Ready for a bike!

So...Alyssa will be 4 years old in February, and I knew she would grow up fast.  I just can't believe that my baby girl is ready for her first bicycle!  She is trying so hard to learn how to ride one.  I guess Santa will have to bring her one to practice with.  



Halloween 2011

This year Alyssa wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween.  It has come full circle now as that was one of my favorite characters when I was a little girl.  Like mother like daughter right!  She had a pink wig, but that was "too poky",( in her words), so we used the pink hair spray.  She had a ball going around the neighborhood with her friends.



How cute is that face?

The funniest part is that she doesn't even eat the candy.....but got a huge stash from trick or treating.

Happy Easter!!

We had a very busy Easter weekend this year.  For the first time in a few years, Easter fell after tax season ended, so I was able to take off on Good Friday.  Alyssa and I went to a friend's house to dye eggs and swim.  She had a blast dropping the eggs in the dye and then putting on stickers.  She also got to go swimming in their pool (now that's all I hear about).



 Kyle, Kadyn, Landon, Alyssa, and Maddy all decorating their eggs.

 She was so proud of her eggs...

 Look I'm swimming!!



On Saturday, I took her up to the First Baptist Easter Egg hunt at the elementary school.  It was her first real hunt other than the ones at school they did.  There were tons of eggs, though they weren't hard to find.  There was also a bouncy house, pictures with the Easter bunny, face painting, and cotton candy.  She played on the playground and wore herself out.

 See her bunny!

 She was up on the top rung of the ladder..."I'm up high, Mommy!!"

For Easter, we went over to my aunt's house.  She was a little cranky when we got there and didn't want to pose for pictures.  We had about 15 people there, five of which were the kiddos.  So after eating lunch, we hid eggs for them to find.  Alyssa needs a little more practice to catch up with Clara and the other boys, they had her overrun...but she still got quite a few eggs.  The only problem is that she is the only child I know that doesn't like chocolate, and most of the candy was chocolate.  She still had fun hunting the eggs, and now wants to hide them at home for mommy and daddy to find.

 Our happy little family.

 She's not above bribery to get what she wants...lol  She had asked Granddaddy for money, and then he asked for a kiss first.   She got the money....ha ha!

Alyssa and Nana swinging on the porch.

My baby girl is 3!!!

I can't believe that it's been over 3 years now since Alyssa became part of our lives.  She has definitely made a change in all of us, and she is the boss of our little family.  She is so smart, and learning new things every day.  She is constantly talking, moving, and loves to be outside.  That has not changed at all with her.  The other day she was telling us about having to "download" a game on her Nana's Ipad (big phone as she calls it).  There have been so many changes with her in the past year, but she is now 37" tall and weighs right at 33 lbs.  She is officially in her big girl room and big girl bed.  She loves exploring and showing us that she can do things by herself now.  She wants to climb up her slide and help with dinner and cleaning.  Too bad when she can actually help, she won't want to anymore...ha ha!  I need to video her saying that she wants to help for future use.




Here's some recent pics of her...

 At the zoo with friends...

 Banging on the bongo drums...

 Maddy & Alyssa at the zoo

 Her 3rd birthday celebration at home....

 peeking out at the gifts...



Little Shopper...

We took Alyssa to Toys-R-Us last week to see what she wanted for Christmas.  She mainly ran through the store...but I think we found one for sure toy to get her.  She was even putting items into the shopping cart..too cute. 

Happy Halloween!!

This was the first year that Alyssa went Trick or Treating.  She wanted to be a princess for Halloween, and luckily we had a princess dress complete with crown and shoes.  She didn't want to wear the crown though.  We decided to walk around our neighborhood this year and experience the fun.  It only took a few houses before Alyssa figured out what to do.  She wanted to run up to every house and ring the doorbell, and loved that they would give her candy.  She would reach into the bowls and grab it by the fistful..ha ha!  There's only one problem, my child doesn't like chocolate!!  How can that be??  It's a good thing there was lots of other candy to be had.  She was having so much fun, she didn't want to go back home.  One of the houses also gave her a flameless candle that was in one of their jack-o-lanterns.  She wanted us to leave it on in her room when she went to bed.  Anways, here's some pics from last night.

 Mommy and her princess!



 Just one handful??

 I can't reach it!!  Help me, Mommy!

 This family really got into the spirit of Halloween!

 Trying out the candy.

The loot!

Our Princess...

Alyssa is really starting to love dressing up in her princess dresses.  She will put on every necklace and bracelet that she has and her princess shoes.  Then she goes clip clopping around the house.  Isn't she just the cutest thing? 

She's now in her own room with a big girl bed, and she has a lot more room to play with her toys.  She isn't a baby anymore...I'm kinda sad about that.  She's almost completely potty trained and sitting at the table with us now.  No more highchair at our house for now.  She is always singing and counting.  Alyssa knows most of the letters in the alphabet too!  She is a smart little girl!

When she is getting tired and starts to yawn, we would tell her "somebody's tired."  Now, when Mark or I yawn..she tells us "somebody's tired."  She also likes to tell us what we "want" to do.  She will ask if we want to play, and if we say not really...she says "yes, you do!"

 Now I lay me down to sleep...wait, it's not bedtime!!

Surprise!!