It's another day of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Allison here! Today it includes Chutes and Ladders...

sliding around the house while crawling using these plastic lids...

and going for a walk around the neighborhood! Here's Rosalie, anyway, as we're just getting ready to head off. Since Grandpa Steve got home a little earlier today, we're actually all going together. We're also excited because Tim called and said he's catching a flight home tonight, so although it'll be late, he will get to see his parents before they leave in the morning. It sure has been another great visit!

Grandma and Grandpa Allison are here again for a few days this week under the impetus of another teaching engagement for Tim's dad at Ft Sam. The timing is both bad and good: Tim is out of town for a conference almost the entire duration of their visit, so while it's sad he'll mostly miss them, it sure is nice for me to have some company! Grandma Cindy took this shot of Joseph and Rosalie crowding into their room just after waking up this morning to explore and say hello. It's always fun when Grandma and Grandpa come!

As the day progresses, Grandma is spending most of her time playing various board games with Joseph. Here they are playing Caterpillar Crawl...

Hisss...

and even Pit, although I think there's a lot more bell ringing than card trading going on right now!

Meanwhile, Rosalie is too happy to watch and interact with Grandma, as long as she doesn't try to pick her up! Here she is playing with some books...

and showing off her pretty necklace once again. Looking at this shot, it strikes me that her hair just keeps getting curlier every day! Again, I find myself asking where does it come from? In any case, it sure has been a fun day just hanging around the house with Grandma!

Learning to imitate strange-sounding noises;
Wearing long strings of beads draped on her shoulders;
Cruising along holding only the wall;
These are a few of her favorite things!

Rosalie is getting much better at talking lately, and here are some of her most-used expressions:

• Hi!
• Bye-bye
• Night-night
• Yay!
• Mama
• Dada
• Yum!
• More
• This (as in "what's this?")
• That (same usage as "this")
• Bonk
• Pop!
  

It's quite likely that she's saying other things we just don't understand yet! I started out trying to get her to say "bonk" in this video, and while that didn't work, she did finally say "pop" for me at the end. She sure loves funny noises!

She also recently discovered that she's tall enough to stand up and open the nightstand drawer in her room, meaning these pretty bead necklaces are finally within reach! Every morning, now, she pulls them out, dons them around her neck, and wears them all over the house for a while. It's always amazing to me how different she is in her interests and habits from Joseph!

A little later, she discovered my measuring tape and obviously thinks it qualifies as suitable neckwear as well! Her walking skills are getting better all the time, and here she is showing off the fact that she only needs the vertical wall for support nowadays. I guess I'd better get my running shoes ready!

My Aunt Harriet and Uncle Lane are here in San Antonio this week visiting Casey and family, and considering possible living arrangements for their planned move here in a year or two. Tonight, Charly masterminded a get-together here at our place with their family, ours, Aunt Harriet and Uncle Lane, and my mom and Aunt Harriet's cousin Janet, who happens to live in San Antonio, too. We missed Janet's sister, Diane, but now that I realize they live so close, I'm sure we'll plan another get-together soon! We didn't catch any shots of our wonderful dinner and dessert, but here's one of Aunt Harriet, Uncle Lane, me, and Janet chatting together later.

I love all my wonderful aunts and uncles, and it was a lot of fun for me to see Aunt Harriet tonight! Here we are discussing an e-mail printer Aunt Harriet had seen advertised and wondered about getting for my Granni. Too bad we didn't get any shots of the kids up and playing! In any case, I hope it won't be too long before we can get together again!

Tim has been putting in some long hours lately trying to meet a couple deadlines for work. He successfully beat them yesterday night, so he decided to take today off, and even though we knew the chance of rain was high, here we are at the zoo together this morning! We actually brought two umbrellas with us, but the lady taking our picture is using one to keep the rain off our camera.

Both kiddos have been pretty happy to be here today, but it's obvious that Rosalie is particularly drawn to the animals. She says "hi" to them, waves, kicks her legs, laughs, shrieks, and follows them with her eyes wherever they go. It was Tim's idea to put her up high in the backpack carrier today and it's worked out fabulously! In any case, we're all a little soggy, but we sure are enjoying our time together!

Here's our dynamic duo being silly with Daddy again this afternoon. Just look at those legs go!

Is this the cutest little diaper ever, or what? My friend Jody is having a baby boy in a couple weeks and has decided to use cloth diapers. I've been wanting to learn to sew diapers ever since I started using them with Joseph, so making something for Jody's baby provided the perfect excuse!

I made her two fitted diapers with hook-and-loop closures and a pair of fleece pants like the ones I made Rosalie, but much smaller, of course! Since fleece doesn't absorb liquid, it can act as a barrier between the wet diaper and mommy's lap. No plastic pants needed!

Jody already has a bunch of one-size-fits-all diapers, but I thought it might be nice for her to have something small enough to really fit that tiny newborn bottom. Even if she doesn't end up liking or using them, it was still a fun exercise to learn to make them. They're so stinking soft and cute!

What a handsome boy! This cup is actually one we bought for Rosalie, but she can't drink out of it yet. She does just fine with Joseph's straw cups, though, so we swapped. Luckily, Joseph doesn't know he shouldn't like pink or purple yet!

Rosalie got this squishy little puppy from Grandma Susan while we were still in the hospital after she was born. She has a couple other stuffed animals now, too, but she especially loves this one and was so happy to see it again after its stint in the washer!

Last, but not least, Flat Etienne has to leave tomorrow, so here's one last shot of us at the dinner table tonight. Etienne specifically requested that we feed his flat self cheese and crackers, so that's just what we're doing. I hope he has a good trip in his envelope back home!

Here's just a fun shot of the sleeping arrangements we rigged up for Flat Etienne. What a hoot!

This Easter afternoon we've been enjoying the company of my cousin Casey and his family. As Charly said, we don't get together nearly often enough considering how close we live to each other, but when we do we always have a ton of fun! Our dinner was the traditional Easter ham, potatoes, rolls, etc, but Tim and I both were pleasantly surprised and excited when we saw that for dessert, Casey and Charly were planning to make some aebleskivers!

Tim's dad served a mission in Denmark, and brought an aebleskiver pan back with him when he returned home. Tim has fond memories of his dad pulling out the pan and making aebleskivers to enjoy with various toppings. Apparently, my cousin Emily has recently introduced aebleskivers to the Allred family, and Casey and Charly have been experimenting with not only toppings, but fillings, too! These aebleskivers tonight have sliced strawberries in the middle, and whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top. Is it obvious I think they're pretty good?

It's no surprise that the kiddos liked them, too! Logan and Joseph already zipped off to play again, but here's Mckayla still finishing up here and Flat Etienne enjoying some time with his uncle, aunt, and cousins. Too bad he couldn't eat some aebleskivers, too!

Don't they look yummy? What a fun time we've had together tonight!

Happy Easter! Here's Rosalie all dressed and ready for church this morning with the hat her Great Aunt Ellen made her. It matches this pretty dress that used to be her cousin Maya's so well! I tried putting the hat on her head, but of course she thought I was playing a peekaboo game. In any case, what a sweet, lovely girl she is!







Since it's rainy and wet outside today, we decided to do a quick egg hunt here in the house. Here's Joseph having a lot of fun finding all those colorful eggs!

Grandma Susan sent this cute outfit for an Easter present for Rosalie, and although it's still a little big, I couldn't resist dressing her in it today. She looks so good in these peachy colors!





Before bed tonight, it's time to dye a few Easter eggs! We left them to sit in the coloring solutions while we got the kiddos ready for bed, and they're turning out nice and bright.

It's so fun to have a child old enough to get excited about this stuff now. It makes so much sense to me that the natural progression of life is to grow up, find someone to grow old with, and raise little ones of your own. As I became an adult, I started feeling like I'd been there and done that, but now I get to see it all like new again through my kids' eyes!

Here we are this morning in downtown San Antonio at the Alamo! This is a first visit for Joseph, Rosalie...

and Flat Etienne! Actually, he's our inspiration for playing tourist in our own town today, and we're glad to have an excuse to do it!

Among other things, we enjoyed seeing this bronze model of the building and grounds...

this old well inside...

a memorial to the Alamo's last defenders...

lots of cannon...

and the Six Flags over Texas (Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, CSA, and USA). Oops! Joseph, let's not grab the flags, please!

Now we're off to see two of San Antonio's other claims to fame: the ever-popular Riverwalk...

and the Tower of the Americas. San Antonio really is a fun place to explore, and visitors of the flat or three-dimensional kind are always welcome!

Today, Tim and I both agreed that we should have General Conference more often! It's been the most relaxing, spiritual day we've both had for a long time, just listening to prophets and apostles and enjoying being together here at home. Twice a year just isn't enough! In any case, it seems we only captured shots of Rosalie today, probably because she's our baby and so many things are so new for her, like being pestered with this wrapping paper tube...





and playing with these plastic Easter eggs! People occasionally comment on her curly, strawberry blonde hair and ask where she gets it. The color isn't so hard to trace: Grandpa Steve has reddish hair, albeit a bit darker. I'm not quite sure about the curls, so I'll have to rely on some of the older generation to enlighten me! In any case, if it looks curly now...

just wait until after a bath! I think her hair just perfectly fits her fun, easy-going, spunky personality. How we love our little Rosalie!

The most important thing about this day, in spite of all the other things we've been doing, is that it's my superlative hubby's birthday! Like his equally wonderful father, posed photos tend to make him look rather weary, but I do believe he's having a good time this afternoon. Here he is with all his cards...





and here he is opening gifts, including more priceless childhood scrapbook pages by his mom, and to help make his office look more swanky, some frames for his diplomas from me. Just to brag a bit, I had to buy three frames for his three diplomas, all earned within a three-year span. Did I mention he's pretty stellar?





Rosalie is also pretty excited about all the present unwrapping, or at least all the neat stuff it left strewn about...

and of course Joseph can't wait for cake, which I'm going to serve up now!

This year, Tim requested his mom's gingerbread cake with lemon sauce, and here he is getting ready to enjoy it. Yum! How grateful we all are to have such a great man in our lives and to have this day to be with and celebrate him. Happy birthday, Tim!