a little bit of our recent activities...

We will probably spend most of our christmas with family but we wanted to have a little bit of christmas in our home too (see picture below). Abby is an explorer and would love nothing more than to touch every little pretty she can find so, we decided to go small on the tree this year so it can be up and away from little hands. Now we keep our sanity, nothing gets broken or lost, and Abby admires the tree from afar.

Our little corner of Christmas :)

 The other night we took abby to the Klingler's light show in Iona. She loved it! Rob and I have gone probably every year for the past 4 years... its become a fun family night tradition.

"*gasp* Wow!" Abby said as she saw the christmas lights.

 We've all been keeping insanely busy... we've had some sort of party, meeting, dinner, or something going on just about every night for the past two weeks. Abby is a trooper (a little cranky sauce but mostly a trooper). During the day she and I find a little time to hang out and have lazy fun time. Below you'll see our little ragamuffin with psycho hair and chocolate on her face. This was the first time she's ever realy taken off her jammies to streak around in her diaper. Meh...let the kid have a little freedom right? :) we sure do love this chiquita bonita.

Silly gooober girl.... mama said "smile" this is what i got

 

She is kinda spacing out in this one as she pinches her own cheek.
So silly :)

A Few More Things I Haven't Had Time To Blog About

This summer has come and gone so quickly. We've had tons to do. I figured since We're going into the Holidays I should hurry and update us up to now. Starting where we left off- we had Jake and Tiffs wedding, John and Aly's wedding with a trip to Denver and a Rockies game, a trip to utah for a mission farewell, Davey came home to have some medical stuff taken care of before he goes to argentina, the melaleuca bbq, rob's tennis and softball games, boating, abby's 1st campout, IF Chukars games, general conference, making a quilt for abby and doing many other "projects,"  my gall bladder surgery, and harvest festivities. In the next few posts I'll try to include pictures of as many of these things as I can.... (stay tuned over the next week or two as I do picture posts).

P.S. Abby is now 18 months old! Crazy how at this time last year she was barely standing up by herself and now she is constantly dancing, running, and exploring. She's so sweet, so smart, SO FUNNY, and such a great addition to our lives. The Doc says she is absolutely perfect and acceling health and development-wise. I'm pleased to announce that she is also FINALLY starting to sleep in her own bed again after a 5 month sabbatical. We had tried EVERYTHING in that time- then we decided we were so tired we'd take a break from trying and now we're doing MUCH better. (not perfect yet...she goes to sleep in her room and usually wakes up in ours...we're working at it though)

BYU vs ISU

Rob called me on friday while he was at work and told me that he had been called down to the executive office. (in my mind i've got a few different possibilities running around but mostly just hoping that he was getting a promotion....but then why would they call him all the way to the presidents office for it?? hm...) The secretary says to him "Frank (the CEO) would like to give you tickets for the BYU game in provo tomorrow at 1."  What the random!? So not a promotion but still a WAY fun opportunity. It was a very sporadic but fun family trip. The only wishes we had were (1) let's skip the ridiculous utah traffic and (2) the opposing team could have put up a little more of a fight....55 to 3 was the final score... at least we won!  Abby had a blast at the game. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had great seats :)

So pretty :)

This was just a cute picture from our phone. I thought I'd post something small (and oh so pretty) untill I stop slacking and get around to posting about the 2 weddings, baseball games, tennis matches, family pictures, house projects and 4th of july. Yes i know it's august so i'm a month behind but it's okay we'll get there. We've been keeping way busy for sure and will have lots to say when I have a little more time. For now just enjoy :)

(my little brother calls this her blue steel face)

Elder David Alexander Titus

My stud of a little brother has "grown a foot or two" and is now serving a mission for the Lord. He is at the MTC right now and in a handful of short weeks he will be headed out to spend 2 years in Argentina. SO COOL. We're excited for all that lies ahead for him. He'll do great!

HELP! I need your advice and ideas...

Abby, our sweet baby girl who has slept through the night since the day she was born, has decided that sleeping is for squares and definitely not for her... or for her parents either. I mean c'mon, we can sleep when we're dead right? Who needs sleep?  ... I do.

On a good night she wakes up screaming around 3 times. A bad night = she wakes up crying every 45minutes to an hour. Miserable. Did I mention this girl is LOUD? She has some lungs on her. We can hear her even with the baby monitor turned all the way down. When we finally go get her she is usually standing up with her arms reaching toward us as she tries to climb her way out of her crib...luckily shes too small to climb out still. She motions 'please' in sign language and won't go back to sleep for quite a long time. She seems to be getting a little fussier in the day due to the lack of sleep at night.

SOooo... here I ask- what would you do? what have any of you done or heard of? I'm looking for good safe solid recomendations PLEASE :)

Start of summer

We've been keeping busy and it seems like there is a lot going on and a lot coming up.

We got all moved into our new place and we really like it. BIG thanks to the titus family, welker family, missionaries, and friends who helped. We didn't realize how much stuff we have :) We are mostly unpacked and we have even planted some pretty flowers outside.  Abby and I are enjoying taking walks through the neighborhood and at the park that is right across the street from our new place. We have new callings at church: Rob teaches the 12 year old sunday school and I teach the CTR 4 class. its fun and actually works out well to swap Abby back and forth. We love our ward and ward family.

We were able to take some family names through the temple for the first time. This was a really great experience for so many reasons... only some of which include (1) david recieved his endowment and will be leaving in one month for his mission CRAZY! (2) my whole immediate family was able to participate in doing the work together SO AWESOME! and (3) we are finally doing it! Rob and I were family history teachers in our previous ward for about a year and we are finally getting the work done... that calling was definitely for us.

Rob is in a USTA team so he's been playing tennis and kicking butt at it. Its a lot of fun to go to his matches and cheer him on. I have started going to a exercise group a couple times of week and it was so good! We're definitely getting back into our mode of being active and fit- feels great once you get into a routine and I'm determined to loose the rest of my baby pounds...speaking of baby....this is a little random but i dont know if i mentioned before that Abby is walking now! So fun! Next step poty training... haha.

Anyway....We've got Jake's wedding, David's mission farewell, Uncle John's wedding, and Titus family (uncle max, aunt lois, james, maria...) visiting for the fourth of july...all coming up within a month from now. I'll try to keep up and post pictures n things but we'll see what happens. :)

Without further ado...

It's been far far too long since I last updated.

A LOT has been going on and I haven't had enough free time to post untill now

so here it is in a somewhat bigger than normal nutshell...

Last couple posts I mentioned the arrival of our two new...

and might I add BEAUTIFUL... nieces.

 We were able to attend their baby blessings

 (Emma's in Pocatello, ID.  Braelie's in South Jordan, UT).

Both were way fun trips, we really enjoyed seeing everyone and celebrating.

I also mentioned Abby's first tooth-

she now has at least 6 and is working on more- Thank Heavens for oragel. 

It's so cute to see her toothy little grin everyday. She is such a fun little girl.

March was a crazy month.

Rob started some training for a new position at work and

 transfered to the office in Idaho Falls.

We decided the commuting was lame and moved down

 a little sooner than we had planned.

We are currently living in a mini apartment

(our bedroom, bathroom, and hallway) in my parents' basement.

This is a temporary space until we can find a place we like

and decide where we want to move.

It's been fun to be so close to both of our families.

His training went very well.

He passed the end panel/test with flying colors.

He's been interviewing with a bunch of department heads

and meeting with HR people...etc.

 Hopefully we'll hear something soon.

April started off with General Conference- it was lovely and I look forward to re reading all of the talks. My sister came up from Pocatello- she and I watched our youngest brother and stayed home with the babies while the rest of the family went to Utah. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Next came a couple birthdays... my little brother David turned 19, Rob's little sister turned 15. Great reasons to party some more! By the way- David recieved his call to serve the Argentina, Bahia Blanca spanish speaking mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.SOOO COOOL!! I couldn't be more excited for him. He'll be the first in my family to serve a mission and I know it'll be such an incredible experience for him. The following 2 pictures were taken the evening we celebrated with Ashley.

April 12th was our 3 year anniversary. It feels wonderful and we're so blessed. Our little family brings me so much joy. Rob and Abby make my heart happy every day. Rob bought me some GEORGEOUS flowers- there were so many of them I had to use an extra extra large vase to hold them all.

(That was 2 1/2 weeks ago and they are still alive and as beautiful as day 1! He picked very well)

April 17th was Abby's 1st birthday :)  yay! we had a big family party for her with lots of yummy food and great cupcakes. The party was sort of a spring luau theme without being too over the top. She was so funny with blowing out the candle, eating her cupcake, and inhaling the frosting. She also got some pretty cool gifts- she was so happy to open the books from great grandma and great grandpa welker AND more books from grandma and grandpa. Abby loves her books. Grammy and papa got her a small inflatable infant swimming pool (she LOVES to splash in water) Auntie lindsay got her some cute outfits and a 3 DVD set of Little Einsteins. Auntie Tiana helped me do the cupcakes (if you look closely in the picture you will see teddy grahms surfing and sun bathing on a beach). MUCH thanks to everyone!

attempting to blow out the candle- check out those lips :)

 

Next came Easter.

On saturday we had a lovely easter dinner with the Welker's at Grandma's house. 

On Sunday, the weather was actually quite nice and we were able to do a little egg hunt outside.

Abby wasn't all that thrilled to be in the spikey hard grass so we put a blanket down and she had a blast putting her eggs into her basket. She was even more happy to see what was inside the eggs- CANDY!

Don't worry she only ate a little then we commandeered the rest.

She also got an easter basket with a stuffed animal, baby snacks, binkies, and a book.

We colored hard boiled eggs and had a great dinner of stuffed shells with the Titus family.

In the mean time we've been keeping busy, going on walks, and doing well.

Abby had her 1 year doc check up and is doing great! She is in the 50th percentile for her height and weight; took her immunizations like a champ; talks in her sleep just like her daddy; is active and strong (but not walking alone yet); smiles and laughs all the time. She stopped using a bottle- we went cold turkey and she doesn't seem to care. She's growing up so fast! Unfortunately she has also been battling her first ear infection- NOT FUN- but she is winning and getting better everyday. Last night was the first night all week that she slept the whole time and didn't wake up sad or feverish. I look forward to catching up on my sleep soon :)

1st

Tonight I was wiping Abby's mouth with a diaper wipe after dinner and she was trying to eat the diaper wipe. This was not a first. She has a weird fascination with eating diaper wipes. HOWEVER tonight she gnawed on the wipe (and my finger) and I felt something sharp. I was freaked out momentarily untill I realized - that something sharp was her FIRST TOOTH!

How exciting :) my little girl is growing up!

Baby Baby

What a week! This week Rob and I got not just one but TWO new nieces! Everything went well for both and both mommies, both babies, both families are doing great! So exciting!

On Tuesday February 1st around 3:20 in the afternoon,
Lindsay had her baby ---
Emma Anne Hodge; 6lbs, 3oz, 19in

Today Saturday February 5th around 1:20 in the afternoon,
Emily had her baby---
Braelie Michelle Welker; 9lbs, 6oz, 20in

Also weighing in this week a few of our friends have had their babies too. A few of our other friends are due at different times the rest of the month. I guess its a big month for babies :) Being a parent is so fun and so rewarding. Good luck and Congratulations to everyone! We're so happy for you all!

LINDS IN LABOR

So I probably won't be posting pictures 'n' things today like I had hoped to because my sister is in labor! A bit more exciting and important :) Her water broke around 6 this morning and shortly after that she went into the hospital and they are getting things rocking and rolling. Her husband, Chris, is still in Iraq so she has asked my mom and I to be with her. The new daddy is supposed to be home on the 15th of february for a couple of weeks. She isn't due until the 20th or something BUT little baby hodge decided that it is time to come smile our way NOW. Pray for Chris, Lindsay, and new baby Emma

Can you say cabin fever??

I can.

It is just about to be February and here in Rexburg this means its been waaaay too long since the sunshine and warm weather have graced us with their presence. (**however it was sunny for just a little bit sunday for the first time in a while and it made me so happy! It popped out of the overcast sky and I smiled and thought "yay! good to see you old friend!" **) Anyway I have had crazy cabin fever lately and I just can't wait for spring and summer to arrive. I've been thinking about picnics, walks, baseball games, BBQs, boating, swimming... and I am so excited. Also- big events coming up include Rob and my 3 year anniversary, Abby's 1st birthday, and my little brother David's mission, Rob turns 25, I turn 23 (so weird), and Rob's little bro Jacob's wedding.

Today it was sunny SO...as a mini cabin fever cure abby and I went out with my mom and little brother and we got frozen yogurt and got the car washed! It was a lot of fun. Thanks mom for a fun treat!
By the way- abby is 9 months old, crawling and babbling up a storm, healthy and happy as could be. i'll try to add pictures on my next post.