (where else would we be when it's like 300 degrees down there?!). Karly totally hated it the first time and cried the whole time (I think she was tired to add to it) but loved it after that. She even started kicking in her little feet. Maybe she'll be a swimmer like her mommy!

She is pretty much asleep in this picture. She almost fell asleep a couple of times in the pool. Thanks for playing with her AJ!

We tried to do activities that would keep the kids (ok, let's be honest, and the adults) entertained and sane. :) We went to the Children's Museum. Karly had a blast with a table covered in sand. She got bored by the time I thought of taking a picture. Sigh...

Natalie, Ben, Myles, Mel, Suzie and Charlie in the Art Room

We also went to a place called Amazing Jakes - it's an indoor (aka COOL - as in not roasting) little amusement park and all you can eat buffet. Don't worry, we got our money's worth with the soft serve ice cream. Seriously. I alone had about 5 of them (and I wonder why I can't lose those last few pounds I've been trying to...). Anyway, they had bumper cars, a bowling alley, a carousel, a train ride of kids, tons of arcade games, etc. Way fun.

Despite her expression in this picture, she did like the carousel.

AJ and James on the carousel in front of us.

Since it's so stinkin' hot in Arizona, I thought I'd see if I could cook an egg on the street.

It didn't work. I think after like an hour, the edges started to turn white. So don't believe it when you hear "it's hot enough to cook an egg." Lies. :)

Let me just tell you a little about my dad. He was on vacation. And this is what he was doing:
And this was only one of his many projects. I love it - he's always doing something. :) He did spend quite a bit of time with his grandkids though and loved holding Karly. And did I get a picture? Of course not.

And this is what Mel did the whole time. :) hehe

And finally, a big part of the reason we were all there, was to meet this little girl:

The newest addition to this crazy clan, Eliza. Such a little cutie who hates her car seat as much as Karly! :)

Thanks for the great week you guys! I miss you already!

Walking for Realz

Walking is not her primary form of movement yet, but she's getting pretty good!

Aren't I such a good mom for laughing when she falls? I'm actually trying to get her to not be a whiny kid when she falls. :)

Have you ever seen anyone so proud of themselves?

She's been standing for a couple of days and today, I was having her stand up. This was her reaction:

Sorry it's sideways. I didn't think about it until after I had already recorded it.

Cinderella/Harry Potter

Lest you think we are bad parents for making our child sleep under the stairs, it's really the only place that is close to us and quiet/dark. (Like it even matters since she has started waking up between 4:30 and 6 every single morning)

1 Year of Karly

And what a fun year it has been!

It's fun to look at these pictures and think about how much she has changed, not only in the way she looks, but how much she has learned. Even with all the changes, she's still got her little personality she's had from the beginning. I love it.

By the way, Karly now stands up by herself and yesterday, she took 3 steps (she actually did it several times)!

At her 1 year appointment, she was 17 lbs, 5 oz and 28 inches. So she's no taller and still weighs so little! Her doctor wasn't worried, so neither am I! :)

Karly Jane

My baby is one.

1.

No more counting her age in months.

This morning, Nate said "Can you believe how much has happened this year? This has been the busiest year of our lives."

And it's only beginning.

Anyway, on to the birthday girl!! We had a little party on Wednesday with Dan and Kippy because they are out of town today (by little party I mean the four of us and Karly). We watched her open presents and eat cake. Get ready for picture and video overload.

This was my first attempt at b-day pictures. A nap was needed first apparently. But that's such a cute sad face.

The final monkey picture! I'm going to do a collage. Maybe later today.

So much bigger than the monkey!
Opening presents took FOREVER. She'd rip part and then smile and clap and try to see what was inside. I helped a little...Peeking...

Hugging her new dolly. (Anytime she gives hugs or kisses, she says "awwww")

She loves all her presents! In case you can't see (and you care), she got a walking shopping cart (to help her learn how to walk), a dolly, an Elmo movie (see below) and one of those little toys that the animals pop up when you push the buttons, little people and cute summer clothes!

Any of you read Cake Wrecks (http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/)? If I were a professional, this one would be worthy of the site. Good thing I have lots more years and kids to practice on.

Man, that's bad.

If I thought presents took forever, cake took even longer. And she never actually ate any of the cake. Just a little of the frosting and destroyed the rest.

And here she is today watching her Elmo movie. She liked it, but definitely didn't have the attention span for the whole thing.

I sure love that little one year old!

Apparently we moved to Siberia

Also, Karly woke up at 5:30 this morning. Awesome.

And I was hanging blinds last night and it was taking forever, so this morning I used a drill and it took about 1/10 of the time. Do you ever do that? Realize after you've caused yourself pain (like a throbbing hand from putting screws into a wall with a screwdriver) that you could have done something SO much faster another way? I hate that.

Way too long...

Everyday for the last 2 weeks, I've been planning to blog. I'm writing this on May 10th - let's see if I actually post it today. :)

So, since I last posted:

*Nate graduated from BYU's Marriott School of Management with a Bachelor's and Masters of Accountancy.

Please ignore the fact that I look pregnant in this dress. I'm not.

Nate and one of his good friend Shawn Hansen.

Kippy, Nate and Dan Frakes

My dad came too - thanks for coming dad! We missed you mom!

*Karly lost 4 pounds (that might be an exaggeration) from being sick the week and day of graduation.

*I did too many loads of puke laundry.

* Packed our apartment and sold nearly all of our furniture (over about 4 weeks).

*Packed our stuff into a moving truck and drove the 7 hours from Provo to Denver, Colorado.

For those who don't know, Nate's parent's are graciously letting us live in their house for a while, as well as Nate's older brother, wife and baby. Since we moved here two weeks ago, we have helped Nate's parents unpack their new house (while being frustrated with how long the basement was taking to be finished - it's finally done!) and moved half of our possessions into the house and half into a storage shed.

We are exploring Denver now that we're here and have found some good hiking spots, walked around downtown, checked out the mall nearby and researched some fun things to do (ahem....this is not an advertisement to come to Denver and visit us or anything...yes it is)

Family Pictures - professionally done!

My very talented and very sweet friend Kaela took some family pictures a few weeks ago. They are terrific. I don't think I look so great, but that's not the photographer's fault... :) Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

Love. This. One.

A couple showing our hawtness as a couple.

And of course, the sweet baby. There are about 10 bajillion of her.
Have I ever said how much I love this face? Where she clenches her jaw. I love this face.

Thanks Kaela!

T-1 Month!

Karly is going to be a one year old in less than a month. No longer a baby - a toddler. Crazy.

This girl is crazy (I tell her everyday).

I told her to give hugs and this is what I got:

Could that be any cuter?!? I love her little hands clasped.

And of course...

She had to go for the camera.

So.

I have no idea how much she weighs or how tall she is. She's getting heavy, but still petite and tall-ish. She's growing out of old clothes quickly. How's that?

She is SUCH a little parrot. She copies everything I say as well as she can. She's really good at the K sound, as well as D and is picking up F pretty quickly. The S sound sounds sort of like SH and she refuses to say anything with an M because its too close to Mama. Little stinker.

Words: dada, kak (milk), crak (craker), ung (hungry), ah dah (all done), gog (dog), oof (food), uh uh (ruff ruff), ba (bath)

No only does she copy sounds, but she copies movements. She rubs lotion onto her hands when I do. She motions at me when I say "come here" as if to say "No, you come here." The second Nate puts his jacket on in the morning, she starts waving bye bye. She waved hello at a perfect stranger at Costco today. He loved it.

She absolutely refuses to walk or stand on her own. Let's be honest. She's a little chicken. I know she can do it. When I try to get her to stand by herself, she carefully (and with obvious control) lowers herself to the floor.

She laughs like crazy! Everything is funny lately. I pretended to gag while she was eating dinner the other night and she was laughing so hard, she almost couldn't breathe.

She LOVES her daddy. The second she hears his key in the door, her head WHIPS that direction and she says "Dada!" (by the way, she also says dada when I come home. awesome).

She hates her carseat. I can't wait until she can get a front facing one.

Anyway, that's my update. Sure love that girl (do I say that every time?)

Letters

Dear Provo/Mother Nature/Snow:

I sort of hate you right now. It's April, so there should be April Showers, not April snowshowers. Stop. It. Now.

Dear Karly:

You are awesome. I'm sorry you have a fever and I hope it's just from teething. You don't act sick, so I'm guessing so. I love that you're my little parrot and copy everything I say (except Mama). I'm glad you finally pooped so you don't keep crying because you can't get it out. I love you!

Dear Raisins and prunes:

Thank you for helping Karly poop.

Dear Cube Steak:

I really didn't know what you were. I really thought you were a cube of steak. You don't make very good French Dip.

Dear Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga:

Boy, you have catchy songs. Whataya want from me? and Paparazzi have been stuck in my head for 2 days. Too bad you're both such weirdos.

I am not posting a picture of Lady Gaga. I don't think there are any of her fully clothed and not looking like a freak show. Plus, I'm a little scared to google search that...

Dear Moab:

Oh, how I miss you.

Dear Nate:

16 days until school will begin to be a distant memory for you. I can't wait until you come home at night and can just hang out with us. I'm super proud of you for finally graduating from something! :) I love you!

Dear Me:

Please stop staying up all night. Learn to fall asleep before 2 already. And definitely don't stay up until 4 anymore. Thanks.

Love,

Alisa

Who Do You Think You Are?

Have you seen this show? It's on NBC, but also on Hulu (that's where I watch it).

It's amazing. It makes me want to do more Genealogy. If you decide to watch it, especially make sure you watch the one about Lisa Kudrow. So touching.