Merry Christmas

Since I didn't get Christmas cards out this year.....Merry Christmas from the Lloyd family!

15 Months

Yesterday Lexie had her 15 month well check! I can't believe how fast time has flown by! Her stats were:
Weight: 20.0 lbs. (we can FINALLY turn the carseat around!!!!)
Height: 30.25 in.
Head Circumference:17 in.

She is still my little peanut. Of kids her age, she is in the 10th percentile for her height and head circumference, and in the 50th percentile for height! But she sure is turning into Ms. Independent!! 3 days ago I realized that she finally has enough hair that I can put a little Pebbles Flintstone hair do on the top of her hair! I always love when I can start doing their hair! This morning (Saturday) Scott decided to get out the 4-wheeler and go play around outside. We got the kids all ready and took them out and he took each kid for a ride and did "doughnuts" in front of our driveway. He even took Lexie on a small ride, and she loved it....then she started LAUGHING when Scott started doing doughnuts with her! She was just laughing her head off and loving every second of it!

Running

I am not a fan of running. I do not like running just for the sake of running/jogging. I get bored and then time just drags on. I love playing sports, and I don't mind running when it is involved in a sport, when I am running after a ball or something, I just don't like running for the sake of running.....so, I am making myself do a 5K next spring/summer (some of my sisters are wanting to do it all together)! If I force myself to do it, and just maybe I will learn to like it a little more! Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We had a great night! The kids FINALLY chose a costume (they were quite indecisive) and had a ball trick-or-treating! I was really ticked off though because Friday night we carved pumpkins, but the kids decided they wanted to paint them after they carved them, so anyway, we put them out on the porch last night and I went out to blow out the candles and found out that someone had taken Brayden's pumpkin! It was carved and COVERED in a 2 year olds paint job and some punk kid took it! It wasn't smashed anywhere that we could see, but it really made me angry! Why do people feel the need to do something like that? Anyway, so now, Brayden doesn't have his pumpkins, but life moves on! My kids are so stinking cute!

Piano

I got a piano!! We have been looking at getting an upright piano and we were excited because we can get really good discounts through Scott's work! So we've been looking at uprights, but then I came across this baby grand for cheaper than any of the uprights we were looking at (including paying the piano mover)! It is only 3 years old and is beautiful and I really like the sound, so I jumped on the opportunity (the owner really needed to sell it to help pay for school). The kids are already "practicing" and singing all sorts of songs while they play! Yay for pianos!!!! Now all I need to do is remember how to play......

Volleyball

So two weeks ago I found out our stake does women's volleyball on Thursday nights. I LOVE volleyball and used to play ALL the time before I got married, but after I got married and moved down to South Jordan, and with school and working and everything, I didn't play much! Well, I went to volleyball and it was a blast playing again, I was a little rusty since it was really only like the 3rd time I've played in like 7 years, but it was fun and I even have had 2 people ask me to play on different league teams! I get to play on a Monday night league up at Davis High and a Thursday night league at the Rec Center! Scott isn't too thrilled since he gets the kids, but it won't be for too long! It feels so good to get out and play again! It's been way too long!

Finally teeth....

So I was beginning to wonder if Lexie would ever get teeth! All of our kids have been a little on the late side as far as teething goes, which always made nursing nice because all of my kids were weaned by the time they even got their teeth so I didn't have to worry about being bitten. Well, Lexie cut her 2nd tooth just before her 1st birthday and I have patiently been waiting for all the others to come in! I love her gummy smile, but she only wants to eat table food now and it is so much easier when they have teeth to actually BITE their food! Well, my sweet little baby just cut her 4 top front teeth within a couple of days! I noticed she cut 2 on the same day, then cut another one like 2 days later and the last one a day after that! She is such a sweetie she didn't even seem like it bugged her! Now she is starting to look like a vampire!

Brayden's First Camping Trip

Scott, his dad and Brayden all went camping this weekend! They took the 4-wheelers down to Red Creek and enjoyed a fun filled weekend of being outdoors! It was Brayden's first campout, and he was so excited to pee in the plants...what a boy! Brayden LOVED going and Scott said he was a trooper and did really well for not taking naps and being out on the 4-wheeler all day! Needless to say, he was pretty exhausted when they got home!


Scott saw Brayden's head bobbing around and so he got up on the side of his dad and saw this.....
I think someone was a little tired!

Look Who's 1

I can't believe Lexie is already a year old! We had our families come over last night for pizza and cake and ice cream. Lexie of course got spoiled rotten! She gets so excited when she sees her baby and has been pushing the baby around in her new stroller all day! She also started to really walk about a week ago! FINALLY! Now she hardly ever crawls anymore! I just love this stage where they walk, but are still really wobbly and really careful about every step. She is quickly getting out of this stage though and getting faster and faster and more stable every day so I am taking it in while I can!

Loves for "Elmo Live"


Scott's parents got her a baby doll they also got her a sippy cup and a bottle for the doll as well...Lexie kept thinking it was for her

First Day of School

I can't believe McKenzie is starting Kindergarten! Where have the last 5 years gone! Her first day was technically Monday, but they just had a little 20 min orientation with the teacher, kids and parents. Then Tuesday morning I took in her for her 30 min. "assessment" (the teachers "assess"/test each child coming into Kindergarten to see where they are at and how much they know)and now we are done for the week! She keeps asking when she can go to school by herself since she hasn't been to excited that I have come with her for everything (I had to fill out paperwork while she was doing her assessment), so the count down is on for Monday morning when she starts for real! I just can't believe there are 6 Kindergarten classes with 23-26 kids in each class! Maybe that is normal to have that many classes....it just seems like a lot!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Davis

Last Friday, my sister Stacy got married to Dallis Davis! They had a family dinner Thursday night at the Davis Family Ranch just above Salem (it was 'adults only', and Lexie had been fevered and really lethargic all week, and we didn't have a babysitter, so Scott ended up staying with the kids at his Grandparents house while I went to the dinner), we slept at Scott's grandparents house in Springville, made the treck down to the Manti Temple Friday morning. There were some disappointments when Stacy realized she forgot her veil, and then the Temple workers told her that her dress was "borderline" and so she wasn't able to wear her wedding dress to get married in...but the ceremony was beautiful, and everything was soon forgotten! After the Temple and pictures, (Lexie was already shot by then since she was still getting over being sick and was exhausted) we headed back to Springville, got some lunch, went back to Scott's grandparents house to change and get ready for the reception and then it was off to the reception center in Spanish Fork! Lexie was having such a rough time and was screaming and really fussy (which is TOTALLY not like her) and so we only made it through an hour of the reception and then we bailed and came home! All in all it was a beautiful...but HOT day!

McKenzie with my brother who is currently serving a mission in Brazil
We tried to get an attempt at an updated family picture, but the kids were tired and had had a long day, so they weren't too cooperative. The wedding colors were the green in Scott's shirts and the dusty blue in my shirt, with red accents...so we tried to match the kids the best we could...but those were hard colors to match! McKenzie was excited because we actually found a skirt that was a lot like all the bridesmaids, so she was excited to "match" us!
The manly men!
The original Allred Clan! 6 girls and one boy....well, the best we could do....Jim is currently serving a mission in Londrina Brazil! Gone...but not forgotten!
My poor little Lexie! Her fever broke a day before the wedding, but she was still exhausted!

Happy Birthday McKenzie

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since our little girl made her entrance into our family! To celebrate she had a friend Princess Tea party on Saturday afternoon. We had a ball! We hid wands, necklaces, and crowns for each "princess" and after they found them, they decorated them with gems, read a princess story about kissing frogs, played games, had a tea party and ate the castle cake(don't mind the yellowish frosting on the cake....all I had was the yellow shortening and didn't want to go to the store late Friday night just to buy white shortening....so hence the yellow tint...oh well! And just for the record, I was going to do little sandwiches for the tea party, but McKenzie really wanted octopuses (see picture), so we had octopuses at our princess tea party, and the girls just played and had a blast!! The only thing she was sad about was that her good friend from our old ward was coming home from a vacation and didn't make it back in time to come! Then tonight, for her "real birthday" we just had family come over for cake and ice cream and presents! Thanks everyone for spoiling her! Gotta love Miss Fancy Nancy (top picture)! We love you McKenzie!

Kids say the Darndest.....

I was debating on putting this on, but Scott said I had to, so here goes! Just to give a little background, our master bathroom is one of those bathrooms that you walk from the bedroom into a room with the tub, separate shower, and sinks, and then a different "room" where the toilet is, but there is no door separating the bedroom from the room with the shower and tub. Because there is no door, when I shower, I usually either have the kids watch a movie in my room or go play in their room so I can keep Lexie (since she follows the other kids around like a puppy dog) within ears range, but so I also don't have an audience while I shower. Well, the other day I had just gotten them settled, and I went in to get into the shower and was just about to step in the shower when McKenzie runs past me because she had to go to the bathroom. So I am standing there, about to step in the shower when she looks at me and says "mom, you have the biggest boobs in the whole wide world." Well thank you very much! I couldn't help but laugh! I mean they're not the smallest, but lets be honest, I've definitely seen bigger!

The other day we went to the park for FHE. The kids all were swinging when Brayden said he wanted to go high. Scott proceeded to push him higher and all the sudden he says "oooo, that tickles my wee wee!"

How we love our kids!

When does life slow down?

Things have been so crazy at our house lately....and it's only going to get worse the next three weeks or so! I am just hoping and praying that we survive!! To start, we're trying to get McKenzie ready to start Kindergarten on the 24th, I started potty training Brayden, and Lexie is starting to walk! On top of that, McKenzie is turning 5, so we have her friend party coming up this weekend...in which she wants none other than a princess tea party...surprise surprise. We have her actual birthday with a family party, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, my sister's wedding dinner, and the actual wedding all next week. Then school starts for McKenzie, Scott has a business trip, my dentist appointment, Scott's sister Christy's birthday, Scott's parents anniversary the next week, with Lexie's first birthday, more doctor appointments, and labor day weekend the next! Not to mention I have to get a Relief Society lesson prepared for Sunday, and we have to get talks for Sacrament meeting ready for the 30th! On top of that, Scott is fixing the brakes for one of his really good friends at work and we are trying to get together with some of our good friends that just had a baby, but we haven't been able to see because I came down with a cold while we were in California and am not going to expose them! And that is only the things I know of right now...but you know how life is, things always come up! I am just glad we have patient kids! They are so good and are so well behaved! I hope we survive!

After the reunion.....

After our family reunion came to a close on Sunday morning, Lexie flew home with my sister and spent a couple of days with my family and Scott's sister Christy flew out and we spent a couple more days at Disneyland! We missed Lexie, but we knew she was in good hands, and she was so exhausted from the reunion activities and one day of Disneyland, I am really glad she didn't stay! We rode rides, met the characters, watched the light parade, fireworks, parades, and just had a blast being together! They even liked Matterhorn and McKenzie even tried Space Mountain and Splash Mountain! The kids favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean though! We rode that over and over and over and would sing the "Yo Ho" pirate song while we were in line! Everyone around us got a kick out of that! We finished things up on Tuesday night and drove home on Wednesday...(Happy birthday to me huh...10.5 hours in a car with 2 kids!) All in all, it was a long week, but there were a lot of memories made and we loved being together!


Scott wearing Brayden's hat...Looks good huh!



Before the "Bug's Life" 3-D movie

We of course had to see the Princesses (McKenzie is still WAY into princesses)and it was so funny because Snow White wouldn't stop kissing Brayden!

Family Reunion

This last week we had a family reunion for my dad's side of the family in Southern California! Wednesday we took off for Saint George, spent the night, and then Thursday headed for Laguna Hills California. We had a blast! There was lots of swimming in my aunts and uncles incredible pool, Disneyland, and just visiting! Here are just a couple of highlights of our trip!

McKenzie and Brayden with my Grandma and Grandpa Allred (Lexie was taking a nap)


Kelli and McKenzie on Dumbo at Disneyland


my sister Kelli with Scott, Lexie and Brayden