Birthday Party

Kalianna's birthday party was a big success! I was worried she would be nervous with so much attention but she had a ball! And she was really happy the whole time. Kalianna loves animals and especially loves the song Old Macdonald, so we decided to have an Old Macdonald theme. The party was at my parent's house to accommodate our numerous guests. We started with a dinner of french fries and chicken nuggets (her favorites) and fruit. Then we watched a movie I made about her first year of life. My first time ever making a movie and ever using windows movie maker, but I had a blast and it turned out better than I could have imagined! She opened presents (the pile of presents that little girl received was ginormous!) And she had lots of little cousins to help her open them. Thanks everyone for such beautiful gifts! She has had so much fun playing with all her new toys and mommy is very happy to have so many new clothes.We played a couple little farm related games like pin the tail on the pig, guess how many farm animals in the jar, and the chicken game on the Wii. Then it was cake time. My mom and Ricci helped me make these awesome cupcakes earlier that day. Aren't they adorable? (and yes, that is a horse, not a giraffe) Kalianna LOVED her cake!!! I have never seen a one year old tear into a cake like she did! She ate tons of it and loved having an audience while doing it! She kept looking at me like "Are you really letting me do this?!" It was so adorable! After a much needed bath, the party guests left and Kalianna continued to play with her new toys for a little while (thanks to the sugar buzz). But she slept wonderfully on the way home. It could not have gone better! I'm so glad she enjoyed herself so much!!

Kalianna's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Kalianna! I've heard lots of people say that they can't believe it when their baby turns one. But you know what? Looking back to the night she was born, it actually does feel like its been a year. And what an amazing, incredible, great year it has been! Kalianna amazes me with how smart she is, and how quickly she learns new things. She is my little monkey, crawling and climbing all over the place! But she also loves a good snuggle now and then too. She can say mama and dada now (and actually knows what they mean). She seems pretty content with just crawling and walking next to furniture right now. But as with everything else, I'm sure when she decides she's ready to walk, she'll work on it till she's a pro. She is such a determined little girl! When she wants to do something, nothing will stop her! Her favorite things to do are watch baby einstein (she LOVES animals!), chase the dogs, play with her twin in the oven's reflection (she pulls the hand towels off and when she sees herself, she will squeal and then jabber), music (she's started dancing when she hears it), climbing up and down the stairs, reading (she gets upset when a book ends), and entertaining people (she's such a little ham). She has learned how to give high-fives (thanks to uncle Brent) and then she claps for herself afterward. She is starting to show her independence. If mommy is busy cleaning or working on something, she will go into her room and play by herself. I have gone in her room several times to find her sitting in a pile of books, reading them to herself. Its super cute! Kalianna is now in a forward facing car seat, which seems to make her really happy. She likes to see what's going on, and her poor long legs were getting so cramped against that backseat. She is such a happy, easy-going little girl! I am so blessed to have her in my life! I love her so much!!!

For breakfast this morning, Kalianna enjoyed her first waffles. I knew she would love them because of the syrup. That girl has such a little sweet tooth! Her birthday present from us was a little car that converts into a walker. We gave it to her a little early, so I already know she loves playing with it.

Then today to celebrate her first birthday Matt and I wanted to take her to the zoo. But unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. I also bought her a cute birthday outfit that was capris with a cute top, but again, weather...So this morning Kalianna and I picked up Matt from work and the three of us went down to Southtown Mall. Kalianna played in the Dinosaur play area for the first time, and she loved it! She had so much fun going down the slides, climbing on the toys, and playing with her reflection. She had a ball!

Then we went for a ride on the carousel. She didn't crack a smile the whole time and we weren't sure if she liked it. But as soon as the carousel stopped and I pulled her off her horse, she started to cry.

We were all getting pretty hungry at this point, so we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Kalianna got her very first happy meal and she ate almost the entire thing! That girls loves her chicken nuggets and fries!

We took Matt back to work before heading home, and Kalianna crashed.

It was such a fun and simple way to spend her birthday! And she loved it all! Then for dinner tonight we had spaghetti, one of her favorite foods. I know she doesn't know its her birthday, but hopefully she at least had a happy day!

I'm done

I've had some different thoughts swirling around in my head lately, so I thought I better spill them all out now. With my baby turning one tomorrow, I will have plenty of fun things to blog about! First of all, speaking of my baby, lots of people have been mis-pronouncing her name lately. I know, looking at her name, its easy to get it wrong. And she'll probably be correcting people her whole life. But it bugs me when people who know her name say it wrong. So lets review. Its pronounced Kal-E-ON-a. Not K-lee-on-a and most definitely not Kal-E-ANNE-a. Not Anne but ON-a. I'm done.

Last weekend when my brother got married, we knew we would be really busy Friday and all day Saturday. And there would be lots of people in and out of my parent's house. Since we were staying the night there, we decided to leave the dogs with a neighbor. They have four young children and have offered to pet sit before, so we finally took them up on it. I'll admit, I was nervous. They have never stayed anywhere overnight before except at my parent's house. Saturday night when we picked them up, the family raved about what great dogs we have. I was so happy! The parents told us over and over again how impressed they were! They said they have never seen dogs that were so patient and amazing with kids before. Yeah, I felt pretty good! I know they can sometimes annoy people when they get hyper and like to bark. But they are really good dogs! And it was nice that they were good for someone else too! K, I'm done.

American Idol hasn't been very good this year. Has anyone else noticed that? The few seasons I have watched in the past, most of the contestants in the top 12 were really good. I enjoyed watching the show. And had very few people I couldn't wait to see gone. This year...completely different story. Most of the top 12 are just okay. None of them completely blow me away. And most of the shows, I'm honestly quite bored. Not to mention the judges are getting on my nerves. Its just not a very good year! I think Lee is fantastic! He is by far my favorite guy! But tonight, my favorite girl got kicked off. It totally sucks too because Didi and Lee were the only reasons I continued watching the show. This season is so frustrating! It has 100% become a popularity contest. The best looking and best personalities keep staying on, no matter how bad their performances are. While those who actually have good voices (Didi) are sent home. Take Tim for example. He is absolutely adorable, and he's got such a cute personality. But let's face it, his vocals just aren't up there with the rest. Yet he stays in the competition week after week because he's cute. Grant it, I'd rather keep watching Tim than have to sit through one more performance by Siobhan, Aaron, Andrew, or Katie. But as Simon said, we'll keep seeing him week after week because America likes him. Jill and I are both done with the show. It's just not fun to watch anymore. So good luck to Lee! I hope he and Crystal are both in the finals (since they are leagues above everyone else in skill) but knowing America, it will probably come down to Tim and Aaron. Anyway, I'm rambling now and I really need to go to bed. So I'm done.

For a Laugh

So while my friends were visiting another friend in Idaho, this happened and its just too good not to share!

Their friend has a brother who is mentally handicap and living in a group home. He called his sister one night and said,

"Sissy, you need to come over!"

"What's the matter?"

"There's a troll in my closet!"

"A troll?"

"Yeah, there's a troll in my closet! I need you to come over!"

"Ummm....you better call dad"

So he did.

"Dad there's a troll in my closet! I need you to come over!"

"A troll?"

"Yeah, there's a troll in my closet! Hurry come over!"

"Okay, why don't you try to get some sleep and we will come over and take care of it first thing in the morning, okay?"

"Okay."

The next morning they went over and found that his mattress and dresser were pushed up against the closet doors. He must have really been scared! So they moved the mattress and dresser out of the way, opened the closet doors and...

...a midget ran out! A real live midget. He was a Jehovah's Witness who had come proselyting to the door. Scared the crap out of this poor kid (who thought he was a troll) and so the kid shoved him into the closet and locked him in all night long.

True story. Moral of the story? If your child says there is a troll in their closet, listen to them!

Bryan & Ricci

Bryan and Ricci got married on Saturday! My little brother is all grown-up! We had a fun and busy weekend with family. Friday night we had a family dinner and then the girls all hung out and watched "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". We stayed the night at my parent's house and were up bright and early the next morning. They got married in the Draper temple by my grandpa. It was such a nice ceremony! And after a very snowy week, it was thankfully sunny and bright. When they came out of the temple, my nephew Joshua was the first one to rush up and give big hugs. He sure loves his aunt Ricci! Kalianna lost it during pictures (she was tired, hungry, cold, and wet). So all the family pictures are going to be...memorable. But after lunch and a nap, she was happy for the reception. We had a luncheon right after the temple and were able to laugh and visit with family for awhile. Then we headed over to the church to help get things ready. Lots to do! It was really fun though! Their reception was really nice! Then Matt and I had to get a very tired little girl home and to bed. We were all exhausted! Such a fun, wonderful weekend! We are so happy to have Ricci in our family now!

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Kalianna got her first taste of corned beef and cabbage yesterday for dinner. I think I forgot to mention that she is completely off baby food now. I figured with four teeth, it was kind of silly. Especially since she would eat all my food anyway. So she just eats whatever we do. Its so nice! She didn't care much for the cabbage, she liked the potatoes, and she loved the corned beef! It was so funny! She ate the first piece of cabbage okay, but then she spit out the second. Then, when I was looking away, she would sneak the rest of the cabbage off her tray for the dogs. Which is really funny, cause normally she drops food right in front of me for the reaction. So she really didn't like it!

This is Kalianna's new camera face. Even with the flash off, if I pull out my camera, she squints her eyes and gives me a cheesy grin. So cute!

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

I almost forgot about today! Which is a horrible sin, considering my husband is in love with all things Irish. I got dressed normally first and then when I got Kalianna dressed and put her in green, I realized I hadn't dressed myself in green! But don't worry, I rectified the situation. And I do have the traditional corn beef & cabbage planned for dinner tonight. Yummy!

So I forgot to post last month about our girl's day. We painted cute Valentines decorations. Well afterwards, I went to the wood connection (a fantastic store for cute decorations) and bought some stuff to decorate for St. Patrick's Day. I painted this cute 'Luck' that sits on my piano. I also have some shamrocks that I am still working on. Its been a crazy busy couple of weeks! Too much to do! Can't wait for this semester to be over, and after Saturday, I will have a new sister-in-law!!