More to be Thankful for!

Thanksgiving came and went. Its one of my favorites. We had a schedule conflict, so we asked my mom, 2 brothers and sister to come over for breakfast since we couldn't make it to dinner. They stayed til about noon, Alyvia took a nap and I ran to Walmart. We left for Devon's parents' around 3 to visit with them before we ate at 5. We had more company than expected, but thats always a good thing! After dinner, Tash took some photos of Alyvia in her Christmas dress. We turned on the music so she'd cooperate a little more, and it worked for the most part! She was well behaved the whole night, and had lots of fun :)

We had a little surprise for everyone. Alyvia wore a special t-shirt to bed that said 'I'm the Big Sister'!!!!!!!! We broke the news to my Mom that morning as well. Dev and I found out we were expecting Sunday, November 21st! We are totally excited and I have so many ideas that I need to start on soon! :)

Turkey Week!

We didnt do much this weekend, and it was pretty NICE! Saturday I went grocery shoppin, and Dev worked that night. Sunday was my little cousin's 4th birthday party. It was a fashion show theme. You can bet Alyvia participated! She put on a pair of sunglasses and owned the runway. It was totally cute.

Its a short week at work and Thursday is Thanksgiving! Y-A-Y! Its my favorite, besides Christmas! We have SO MUCH to be thankful for. More than I have ever realized in the past! Wednesday I have to pick a little surprise up for some family and then Thursday we have 3 dinners to go to! We probably wont be able to squeeze the 2 earlier ones in, but we're gonna try!

I dont think we have ANYTHING planned this coming weekend, and Im kinda excited about it!
Devon's birthday is about 2 weeks away. We're getting OLD! He probably has to work, or has a continued education class that day. I cant keep up with his schedule anymore. But he is plannin on applying at Norwich Twnshp that day!
Dec 4th (a few days before that) is his grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party, and then we're going out to BD's for his birthday. YUMM-O! And HOPEFULLY we'll (almost) finish Christmas shoppin that weekend too!
Im going to book Alyvia's birthday venue this week, and hopefully start buying decorations, etc., for it soon! We are also planning to send out our Christmas cards next week!

I have so many places to go for Christmas gifts. But Im happy we'll be able to buy for everyone this year! I am SO excited :)

Our First Adoption!

Meet Caya! She officially became part of the family last night! We adopted her from SOS of Ohio. She is the BEST puppy. Crate trained, working on potty training, has all her shots, been spayed, de-wormed, knows a lot of commands and is a total SUNGGLER! She loves to give Alyvia kisses. Alyvia loves her too, but is pretty impatient like her momma so sometimes the kisses get a little overwhelming!

So far, so good! She only whined in her crate for about 10 mins last night, and didnt again until about 5am this morning! She's supposed to hit about 40 pounds; she's a pretty perfect size for our home!

If you're thinking about getting a dog, think about adoption! There are lots of animals out there that need loving homes.

Randoms!!!

A lot has happened since our last post, but Im having trouble organizing it in my head, so if my post is sparatic and all over the place I apologize ahead of time!

Alyvia is almost 21 months old. She has quite the attitude. Her newest thing is crossing her arms - when she's mad, pouting, or doesnt want to do something you ask her to do. It is the hardest thing in the world to try not to laugh. Oh and if you cross your arms, she'll mock you. Yep - she's attitude with a capital A! She throws fits sometimes. Screams her 'AHHMM!' which means no (yes, she can say no but she choses not to); she'll make her body limp if you try to pick her up and throw herself on the floor. This fit-throwing typically lasts about 3 minutes, then she's back to her goofy ol self. She's a nose picker and gets it from her father. Oh and this child is OCD about shutting the bathroom door. She HAS to be in the bathroom with whoever is in there. She'll sit on her potty for a minute then get up, shut the door as quickly as she can and waddle back to her potty. Every. Single. Time. Its pretty amusing.
Her hair is getting curlier by the day. I love it. She loves to watch me get ready when we have plans for the day. She'll open (my side of the sink) cabinet and go through all my hair products. She loves for me to put some in her hair. If we're brushing our teeth, she must brush her teeth too. She loves to stand on the bathroom counter and dance and laugh in front of the mirror. We have a big mirror on the back of our bedroom door too - She'll go in there everyday just to talk to herself. She'll say 'Hi Lylia!' (Makes her kissy noise and signs I love you). And she'll stick her tongue out and crack up histerically. I have to get it on video!
She is so into Rudolph. I love it. She loves to watch Santa on TV and sing 'HO! HO! HO!' However, she is not a fan of the in-person Santa. I have a feeling she'll grow out of it.
A few weekends ago we had a little photoshoot with our photographers; Alyvia and some other kiddos got their pics taken with Santa for a mini-session announcement. It was totally cute! Anywho, I think she picked up the word 'Hey!' from Sarah and LeAnne - they say Hey Girl Hey a lot and LeAnne's little girl says it too; its totally cute - and Alyvia has been saying 'Hey!' since then. So last night, I taught her to say girl and she can say it pretty darn well for her age! We're working on putting the 2 together :)
She can say pretty much anything you ask her to. I am in awe everyday with the progress she has made.
I bought her Christmas dress - her Granny helped me pick it out :) And cant wait to buy her little shoes to go with it! We started a little Christmas shopping and have quite a bit more to get, but we are determined to make it work! Its hard with no credit cards, but we will manage.
About a week ago, we went to Mingle with the Mutts and right away Dev fell in love with a 10 week old pitmix. We scheduled her home visit for this Saturday and hopefully will be able to keep her!!!!

Have a good weekend!

Fall Photos!

These are (some of) the photos I have been talking about! I love them! Im going to use one of them on our Christmas card....Something I look forward to every year :)

Devon has been working since Sunday morning. Ive been by myself (with Alyvia) for the past 3 nights, and will be again tonight too. He has all weekend off, minus the time he'll sleep Saturday from working til 7a. Im hoping to get some Christmas shopping done!!!!!!

Friday night I am meeting up with a few girls that I was really close with in high school. We havent had a girls night since we graduated almost 4 years ago! There is lots of catching up to do!

Tomorrow night Dev and I are going to a benefit dinner for a pregnancy resource center. My MIL is a board member, and its a really good foundation. Elizabeth's Hope, check em out!

Trick or Treat was A LOT of fun. Alyvia was to-die-for cute in her Sulley outfit! We went to Amanda last Thursday and Commercial Point Sunday.

Speaking of the cutie, she loves Rudolph. I am a HUGE holiday buff; its really important to me to have a great holiday season...and Im totally into all the movies, music, decorations, and food! I want her to love the holidays as much as I do! She sat and watched the whole movie with me before bed time. Another holiday buff in the making... :)

She gets smarter by the day. I dont have much time to post new milestones. So stay tuned! :)