The Awesomeness of April

Each month I think that things are going to slow down a little bit for our family.  And each month it seems that we get more and more busy.  Along with all of our business, I am so glad that we have fun moments and memories with our family!  Hope you enjoy a few more of our April moments!!!

I think this is Jared's very first picture with both Garrett and Tori!!!

Yeah for story time with Daddy!

Tori still likes to take off her clothing, especially pant/shorts, when she is supposed to be sleeping.  I was really surprised and impressed when she came out with her pants back on- even if they were inside out!!!

Watching a show together- with plenty of space in between!

Boxes really do make the best toys!

What a perfect spot for Puppy and Blankie to 'hang out!'

Tori has become our little climber!

Garrett and Tori love time with Daddy- especially story time!!!

 Garrett is our little monkey boy...

 he loves to grab things with his feet!!!

Check out Garrett and his toy-grabbing while sitting up skills!

Tori's hair is so fun to play with!!!

 Tori was a big help to Daddy- the toilet works great now!

Garrett absolutely loves Prince!!!

Tori has discovered the magic of bandaids! I'm not sure, but it might even rival kissing it all better!

 What a big boy!

 Apparently, Tori has been watching me when I get ready- she knew exactly what to do and even put some blush on her cheeks!  We are in trouble already!!!

What a great month we have had!  Can't wait to see what comes our way next month!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday (the 28th) was my birthday!  But in true Allen fashion, our celebrating started early and extended into today as well!  Not that I minded at all- it is always fun to have extra celebrating!!!

On Friday I got to open my first presents from Mom and Dad Allen!

Thank you so much for fun new clothes!!!

Yesterday, Tori was so excited to give me my "Happy Birthday card!"  My favorite part was the picture she drew me!!!

Mom and Dad Allen also gave me a date night!  They sent us funds for a baby sitter and activity- it was such a fun gift!  Jared and I started out by going glow-in-the-dark miniature golfing!  Even though the course was a little less cool than we were expecting, we still had a fabulous time!!!

Check out that form!!!  (It must have worked because he soundly beat me!)

Jared was so excited about my birthday cake this year- it was quite a process!

 Tori's job was putting on the sprinkles- she did fantastic!!!

Way to go Daddy and Tori- what a masterpiece!!!

My old roommates Amanda and Amber and their new roommate Jenn were able to join us for some birthday festivities this evening!  Check out all those candles!

I am proud to announce that I got them all out in one blow- although, I think Garrett and Tori helped a little!!!

Here is the awesome inside of my cake- Jared did a great job!!!

Thanks everyone for all the phone calls, messages, cards, money for shopping (I'm super excited about this!), and gifts- I really had a fantastic day!!!

Becoming Friends

The process of Tori and Garrett slowly becoming friends has been so fun to watch!  We are definitely not at best pals yet, but Tori has come a long way from pushing Garrett away anytime he is close.  Although, that does still happen at times!!!

Tori loves teaching Garrett his body parts!

I was pleasantly surprised when Tori suggested I lay Garrett on her princess pillow- definitely a good sign! (It cracks me up when she pats him on the head!)

Whenever Garrett wakes up from his naps, Tori runs into his room yelling, "baby brother awake, baby brother awake!"  I love that she gets so excited for him to be awake!!!

I love it when Tori plops herself down next to Garrett to play!

And every rare once in a while, she will even give him a kiss!!!

Nothing says friendship like brushing your baby brother's hair!!!

Oh how I love these two kiddos!!!

Along with running in to greet Garrett when he wakes up, Tori will also stand up on his crib and teach him all kinds of things- usually about the animals on his mobile!

Yep, we are well on our way to becoming great friends!!!

Horsing Around

For a really long time, Tori has loved horsey rides with Daddy.  But, since she never has really picked up on the hanging on part- the rides haven't lasted very long.  Or in this case, Tori gets a ride while Daddy is asleep!

But today something clicked and Tori is now hanging on to Daddy- which means much better rides!  Pictures really wouldn't do it justice- so here are some fun videos of the horsing around at our house today!!!
It really is quite a feat to actually get up on a horse!  Tori has fantastic skills in this area!!!

Or, if climbing on doesn't work, you can always go for the jump from the bed method!

And this is just a fun video of the entire process- yeehaw!!!

Our Assignment

Mom Allen is teaching a scrapbooking class next week and asked if we could help with some pictures for her pages.  Of course we agreed- we rather like taking pictures around here, especially of our adorable kids.  Our assignment was to take pictures of Tori in her Eater dress, with her Eater basket and Easter eggs, with a whole bunch of green around her.  So, after church we redid Tori's hair (it never quite makes it through church), gathered our props, and headed off to Sodalis Nature Park!  Once we got there, Jared set up another Easter egg hunt (minus candy this time around), and then we took a ton of pictures.  Here are my favorites from Tori's Easter photo shoot!!!

Oh my goodness, I love Tori in this dress- so beautiful!!!

Yeah for Easter eggs!

I love how her hair looks in this one!!!

Not exactly sure if this is a happy or sad face!

Yep, we had some of these faces too!

A girl in a pretty dress with her stick- the best of both worlds!

What a cute girl!

This might be my absolute favorite!!!

And this is a close second- love her running across the lawn!

After we took about 30 pictures, we changed Tori out of her dress, and then explored the nature park a little more.  We have wanted to go there for so long and just never have.  I can guarantee we will be going back- it was awesome!  Tori loved looking at the lake!

Garrett was his usually chill self!!!

Tori had a grand time exploring everything!  (Sorry it's a little hard to hear- it was a bit windy!)

This was Tori's face when we told her it was time to go home- so sad!

Thanks for our assignment Mom, we had so much fun fulfilling it!!!

Easter Apparel

Grandma and Grandpa Allen have spoiled us once again!  They got all of us fun new clothes for Easter!  Sadly, Tori's dress was delayed a bit in processing, so it didn't make it in time for last Sunday.  We decided that the rest of us would wait until it arrived to wear our new clothes to church- and I am so glad we did!  Tori's dress ended up getting here last Monday.  I absolutely loved her reaction!!!

And, of course, she had to try it on right away!

I think she is in love with her new Easter dress!!!

Here is our cute family in our new Easter outfits!!!  I love that Jared and Garrett's ties match- they were a big hit in our ward!

Here is Garrett, looking way too grown up, in his new Easter tie!

He is one stylin' dude!!!

Thank you so much for our Easter apparel- it was so fun wearing our new outfits today!!!

Our 6 Month Old!!!

Can you believe it- our Garrett is 6 months old!  It really seems like Tori's first 6 months did not fly by near as quickly as Garrett's have.  Can we just slow things down a bit?  Garrett has been up to tons of fun stuff in the past month.  He can now put his binkie in his mouth all by himself- he sure loves that thing!  He is just so happy, he smiles and giggles all the time!  I have a feeling he is going to be our little charmer! It has been really fun watching Garrett start to play more and he has also discovered his fingers and toes.  This past month he rolled over for the first time and had his first airplane flight.  Garrett loves to jump and has started yelling and growling.  Since RSV season is now officially over, he can finally go back to church- hurrah!  Garrett is sitting up, but is still a little wobbly.  He is also drooling and chewing on everything- but still no teeth.  So, without further ado- our big 6 month old!

Tori loves getting in on our Garrett photo shoots! (We have 2 stinkin' cute kids!!!)

6 months old already- crazy!

Garrett loves being on his tummy!

And will chew on anything he can get his hands on!

It seems that life is pretty sweet for our little guy!!!

Garrett finds his fingers fascinating!

Every time I look at this picture I can hear Garrett yelling, "help!!!"

When this little guy smiles it can't help but make you happy!

What a big kid- hanging out in his high chair for the first time!!!

Bring me some food- I'm hungry!

Tonight we introduced Garrett to rice cereal.  This kid loved it- it makes me wonder if we should have introduced it before now.  This is the look of one happy little eater!!!

I'll help you Daddy!!!

This boy loves rice cereal- what a pro!!!

I know it's hard to see- but he has rice cereal all over his face.  Definitely a sign of a great meal!!!

What a cute little drool monster!

Each month just seems to be getting more and more fun!  I can't wait to see what next month brings!!!