Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Allie could not wait to see Santa this year. When asked what she wanted for Christmas, Allie replied "A hippo." Good luck Santa!

Happy Halloween

Allie being her favorite Alice in Wonderland for Halloween. Grandma Hanson made her costume while she was out here in California. I couldn't get Allie to make a normal face for pictures that night.

Allie and her bestie, Emma. They just HAD to Trunk or Treat together.

Allie and her friends Belen and Carlin. Cute Disney girls!

Allie and all her candy, minus the 10 pieces she ate on the car ride home. As you can see, she was very excited.

Allie with her "mean" Jack-o-lantern.

Pick a Pumpkin

While Grandma Hanson was here helping out, we took Allie over to the pumpkin patch. I love that it's not a true pumpkin patch. With all the rainy, cloudy days, a typical pumpkin patch would have been muddy. We told Allie that she could pick any pumpkin that she wanted and she settled on a small one. A surprise to me! Nice that it was close, we didn't have to stay too long. But had a fun time getting into the fall spirit of things.

First Trip to Disneyland!

Allie's first trip to Disneyland was fan-tas-tic! We really had a great time. It was a cool day, with a light crowd. We used our Give-a-day, Get-a-day tickets. The best part was to see her eyes light up with each new experience. After every ride, Allie said "Let's do it again!"
What a fabulous day!

We started out at King Arthur's Carousel. We rode it 3 times that day. We all got a turn. :)

Allie could not wait to get on Dumbo, and you know that line is slow!!!

Next, we were on to the teacups. Allie was really excited cause her favorite Disney movie is Alice in Wonderland.

Allie was so mad that this little door to this little house would not open.
Grandpa tried to explain it to her.

Allie's first mouse ears! The ears completed her outfit! And yes, I made her dress.

Off to small world. Allie knew the song from listening to Disney music in her playroom. She was excited when she heard it- it was familiar to her!

Finding Minnie Mouse in toontown. Minnie just loved Allie's outfit and Allie just loved Minnie!

Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters-We couldn't get her to look at the camera, her head was spinning with all the Toy Story characters-her other favorite movie.

Allie thought this was a temple. So cute!

It was fun to go with Grandma and Grandpa.

Waiting for the parade to start-Allie holding her much loved, new Minnie Mouse doll. And which still to this day, never leaves her side!

Sitting on Blaine's shoulders to see the parade and all her favorite characters. There were fun Halloween decorations all over Disneyland!

Dancing Queen

Today was Allie's first dance lesson. This class is run through the local parks and recreation here in Bakersfield. Allie has been excited to take these lessons for weeks now. Here's some cute photos and videos of the 45-minute lesson.

Allie is the one in the back, hanging onto to the bar. She was doing as the teacher told them to do-hold onto the bar.

Allie listening to the teacher and holding her pose. Again, she's the one in all pink, behind the black leotard girl.

This one's funny. She's all over the place, on the floor, and then she follows the teacher for a bit and then comes and asks me for a dum-dum.

There is a mirror the whole length of the wall in the front of the class. Allie can't get enough of herself. I love the ballet run!

Once you get Allie spinning, there is no stopping her!

Two Cute Girls

Allie and her friend Emma could not be any cuter together. From the strollers, to the babies, to the purses and aprons, they are too much!

My life as a 2 1/2 year old...

Check out these random photos of Allie being herself:

Allie could be a bum. She loads her shopping cart everyday with everything she owns and pushes around the house. Notice the flip flops on the wrong feet. :)

Exhausted from playing and swimming all day. She never falls asleep outside of her bed, but she has just been go, go, go all summer.

We potty trained this spring. Allie is still learning how to get dressed. You'd think she'd get it right half the time, but the pants always end up on backwards. And doesn't she notice how uncomfortable they are like that?

Allie is loving Toy Story. She is playing house with Buzz and Rex. It's nap time!

In one photo, she is the All-American tom-boy. Blaine loves that she is interested in the Dodgers and playing catch. Then the next day, she's all glammed up. She goes from playing baseball, to being the trophy wife in the stands watching her hubby play.

Allie is discovering makeup. Poor Buzz got a make-over.

We are raising a reader. You can find Allie many times during the day pretending to read books. This one I had to sneak up on her, she's in my craft room, just chattering away,
reading Hop on Pop. She knows most of the stories because we've read them soooo many times. I'm a proud Mama!

Before & After

I've always been very interested in re-purposing, but too nervous to try. So I thought I'd give it whirl after seeing the cute girls on Crafting Chicks repurpose their clock (Thanks Brooke!). What do you think?

Before.....




After......


We've had the before clock since we got married (8 years ago) and it's always so boring hanging in our kitchen. Now in our new house, it didn't have a home. Until now!!! It's going into Allie's playroom. I always lose track of time when I'm in there playing with her. Now what else can I transform????

Play Ball!

Happy 4th of July!

What a fun weekend we had! We started off celebrating Allie's half-birthday by opening presents, seeing Toy Story 3 and having dinner at Applebees. Sunday was a good day with church and bbq and rootbeer floats at home. Monday, we headed to Zuma Beach (Malibu) and spent the day playing in the sand, splashing in the ocean and relaxing on the beach. Now back to real life.!.!.!