Christmas Letter

I decided to take advantage of having a blog this year and post our Christmas letter here, instead of making copies and sending it to everyone. So, here’s what we’ve been up to this year!
Parker is of course busy growing up no matter how much Mom tries to stop it. He is 2 years old and keeps both of us very busy! He is talking more every day, sometimes putting as many as three words together. He loves to sing, especially using Aunt Heather’s microphones for her Wii. He loves music and dances every time he hears it, no matter what he is doing. He loves playing with his cousins and when they aren’t around, he loves looking at pictures of them on the computer. Some of the noteworthy events in Parker’s life this year: Several head CT scans, the last of which came back completely normal! In Feb Mom and Dad leaving him overnight for the first time. (More traumatic for Mom than Parker, probably) He started attending nursery in May and loves it! A summer full of popsicles and playing in the wading pool in the back yard. Several camping trips to Bear Lake, trips to the zoo, a few University of Utah football games, playgroup and his first experience miniature golfing.
I started out the year getting a part-time job at Michaels. My mom moved into our basement apt. last year and was a great help in watching Parker. After nine months, a new church calling and a nervous breakdown, I quit at the end of Oct. I was called to be YW Stake assistant camp director and two days after returning from camp, was called to be the 2nd counselor (over Enrichment) in the Relief Society. I have had my moments of feeling overwhelmed, but am still plugging along. I am enjoying being home with Parker, although some days are more challenging than others. On those days, I have to remind myself that I prayed for this and that his birth parents and Heavenly Father entrusted me with this sweet little boy. I need to make them proud! Despite these days, I still get baby hungry sometimes and we hope to apply for adoption again soon. Even though we aren’t officially ‘waiting’ if you hear of any birth parents looking to place, let us know! I still try to do a little scrapbooking here and there and have recently discovered American Idol on Heather’s Wii. (Did I mention Heather moved in with Mom in Oct?) We can be heard, several houses away I’m sure, belting out songs and screaming and cheering when we get a perfect score.
Bryan is still working for Old American Insurance and Kansas City Life. It still has its ups and downs, but overall, every year is better than the one before. He has earned three trips so far. Two of which we took earlier this year. We went to Kansas City, MO in Feb to the home office. They put us in a very fancy hotel and fed us very well. The President of the company even gave the wives some fun money! It looks like we will be returning in Feb for the annual awards ceremony. While we were there, Bryan’s Uncle Mike took his agents and their wives to see some of the church history sites. Liberty Jail was one the more memorable places we visited. Uncle Mike also took us to Bob Jones Shoes, “the biggest shoe store in the world” where Bryan got two new pairs of shoes for work. We also went to Mesquite, NV where Bryan golfed every day. It was extremely hot, but we had a lot of fun. I got to relax by the pool, get a manicure and pedicure and see the movie, “Mamma Mia” with the girls. He has already earned a trip to Las Vegas in May next year and is working on earning a trip to San Diego in 2010. We had season tickets to U of U football again this year. It was another exciting year up on the hill with the Utes going undefeated. Parker now recognizes the Utah fight song and says, “Go Utes! Fight! Fight! Fight!” Bryan is looking forward to the Sugar Bowl on Jan 2nd. He also enjoyed seeing, “Dark Knight” in the theatre TWICE a rare treat in the Allen household! Bryan has discovered his inner rocker and enjoys playing Guitar Hero on the Wii. He and Heather rock out whenever they can and I occasionally join in. One major change in Bryan’s life, after 11 years of mostly primary callings (he almost got to graduate again) he was released and called to teach Elders’ Quorum. He says it’s not so different from teaching primary. Recently, Bryan was very excited to receive 4th row center court Jazz tickets. We may never be able to sit in the upper bowl again! I’m sure a blog post with pictures is coming soon!
We’ve had another wonderful year full of fun times and many blessings. We look forward to the New Year and the many adventures it has in store for us. We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

So Grateful!!!

We were in Idaho the whole week of Thanksgiving and are still trying to get back into the swing of things! I wanted to take the opportunity to 'count my many blessings'. Parker had yet another head CT as well as a wrist x-ray before we left town. His pediatrician was concerned that he might have Rickets (trouble metabolizing vitamin D) and she has been monitoring a couple of concerns she had with his head growing too quickly and other things. Anyway, she called me Monday and gave me the wonderful news that everything was normal! The 'area of concern' in his brain is completely gone! Hopefully this means no more head CTs! YAY! I am so grateful for Parker's birth parents and the sacrifice they made so that we could be parents. We love them so much and thank Heavenly Father constantly for them. I am so grateful for such a hard working, loving husband. I am grateful for the priesthood in our home. I am also grateful for my brothers, brothers-in-law and father-in-law who are all worthy priesthood holders. I know that if Bryan is out of town, I could call any of them and they would be here in a heart beat. I am also thankful for all of the women, family and friends, in my life. They are such great examples of true daughters of God. I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my sweet little boy. I am so thankful that he is happy and healthy! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Idaho with our family and can't wait for all the holiday parties and celebrations in the next month. I am so grateful for all of the blessings that my Heavenly Father has given me!

Happy Birthday Parker!

We started out the day with opening presents including Parker's first pet, a beta fish! I let him pick what we had for breakfast and he chose pancakes. Then we went to Grandma Allen's to open presents from Parker's birth family. He's not spoiled, is he? Then some mundane boring running errands with mom. After a much needed nap, we had a party at Chick-fil-A with his friends from nursery. I think everyone had a great time. The staff there is very nice and accommodating. I would recommend it to anyone! Sat we went to a Utah Adoption Council event at Boondocks. We mini golfed and played arcade games since Parker is still too little to go on any of the fun rides! He loved the arcade with all the noise and flashing lights! Mom and Dad enjoyed ski ball, air hockey and basketball. Sun we had a party at our house with family. We all had a fun filled few days celebrating the wonderful blessing Parker is in our lives. Here are some pictures from Parker's birthday celebrations!

I started a tradition last year of taking a picture of Parker first thing in
the morning on his birthday. This is what I found this year.

One of his presents was this Lightning McQueen car.

He got this hammer and peg toy from his birth parents. He loves it!

Enjoying a cupcake at his birthday party.

Aunt Heather gave him a basketball hoop.

I taught him to say, "Slamma! Jamma!" That's what he says
when he wants to play basketball.

He loved pretending to drive. We didn't even put any tokens
in and he didn't know the difference.

Here he is with his cousins at the family party on Sunday.

Our tired birthday boy!

My Baby is TWO!

How did this happen? It seems like time went by so slowly when I went from wanting a baby so bad it hurt, to waiting and waiting and waiting to adopt, to finally receiving my sweet bundle of baby boy joy! Where did my baby go? Where did the last two years go? Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed watching him grow and learn new things. I love hearing him talk and finally figuring out what he is saying when he says a new word for the first time. But he is not my sweet little cuddly baby anymore. I didn't think I could get baby hungry again after Parker, but I am. He is so fun and I love singing with him and reading to him. I love how he associates football (anytime he sees football, pro, college whatever) with his dad and the Utes! I love how he says, "I love you" and gives kisses and hugs! Time outs have become a regular occurrence at our house. So have viewings and Monsters Inc. Nemo and, until it was ruined recently, Beauty and the Beast. I love how he says, "Uh" in front of everything, usually when he's telling me he wants something. Like, "Uh bye bye" or "Uh Batman" Oh, that's another thing. He calls fruit snacks, "Batman" because we usually buy the Batman kind, but any fruit snacks are Batman. He associates letters with family and friends. When he sees an A he says, "Addi" for his cousin, D for Dada and Uncle Dustin etc. It's so cute when he's in the bath tub with his foam letters. We have to find all our family's letters and stick them on the side of the tub. He does recognize A, E and R other places besides the tub. I think I'm going to make him an ABC book for Christmas, shhhh don't tell! He has finally figured out how to drink from a straw. I don't know why this concept was so hard for him, but he finally got it! He now prefers to drink water and juice from a cup with a straw, but still drinks his milk out of his sippy cup. If you ask him what color something is, it's always green. He loves playing with his friends from nursery. He gets so excited when I'm looking at their parents' blogs and sees pictures of them. I love that he calls his aunt Heather by her nickname "Hez." I could go on for days! I know I can't stop time or make it go slower, so I just have to learn to enjoy every minute! Before I know it he'll be leaving on his mission and I'll be saying, "Where did my little boy go?"
***Disclaimer*** For those of you who don't enjoy reading long posts or people going on and on about their kids, sorry. I am hoping to use this blog as a journal of sorts and, if I ever get around to scrapbooking again, I will use these posts as journaling on my pages.

Our Family

I saw this on Christa's blog and decided to try it. Here's what Bryan and I came up with!

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

GTU Girls

I had so much fun at Good Things Utah. The girls are so nice and after the show we got to take pics with them. Our good friends Gavin and Britta are waiting to adopt a baby girl from China. Myra, Britta's sister, was the birth mom in the adoption segment. She did a great job and we are always so proud of her! It was good to see our friends from FSA and be part of getting the word out about adoption. They even showed our family pic during the segment. Bryan told me they showed me in the audience twice, I was only aware they were showing me the one time. Anyway, it was a fun experience and I would love to go again. I think going with a group of people makes it more fun. I even got a little goody bag from the noodle company!

Here I am with the GTU girls, Nicea, Angie and Reagan

Big Boy Bed

At his check up with the pediatrician the other day, she told me that it was time to move Parker out of his crib. I didn't think it was quite time yet, but she was worried about him trying to climb out and get hurt. She has had two patients, both boys, climb out and break their arms! I was worried about him falling out of a twin size bed because he is a wild sleeper. So, we got a toddler bed from Bryan's sister, Melanie, and took down his crib for FHE. Of course any time the tool box comes out, Parker has to help. Here are a few pics of him 'helping' and enjoying his new big boy bed!