Praying for Harper!

Hi Everyone,

Please take a little time out of your very busy day to "Pray for Harper"! I don't know Harper's parents or really anything about them. My friend Lauren Walker added Harper's story to her blog. After one look at little Harper and her family, I started praying for them (with tear filled eyes)! I continue to follow her progress and pray for Harper and her amazingly strong family. I know she will continue to make great progress and amaze us all with her strength! After all, with parents that strong and loving how could she do anything else! So, please take time to say a little pray for precious Harper! (P.S. To see Harper's story click on the picture on my blog)

Art & Ice Skating

Today we went to the ice skating rink in the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/skating.shtm ! We were supposed to meet up with the women's group from our church. But since we couldn't skate. We just hung out for a while and then went inside to take in some amazing art and warm air!! Yes, today was a sunny beautiful day. However, 29 degrees is still very cold, even in the sun!!

The pond in front of the Capitol is frozen solid. All the birds were out there standing on the ice. I didn't have the heart to tell them there's no fish in the pond. And if there were fish. They be more like fish sticks!

They are slowly taking down the stage from the inauguration. We walked to the capitol on Friday and there were still hundreds of folding chairs on the lawn. Friday was about 50 degrees and everyone was just happy to have a warm day. So, none of the workers were moving very fast. I don't blame them. We are supposed to have snow this coming week. We haven't had a snow yet this year. Hopefully, later this week I'll be posting snow day pics and lots of other pics from our recent travels.

Christmas Eve on the farm

We celebrated Christmas Eve in Hot Springs, AR at Aunt Kathy's house. Aunt Kathy and her husband Jim hosted most of the family over Christmas. Allison was able to meet my cousins Brandon and Anna along with their families. Allison had a great time playing with her second cousins Elizabeth, Trenton and Keirston. Keirston is a teenager and wasn't really into playing on the floor with the little ones. I think she has outgrown teddy bears, bouncy toys and board books! But she is a great help with the little ones and happy to lend hand whenever needed. Elizabeth will be two in February and Trenton is about six week older than Allison. However, Trenton is the same size as Elizabeth. Allison is tall for eleven months but she was dwarfed by Trenton!! Elizabeth was the "big girl". She was very nice to share all the toys with the new kids on the block!

As you can see, there were lots of animals on the farm. This was Allison's first encounter with large animals. Our dog Gabe is about 40lbs and that is the biggest animal she had been around until our trip to Hot Springs. Allison was intrigued by the cows, goat and large rottweiler. She wasn't afraid of any of them! I'm pretty sure she would have crawled into the pasture if we'd let her.

We were so happy to be able to spend time with so much of our family. Now if we could just get Daddy Jim home and some how arrange for the folks in New Jersey to meet all the folks in Arkansas, life would be perfect! Maybe we'll win the lottery and we can buy a house somewhere in the middle for everyone to share! We truly hope everyone had a merry Christmas and very happy new year. Lastly, thank you for taking the time to read about our Allison's adventures!

Rabies? No, just yogurt!

Allison loves her super high fat yogurt and she makes me laugh when it is all over her face. We are continuing to add new foods to her diet. Like most kids her age (I think?) some days she eats a ton and some days she's not that interested. She's not a fan of meat so far. She will eat a little if it is doctored up properly, i.e. with veggies, rice cereal or yogurt. However, she loves tofu which is a good source of protein. We'll try eggs soon, hopefully they will be a big hit!!

Allison found the big suitcase! She was ready to pack it and go look for Daddy!! But I explained he would be home soon and we have to pack the suitcase for our visit to Arkansas. She said, she missed her Daddy but she would allow me to pack the suit case for our trip. ( Which have now returned from. Sorry, I'm behind on my post!)

One Little Monkey

My little monkey jumping on the bed! Luckily she hasn't fallen off and bumped head!

Every night after her bath. Allison likes to jump on the bed. I know it looks like I'm moving her up and down. But I'm not! All the movement is powered by her tiny legs. No matter how tired she is, she jumps when I put her feet on the bed. And no matter how tired I am, the jumping makes me laugh! Hope you enjoy our little action film!

Christmas Card?

Just wanted to let everyone know you won't be getting a Christmas from us anytime soon. I've been trying to snap the "perfect" shot for the card. But I'm not sure if I've got it yet? I took some of Allison playing with the Christmas lights. Maybe one of them will make the cut? We hope you are enjoying the Holiday season!! I'm trying to soak up every minute of Allison's first Christmas. We started playing Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving. I know the holidays will be gone in a flash!

Turkey Day 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Despite the fact that the turkey didn't turn out right for the 3rd year in a row. Luckily, Allison doesn't eat turkey yet and it's not Jim's favorite anyway. We still had plenty of food and a wonderful day together as a family!!

Before we ate we walked to the Botanical Garden to check out the Christmas display http://www.usbg.gov/whats-happening/Windows-to-Wonderland.cfm . It is beautiful! Tons of poinsettias, decorations and an entire room devoted to miniature trains. Allison and Jim really liked the trains. I was surprised that Jim spent some time looking at the trains. I guess boys, Christmas and trains go together no matter the age. We are so excited that the Christmas season is finally here and we can share it with Allison!