Brother or Sister?

We are so happy to announce that Ali will be getting a

little brother

in January! How exciting!! We can't wait to see this little guy! I'm so excited to see what it will be like to have a boy and especially to watch Jimmy- he'll be in heaven! He can't help but smile every time he mentions it.

10 months old!!!

Ali has made it to the double digits! What a big day!! We can't believe we have a 10 month-old baby! She is so much fun and keeps us on our toes and laughing EVERY DAY! I love watching her curious mind take her everywhere! I have always felt that she had a wise, old spirit, and the older she gets, the more I can see that in her. When she was just a newborn I would look down into her eyes and feel like I was looking into the eyes of an old friend who knows so much. We have been taking a ton of pictures here and there... we just can't get enough of this girl and her cute faces!

After almost dying in this crazy hot summer we've been having I decided that I need to break out the pool every day if we're going to survive. She LOVES it!

She likes to chase little creatures that are crawling on the ground.

Here she is trying to catch an ant.

Ali thinks the sprinklers are the best thing since sliced bread!

Oh the cuteness! I'm so in love!

Maybe it's strange to have so many pictures of your baby sitting in rocks, but it's her favorite place to sit! She loves to sift through the rocks to find just the right one and then pop it into her mouth like a piece of candy. If she's crawling around and comes across a rock, she'll pop it in her mouth and keep on moving without skipping a beat. I just have to watch to make sure it's not a small one that she could choke on (you're wondering why this is the only thing I'm worried about... hehehe). If it is I just say, "Ali, is that a small rock? Give that to Mommy." and she takes it out, hands it to me and finds another one. Honestly, we're taking a little bag of rocks on the plane- strange, but whatever works.

side note: Ali now has TWO teeth (one on bottom and one on top) and I feel like she's working on another.

I bought this book (Fairytale Castle) while on my mission in Czech Republic in hopes that one day I would have kids and that they would think it was pretty neat.

She does... it's makes me happy.

I love these magnets! I'm able to make dinner so much easier with these to distract her.

Plus she's a genius and she needs some place to practice her addition and fractions.

Ha! JK- that was mommy!

I love how she'll pull every book out of her basket several times a day.

She'll pick one up, look at it, then drop it on the floor... and on to the next one until she finds the one that catches her attention at that moment and sit down to get a better look at it.

I like to call this our airplane training. I know you shouldn't let kids this young watch TV but come on people, a full 24 hr travel from here to Shanghai? There has to be some sort of movie going on or we're just not going to make it! So, for the benefit of all those on board we have been playing movies for Ali to get her used to it. We have found a couple that she likes. Now when we ask her, "Do you want to watch a show?" she points to the TV or points the remote at the TV. Here she is showing that she loves something on the TV. And Jimmy is probably happier than he looks. I can guarantee that it's probably 6 am or something early like that.

Pointing to the TV for a "show".

New favorite pic! I wouldn't go posting this of my loveliness for everyone to see but it makes me smile and we're all friends here.

Feeding the chickens with Grandma.

Yes, this is how we get around 'round these parts.

Grandma helped her discover the grandkids' favorite corner cupboard!

She also brought the kids some rohliks from Czech Republic! Truth be told I ended up eating more of these than anyone. I just love them so much and it's been too long! Why do we not have these here? They are delish!... and perfect for a teething baby.

Chinese Baby!

I have always loved Asians! Could there be a cuter baby than an Asian baby? I think not! Which is why Jimmy and I have decided to have a Chinese baby. I don't think ours will look Chinese but it sure will be born in China! We are expecting our sweet little addition this January! We feel so excited and blessed to be able to welcome a new baby into our family. We can't wait to cuddle the new little one in about 5 months.

I haven't posted as much over at The Baby Ballyhoo because something weird was happening with blogger and it wouldn't let me keep it private- we didn't want to ruin the surprise! So there are only a few thus far.

Little Sweetie Gets Her FIRST TOOTH!!!

Our little girl is growing up! Yesterday, after 3 days of a grumpy baby, I felt a little tooth popping out of Ali's bottom gums. She's been a little fussy since we got back from our trip to California and I was worried this was a new side of her personality that she was showing us. I figured since she was a girl this was just the first of many drama-filled-phases. I had been checking for a tooth but yesterday was the first day I felt it after noticing a slight runny nose. I was so excited for her, and sad because she's been in so much pain! Poor thing! But we're glad she's starting to get teeth... we were beginning to wonder if she'd be toothless her whole life!

Here are just some funny pictures I took yesterday. A couple are of her smiling, and a couple are of the faces she's been making to try to communicate how much pain she has been in. Parents are a little slow sometimes.

Saddest faces ever! There are also frustrated growls that go with these sad faces.

Love the smile!

....and the crazy hair!

Crying AND reaching out for HELP!

"Alice" and her Alice book.

Bath time!