5 Months!

Today Alice is five months old! We can hardly believe how quickly it's gone. She is just our favorite and were a bit obsessed with her. Being a parent can be difficult at times, but we are so in love and just thrilled we get to have her in our family forever. 

She is a petite little thing and was 27% for height and 5% for weight at her 4 month check up. The pediatrician said she looked healthy but it was probably time to start her on solids (baby food). We started with some rice cereal and veggies the week of Thanksgiving and she was a bit skeptical at first, but now she loves eating everything. 

Ali is just so delicate and girly in everything she does. She is often crossing her legs (right over left) even when standing and sometimes when sleeping. Her cry is so girly and darling, sometimes we have to watch her for a few seconds before getting her. 

She is a busy bee and now rolls both ways as wells as scoots in her bum around the floor. She seems to be squirming or moving at all times, and loves to be standing as much as possible. Ali is a great sleeper and sleeps 12 hours every night, which is the best! She usually goes to bed around 7 PM and wakes up around 7:30 AM. She still naps about 3 times during the day.

She giggles and smiles all the time now and she is getting to be so fun. Lately, she's been a little more clingy and cuddly, but I'm okay with that knowing that she won't be like this much longer once she can crawl/walk. She is our little Ali Bug and we just love her! 

Always crossing those legs:

All bundled up for our morning runs in her sour patch kid suit:

Sporting her new beanie:

Snoozing in my arms:

After Davids intramural championship game: 

Thanksgiving 2015

This year we spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Colorado with my parents. We had a great time and ate a ton. I love this holiday and it's always so great to reflect on everything we've been blessed with and what we are grateful for. My parents were so great and even watched Alice for a day so David and I could ski together! The other two days we switched off watching her so the other could ski. Luckily, there was a lot of snow so the skiing was great compared to other thanksgivings! Overall it was so fun to spend time with my parents and we were so glad to get some skiing in this winter!

Skiing with my favorite:

And with my mom:

Her Thanksgiving outfit:

And turkey bum!

Ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanks mom and dad for a great Thanksgiving break! 

The Marathon + BYU in KS

No, I did not run a marathon... I wish (kind of). My sister and her husband signed up to run the Santa Barbara marathon and my parents were flying out to watch their kids. I didn't want to miss out on the fun so I decided to fly out and support them as well. I first flew in to stay with them and see their new house. They bought a fixer upper and the house looks amazing! Seriously, it's like watching HGTV and what they did is incredible:

Before:

After:

And one more. Before:

After:

So fun to see their place and spend time with their family. Anyways, back to the marathon. It was cancelled last minute because not enough people signed up, so they switched to one in L.A. We all road tripped down there and had a blast. My dad is from Pasadena, right by where we stayed, so we went by to see his childhood home. I have so many memories visiting my grandma here, and it was neat to go by again. 

Carrie and Andrew did a great job on their marathon! It was emotional watching all the people completing such a huge feat, and it was so inspiring. It almost makes me want to sign up for one. Here are some pics:

Waiting at the finish line:

All the runners. Two of Andrew's sisters plus a friend joined them last minute!

Cutest London:

Out to eat for dinner at B.J.s

Our tiny little dancer on the hotel bed. She LOVES standing and is always crossing those legs (right over left, always):

That night we were all hanging out in my parents and my hotel room and Andrew really wanted to try this donut place called the Donut Man. He finally convinced his dad and my dad to go with him. Before leaving, they asked if any of us wanted any, to which we all replied "No, we're stuffed!" They know all us girls so well, because they came back with three boxes full and we all went wild trying them all! It was so funny, and we had a blast. My sister's in-laws are so much fun!

We drove back up to San Jose and had flights back Monday morning. We didn't get a picture together all weekend, so we finally snapped one at the airport:

I last minute changed my flight from Salt Lake City to fly back with my parents to Kansas City. BYU was playing Mizzou at Arrowhead stadium in KC, and David planned a last minute guys road trip with his brother and brother-in-law to go out to the game. I didn't want to fly home and be alone in Utah while David left, so I ended up going home for the week and to meet him there. It was so nice being home! 

Crossed legs even during tummy time:

A few other friends came out for the game as well and it was a blast to catch up with them. One of Andrew's other sisters, Jessica, who is also one of my best friends, came out with her family and it was so so fun to see them. They stayed at my parents house with us, and it was nice having some extra time with them. My mom and David's mom watched Kensie and Alice so we could enjoy the BYU game. It was so nice of them and we had a blast! Here we are at the game:

And eating the Danish almond Kringle from Trader Joe's. Get it now, heat it up in the oven to crisp it up, and savor every bite. It's amazing! 

It ended up being two full weeks that I was gone, and although it was so fun, it was nice to be back home in Utah with our little family. Alice was a trooper and has become quite the little traveler (12 flights now). Thank you to all our family for letting us stay with you, we had the best time! 

Student Housing

For the past 2.5 years we have lived with our "grandpa Reed". He had a beautiful home in one of the nicest neighborhoods of Salt Lake City and we loved living with him and being in that area. In February of this year he moved into an assisted living facility, and later passed in June. The family asked us to stay at the house so it wasn't empty, which we happily agreed to. They listed the house in August, it sold in September, and we had to be out by mid-October. 

We had a month to look for a place, but it was difficult especially since there aren't many places listed in the fall. Although I dug my heels regarding the student housing at first, I finally gave in and now I'm glad we did. But it wasn't so happy in the beginning. The first day we moved in our kitchen sink nearly overflowed due to plumbing problems and I had a meltdown. I called my mom crying multiple times in the next 24 hours and refused to unpack because I wanted to move. Fortunately, they were helpful and had a plumber come fix that (and some other minor issues) and now everything is working smoothly. It was just a huge change to go from a nice home in a neighborhood (and a garage, laundry, 5 bedrooms and everything we ever needed) to a small apartment with cinder block walls. We are students though, and this is just our phase of life right now. We'll have a house someday! 

It's all come together for the most part and we're feeling more at home here. Although we've downsized quite a bit, it's nice to finally have our own space. 

To The Capitol

The first weekend of October, we headed to Washington D.C. for a few days. David is interested in oral surgery and has been working with an oral surgeon on some research. They submitted their research to be presented at the national oral surgery conference, and it was accepted. Another classmate of his worked on he project as well, so the wives all decided to make a trip of it! 

We flew in on Wednesday night and Alice did great on the flights. She was a champ the whole trip, which was an answer to many prayers. Our hotel was just a block south of the National Air and Space Museum on The Mall, and it was so fun. We were close to so many sites and loved our location. The biggest bummer of the whole trip was the weather! There was a hurricane off the east coast, so it was just rainy and windy the whole time. We still had a great time and if your going to experience any city in a hurricane, DC is a pretty good one considering much of our times was spent indoors at museums, the Capitol, etc. 

Thursday David and his classmate, Kyle, went to the conference. They enjoyed it and presented their poster to some other dentists. While they were gone, Kyle's wife Paulina and her friend Kaitlyn who lives there went to see some sites with me. We went to the National Gallery of Art, which I really loved and probably enjoyed the most of all the museums this trip. Afterwards we went to Shake Shack, which I was so excited to try since I had heard so many good things about it. It was good, but I was a little disappointed. The meat in the middle of the burger was a little pink, and I'm picky with any meat especially ground beef. I guess that's how they cook them all, because I noticed a sign after that said to tell them if you want it cooked all the way through. I was bummed, but still had a good experience. That afternoon, we walked around and went to the American History Museum. It was super neat to go through. Then for dinner, we met up with the boys and the oral surgeon and his family. We went to a place called Senart's Oyster Bar and Grill. I am in no way an oyster fan, but I ordered the salmon, which came with a cheesy-type risotto and it was one of the best salmon dishes I've ever had! I'm salivating just thinking about it. We had a blast and it was great to get together with everyone.

Friday was super busy, since we saved a lot of the sites to see with the guys. We started out by going to tour the U.S. Capitol. It was great and we even found a statue of Brigham Young! 

Alice is in the black wrap around David's chest! She loves snuggling up in it and slept during the whole tour. 

^^the Capitol ceiling

Paulina, Kyle, David and me

After the Capitol, we walked (yes walked- it took forever) to the Washington Monument. We went to the top, which was neat but a little bit of a letdown thanks to the hurricane. It was so rainy and cloudy we couldn't see much, but still had a great time. 

^^same expression

^^I love this picture! It was so windy and David was trying to keep Alice dry from the sideways rain. Alice looked so cute in her beanie. 

After that we went to eat at Good Stuff Eatery. If you go to DC, eat there! It was the best burger and fries ever. Much better than shake shack, in my opinion. We all couldn't stop talking about it all trip. And I still can't stop talking about it. 

That afternoon was spent at the National Air and Space Museum, the Library of Congress, and the Natural History Museum. That evening we went out to We The Pizza (so clever) and enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Then when we got back to the hotel and fed Alice/got her ready for bed, the fire alarm went off at 10 PM! Everyone had to evacuate and it was kinda a bummer, but people were just loving on Alice saying how cute and happy she was. What can I say, she loves all the commotion! 

Saturday we started by going to Arlington National Cemetery. I loved it, and thought it was one of the neatest places. It was so humbling to see some of the people that sacrificed their lives so we can live in a wonderful and free country. 

^^The changing of the guard

That afternoon, David and I went to the Newseum, while the others went to see some other sites. I love it and thought it was super neat. It tells the history of the U.S. through the news and the perspective of journalists. 

Here we are in front of a portion of the Berlin Wall:

After that, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, which was alright before meeting up with my good friend and former roommate, Jenna. We met on our study abroad in London and then lived together at BYU the following year. She and her husband live in D.C. and I knew I wanted to see her while visiting. Her husband was out of town, but her mom was visiting her, so we met up with the two of them and it was a blast. We ate at a place called Matchbox and it was delicious, but we had even more fun catching up and chatting for 2 hours. 

We flew out the next morning and were excited to get home to our own bed. It was a great trip and I am so glad David let me tag along!