The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Holiday season was great to us this year...except for maybe Afton who was a bit thrown off her regular schedule. But we still had a wonderful time!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with my family and some extended family from my Dad's side that was in town. Peter's family went down to St. George, except his brother and sister had to stay in town for work and play rehearsal so they got to join us! Afton enjoyed the meal and was able to try some new things (TURKEY!). I made the rolls -- over 100, I think -- and they turned out great. I used a recipe from Peter's mission president's wife and they were delicious!

An after-dinner walk with Zach & Jessica

Later in the day Peter and his siblings went to see Catching Fire and I went home to put Afton to bed and then began putting up the Christmas decorations. It was a great day.

December was a bit crazy for us-it always is, isn't it?- but we did get to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary by going to The Forgotten Carols show. I had always wanted to see it since I loved listening to the music and so Pete surprised me with tickets. The story line was a bit hokey but I was still happy listening to the music. However, Peter wasn't as happy and I just kept telling him it was because he has been spoiled with so many amazing concerts and musical productions that his family is always involved in. I like to say he is a bit of a concert snob, but really he just has a refined palate :).

Later in the month we were able to go see Zach perform in Alpine Christmas and that was more of a classy production. I only got to stay until Intermission because of Afton, but we enjoyed every minute!

Afton playing with her first Christmas gift!

Our family on Christmas Eve

 

Christmas was one to remember for sure! We spent Christmas Eve with the Sundwalls and Christmas Day with the Millars. The Sunday before Christmas we went to Grandma & Grandpa Sundwall's for a party and had a fun time with everyone there. Christmas Eve night was special, as always, with the Sundwalls. Although we ended up awake most of the night trying to keep Afton from screaming and waking everyone up. She was a little sick and not so sure of sleeping in a new environment. A big shout out to Zach who we kicked out of his corner bedroom in the basement so that we could let Afton just cry herself to sleep at 3:00 am. Of course, this was after we had tried to leave to go home and got the car stuck in a snow bank. Good times.

Afton with Aunt Olivia on Christmas Eve - they were matching!

We were spoiled with wonderful gifts from our parents and family! A definite highlight was a blender that we have used almost every day since and some great books that we have been reading in our down time.

Afton in her new Christmas dress from Mimi and Grandpa

 

Christmas Day with the Millars is quite a different feel from being at the Sundwalls. There were 11 grandkids (Afton the youngest) and it was crazy but fun. We did a little nativity and Afton got to play baby Jesus. It is definitely special to watch all the grandkids open and enjoy their presents, and there is in never a dull moment with all 6 siblings and their spouses who each have such strong personalities. We love our families!

The day after Christmas Afton and I headed to Idaho with my parents and sister and her kids to visit Grandma Davis, Grandpa Millar and many other extended family! We had a fun time getting to see so many relatives that we don't get to see as often as we would like. It was a little crazy with all the kids but we had a good time. Afton also mastered her squirm/crawl on this trip!

Grandpa entertaining 3 at once!

Sleeping in the car

 We spent New Year's Eve with the Millar side and had king crab legs and hor d'oeuvres. We celebrated the new year with the kids at 7 or 8 and then went home and put Afton to bed. Funny how our lives have come to revolve around the 7:00 bedtime.

The weekend after New Years we went and stayed in Salt Lake with the Sundwalls. We had a wonderful time shopping, seeing movies, eating, swimming, and hanging out. We laughed a lot and ate a lot of cheesecake! Pete and Michelle surprised us all with some money to spend at City Creek and we all got to buy a gift of our choice. Pete got two new pairs of slacks to add to his slim wardrobe and I got a few new blouses from Down East. Afton and I had a fun time with Olivia and Michelle at the planetarium while the older kids saw the Hobbit. We had a blast! It was the perfect little getaway before heading back to reality.

Going for a dip

Afton & Aunt Olivia on Mars!

Nine, TEN a Big Fat Hen

Peter and I agreed last night that Afton has change the most this last month. She just looks different and has really become her own person with her own preferences. Yikes!

Around her tenth month mark Afton got really sick with an ear infection. It was the busiest week for both Pete and I (finals, dance concerts, YM/YW respinsibilites, and work events). Afton was acting so grumpy and we thought perhaps it was just teething but she was totally miserable and teething had never affected her that much. Luckily Afton has a very wise and caring grandpa who was willing to take her in to his doctor's office during my work party late at night. If it hadn't been for grandpa Pete, we would have certainly spent a night at the ER or Instacare! Once she got an antibiotic she was on the mend. However, with crazy holiday schedules she didn't get as good of sleep as she should have and she has had a runny nose for weeks and now has a bit of a cough. I feel like a terrible mom sometimes but sadly life can't just stop for days and I can't keep her totally isolated. Especially around the holidays when we have plans with family and a billion other things to get done. She is a trooper. But somehow I think all her changing started with these bouts of sickness.

She has starting moving more. I wouldn't quite call it full on crawling nor is it an army crawl because she gets her knees under her but she kind of scoots around like a snail to get what she wants.

Afton has 3 teeth on top now. The two main ones are hilariously large. One of the top teeth is about the size of her two little bottom ones put together! They don't show past her lip just yet, but when they do she will be a site to see! We often pull her lip up just to see those humongous chompers.

Afton loves getting undressed at night. We can usually get her best giggles out at that time. She kicks her legs and laughs and squeals when we take off her clothes and put her in her jammies.

Afton has mastered waving hi and bye. It's really cute. She also claps if you shout "yay!" Most of the time she will shake her hands if we ask her "all done?" (Which is her own little form of the actual sign language.) It is the one we have worked on the most. So I should probably get more consistent about doing other signs as well because he picked it up pretty fast.

Afton is really good at mimicking tones. I can't get her to say the mm sound for mama but if I do it over and over in a particular tone she will mimic that tone. She does, however, say "mmm" after a bit of food. I think she got that from me because after I feed her bites of food I say "mmm" trying to entice her to eat more -- she loses interested in food really fast and it will often take her 45 minutes to eat just a little bit.

Whenever she sees a dog, a picture of a horse, or a picture of a monkey in her books she will make a little excited sound that sounds similar to a bark/neigh or some animal sound. I am working on an elephant and bear sound with her since we read about them in her Noah's Ark book.

I think Afton loves to be part of a joke. She sometimes laughs socially when she realizes others are laughing and having fun. Also, I am not sure if she picked it up from the way we read to her but whenever we read Afton The Napping House, she turns the first pages quickly until you get the the part where the mouse scares the cat and the cat claws the dog and she smiles and laughs. She thinks that part is funny every time!

Last of all, Afton is very social. Sometimes she will be grumpy at home and I worry about taking her out to something I have, but everytime we get out of the house and around people she is happy. If she feels part of the group she is happy. I think she has always been this way but the more she is able to interact, the more prominent her social personality becomes. Last night we took her to a basketball game at the high school so I could support one of my young women--Afton clapped and cheered and completely enjoyed the loud atmosphere!

We love our Afty Lou and can't believe she is coming up on one year!!

Love Potion No. NINE!

Afton has changed so much in the last couple weeks so I better hurry and jot down how she was in her ninth month before I forget!

At her 9 month appointment with the doctor Afton weighed 16 lbs 11oz and was 28 inches long. She is moving up in the percentiles though she is still on the smaller end.

Afton learned a squinty-eyed cheesy grin that is our favorite! She does the face to almost everyone and it makes me smile every time. And makes others laugh most of the time.

Front view

Side view

 

At 9 months Afton still rolled around to get what she wanted. When something was just out of reach (usually because I put it there trying to entice her to crawl) she would get her toes underneath her and use them to push herself forward an inch or two.

Afton can go from a whine to a happy smiley face in a split second.

Around 9 months Afton moved from loving tags to always finding buttons on things. She still likes tags and she doesn't have the same obsession with buttons as she did as tags but she definitely enjoys playing with them.

Afton was happy and so fun during her ninth month! The doctor said she is a bright girl and we couldn't agree more! She is our pride and joy!

Yogurt Mustache

Her face when the flash goes off

Chillin' at church