Random tidbits

Well, I have a few random facts to share so I figured I would include a random picture as well.

First of all, I could sum up the phase Alan has been in for the last 2 months as "MYSELF"!!!!! Everything has to be done by himself. When he first started the stage I thought I would go crazy. He wanted to do EVERYTHING by himself and if he couldn't he threw a huge tantrum (I should have taken a picture of his red, scrunched up face). His favorite word was "Myself!!" It took us forever to get out the door because Alan wanted to put his shoes on by himself (he can't yet) and then he wanted to put his coat on by himself (his first attempt ended up with one arm in his hood and one arm through the lining of is coat and the lining separated from the shell of the coat.) He was pretty pleased with himself but not so pleased when I rearranged his coat (it was cold outside)

Funny comments:

1. Alan: "I want yucky crumbs" translation: I want Lucky Charms (it took a bit to figure that out)

2. Me: Alan, do you want oatmeal or cold cereal for breakfast?
Alan: Brrrrr cereal (the brrr was accompanied by wrapping his arms around himself and shivering)

3. Alan is sitting in his booster seat and he accidentally dropped some food on the floor.
Alan: Uh-oh!!!!!
Me: Uh-oh, you dropped your food
Alan stared at the food for a second and then looked at me calmly and says:
Alan: happens sometimes
and calmly went back to eating.

4. This isn't really funny but it shows how he is doing with numbers.
A couple of weeks ago we were reading a book and Reed asked Alan how many of something was on a page.
Alan: one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
We were amazed...I have never heard him count past 3 before. However he only did that twice and now he counts like this:
Alan: one, three, one, three, one, three
He has something against the number 2.


We are currently trying to potty train Alan. He is doing pretty good - he goes about half the time in the toilet. Potty training has had a funny side effect though. When ever Alan goes in the toilet we clap and cheer for him...so now if he is in the bathroom when Reed or I are using the toilet he does the same thing. Reed and I have both got a kick out of having a personal cheerleader that claps and says "Yea Mommy!!!! You did it!!"

Thats it for now. Hopefully I will get the Easter picture up here soon.

Big Boy Bed

We ordered a bed for Alan a couple of weeks ago and we picked it up this week. We set it up and it takes up more space than we were thinking...if makes Alan's room look really small. Oh well.

First here is a picture of a normal sleeping position in the crib. We would always find him laying sideways with his legs and arms through the bars.
And here is a picture of the new bed.
Last night was the first night Alan slept in it and he did really good. He didn't try to get out after we laid him down and he didn't fall out of the bed. The only funny thing was that I found him with his head pressed up against the wall...I think he likes to have something pressing against his head while he sleeps.

Alan thinks that the box that the bed came in is the greatest toy in the world. He uses it as a slide and he loves to race his cars on it.

Trip to Billings

I just thought I would share some pictures from our recent trip to Billings. The car ride up went very well...we have a portable DVD player now so Alan watched a movie for some of the time and I also fixed his quiet book which kept him entertained for about an hour. He is so fun to listen to now - he was playing with the animals in his book and the horse and the giraffe were having quite the conversation. The only part I remember is the horse telling the giraffe to take a nap and the giraffe obediently lying down to go to sleep.

It was so nice to see Mom and Dad Bassett. Their house is looking really nice...they have done some repairs and fixing up. Alan loved all the extra attention. Here is a picture of him showing off (he just figured out that he could make the cup stick to his face by sucking in)


Here is a picture of Alan showing off his dress clothes before we went to church on Sunday...a cute boy if I do say so myself :-)

On Friday morning we went to do some shopping in the big city of Billings (I had been looking forward to that for about 2 months, and I don't usually like shopping, but when you live somewhere without a decent mall it is nice to have a shopping spree once in a while). Reed checked out some golf stores because he was trying to find a place that sold extra long golf clubs. Then we stopped at Costco to use our $275.00 gift certificate...it was a lot of fun. We bought some things for our food storage. We also found some cute baby clothes. We picked out 3 outfits that we liked and moved on. When we got home that afternoon I was showing mom the outfits when I noticed one that I hadn't picked out. I asked Reed if he had added it to the cart and he said no...we were baffled until we realized that we had parked the cart next to the clothes table and Alan was in the cart seat. He must have grabbed it and added it to the pile. Then we found another outfit (the same kind as the first but a different size)! We didn't even notice him picking out clothes for his brother...pretty funny.

Here is a nice picture of Grandma singing Alan a story. He loved it and at the end we all sang him a lullaby.

On Saturday we went to the temple. We met some friends from Bozeman there...it was really nice to see them. They have a son that is about the same age as Alan so it was fun to see the boys interact. After the temple we all (mom, dad, Jon, Dana, their son Charles and us) went to the Olive Garden for lunch. It was sooooo good. I have missed Italian food here. That night we were planning to go to the symphony but they sold out of tickets right before mom got to the ticket booth so we went to the movies and saw National Treasure 2. I really liked it.
One of Alan's highlights of the trip was when Grandpa let him "drive" the jeep. He talked about that for quite a while afterwards. After church on Sunday we headed home. We had a lot of fun and wish we could have stayed longer.

Tagged

My cousin Janae tagged me so here it goes!

5 things on my to do list today (I'll say for tomorrow since it's 9:00 pm)
Well I really don't write a list but I usually have kind of an idea what I want to get done!
1. Mail Melinda's baby shower gift
2. Do laundry
3. Pack our bags to get ready for our trip to Billings
4. Go to Young Women's activity
5. Pack the van

Things I enjoy doing:
I like to read, crochet, and scrapbook (in moderation). I love to swim, and play any water sports, especially water skiing. I like to do out door things: ride bikes, hike, camp, take Alan to the play ground ect. I like to read other people's blogs and emails and look at pictures. I like to garden. I like doing just about anything with Reed and Alan.

What would you do if you suddenly a billionaire?
I would buy a house!!!! The house would be pretty nice and it would have a huge backyard, where I could plant a large raspberry patch and garden. Then I would probably go on a vacation - somewhere foreign and exotic. Then I would probably share some of it with family and the church.

5 places I've lived:
1. Alberta, Canada
2. Idaho
3. Utah
4. Montana
5. Nebraska


5 jobs I've had:
1. Lifeguard
2. Custodian at resort
3. Early morning custodian at university
4. House keeper at resort
5. Wife and Mother

As an additional note I was released from my Sunday School calling and called as the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's presidency. I was very surprised but so far it is going well. It is a lot different to work with this age group...I am used to primary!

That's it for now.

Giddy-up horsie

One of Alan's favorite games is to play horsie with Reed. Reed is kind of a wild horse so Alan has to hold on tight.
Alan especially likes it when they chase me around the family room.
Another of Alan's favorite games is hide and seek. Usually he hides really well but this time...
He stuck his head as far in as he could and then just stood there quietly...too funny.